Can someone identify these tubes?

bubbastain

bubbastain

Well-known member
So my 5150 iii 6L6 I just got was filled with unbranded power and preamp tubes. Just curious to what they are. I currently have a JJ 5751 in V2 and an old Ei 12AT7 in V3 and I’m very happy with the sound. I have a couple of Sovtek LPS’s coming in the mail to experiment a little more, but I’m happy as is. I was going to check the bias but there isn’t enough room without removing the headshell so I’ll do it another day. Just curious about the tubes in there.
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If there's a silver dot on the bottom of any of the pre amp tubes, that means they tested with higher gain, that goes for any of the tubes out of the 5150 3 series.
 
If they are new production they are either russian or chinese regardless of the label. All the same tube because there are only two production facilities
 
panhead said:
If they are new production they are either russian or chinese regardless of the label. All the same tube because there are only two production facilities
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Not quite :)

JJ's are produced in Slovakia. Still, two tubes being produced by the same company doesn't make the tubes the same. The Mullard RI isn't the same as the Tung Sol or Sovtek, all produced by New Sensor. The different internal structures do affect the sound they produce, and then you have long- and short-plate versions of many of them. IIRC China produces a couple different varieties that also aren't the "same tube". At one time Groove Tubes was having Shuguang manufacture Mullard repros that differed from the typical Chinese tube. Shuguang also makes Northern Electric, although I don't know if they're different innards then the current gen Chinese.

The three tube production facilities are producing more than three tubes, and if you have an amp that responds to tube changes, there are audible differences.

Ruby, TAD, and Groove Tubes, in most cases, are just rebranding the aforementioned tubes, often with additional noise/quality screening.
 
Wouldn't changing V1 make the biggest difference in tone?? Also, I thought the 12AT7 is best used in the phase inverter position?? So V5 right?
 
anomaly said:
Wouldn't changing V1 make the biggest difference in tone?? Also, I thought the 12AT7 is best used in the phase inverter position?? So V5 right?
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Depends on the amp's design. Most amps nowadays are meant to use AX7's for the PI.
 
napalmdeath said:
If its the EVH you're fiddling with, put a Tungsol in V1. Opens up the stuffy blue channel.
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So I still have the JJ with the silver dot on the bottom in V1. I’ll try a Tung Sol in there, but honestly it’s just about perfect. It’s the Red channel I had to mess with. I tried a LPS in V2 as recommended somewhere else, but ehhh. Didn’t lower the gain enough for me. I’m set with a JJ 5751 in V2 and an old Ei 12AT7 in V3. Really sounds killer. But ultimately the blue channel is where it’s at for me. I actually run the gain at 10 o’clock and that’s enough for 75% of what I play.
I stopped by GC the other day and plugged into the EL34 50 watt and it sounded like ass to me. I’d be surprised if something wasn’t wrong with the amp. Unless the internet is actually spot on with the “they fucked up the blue channel on the EL34 50 watter “.
 
bubbastain said:
So I still have the JJ with the silver dot on the bottom in V1. I’ll try a Tung Sol in there, but honestly it’s just about perfect. It’s the Red channel I had to mess with. I tried a LPS in V2 as recommended somewhere else, but ehhh. Didn’t lower the gain enough for me. I’m set with a JJ 5751 in V2 and an old Ei 12AT7 in V3. Really sounds killer. But ultimately the blue channel is where it’s at for me. I actually run the gain at 10 o’clock and that’s enough for 75% of what I play.
I stopped by GC the other day and plugged into the EL34 50 watt and it sounded like ass to me. I’d be surprised if something wasn’t wrong with the amp. Unless the internet is actually spot on with the “they fucked up the blue channel on the EL34 50 watter “.
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The blue channel is definitely where its at with that amp. The Tungsol will give it a little more snarl.

The red channel is a hot mess. The only luck I had was with NOS 5751's, namely JAN/GE. I'd put one in V3 and V4, but it has its drawbacks too. I found it thinned it out a bit.

If you want your cake and eat it too, the Stealth is for you. The red channel is still over the top, but its thicker and beefier, and lower gain tubes just lower the gain, not neuter it. I had a love/hate with the regular 6L6 50 watt. Loved the blue, hated the red. And the hate always got the last say.
 
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