EH 12ax7's SUCK

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tweed

tweed

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Seems like everyone of of the last 10 or so of these I have had, have gone bad within a few days of use. I put a new one in my voodoo bogen vplexi and it sounded great in V1. Come back the next day to fire the thing up and let a friend play, and it's white as a ghost. This is true of every EH 12ax7 I have purchased over the last year or so. I used to keep them in my toolbox as spares, and sometimes one of my main preamp tubes, not any more.

The Tung Sols I just got in sound fantastic and I need to stock up on a few more just in case. The C9's seem to be working well also.

Anyone else have problems with EH preamp tubes lately?
 
Never, but mine are a bit older

They are totally different sounding, the EH's and the TS's

Giga.
 
Yup. They have a very short life. :thumbsdown: But when they work they sound pretty damn good.

Keep in mind that the Tung-Sols are made in the same factory as the EHs. :yes:
 
I have never had any issues with EH 12AX7's but I haven't bought any recently and don't use them that much. They sound okay in every amp, not great, not bad in general. I like them better than JJ's. I really do like the Tung Sol Reissues, nice tubes. Sometimes the bottle size of the Tung Sols makes them hard to get into some amps...
 
tweed":1ck1wixk said:
Seems like everyone of of the last 10 or so of these I have had, have gone bad within a few days of use. I put a new one in my voodoo bogen vplexi and it sounded great in V1. Come back the next day to fire the thing up and let a friend play, and it's white as a ghost. This is true of every EH 12ax7 I have purchased over the last year or so. I used to keep them in my toolbox as spares, and sometimes one of my main preamp tubes, not any more.

The Tung Sols I just got in sound fantastic and I need to stock up on a few more just in case. The C9's seem to be working well also.

Anyone else have problems with EH preamp tubes lately?
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+++111111

dude, i retubed my 5150 with full EH's last time - i did so from http://www.thetubestore.com

that company is amazing to buy tubes from and i will definately go back to them for quality power and preamp tubes. but i bought a full set of EH's and i shit you not FOUR of them went dead/deffective while i had my amplifier on the bench doing modifications. i thought it was something did and instead it ended up being 1 microphonic PLUS 4 more being defaulty. i spent a week running calculations before i decided to check new tubes i put in. that was a full $60 of brand new tubes gone within 2 weeks.

my best friend also had very bad instances with EH preamp tubes - he always told me they sucked - and i liked the tone of them but now i am a full believer.

right now i have my amplifier stocked with full ECC83S's and never had a problem since. its been more than 3 months now.
 
That's wierd, of all the 12ax7's i've used, I liked the EH's the best for reliability. But, as said before, most of the ones I have are old.
 
Never had a problem with EH's, in fact I prefer them over other cheaper tubes manufactures put in such as sovtecs by a mile. I think they work well in some amps, have good harmonic content for a cheaper tube.

I have had more problems with Tung Sols then EH's. That said Tung sol's, in the right amp, sound better.
 
tone-wise i loved EH over JJ's

but i preferred the cheap fender branded 12ax7 tubes over all of them. only downside is the quality and low life expectancy so its back to square one. i use JJ's because of dependability. i cant be replacing tubes all the time - its not financially a smart decision.
 
That's too bad. I used them quite a bit when they first brought them out and thought they sounded pretty good for an inexpensive, easy to find pre tube. Haven't bought any in awhile though.
 
I just tried a Rubt tube HG....really good sounding tube..seems durable too. Same consistant tone now. been about two weeks in v1a and b both dialed up high gain style
 
japetus":1lfghigl said:
That's wierd, of all the 12ax7's i've used, I liked the EH's the best for reliability. But, as said before, most of the ones I have are old.
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This just goes to show how much of a crap shoot tubes are these days in terms of reliability. Best thing you can do is buy from a reputable dealer it seems.
 
Hmm, I found them to be too reliable. I wanted them to die since they sounded like crispy, disgusting garbage. My least favorite sounding preamp tube. :thumbsup: :thumbsdown:
 
Great to know since I just bought one! :aww: Mine has been pretested/ low noise by a friend though....so I hope that helps. haha
 
crwnedblasphemy":1qsnpb3x said:
Great to know since I just bought one! :aww: Mine has been pretested/ low noise by a friend though....so I hope that helps. haha
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Don't let people sway you until you try it. Keep your spirits high, I really hate Sovtek 12AX7WA's most of the time, but I found they REALLY add a lot of character and spunk to the V2 position of a lot of my preamps. The EH might be the same story. :thumbsup: :rock:
 
crwnedblasphemy":2q42937q said:
Great to know since I just bought one! :aww: Mine has been pretested/ low noise by a friend though....so I hope that helps. haha
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Rian, I have some originals in my XXX head still and they are going strong. I don't know what the deal is, but I am staying away from them for a while. The Tung Sol's I just got sound damn good in the DSL as do the GT's and C9's.
 
Tweed, could you please share the story behind the "buttcrack" remark ?

Giga.
 
jerrydyer":2aioyoq9 said:
I just tried a Rubt tube HG....really good sounding tube..seems durable too. Same consistant tone now. been about two weeks in v1a and b both dialed up high gain style
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I got some of those from cryoset online..
I think they are the 12ax7hg 5 or 7 sumethin..
Nice tube..
 
Well...I the the EH in my legacy today cuz one tube was micro as hell(JJ). It fixed the problem...tapped on all and nothing which is good. Also threw in a quad of Tung Sol EL34s and dislike them. Threw back in my JJ 6l6GCs and lovin it. Something about EL34s in the legacy I don't like....makes it boxy. The 6L6s make it sound more open.
 
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