EL34 Opinions Please

[lespaul6]

yep.. gotta look for the CZ or STR

STR could be any "Special Tube Request" from several sources. STR doesn't designate a country of origin, or manufacturer by any means. It's just that, a "Special Tube Request" that manufacturers from USA to China to Russia, Holland Germany, Japan, have used as a designation for many years. Of course, several no longer make tubes, but STR still means the same thing.

Didn't know that.. I thought the S designated Sino .. wonder why all the Chinese tubes are designated str and only the Russian with cz when they could have made them all str??? oh well

 

[Moshaholic]

I like E34L's in my JSX. A little different but it kicks all kinds of ass.

Tung-Sol makes a great EL34, i have them in a few amps. IMO it's worth the price.

Thank you for the replies.

I have been sick the past couple of days and just got back to toob fiending this morning...


Bob at Euro-tubes published an article about not using EL34L's in a JSX because of screen resistors blowing or something. Don't know if there is any truth to this but it kind of made not want to go down that route. Any thoughts on that article?

 

[Moshaholic]

https://www.thetubestore.com/electro-harmonix-el34

these are the best sounding EL34's I've found.
I haven't tried either of the 2 you suggested so you can punch me if you like.

If I'm not mistaken, I think EH EL34's are what ships in the amp stock.

I bought the amp from a buddy of mine who bought new and had it new for years. it is a 2008 model. Very awesome shape, I want to pimp it out a little since I got it for a decent price.

Sounds absolutely killer with an 808 on the crunch channel.

 

[Moshaholic]

I really dig gt el34m’s.

I think those are the Mallard RI's... They have a nice quack in the mid's...

 

[Moshaholic]

BTW, Where is everybody getting thier tubesfrom these days? I really have not bought power tubes in a long while, but I used to get stuff from Doug's tubes...

 

[skullfxr]

I have great luck with tubedepot or antique electronics

 

[AndyK]

I also like the EH EL34s in my Splawn. Just nice sounding punchy tubes. The JJ E34L adds a lot of low end chunk. Some like that. The Chinese tubes are hit or miss. Ruby is cool because they take run of the mill tubes, match and test them, so there are less surprises!

 

[Racerxrated]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

 

[AndyK]

There are good deals to be had on ebay many times. NOS EH or GT quads for $50 or so.

 

[Snave]

I also like the EH EL34s in my Splawn. Just nice sounding punchy tubes. The JJ E34L adds a lot of low end chunk. Some like that. The Chinese tubes are hit or miss. Ruby is cool because they take run of the mill tubes, match and test them, so there are less surprises!

EH are some of the better current production. Chinese tubes are full of surprises these days, from Ruby or elsewhere.

Stay away from Doug's Tubes.

 

[napalmdeath]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

GT E34LS are JJ's. As mentioned above, I'd steer clear of those in a JSX.

Not sure why OP is so against KT77's. They're a match made in heaven for that amp.

I will make another suggestion overlooked here.. The JJ 6CA7's sound absolutely huge in that amp as well. I've owned 4 or 5 JSX's, (maybe more than that), and I've tried them all.

 

[Kordoba]

BTW, Where is everybody getting thier tubesfrom these days? I really have not bought power tubes in a long while, but I used to get stuff from Doug's tubes...

I get most of my power tubes from Eurotubes. For preamp tubes I just go on ebay, and if I ever need another pair of Sovtek WXT+s for my VTM or Ultra 60 would do the same.

 

[Beyond Black]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

GT E34LS are JJ's. As mentioned above, I'd steer clear of those in a JSX.

Not sure why OP is so against KT77's. They're a match made in heaven for that amp.

I will make another suggestion overlooked here.. The JJ 6CA7's sound absolutely huge in that amp as well. I've owned 4 or 5 JSX's, (maybe more than that), and I've tried them all.

I agree about the KT77’s. I put a quad of JJ KT77’s in my XXX II per naplamdeath’s advice and they destroy. All the ripping mids of EL34’s with a bigger and tighter low end. I didn’t care for the 6L6’s. Sounded dry and sterile compared to the KT77’s.

 

[Racerxrated]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

GT E34LS are JJ's. As mentioned above, I'd steer clear of those in a JSX.

Not sure why OP is so against KT77's. They're a match made in heaven for that amp.

I will make another suggestion overlooked here.. The JJ 6CA7's sound absolutely huge in that amp as well. I've owned 4 or 5 JSX's, (maybe more than that), and I've tried them all.

Wrong. Yes, the GT EL34L is the same as the JJ EL 34L, but I am talking about the GT EL34LS. Not the single L. Different tube altogether. The L has the deeper low end, I don't care for it as it turns Marshalls into mud city.
Here's an example, you can clearly see the LS on the tube..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Groove-Tubes-G ... ctupt=true

This subject was hashed out when the LS suddenly stopped being available, as guys who ordered them were receiving the JJ version single L with GT branding, and were upset that GT thought no one would notice.
Like I said, in a Marshall or my old Wizard they sounded just as good as a quad of Siemens.

 

[napalmdeath]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

GT E34LS are JJ's. As mentioned above, I'd steer clear of those in a JSX.

Not sure why OP is so against KT77's. They're a match made in heaven for that amp.

I will make another suggestion overlooked here.. The JJ 6CA7's sound absolutely huge in that amp as well. I've owned 4 or 5 JSX's, (maybe more than that), and I've tried them all.

Wrong. Yes, the GT EL34L is the same as the JJ EL 34L, but I am talking about the GT EL34LS. Not the single L. Different tube altogether. The L has the deeper low end, I don't care for it as it turns Marshalls into mud city.
Here's an example, you can clearly see the LS on the tube..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Groove-Tubes-G ... ctupt=true

This subject was hashed out when the LS suddenly stopped being available, as guys who ordered them were receiving the JJ version single L with GT branding, and were upset that GT thought no one would notice.
Like I said, in a Marshall or my old Wizard they sounded just as good as a quad of Siemens.

NOT wrong. Both are Slovakian tubes, not sure what's been "hashed out", and by whom? Oh wait, let me guess, GT told you they were different? What do you think the "S" stands for? SLOVOKIAN. Who makes tubes in Czechoslovakia? JJ. Wow, they added an S to throw you off, and it worked. What did they get out of you, and extra $20 a pair?

 

[Racerxrated]

Tung Sols sound very good and if I were buying a new quad, that's what I would grab. I have a stash of tubes though that will take me far into the future. If you can find GT EL34LS, I highly recommend those...they stopped making them just a year ago or so and are very nice in a Marshall, almost as nice as my quad of Winged C or Siemens. I bought 2 quads for the Wizard MC as they are highly recommended, but equally good in my 2210.

GT E34LS are JJ's. As mentioned above, I'd steer clear of those in a JSX.

Not sure why OP is so against KT77's. They're a match made in heaven for that amp.

I will make another suggestion overlooked here.. The JJ 6CA7's sound absolutely huge in that amp as well. I've owned 4 or 5 JSX's, (maybe more than that), and I've tried them all.

Wrong. Yes, the GT EL34L is the same as the JJ EL 34L, but I am talking about the GT EL34LS. Not the single L. Different tube altogether. The L has the deeper low end, I don't care for it as it turns Marshalls into mud city.
Here's an example, you can clearly see the LS on the tube..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Groove-Tubes-G ... ctupt=true

This subject was hashed out when the LS suddenly stopped being available, as guys who ordered them were receiving the JJ version single L with GT branding, and were upset that GT thought no one would notice.
Like I said, in a Marshall or my old Wizard they sounded just as good as a quad of Siemens.

NOT wrong. Both are Slovakian tubes, not sure what's been "hashed out", and by whom? Oh wait, let me guess, GT told you they were different? What do you think the "S" stands for? SLOVOKIAN. Who makes tubes in Czechoslovakia? JJ. Wow, they added an S to throw you off, and it worked. What did they get out of you, and extra $20 a pair?

Wow dude hold on to your thong. I own both JJ EL34L, and the GT EL 34LS. They look different, and clearly sound different.
It's really that simple. GT DOES NOT offer the LS anymore, because they are not made anymore. THEY DO offer the EL34L, which IS made AND is the same as the JJ EL34L. The L has a different getter construction than the LS.
They are different, and clearly sound different.

 

[Racerxrated]

Here's a thread on the GT EL34LS that talks about the tube construction change...older LS had bigger heat wings, and the newer ones are just rebadged JJ EL 34L.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=197017

And no, I haven't paid the markup for GT tubes. I only buy ANOS tubes nowadays, as they last as long or longer than new production. The last quad of LS tubes cost me 65 bucks. I pounded them in the Wizard I had, and they still kill it in my 2210.

 

[stratjacket]

I've been on a little tube quest since I bought this Bogner Eclipse. I ordered a full set of "high gain" JJ's (preamp and power) from EuroTubes. It sounded pretty damn good, but I decided to try a few different options just to have a little fun and see what I liked best. I ordered a couple Tung-sol 12ax7's and put in V1 and V3, I had a bunch of Sovtek 12ax7LPS so put one of those in V5 PI spot. I really liked this sound better.

I also LOVE the JVM 205H I picked up used last year. It has a pair of Tung-Sol EL34B's in it. I also have a pair of matched JJ EL34L's that I may try in the JVM just to explore.

I'm going to try a set of Ting-Sol EL34B's in the Eclipse and sprinkle Tung-Sol 12ax7's through several amps, and Sovtek 12ax7LPS's in all my PI spots.

I ordered the Tung-Sol through Viva Tubes off Reverb. They came quick, had test results written and in looking at their site, it seems like cool little tube shop. I am about to place a pretty big order through them for a shit load of Tung-sol's. Anyone ever use them?

 

[lespaul6]

I've been on a little tube quest since I bought this Bogner Eclipse. I ordered a full set of "high gain" JJ's (preamp and power) from EuroTubes. It sounded pretty damn good, but I decided to try a few different options just to have a little fun and see what I liked best. I ordered a couple Tung-sol 12ax7's and put in V1 and V3, I had a bunch of Sovtek 12ax7LPS so put one of those in V5 PI spot. I really liked this sound better.

I also LOVE the JVM 205H I picked up used last year. It has a pair of Tung-Sol EL34B's in it. I also have a pair of matched JJ EL34L's that I may try in the JVM just to explore.

I'm going to try a set of Ting-Sol EL34B's in the Eclipse and sprinkle Tung-Sol 12ax7's through several amps, and Sovtek 12ax7LPS's in all my PI spots.

I ordered the Tung-Sol through Viva Tubes off Reverb. They came quick, had test results written and in looking at their site, it seems like cool little tube shop. I am about to place a pretty big order through them for a shit load of Tung-sol's. Anyone ever use them?

Agree with you on those JVM's... they sound good.

 

[napalmdeath]

Here's a thread on the GT EL34LS that talks about the tube construction change...older LS had bigger heat wings, and the newer ones are just rebadged JJ EL 34L.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=197017

And no, I haven't paid the markup for GT tubes. I only buy ANOS tubes nowadays, as they last as long or longer than new production. The last quad of LS tubes cost me 65 bucks. I pounded them in the Wizard I had, and they still kill it in my 2210.

My only point is, they're still a JJ-made E34L tube, plain and simple. I'm aware they have different heat wings, but they're still subject to the same "do not use", in a JSX. They're still the basic E34L platform, and draw more current. If your JSX is an early model with subpar SGR's, be my guest. Roll the dice. Been there, done that.

This said, they're still good sounding tubes. I just wouldn't put them in a JSX.

I still say OP should try JJ 6CA7's.