Help! Recommend me some EL34's that will address my problem

[Laura]

Clearly, the Groove Tubes E34Ls can't handle plate voltages over 460.....

Anybody else have similar experiences with these particular tubes?

Yes. I had some older GT E34L's and I put them in my Rocca today. I turned the amp on and one red-plated instantly. I wonder if part of the problem was the diameter of the pins is smaller so they did not sit all that snug in the sockets. Just fired up some JJ's and no problems thus far.

 

[RockStarNick]

Never had an SED EL34 fail on me yet. And Bogners run pretty damn high plate voltages.

 

[Greazygeo]

I just put some JJ E34L's in my seminar head - I think they sound great!

My head just ate up and destroyed 2 pairs of Groove Tubes E34Ls.....hence the question! Clearly, the GT's can't handle plate voltages over 460.....

Thanks for all of the responses!

If you bought them new, they should have a 90 day warranty. Reliability for JJ tubes has always been hit/ miss for me. I could never trust them.

Wing C or Ruby EL34BST's have been very reliable for me. EH El34's are good too, if you like the tone.

 

[FourT6and2]

SED, Ruby BHT and ARS JJ's should all be fine.

 

[hunter]

Ruby EL34BHTs. I think they can handle over 500plate volts.

I have those in my 100B at 570V and biased HOT - no issues.

 

[MrDan666]

If you bought them new, they should have a 90 day warranty. Reliability for JJ tubes has always been hit/ miss for me. I could never trust them.

Wing C or Ruby EL34BST's have been very reliable for me. EH El34's are good too, if you like the tone.

I agree, JJ's are very hit or miss. I have a set in a JMP right now that are working fine and sounding good. But many sets have died on me in no time.

EH's sound ok, but again they only handle up to 450v on the screens, which is why they fail so often when used in 100w Marshalls. I have had many sets of EH's either blow or redplate after only a couple of hours of use.

The Ruby EL34B STR aren't bad either, but i have noticed that the tone deteriorates after only a short while. They start going dark sounding much quicker than some other EL34's, not my cup of tea but for guys who like darker tones, this could be a good thing!

So far, i have never had a tube failure with Winged C's and none have ever redplated on me. So far i have had nothing but great experience with them

 

[Doubleneck]

The Ruby EL34B STR aren't bad either, but i have noticed that the tone deteriorates after only a short while. They start going dark sounding much quicker than some other EL34's, not my cup of tea but for guys who like darker tones, this could be a good thing!

I'm using these same tubes in a certain amp, and I thought I was going nuts, I noticed the same thing.

 

[Greazygeo]

If you bought them new, they should have a 90 day warranty. Reliability for JJ tubes has always been hit/ miss for me. I could never trust them.

Wing C or Ruby EL34BST's have been very reliable for me. EH El34's are good too, if you like the tone.

I agree, JJ's are very hit or miss. I have a set in a JMP right now that are working fine and sounding good. But many sets have died on me in no time.

EH's sound ok, but again they only handle up to 450v on the screens, which is why they fail so often when used in 100w Marshalls. I have had many sets of EH's either blow or redplate after only a couple of hours of use.

The Ruby EL34B STR aren't bad either, but i have noticed that the tone deteriorates after only a short while. They start going dark sounding much quicker than some other EL34's, not my cup of tea but for guys who like darker tones, this could be a good thing!

So far, i have never had a tube failure with Winged C's and none have ever redplated on me. So far i have had nothing but great experience with them

With the EH tubes I always get them with the platinum match and 24 hour burn in....rarely have any problems with them. Their EL34 and 6L6 I've had good luck with.

My 1959RR shipped with Winged C and i had one of them go up in flames. I bought some China EL34's to try them. They sound good and have lasted a long time for me. They are probably the same as the Rubys. Even my Rubys lasted about a year. I only bias to 55% though.

Tubes are pretty fragile to say the least. Generally my default is Winged C when getting EL34's, Sovtek for KT88's and China for 12ax7.

 

[Ventura]

Sorry for the old bump on this one, but my answer to this question is:

Anything Russian, specifically =C=

V.