I Don't Get JJ Preamp Tubes

[dfrattaroli]

I've had a bunch of JJ's high-gain preamp tubes ECC83s and a couple of the phase inverter ECC81 tubes laying around for years. They literally have less than an hour or two on them because every time I try them in an amp, I pull them right out.

Last night I took the stock tubes out of my Legacy 3. They have no label on them. I popped in 4 JJ tubes in V1 through V4 and immediately hated the change. They seem to choke the high-gain channel. Just thinner and fizzier than before. I put the stock ones back in and it was all fat and chewy again.

I don't think I've had the same negative experience with their power tubes though.

Thoughts?
Dave

 

[Chester Nimitz]

I know 2 tube vendors that have about a 50% rejection rate out of the box.


Their pre's sound like dogshit.

I would only use the power tubes as a complete last resort.

 

[glip22]

I don't like them either but in certain amps they are really good like Wizards. Better than NOS in a Wizard imo

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

I don't like JJ preamp tubes, however, I have never
kept one in long enough to see the lifespan.
I guess one's "smooth" is another's "muddy"
One's "clarity" is another's "ice pick"
... Tone is so subjective.

 

[Marshall Freak]

Never liked their presence at all. The El34 and El
34l aren't too bad, but I won't use their preamp tunes. I always pull then in any amp.

 

[jc986]

I like them in the right amp, although usually not as V1. I thought my EVH 50w sounded best with all JJ's, pre and power. I rolled a bunch of tubes through that amp, too. In my experience JJ preamp tubes tend to darken the amp. In a bright amp like the EVH they work out pretty well. The PRS Archon also ships with JJ's in the preamp and I rolled tubes in the Archon and was just as happy with the JJ's as anything else. Really though the Archon played nicely with pretty much any tubes.

 

[marcus262]

I did some research on what people say about jj preamp,
darker, fuller midrange, subdued top end, tighter, more compressed.

I didn't test it personally but supposedly, combo of tungsol (which is more open, clear, has high end) in V1 and JJ in V2 sounds great.

Don't know if you guys tried combining different tubes in V1 and V2?

 

[kurtsstuff]

They work..in the right circuit but in the wrong one..Can sound congested..

 

[sg guy]

-there a "dark tube"-(as was previously stated)-

-I used them forever in any MARSHALL platform-

-never, ever had a failure,.. My favorite JJ-PRE is the 803-S
long plate.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

I bought these NOS NIB never used Mullard ECC-83's off CL from an Engineer that had saved them for a project he never did all 3 for $130 cash. Easily $600 bucks from a tube vendor.






I have been stashing tubes about 10 years and ive been burned a couple times.

NOS Blackburn Mullard & Amperex are the best Pre's ive found for Marshalls.

There are deals to be had but you need to watch constantly.

 

[psychodave]

I like them.

I'll buy them from you for cheap.

 

[Racerxrated]

I've given up on new production tubes. Like others, I have a nice stash of Chinese pre, Amperex pre and winged C, Mullard and Siemens 34s. Working on my Sylvania 6L6 GCs. JJ pre tubes fail at like a 70% rate for me, after trying them years ago. The JJ 34Ls aren't too bad though.

 

[midnightlaundry]

You need to get your JJ's from Eurotubes.. I've probably bought 100 tubes from them, and had 1 or 2 failures.. I've been happy with JJ power tubes all around. The KT88's in my Deliverance are animals, and are matched within 1-2 milliamps..

ECC83S's are a bit narrow, but are very clear. MG's are more full range, but don't seem to have a lot of bite. 803's are rich sounding with the widest response; great for Phase Inverters if anything at all.

 

[jc986]

Agreed. I've never run into issues with JJ's purchased from Eurotubes. That said, I've also ordered JJ's from Valve Queen and not had any problems either. I don't ever order tubes from anywhere else. It's all about the screening process.

 

[snorkel54]

The Mesa Boogie preamp tubes is JJ tubes btw

 

[K-Roll]

its about tube selection, that's why. I can tell you that a JJ preamp tube bought from a renowned vendor with correct specs sounds totally different than a shitty one. I come from the country where JJ tubes are being produced we NEVER EVER buy directly from the factory. I did that once and ended up buying 7 preamp tubes out of which 5 were DOA.

I always use tubeampdoctor or eurotubes and such. Heck I even bought some preamp tubes from the US, such that I could easily get here, but still those tubes were a lot lot better.
The selection makes a day and night difference guys.

 

[messenger]

I liked the high gain JJs in my ADA MP-1. And really liked the JJ EC803 in V1 of marshalls but it got noisy quick.

 

[Whatamada]

its about tube selection, that's why. I can tell you that a JJ preamp tube bought from a renowned vendor with correct specs sounds totally different than a shitty one. I come from the country where JJ tubes are being produced we NEVER EVER buy directly from the factory. I did that once and ended up buying 7 preamp tubes out of which 5 were DOA.

I always use tubeampdoctor or eurotubes and such. Heck I even bought some preamp tubes from the US, such that I could easily get here, but still those tubes were a lot lot better.
The selection makes a day and night difference guys.

I agree to this full on.
Buying a tube that´s been tested properly and with the correct specs makes a night and day difference.
Like some stated before, the same tube might sound/affect way different given the amp it´s in.
I´ve tried many JJ´s in both pre and power section, in different amps and compared to other tubes.
Might just be my preference but I ended upp with JJ´s in all my amps (PRS Archon, Mesa Dual Rectifier, Diezel Herbert) except one, Diezel Hagen, which got Rubys.

But hey, everything plugged in affect your tone, so the entire rig is dependent on each other, and not least your ears =)

 

[Chester Nimitz]

I like them.

I'll buy them from you for cheap.

Trade for a Charvel ...

 

[dfrattaroli]

I believe all my JJs came from Eurotubes. I know I got other stuff from Doug's(?) tubes too.