just ordered some new tubes UPDATE:RUBYS & TUNGSOLS

[geetar_geek79]

i did some research and finally settled on this (ordered from dougstubes)

3 Tung-Sol 12AX7 re-issue (high gain)
3 Ruby 12AX7AC5 HG+ (high gain)
4 Ruby EL34 BHT (matched quad)

these are all going in to a herbert. i have a matched pair of sed =c= 6L6 that'll also go in there with the EL34. not sure how i'll arrange the preamp tubes yet. i guess i'll figure it out when they get here.

the amp used to have JJ pres and SED 6550. the JJs were too dark for my taste in that amp but sounded wonderful in my dual rect. the 6550 gave me trouble as it kept blowing my fuse. i was not to happy with it's reliability. it was also something i wanted to try out but did not really like as far as sound so i'm going back to the previous setup with EL34/6L6 mix and ruby pres. it will be my first time with tung sol.

i am kind of excited as to how it will sound with tung sol. does anybody have any similar setup/experience?








UPDATE: LONG POST!!!****************************************************************

since i couldn't find any comparisons between the two, i made this review (and some clips) which hopefully will help others.




so i put in the new tubes i got. as it turned out, the old pre tubes i had where a mixture of ruby 12ax7ac5 hg and mesa 12ax7-a. i did use jj's before and thought they were still in there. the old setup was: (V1)ruby 12ax7ac5 hg (V2)mesa 12ax7-a (V3)ruby (v4)mesa (v5)mesa (v6)mesa. the power tubes were a quad of ruby el34 bstr and a pair of ruby 6l6gc mstr.

my first impression with the tung sol is they are physically taller than the rubys. they are indeed brighter than any tubes i have ever tried, but i wouldn't call them harsh. it also has less bottom than the new rubys i also ordered which may contribute to it sounding 'bright.' the rubys on the other hand sound good overall with nice and tight bottom and smooth high. i think they are less boomy than the mesa tubes i had originally.

i made some clips with the old tubes first, then another clip with v1 to v3 replaced with ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+ (kept everything else the same including the power tubes), and another clip with tung sols from v1 to v3 (again, kept everything else). the herbert was plugged in to a weber mass 200 load box straight to daw with guitar rig 4 as my cab sim. i used one track, fed it into an engl 412 cab sim, used one md421 mic sim and that is it. the herbert's settings: all gain, tone controls, deep, and presence were at noon, channel volumes were at 9:00, i used master 1 at 9:00. i recorded different riffs for each channel but played them 3 times for each tube setup. i didn't have a way to reamp so i played them over and over. there are mistakes here and there so sorry about those.

ch1
ch2minus
ch2plus
ch3midcut

i maybe tone deaf because it's hard to tell from the clips. the old tube setup was definitely muddier to me with a lot of loose bass. the second tube setup with the rubys still had bass, but had a tighter response. the tung sol had the snappiest bass response with a good bite to it. if i had to settle with just one brand, i love the rubys for my taste better. but the best in my opinion is a mix between the two so i settled with:

(V1 used by all channels) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+
(V2 used by ch 3) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+
(V3 used by all channels) tung sol
(V4 mixer and loop driver) tung sol
(V5 return driver) tung sol
(V6 phase inverter) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+

i just love the mix of the ruby and the tung sol between all the channels.


as with the EL34bht i ordered, they were supposed to be a matched quad, but one of them was shorter than the other, i'm not sure why . i haven't really asked dougstube about it. it was kind of funny because when i was doing the bias, the shorter one was a perfect match to its pair while the other two of the same height didn't have a matching current draw. here is a pic just to give you an idea (the outer tubes are sed =c= 6l6

i have always liked the mix between el34's and 6l6's. i settled with a quad of el43's just because i already have a 6l6 amp, and the to me the herbert sounds better with el34's. i still wanted some of the tone and feel of 6l6 so i used a piar of SED =c= in there. this is my favorite setup so far. hope this helps.

 

[geetar_geek79]

wow. nobody?

just mainly want to hear comparisons between the ruby and the tung sol. i didn't really find much between the two when i googled. there where plenty between jj's and tung sol's, though.

 

[9ball]

i have a new production mullard 12ax7 and a tung sol 12ax7 that i swap out in the first preamp slot in my TSL sometimes. the they have similar sounds, but the tung sol just sounds a little more high gain.
i have jj ecc83s in all the other pre amp spots, and they're starting to sound dull or something. at first i liked them because it's a really high gain and middy/trebly amp anyways, but i dunno. i need to get some GOOD tubes and try them in there sometime.

 

[daveg62]

tung sol's are probably one of the better new production tubes made. I made the very easy decision to just invest a little more money and buy all nos tubes, mainly just for the preamps. Really the quality and reliability is much better than buying new tubes IMO. It does take some time, experimentation and can be quite addicting but fun too. Different amps can sound better or worse with different tubes, and they can get quite expensive. But good nos tubes can be had cheap if you keep an eye out for them. You really have to try swapping them yourself and listen for what you like best personally.

 

[geetar_geek79]

i have jj ecc83s in all the other pre amp spots, and they're starting to sound dull or something. at first i liked them because it's a really high gain and middy/trebly amp anyways, but i dunno. i need to get some GOOD tubes and try them in there sometime.

did you try the jj's in v1 spot? i know the tung sol will be brighter, but how much brighter compared to rubys is what i am really curious about. i guess i should just wait and hear for myself.

i will post an update when they get here, which should be this weekend or early next week.

 

[_actual time_]

i've run all those tubes in different amps, mostly a 101B and a Mark V.

the Tung-Sol RI is considerably brighter than the JJ. i would call the JJ a darker preamp tube than most tubes and the Tung-Sol a brighter tube than most. i didn't like it in v1 of my Mark V--i like darker tones from that amp. i am running it now in v1 of my 101B, to get a bit more upper-mid bite and crunch.

the Ruby HG+ i run in some of the gain-channel positions of my Mark V, and i had those in a Herbert once, the first couple positions. i think they're a good well-balanced sounding high-gain tube--a 'normal' amount of brightness.

the Tung-Sol also has great gain. my fav for a thicker but darker high-gain preamp tube is the Mullard RI, like 9ball mentioned. i really like it in v1 of my Mark V.

i've also run the BHTs in both the 101B and the Mark V. i liked them in the 101B but prefer KT77s, for a bit more shimmery highs and punch in the lows. i love the BHTs in my Mark V--nice thick midrange, but still good low end (partly because that amp has maybe too much low end).

i think you've got a great handful of tubes there. i would try both the Tung-Sols and the HG+ in v1 and v2 and see which sound you like best.

 

[droptrd]

The ruby HG+'s i got about 6 months ago were relabled JJ's. So if you thought the JJs were dark....

As said above the TS are a bright tube. But still full sounding. Im diggin the mullard RI these days for V1.

The ruby BHTs are my new EL34 of choice. To me the sound very close to the TS EL34B but are much less $$$.
They have a descent lowend. They do very well with high gain tones. They have a good feeling gain to them. I have a set in my Tverb right now. Great high gain tones. The clean is very dynamic and has a nice bouncey feel.

 

[_actual time_]

The ruby HG+'s i got about 6 months ago were relabled JJ's. So if you thought the JJs were dark....

iiinteresting. the ones i got a year or two ago were Chinese (and sounded really good).

there's a new Ruby preamp tube model since then--not AC5; i think it's called AC7. i wonder if those are still Chinese.

 

[geetar_geek79]

thanks guys. these are all very helpful.

@ _actual time_, yes that's my plan. i will tube roll them as all tungs from v1-3, then all rubys from v1-3, and mix-and-match afterwards to see which arrangement i like best.

@ droptrd, god i hope they're not jj's. it didn't say in dougstube site. they did mention that the ruby 12ax7ac5 and 12ax7ac7 are from the shuguang factory while the 12ax7acz is a relabeled jj.

well, i'm really excited as it's supposed to be here tomorrow. way earlier than i estimated.

 

[droptrd]

thanks guys. these are all very helpful.

@ _actual time_, yes that's my plan. i will tube roll them as all tungs from v1-3, then all rubys from v1-3, and mix-and-match afterwards to see which arrangement i like best.

@ droptrd, god i hope they're not jj's. it didn't say in dougstube site. they did mention that the ruby 12ax5ac5 and 12ax7ac7 are from the shuguang factory while the 12ax7acz is a relabeled jj.

well, i'm really excited as it's supposed to be here tomorrow. way earlier than i estimated.

I could be wrong then. I thought mine were ac5's. Maybe they are acz's. whatever they are, mine are relabled JJs

 

[droptrd]

Just checked. I was wrong. Mine are acz's. You should be good

 

[geetar_geek79]

Just checked. I was wrong. Mine are acz's. You should be good

what a relief! i thought i just ordered tubes that i already have...

 

[_actual time_]

the ruby 12ax5ac5 and 12ax7ac7 are from the shuguang factory while the 12ax7acz is a relabeled jj.

ah, cool--that all makes sense.

yeah, post back with your results. when i changed from Chinese to Tung-Sol RI in v1 of my 101B, i had to also change the v2 to a less-bright tube, but the new combo have a neat slightly different sound.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Just checked. I was wrong. Mine are acz's. You should be good

I literally just almost threw up in my own mouth. I HATED JJ preamp tubes, but I really like the Ruby HG+ in my 5150. I can't even begin to describe how buttfucked I just felt. Continue thread.

 

[droptrd]

Youve been violated

 

[9ball]

i have jj ecc83s in all the other pre amp spots, and they're starting to sound dull or something. at first i liked them because it's a really high gain and middy/trebly amp anyways, but i dunno. i need to get some GOOD tubes and try them in there sometime.

did you try the jj's in v1 spot? i know the tung sol will be brighter, but how much brighter compared to rubys is what i am really curious about. i guess i should just wait and hear for myself.

i will post an update when they get here, which should be this weekend or early next week.

yeah i tried all jjs in all 4 spots at first, then compared them with the other 2 in the first 2 spots and a "chinese" 12ax7 also. i also have all the old "marshall" 12ax7's which are probably just chinese.
with ALL jj tubes it sounded just a little bit too muffled in the high end.
but then i also purposefully bought the "ecc83s" because it was lower gain i think if i remember correctly?

 

[geetar_geek79]

i posted an update. please see the original post.

 

[hellaboogie]

i did some research and finally settled on this (ordered from dougstubes)

3 Tung-Sol 12AX7 re-issue (high gain)
3 Ruby 12AX7AC5 HG+ (high gain)
4 Ruby EL34 BHT (matched quad)

these are all going in to a herbert. i have a matched pair of sed =c= 6L6 that'll also go in there with the EL34. not sure how i'll arrange the preamp tubes yet. i guess i'll figure it out when they get here.

the amp used to have JJ pres and SED 6550. the JJs were too dark for my taste in that amp but sounded wonderful in my dual rect. the 6550 gave me trouble as it kept blowing my fuse. i was not to happy with it's reliability. it was also something i wanted to try out but did not really like as far as sound so i'm going back to the previous setup with EL34/6L6 mix and ruby pres. it will be my first time with tung sol.

i am kind of excited as to how it will sound with tung sol. does anybody have any similar setup/experience?








UPDATE: LONG POST!!!****************************************************************

since i couldn't find any comparisons between the two, i made this review (and some clips) which hopefully will help others.




so i put in the new tubes i got. as it turned out, the old pre tubes i had where a mixture of ruby 12ax7ac5 hg and mesa 12ax7-a. i did use jj's before and thought they were still in there. the old setup was: (V1)ruby 12ax7ac5 hg (V2)mesa 12ax7-a (V3)ruby (v4)mesa (v5)mesa (v6)mesa. the power tubes were a quad of ruby el34 bstr and a pair of ruby 6l6gc mstr.

my first impression with the tung sol is they are physically taller than the rubys. they are indeed brighter than any tubes i have ever tried, but i wouldn't call them harsh. it also has less bottom than the new rubys i also ordered which may contribute to it sounding 'bright.' the rubys on the other hand sound good overall with nice and tight bottom and smooth high. i think they are less boomy than the mesa tubes i had originally.

i made some clips with the old tubes first, then another clip with v1 to v3 replaced with ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+ (kept everything else the same including the power tubes), and another clip with tung sols from v1 to v3 (again, kept everything else). the herbert was plugged in to a weber mass 200 load box straight to daw with guitar rig 4 as my cab sim. i used one track, fed it into an engl 412 cab sim, used one md421 mic sim and that is it. the herbert's settings: all gain, tone controls, deep, and presence were at noon, channel volumes were at 9:00, i used master 1 at 9:00. i recorded different riffs for each channel but played them 3 times for each tube setup. i didn't have a way to reamp so i played them over and over. there are mistakes here and there so sorry about those.

ch1
ch2minus
ch2plus
ch3midcut

i maybe tone deaf because it's hard to tell from the clips. the old tube setup was definitely muddier to me with a lot of loose bass. the second tube setup with the rubys still had bass, but had a tighter response. the tung sol had the snappiest bass response with a good bite to it. if i had to settle with just one brand, i love the rubys for my taste better. but the best in my opinion is a mix between the two so i settled with:

(V1 used by all channels) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+
(V2 used by ch 3) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+
(V3 used by all channels) tung sol
(V4 mixer and loop driver) tung sol
(V5 return driver) tung sol
(V6 phase inverter) ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+

i just love the mix of the ruby and the tung sol between all the channels.


as with the EL34bht i ordered, they were supposed to be a matched quad, but one of them was shorter than the other, i'm not sure why . i haven't really asked dougstube about it. it was kind of funny because when i was doing the bias, the shorter one was a perfect match to its pair while the other two of the same height didn't have a matching current draw. here is a pic just to give you an idea (the outer tubes are sed =c= 6l6

i have always liked the mix between el34's and 6l6's. i settled with a quad of el43's just because i already have a 6l6 amp, and the to me the herbert sounds better with el34's. i still wanted some of the tone and feel of 6l6 so i used a piar of SED =c= in there. this is my favorite setup so far. hope this helps.

wow that one tube is way short odd

 

[geetar_geek79]

^I know. It's weird.

 

[hellaboogie]

^I know. It's weird.

it all most looks like a 6L6