NAD: Fortin Evil Pumpkin

[Racerxrated]

I still have 9 quads of the Mullard EL34, mostly Xf2 and about 60 pcs. discreetly used Mullard EL34 Xf2, Xf3 & Xf4 - but I also prefer the RFT EL34
In my ears and in my gut feeling when playing loudly, only these make the legendary British Sound par excellence.

One last question...I see some RFTs with small bases, others with more normal/bigger plastic bases. Does that mean/signify anything?

 

[novosibir]

One last question...I see some RFTs with small bases, others with more normal/bigger plastic bases. Does that mean/signify anything?

The flat base RFT's are from the early 60's production and are still more reliable and stronger than the later productions.

Check this: NOS RFT EL34's manufactured in the early 60'

And here others also can see the difference:

 

[OldGtrGuy]

The Chinese company, where Mike has his Sigil and EP built, make you two prototypes, after that the minimum order is 20 pcs. each.

If you don't have enough money to get 20 pcs. - because after all you have to pay 40% before the start of production, another 40% as soon as the amps are ready for shipping and the remaining 20% as soon as you have received the shipment - then they will build you another 2 prototypes, but at the high prototype price

This is how business with Chinese works

It's just too expensive for him to build these amps himself in Canada.

This makes perfect sense. Hence the pre-orders and never to be seen made again.

 

[OldGtrGuy]

Home from my trip and got to briefly play the amp. Not at loud volumes, but at least make sure it's working. Once I re-biased and figured out the controls, I got some good preliminary sounds. Tons of tonal options on tap. The Sweep control is quite powerful. I dialed it in to what I thought sounded good and checked that KillerTone video posted earlier and the setting were almost identical to his, so it seems that's the sweet spot.

Overall, cool amp. It fits in nicely in my growing collection with the Hiwatt Super-Hi and Omega Grano without too much tonal overlap.

BTW, I looked back at that massive drama-filled thread about these being made in China. I had a look and the transformers are UK-made. The pots and jacks and switches are all PCB-mounted. The boards look to be high quality though. Overall, the build quality is good.

Will report back when I can really crank it.

How is the saturation on the EP? Clearly the amp is tight and throat as fuck. Just curious if it can get very saturated.

 

[novosibir]

How is the saturation on the EP? Clearly the amp is tight and throat as fuck. Just curious if it can get very saturated.

The Chinese are meanwhile able to wind quite good transformers.
About 3-5 times every year I get offers from Chinese companies to make pre-assembled circuit boards and transformers for me.
I once had an OT for 4*EL34 sent to me for testing (free of charge for me).
The part wasn't bad and almost reached the level of Heyboer or MM, but still was far from meeting my standards.

So I can well imagine that the EP sounds pretty good and could definitely make 90% of all guitarists happy for their lifetime.

 

[FourT6and2]

This one: FORTIN's Evil Pumpkin – Made in China?


What visible characteristics of the transformers did you use to determine this?

In any case, the end bells are not UK-made.
There is only one manufacturer of end bells in the UK and their end bells look different.

Look at my amps and you'll know what UK-made end bells look like.

So what reason could there be to mount NOT UK-made end bells on UK made transformers?

I don't know. I'm just going by the fact that the transformers are marked Demeter Windings / UK.

 

[FourT6and2]

The best sounding and most reliable EL34 currently produced is the Russian Tung Sol Reissue and it is also the EL34 that comes closest to the legendary RFT soundwise.

It has about 85-90% of the output power of an RFT (in new condition), has only slightly less punch and only slightly less mid complexity compared to the RFT, but an as nice break-up as the RFT when overdriven.

However, the Tung Sol Reissue (like all other currently produced power tubes) has nowhere near the lifespan of an RFT or Mullard. There are many reasons for this, but it would take too long to explain it here.
In my experience, you have to renew a Tung Sol reissue after 600 hours of play at the latest, depending on how loud you play, whereas an RFT or Mullard lasts at least 3,000 hours of play before you notice a drop in the output power, especially the punch.

Which EL34 I can't recommend:

Czech JJ EL34 and JJ E34L - these tubes sound nice and warm at home in the living room alone without a band, but in the band structure they are too diffuse in the bass and I often had unexpected failures with these tubes in the past due to internal shorts.

Chinese Shuguang EL34 - fat bass and lots of highs, but (almost) no mids. This tube reminds me more of a small 6550 than an EL34 in terms of sound, it is difficult to come through with the guitar in the band structure because of the underexposed mids and I used to have unexpected failures with this tube more often than only sometimes.

Russian EH EL34 - weak output power, little punch, only moderate midrange complexity, but obtrusively disgustingly scratchy highs. The ideal tube for masochists IMO

I have a ton of NOS RFT. Some short base, some normal size. Some from the '60s, some form the '70s and '80s. They all sound about the same to me. I generally like them in most vintage/classic amps and modded Marshalls. But I don't like them in modern amps. I find they have a soft sound. I generally prefer JJ E34L in modern amps. They are tight and punchy and plenty reliable. I haven't had any issues with JJ tubes.

I'm thinking of trying a mix of JJ 6L6 or NOS Philips/Sylvania (I happen to have 2 matched pair) + EH 6CA7. I've never tried Tung Sol EL34, but maybe I'll grab a pair to experiment with. I don't typically have amps that can accept most any octal tube, so this is new territory for me. I wish I had some real Sylvania 6CA7. But I'm not splurging for those.

 

[FourT6and2]

I compared a lot of EL34s over the years in various amps.

The Tung-sol EL34s do sound very good, personally I found them to sound a bit different then most other EL34s though. They have a little 6L6 flavor to them which can be a good thing depending on what you want.

I don’t fully agree with Larry on the JJs. I think both the EL34 and the E34L are excellent sounding tubes. Though it does seem the EL34 can be prone to failing a little more often especially in higher plate voltage amps. The E34L should be me more rugged. The E34L will have more lowend and an aggressive grind in the low mids that the EL34. The regular EL34 has punchy tight bass and a very pleasing character with smooth top end. The EL34 is focused in the upper mids , it can be used to tame an amp that has a big or loose lowend where the E34L would do the opposite. I liked the regular EL34 playing live with a band because of the cutting mids But depending on the amp the E34L could have too much bass for a balanced mix.

I’m not sure about all the Chinese variants but the BSTR tubes sound very good, a bit scooped yes but also very powerful and clear with a nice grind. I think they are getting harder to find.

The EH EL34 I didn’t like much when I tried them.

Agreed on the JJ E34L. I love that tube. It's tight and punchy and been reliable for me over the years in various amps.

 

[FourT6and2]

How is the saturation on the EP? Clearly the amp is tight and throat as fuck. Just curious if it can get very saturated.

It seems to be able to get plenty saturated. Lots of tonal options on tap. Turn the sweep control down a bit and push the gain and you've got a modern, saturated, scooped sound. It's not a "dry" sounding amp if that's what you're asking?

 

[novosibir]

I have a ton of NOS RFT. Some short base, some normal size. Some from the '60s, some form the '70s and '80s.

Cool

Would you please sell me a half ton of your stock (without the ones from the late 80's)? I would pay you a half million US$ for these

 

[japetus]

Cool

Would you please sell me a half ton of your stock (without the ones from the late 80's)? I would pay you a half million US$ for these

PLUS TARIFFS

 

[Greazygeo]

Trying to decide what other tubes to try. Just run all EL34 or try EH or JJ 6CA7 + EL34.

I was rooting around in my tube stash and found these. Forgot I got them from ARS too.



Not sure if I ever tried the BHT.

I have used the JJ6CA7. Bottle is a different shape from the EL34L etc. They have more low mid content in my amps, kinda tubby in the Wizard for some reason. Ended up switching back to the EL34Ls in it.

Still have the 6CA7 in my Randy Rhodes Marshall. Sound good in there.

Maybe try all EL34 and see if you hear any difference? I have never tried mixing tubes in anything. Be an interesting experiment.

 

[FourT6and2]

I was rooting around in my tube stash and found these. Forgot I got them from ARS too.

View attachment 429804

Not sure if I ever tried the BHT.

I have used the JJ6CA7. Bottle is a different shape from the EL34L etc. They have more low mid content in my amps, kinda tubby in the Wizard for some reason. Ended up switching back to the EL34Ls in it.

Still have the 6CA7 in my Randy Rhodes Marshall. Sound good in there.

Maybe try all EL34 and see if you hear any difference? I have never tried mixing tubes in anything. Be an interesting experiment.

I'm gonna stick with the current tubes for a little bit and get used to the amp is it ships from Fortin. Then I'll try all EL34, actual 6CA7 + EL34, all 6CA7, 6CA7 + 6L6, aaaaand I dunno. I can also try some KT88 as well at some point down the line.

 

[JTyson]

This is how the amp ships from Fortin. The amp is MARKETED as having mismatched tubes. 6CA7 on the outside pair, EL34 on the inside. It doesn't take a genius EE to figure out why that's weird.

I was also curious because I've never seen a "6CA7" that looked like this. Because it's not. It's a Ruby Tubes EL34-BHT.

BTW, Ruby EL34-BHT aren't garbage. They the only modern EL34 designed to handle 500V on the screens, which is where it actually matters. Most people think it's high plate voltage that kills tubes. It's not. It's screen voltage.

Agreed
I had good luck with the Ruby BHT’s as far as longevity goes, that totally adds up

 

[Racerxrated]

I have a ton of NOS RFT. Some short base, some normal size. Some from the '60s, some form the '70s and '80s. They all sound about the same to me. I generally like them in most vintage/classic amps and modded Marshalls. But I don't like them in modern amps. I find they have a soft sound. I generally prefer JJ E34L in modern amps. They are tight and punchy and plenty reliable. I haven't had any issues with JJ tubes.

I'm thinking of trying a mix of JJ 6L6 or NOS Philips/Sylvania (I happen to have 2 matched pair) + EH 6CA7. I've never tried Tung Sol EL34, but maybe I'll grab a pair to experiment with. I don't typically have amps that can accept most any octal tube, so this is new territory for me. I wish I had some real Sylvania 6CA7. But I'm not splurging for those.

I still have a few Sylvania 6CA7s. Like their 6L6GCs, they last forever. If I were you I'd not worry about grabbing a used/strong pair. Those can be found at a reasonable price. I personally find them a little tubby in my Marshalls...but, they still have that 3D thing like the 6L6s.

 

[Racerxrated]

I was rooting around in my tube stash and found these. Forgot I got them from ARS too.

View attachment 429804

Not sure if I ever tried the BHT.

I have used the JJ6CA7. Bottle is a different shape from the EL34L etc. They have more low mid content in my amps, kinda tubby in the Wizard for some reason. Ended up switching back to the EL34Ls in it.

Still have the 6CA7 in my Randy Rhodes Marshall. Sound good in there.

Maybe try all EL34 and see if you hear any difference? I have never tried mixing tubes in anything. Be an interesting experiment.

The Jubilee reissue 2555x lets you put any 2 octal pairs in...2 KT88, 2 34s etc etc. Pretty cool feature.