Pre amp tube preferences

[Hollywood]

I thought this would be a good topic to discuss. what pre amp tubes do you guys like in which spots in an amp? I am currently reloading a modded marshall that has 4 pre tubes. I thought I would catch a few opinions and see what I learn from this gang of musically deranged characters.

 

[Sixstring]

No fair... thats a loaded question. How maney tube manufactures are there?

 

[Hollywood]

Alot. That is the point. The different pre tubes give different results. Soo many to choose from. Rft german NOS, EI, JJ,GE, GT's, chinese, chinese 8th gens, chinese 9th gens, Electro-harmonix, sovteks, like 4 versions, TAD's 3 versions, all these being 12ax7's And a whole lot more, ruby labeled, Mullard re-issues Mullard NOS, and the list goes on.

 

[parntz145]

Really depends on the amp. In my Cameron mods I liked either Tung sol or 9th gen Chinese. I found this to be a great combo V1 Tung sol,V2 JJ to fatten it up, V3 Tung Sol, V4 I never cared because I dont use the loop. I run a w/d/w rig. Or if you dont need to fatten it up put a Chinese in the V2. I would always try either the Tung sol or the Chinese in V1 to see what I like better.

 

[Hollywood]

Thanks guys.

 

[Shark Diver]

I really would like to get some Chinese 9s... I hear those are great in SLOs.

 

[jjblacksheep]

I love Tung Sols but have had a bad failure rate lately. I have a NOS Raytheon in V1 of my Boogie which I absolutely love. Nice and aggressive with great single note bloom.

 

[just42dave]

I like the Sovtek LPS's, Chinese C9's and Tung-sol's

I have some chinese with a square foil getter what might those be Dave,,,12ax7 and 12at7???

 

[just42dave]

Ive been buying alot of relabeled Mullards with the BB codes they sound great in V1 positions plus are much cheaper than a mullard that says mullard with the same damn code!!!
Eico dynaco rogers etc...I went hogwild on Ei old school tubes last month so I might sell Dave a couple
I have two RFT beautiful condition and 2 Matsushita's I would come off if anyone is interested,,,All 4 are pretty and test very high as thats why I bought 4 of each...

 

[Phrygian]

Tung Sol, Chinese 9s, Sovteks, in that order for me.

I tossed Tung Sol's in my Ultra Lead not too long ago, made it a bit more aggressive

 

[JTyson]

I found some NOS Amperex stuff that sounds fantastic in V1 of modded Marshalls

 

[vchizzle]

I've been using Mullard 12AT7/CV4024 in V1 for a few years & like them alot.

GT-12AX7-M "Mullard" reissue in V2 - not sure if these are still made or not?
"GT12AX7M is an exact reissue of the original Mullard 12AX7/ECC83 dual triode preamp tube" -kinda stumbled upon these on accident and liked the way they sounded.

 

[mincy]

I've recently fallen in love with NOS RFT 12AX7s. Love the tube. Worth every sent I paid for them. They're so good and so much better than the other tubes I've used that it makes me consider dropping some serious $ on NOS Mullards or Telefunkens.

As far as current production tubes, my favorite is the Tung Sol 12AX7. Chinese are nice, but I don't think they have the character I'm looking for in V1. I use the chinese for everything after V1 though, since they're solid tubes, sound good and are cheap to buy. I'm not a big fan of Sovtek or JJ 12AX7s. The Sovtek seemed a tad harsh to me and the JJs are too dark for my tastes.

 

[parntz145]

I tried the Telefunkens and didnt dig them. I bought 3 of them all NOS and ended up ditching them. Not worth the money IMO.

 

[D-Rock]

Marshall's seem to love Tungsol's, JJ's and Chinese pre's...

 

[johnny q]

I love Tung Sols but have had a bad failure rate lately.

Is that the case?? I am not surprised - I love the tone of these but the 10 or so I have now all make helicopter noises in all of my amps, I am leary to buy them again. My next choice would be the Chinese c9's but is it just me or are they getting expensive?

JQ

 

[mincy]

I tried the Telefunkens and didnt dig them. I bought 3 of them all NOS and ended up ditching them. Not worth the money IMO.

Good to know. I hate spending a ton of money on tubes. It's bad enough retubing 3 or 4 amps with current production tubes. I don't need to start paying premium prices on top of that.

Has anyone tried the Mullard RIs? I'm curious about them and haven't gotten a chance to try them out yet.

 

[Superunknown]

Wizard=Mullard
Cameron CCV=LPS & 9th
Cameron modded=EH

 

[Hollywood]

Guys I started the whole process with the pre tubes tonite. I am at the present leaning for the Tung-sol IN V-1 [ Yeah, I got my wife to go get two new tung-sols today]... and then all chinese which are the Groove Tubes gold series 12ax-7 c, chinese in v-2 v-3 v-4. boxes say premium select.
So I tried the mullard in the v-2 and the amp sounded like azz. I am sure the mullards are a great pre-tube as I have used them many times but not in this amp. So I am gonna leave it until tomorrow nite and come back and try a few more but right now with the current line up of Tung-sol in v-1 and all GT chinese in the 2,3, and 4 spots the gain is now useable all the way through the control and the fizzy Bullsh@t I had playing out from the amp is gone.
Man the time it takes to play mix and match I could have had a vacation. I am gonna try the mullards in the Wizard next up cause Superunknown usually gives us great tones so his suggestion will be noted. Thanks fellows. By the way I am trying to find the RFT tubes for one of my Wizards, ya know what store has them new in the box ya let me know.

 

[Superunknown]

Guys I started the whole process with the pre tubes tonite. I am at the present leaning for the Tung-sol IN V-1 [ Yeah, I got my wife to go get two new tung-sols today]... and then all chinese which are the Groove Tubes gold series 12ax-7 c, chinese in v-2 v-3 v-4. boxes say premium select.
So I tried the mullard in the v-2 and the amp sounded like azz. I am sure the mullards are a great pre-tube as I have used them many times but not in this amp. So I am gonna leave it until tomorrow nite and come back and try a few more but right now with the current line up of Tung-sol in v-1 and all GT chinese in the 2,3, and 4 spots the gain is now useable all the way through the control and the fizzy Bullsh@t I had playing out from the amp is gone.
Man the time it takes to play mix and match I could have had a vacation. I am gonna try the mullards in the Wizard next up cause Superunknown usually gives us great tones so his suggestion will be noted. Thanks fellows. By the way I am trying to find the RFT tubes for one of my Wizards, ya know what store has them new in the box ya let me know.

Make sure that you use "real" Mullards....not the new sensor reissue....I dislike that tube.