preamp tubes, jj vs new mullard?

[dstroud]

anyone try the new Mullard 12ax7 in vintage Marshall style amps (nmv, jcm800)? Im pretty happy with jjs, but thought about checking these out.

 

[napalmdeath]

JJ's are great for adding warmth in V2 & V3 slots, but a bit sterile for V1, (for me anyway). For that spot, Tungsols are my go-to. The Mullards are a bit woofy, the Tungsols have a nice grit, the right amount of brightness, and balanced all around for my tastes, and I'd consider my Laney GH50L in the Marshall camp, and a Tungsol sits in V1. But, I've got a cocktail of Tungsol in V1, Gold Lion in V2, JJ in V3, and Sovtek LPS in V4.

However, the JJ ECC803S is a great tube for V1. Nice mids, and more musical than the ECC83S with a good low end.

 

[Bash_Man]

I had tried the Mullard CV4004 as well as the new JJ E83CC in both my Splawn Nitro and a previously owned Egnater Armageddon.

My personal findinds to my ears were:

• Both are very high gain tubes and for the amount of gain they provide, they're pretty low noise. Compared to other tubes that arent as high gain you can consider the CV4004 and JJ to introduce more noise.
• Mullard CV4004 at times felt like putting a blanket infront of the amp high end/treble wise, but definitly felt like they tightned the amp nicely.. especially when used in a V1 (tried one in my old Egnater Armageddon). They also helped removed alot of that buzzy gain characteristic.
• The JJ E83CC feel tighter and have more higher than.. the high end on them is not harsh like the standard JJ.. at least to my ears. Also helped removed that buzzy gain characteristic.. also felt like added thickness to the overall tone, especially single notes.

Good luck

 

[Cap217]

This get tricky. I’ve recently went on a tube quest and have settled on ruby china hg+ v1 and hg v2 and on. I had to use a tad 0100 in a soldano v1 because it was the quietest.

I also bought a Mullard 4004 to try but haven’t yet.

As for jj, I think they are really good. I always want to find something better but it’s just different. If you need a v2+ tube, the jj is great. I like the punch it adds to an amp. I haven’t tried them in v1 but I’d use the 803 over it anyways. But at that price I’d consider something else.

I just bought some ts to try in v1. Haven’t yet.

 

[Luca79]

Bought a bunch of JJ from different sources. Just a few sounded great, full and gainy. Really hard to compare tubes if not selected well, and for real.

 

[Nigel]

Orange puts a JJ in V1 of the Brent Hinds Terror, then Chinese in V2 and the PI. Sounds killer.

 

[Nigel]

Also, it’s been my experience that all new sensor glass has an upper mid signature that turns me off. The OG military stuff they rebranded at first was nice, but the subsequent offerings, especially the stuff marketed under trademarks purchased like Mullard, Tung Sol and Svetlana are blasphemous to the real deal.