Social distancing? Let's talk favorite V1 tubes

[psychodave]

I like Ei as well for gain channels. I use them in most amps. For clean amps I like GE short plate 12AX7’s. I have too many boxes filled with tubes to post a pic of them.

 

[rickenbacker198]

Third vote for EI 12ax7 in V1.
Clear, Musical gain.

They’re too rare now days to use everywhere,
but I usually have one in the Cathode Follower too, makes a big difference in high gain amps vs Chinese IMO.

 

[flcmcya]

I also like GE's for cleaner stuff....... I always seem to end up with old Mullards in my higher gain amps though.
Sylvania and Rays not so much.... but better in V2,V3.
I have a wad of RCA long greys if you want to try a couple.

 

[blackie13]

tungsram 12ax7

 

[novosibir]

Right after the orig. Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate the pre war EI ECC83 is the best what you can have in the driver (PI) spot...

... and there microphony isn't an issue.

 

[SpiderWars]

Right after the orig. Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate the pre war EI ECC83 is the best what you can have in the driver (PI) spot...

... and there microphony isn't an issue.

Does the PI tube preference matter whether the amp is a modern MV amp vs an older non-MV amp where we really push it? I've always wondered this.

 

[novosibir]

Especially when you push the power stage into saturation the preference of the PI tube matters.
Long plate ECC83's in general are the better choice for the PI spot

 

[Picasso]

I like the pre-war Ei ECC83 for dirty channels.

those are some great tubes!

 

[LP Freak]

These aren’t too shabby either

 

[Rdodson]

At the risk of driving the prices up even further, I'll throw my hat in the ring of the EI's.

Just awesome. They are NOT the highest gain, far from it. But they have a harmonic complexity and richness in the attack that is hard to find in new production. They enable playing with less gain. So, if you like 7 or 8 on your BE mode or BLUE channel 101b, these will make 4 sound good. I have a favorite one that I've had for 15 years or so that I immediately put in V1 of whatever my main amp is.

 

[harddriver]

These aren’t too shabby either

Were those Tesla shortplates made on the telefunken machinery like the Ei's?

With my 69 SL I was running all sylvania but the long plates were susceptible to microphonics, I loved the tone though. I experiment with a 1960 Tungsol, 1963 Mullards, GE's, RCA's, RFT's(not good for V1 quite harsh actually) Modern Mullard Cv4004's, Sovtek 12ax7wB, but I wanted to try telefunken or EI in there as well, I thought I had bought 1 or two but I couldn't find them the other day as I wanted to try them again. The RFT's were a letdown, but they were recommend for V2 on tubemonger so I guess it was correct. To note, the 1960 Tungsol sounded pretty good but could get a little ringy. I felt the Mullards were pretty tight microphonic wise but kinda dark,I can see why guys love them in bright amps.

I wanted a reasonable modern V1 tube that could handle gain yet sound as close to the Sylvania's as I could get.

I ended up with this.... Modern production Tungsol V1, Chinese 8th or 9th Generation V2(to handle the CF voltage, NOS Sylvania V3. After reaching this lineup, I kept switching out the modern Tungsol with all the V1's listed and I ended up keeping it there. It did miss some of the Sylvania high end clank and detail but not by much. YMMV!

Good discussion gents, like the RT days of old!

Do the Ei and Telefunken handle high gain or do they get plate ringing like the Sylvania's can?

I think Lynchs favorite 12ax7 tube was the Ei he used to gush about them.
Here's what that tube format sounded like.

 

[Speeddemon]

One of my fave's, my lil' stash of vintage RFT ECC83's and a 60's RCA 12AU7 (which can transform the EVH 50W's red channel to Gary Moore territory).

TP thrown in, 'cuz...I can.

 

[skullfxr]

I generally do not pay much for NOS tubes, but I have a few good ol Mullard ECC83 that I like AND they tested as new and were $10 a pop. Hard to beat. I have over a dozen 7025 Phillips JAN GE, etc that my Riveras and Splawns like in the PI. they really quiet the background noise down, and now I don't even use noise gates. I have a tungsram ECC83 in my 18 watt build V1 and it is like raw sex. I probably have 30+ lower gain NOS tubes that are here and there and in my drawer that can come in handy. Them I also snagged for $10 a pop.

I will say that I will not attempt to keep up with most of you. Lol.

I am more of a tube whore in my vintage Fenders than my high gain stuff.

New production I really like the sovtek LPS 12AX7's in PI. and the new production Tung sol aren't bad either for some things. I do have some old production Tung Sols as well and they are far better.

 

[psychodave]

To add regarding my CCV, I run an Ei in V1 (input High gain), V2 high gain cathode follower, and V3 clean cathode follower. Then V4 is a short plate GE (clean input). I use a Chinese 8th generation for the PI. I may need to revisit the PI.

The Ei’s really add gain, depth and texture to the sound. I must have 50-75 of them and only found 2-3 have noise issues when using them on my tube testers.

For stock Marshall’s, I LOVE Tungsram in the PI.

 

[novosibir]

... they have a harmonic complexity and richness in the attack that is hard to find in new production.

May I concretize - that's impossible to find in tubes of current production.

 

[novosibir]

Were those Tesla shortplates made on the telefunken machinery like the Ei's?

Neither, nor.
Telefunken has shredded all his machinery after they've stopped tube production.
Confirmed is, that Tesla got the plans of the famous Telefunken ECC803S and then have built the machinery for their E83CC straight after these plans.
Keep an eye on the factory code. "32" is Roznov plant, the better and nicer sounding ones, mostly with gold plated pins.
"37" are later productions in Prague plant, not as sweet and complex sounding as the "32"

But a rumor is, that EI got machinery and/or plans of the Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate for their tube's production.
The EI only at first sight is looking like a Tele, but look some closer, then you'd notice more and more differences.

Do the Ei and Telefunken handle high gain or do they get plate ringing like the Sylvania's can?

 

[psychodave]

At the risk of driving the prices up even further, I'll throw my hat in the ring of the EI's.

Just awesome. They are NOT the highest gain, far from it. But they have a harmonic complexity and richness in the attack that is hard to find in new production. They enable playing with less gain. So, if you like 7 or 8 on your BE mode or BLUE channel 101b, these will make 4 sound good. I have a favorite one that I've had for 15 years or so that I immediately put in V1 of whatever my main amp is.

I just ran randomly ran through 10 Ei’s. Every one of them was high gain. In both MU and transconductance. I found one that was really balanced in both high mu and tc. I’m going to pop that in the PI of my CCV.

 

[FourT6and2]

RFT or 6N4-J

 

[Racerxrated]

To add regarding my CCV, I run an Ei in V1 (input High gain), V2 high gain cathode follower, and V3 clean cathode follower. Then V4 is a short plate GE (clean input). I use a Chinese 8th generation for the PI. I may need to revisit the PI.

The Ei’s really add gain, depth and texture to the sound. I must have 50-75 of them and only found 2-3 have noise issues when using them on my tube testers.

For stock Marshall’s, I LOVE Tungsram in the PI.

I think one of Dave's long ago posts turned me on to the Tungsram in the PI spot for Marshalls. Really killer there. I don't like any of my Ei pre war as much as others though, in V1 of my 2204. I'll have to try one in the PI spot per Larry. I really love a Tungsram in V1 though, and the Chinese 6N4 has these screaming mids that I don't get with any other out of my collection. I seem to like a vintage RCA, GE, or Sylvania in V2 though. I rotate the V1 tube just for some change up with Amperex, Mullard, even a 12at7 for a little lower gain/more clarity experiment.
Tube rolling is always fun!

 

[psychodave]

To add regarding my CCV, I run an Ei in V1 (input High gain), V2 high gain cathode follower, and V3 clean cathode follower. Then V4 is a short plate GE (clean input). I use a Chinese 8th generation for the PI. I may need to revisit the PI.

The Ei’s really add gain, depth and texture to the sound. I must have 50-75 of them and only found 2-3 have noise issues when using them on my tube testers.

For stock Marshall’s, I LOVE Tungsram in the PI.

I tried an Ei today in the phase inverted of my CCV. I found one that had really high TC and MU. I took out the 6N4j. I noticed immediately that the amp was quite a bit tighter and had a bit more gain. The Ei was rated higher than the 6N4J, so that was expected. Full chords had a pleasant grind to them and we’re very full... but what was interesting was that single notes were clear and focused sounding. Two note chords had that same clarity which I really prefer. For now, I keeping the Ei in the phase inverter.
So now I’m running four Ei’s and one GE.