Depending on when it was built, Russian or Slovakian may be the only choices for production. I like my Tungsols in V1, but JJ's in 2 & 3 usually give it some warmth, and smooth some of that harshness. Some NOS USA 5751's in V2 can add some clarity and tame some raspiness, but cuts the gain a tad, (which is a good thing in most cases).
Absolutely. I experiment with every amp I've touched. Good tubes wake up good amps too, not just so-so ones. Some respond very well. But, I always start with the preamp. Average tubes are typically going to hold the amp back, even spoil their potential. I'm guessing even $4000 amps can come with clunkers in it.
Yeah, not sure how it would be in the later SLO's, but in my '89 SLO the best sounding pre's in in have been those Mullard's you mentioned and also the JAN Philips ECG's (best overall American 12AX7's imo and also the best ones for my Rev D Recto). I think for what the OP is going for the Philips would be a little better in this case, but both are great in it. Of all my amps my '89 SLO is one of the most responsive to pre-tube changes. If the OP was playing more leads, single note type riffs, or wanted something more midrange-y and in a Marshall-y direction, I'd say go with the Mullard's (Telefunken ribbed plated also very good)
A man with a Gjika 10n? Yeah, Bob and I are eye to eye on tubes: Mullard f91/92's (no MC1's) and JJ KT77s.
Yeah with my Gjika the Mullard pre's were head and shoulders above the rest in it. Tubes are kinda the one thing I saved for last with rabbit holes (did the others with speakers, amps, pickups, etc), but whenever I get into it I go deep and so lately it's just been for me exploring all the various pre's in all my amps, just started doing rectifier tube swaps (in my amps that have them), and just started with the EL84's and 6V6's. Gonna save the bigger bottle tubes for after haha, so I can't have input on that yet, but I do like the Sylvania 6L6's in my Boogie's. I find it fascinating that in general if you compare the same brand tubes across different types (like for example GE vs RCA for both 12AX7's, 6SL7's, 6V6's or 5Y3's) they all compare the same way. The GE's all have their specific voicing in all their tube types as do RCA, Sylvania, Mullard, etc do for theirs, but how their voicings actually translate to various tube types in the various amps you never really know until trying
In other amps those pre's can be pretty good, but in my '89 SLO they were awful (ruined the amp), but it's a very sensitive amp to pre's. My tech replaced the Chinese 6N4's my SLO came with for those JJ's and was wondering why the amp sounded so much worse, but put the stock 6N4's back in and there was the great sound again, but have moved on to much better pre's for it since then. I put those JJ's in other amps I have instead. The vintage USA Tung-Sol 12AX7's actually sounded quite good in it (maybe just a little tubby sometimes), but they sound nothing like the current made ones
I've heard of GEC/Marconi (came across them in my Ebay searches), but know nothing about them. I'm not that experienced yet with the bigger bottle power tube swaps, but I like the JJ E34L's a lot in my Rev D Rectifier. I honestly haven't liked much the JJ KT77's or KT77's in general. It's the only thing I've had in my Gjika so far and obviously sounds great with them, but I had them in also my Rev D Recto and Rev 1 Uberschall and much preferred EL34's in them. The KT77's seemed to have good punch, tightness, and clarity, but the Uber especially just became so much more alive with the JJ EL34's I have in it now. It got a lot more growly, warm, fat and complex sounding imo, but who knows maybe the Gjika is just right with them. I've not experimented much with these tube types yet. No strong opinions yet
When I had my 2nd SLO, I was more into tube swapping and just assumed the USA Sylvania 6L6 would kill in it just like my C+s....nope. Same goes for the Winged Cs...those stock 5881s were far and away the best power tube choice for the SLO. Very noticeable. Pre tubes mine seemed to like the Chinese 8th gen I had pulled from a Rivera TBR 1SL. My stash at that time was just being built up lol, so I didn't have the collection of pre tubes I have now.
In my opinion V30s and SLOs, Marshalls ALWAYS sounds bad...mids on top of mids. Ugh. Only a Jubilee sounds good with a V30 to my ears, when it comes down to those 2 amps.
I don't know. Robin Trower used V-30-loaded Marshall cabs for decades w/ various Marshall heads. Always sounded great.
I have a few 1960AV cabs and I love them with all the amps I have here. 2204; 5150; Tremoverb; Mark; AC30; etc. Cab definitely is not dark but is very crunchy and has a nice bark.
I agree. This is where the T75's work so well. Especially with the Marshalls, (go figure)
