Very pleasantly surprised by GT EL34's

[Vrad]

So I took out the 6CA7's out of my Super Lead and went back to EL34's. I'm never straying from EL34's again! LOL!
Now I didn't have any new EL34's laying around so I went rummaging through my seemingly endless supply of tubes and pulled out a quad of Groove Tube EL34's. They're rated an 8, which is 'clean' according to their scale. So I pop them in and bias up the amp... Possibly the best set of EL34's I've ever had in this amp! Why the hell have I not tried them before!? Oh I know why?! Everyone says GT's suck! LOL!

 

[glpg80]

groove tubes is not a tube company.

they are a marketing company that charges extra for their 1-10 rating scale.

they buy wholesale direct from russia. mark the price up, put their sticker on it, and pick the ones that look the best/arent deffective.

they dont do burn ins or any of that sort.

thetubestore.com skips the middleman and any tubes you purchase from them are directly from ______'s plant and the savings are huge.

dougstubes does burn ins on preamp tubes for reliability, so i purchase power tubes from thetubestore and all of my preamp tubes from dougstubes.

 

[jhale667]

I always had pleasant dealings with Aspen and Rick at Groove Tubes. I have two GT EL-34s (and two 2 6L6s) in my Mesa Mark III currently and they sound great.

 

[JTyson]

I've been hearing they suck for years, I have not had any problems out of them and they have been pretty reliable. I think you can find people that love and hate everything out there

 

[Vrad]

Nice. When it comes to tubes I let my own ears do the listening.

Yup... They biased right up with very consistent numbers and really good!

 

[Vrad]

groove tubes is not a tube company.

they are a marketing company that charges extra for their 1-10 rating scale.

they buy wholesale direct from russia. mark the price up, put their sticker on it, and pick the ones that look the best/arent deffective.

they dont do burn ins or any of that sort.

thetubestore.com skips the middleman and any tubes you purchase from them are directly from ______'s plant and the savings are huge.

dougstubes does burn ins on preamp tubes for reliability, so i purchase power tubes from thetubestore and all of my preamp tubes from dougstubes.

I know what they are...
The don't seem over-priced. A quad costs $72.

 

[shreder75]

clips or you rie!

 

[Vrad]

I always had pleasant dealings with Aspen and Rick at Groove Tubes. I have two GT EL-34s (and two 2 6L6s) in my Mesa Mark III currently and they sound great.

Never dealt with him directly, but I have them in 2 amps now and they sound very good.

6L6 in the Budda SD 80 II
EL34's in the Marshall.

I built an almost identical Musikraft guitar by the way! Only difference is I have a pickup ring on the humbucker. Guitar freaking RULES!

 

[Vrad]

I've been hearing they suck for years, I have not had any problems out of them and they have been pretty reliable. I think you can find people that love and hate everything out there

Yup... That's why I think I pulled them out of the original amp they were in. I pulled the EL34's out of old Carvin X100B. They've been sitting around in a box for like 10 years now... LOL!

 

[Vrad]

clips or you rie!

Yeah I know... I'll make some clips. Just for you. I'm sure everyone is sick and tired of my clips. Dude we need to hang out, I've got some gear for you to try.

 

[luxxtone]

The only reason people say they hate Groove Tubes is because they charge more for the tubes...because of the testing and matching process they do. They are Chinese, Russian and other company's tubes. Ruby tubes does the same thing. But it's worth it! When we buy bulk tubes we have about a 30% rejection rate due to weak, noisey and microphonic tubes. You pay a little extra for the service from GT, but you get matched and working tubes! It's funny sometimes because the same people that say GT sucks, have the EXACT same tubes in their amp...just not tested and rebranded by GT.

By the way, which ones did you get? They have EL34L, EL34R and EL34M. The L's have increased headroom, the R's are Russian (Sovtek I think) and the M's are made exclusively for Groove Tubes and are Mullard copies.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

groove tubes is not a tube company.

they are a marketing company that charges extra for their 1-10 rating scale.

they buy wholesale direct from russia. mark the price up, put their sticker on it, and pick the ones that look the best/arent deffective.

they dont do burn ins or any of that sort.

thetubestore.com skips the middleman and any tubes you purchase from them are directly from ______'s plant and the savings are huge.

dougstubes does burn ins on preamp tubes for reliability, so i purchase power tubes from thetubestore and all of my preamp tubes from dougstubes.

Doug is a great guy to deal with!

However I too have had great success over the years with the Groove E34Ls's and have never had a failure in two decades.

My first choice is the German Siemens EL34 though.
I have 7 quads saved ... a lifetime or more.

Many say the Siemens is only safe at 475 plate voltage or less...
This is BS as Bogner used 'em for years with complete success as most Xtcy's are in the 500-520 range. NEVER had a failure with a Siemens 34 at any plate voltage!

Keith

hehehehe...

 

[Marshall Law]

I know what they are...
The don't seem over-priced. A quad costs $72.

I just picked up a quad of JJ E34L's from euro tubes for $54.00 yesterday

 

[Vrad]

The only reason people say they hate Groove Tubes is because they charge more for the tubes...because of the testing and matching process they do. They are Chinese, Russian and other company's tubes. Ruby tubes does the same thing. But it's worth it! When we buy bulk tubes we have about a 30% rejection rate due to weak, noisey and microphonic tubes. You pay a little extra for the service from GT, but you get matched and working tubes! It's funny sometimes because the same people that say GT sucks, have the EXACT same tubes in their amp...just not tested and rebranded by GT.

By the way, which ones did you get? They have EL34L, EL34R and EL34M. The L's have increased headroom, the R's are Russian (Sovtek I think) and the M's are made exclusively for Groove Tubes and are Mullard copies.

Yeah, they seem to be competitively priced. Nothing crazy.
Mine don't say anything. Just GTEL34. I'm assuming the're the R's. Some kind of Russian or Chinese tube.

 

[Vrad]

I know what they are...
The don't seem over-priced. A quad costs $72.

I just picked up a quad of JJ E34L's from euro tubes for $54.00 yesterday

I don't use E34Ls so I didn't really look at them too hard. I usually use SED's and they're pretty expensive no matter where you go.

 

[Vrad]

Groove Tubes was bought by Fender about a year and a half ago. All the original guys at GT are gone for what it's worth.

GTEL34LS = JJ EL34L


I agree with others that Doug's tubes and other vendors that test and burn in tubes for 24 hours are superior to anyone else.

Myles Rose who used to work at GT, has some very interesting info about the GT tube testing process. He is a member here and at other forums.

Oh the controversy! LOL!
I wish I had a penny for everytime a company got bought out and the original staff left..
As for the tubes, all I know is that these tubes sound good. As do the ones in my Budda, so they're doing something right. Myles Rose talks too much.. My eyes glaze over at some of his 'articles'.. This shit ain't rocket surgery...

 

[luxxtone]

Doug at Doug's Tubes is great....nice guy and great service.

 

[Vrad]

Doug at Doug's Tubes is great....nice guy and great service.

I've bought tubes from him many times over they years. Yes he's a good guy and the serivce is very good. No complaints whatsoever.

 

[just42dave]

I personally do not like current,,,last 10 yrs. Gt tubes other than their 12ax7c..Why because once you can id different tubes you see that they are sovtek tubes or shuguang tubes with a higher mark up,,,No big deal if you dont care..I do,,so I just dont buy them...On the other hand I do have a quad of the GT el34M tubes that they make in the USA and I love themm at the pres time in my Legacy,,They are nice dual getter etc...
Old Groove tubes are great,,,I got a set of the 6l6ge that are bout 11 yrs old and cant wait ta use them!!!And 4 12ax7c GT that are the 8th gen chinese with the foil getter and 2 12at7 with the foil 8th gen..

 

[Vrad]

I personally do not like current,,,last 10 yrs. Gt tubes other than their 12ax7c..Why because once you can id different tubes you see that they are sovtek tubes or shuguang tubes with a higher mark up,,,No big deal if you dont care..I do,,so I just dont buy them...On the other hand I do have a quad of the GT el34M tubes that they make in the USA and I love themm at the pres time in my Legacy,,They are nice dual getter etc...
Old Groove tubes are great,,,I got a set of the 6l6ge that are bout 11 yrs old and cant wait ta use them!!!And 4 12ax7c GT that are the 8th gen chinese with the foil getter and 2 12at7 with the foil 8th gen..

For example:
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=219172

I would try those.