# Opinion on Tubes from tubestore



## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Ok, I pretty much fried one of my EL34's due to having biased it slightly too hot and running the amp at ten. ( I like power tube distortion and my plexi clone is a NMV)I experienced a drop in volume and things are fizzier.. low and behold i took a look inside the chassis and there the first output tube was pitch red and looking like it was gonna blow lol. Woopsie on that one. I will bias at 60% next time rather than 70%. 

So now, instead of going with the standard JJ El34's what else is there? Have you guys tried the Svetlana or shuagang? How about preamp tubes, what combos have you liked? I have read that many people don't dig JJ's all the way through, seems there is a lot of mixing cheap chinese with sovtek or others.. what have you guys found?

Anyone try KT77's?


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm running Shuagang EL34s (Ruby tubes actually) in my Koch right now and I really like them. Nice, classic sound to them. And they heat up fast and stay nice and stable over the course of a night.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I got a set of KT77's and loved them. They have the crunch of EL34's, but with more warmth. Especially when playing clean. Highly recommened.


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## Michelle (Aug 21, 2006)

I thought I would give the Russian EH 6BQ5's a try in my Traynor. Loaded them up and turned on the amp, some crackle and pop but it was running, played for a bit and thought it didn't sound right, put them on the tester and it said fine, (yeah right). Loaded them back in and played a bit then another pop, this time I say the thermonuclear flash.

Both of them fried, smoky on the top, cracked glass on the bottom. One tube is actually taller than the other, guess the only thing that matches is the boxes. <shrug>

I haven't sent them back, for $20 I'm not sure it is worth the bother. Checking the tube specs v/s the schematic, I see that Pete thrashes these tubes with an extra 98V on the plate over the spec.

Maybe I'll just make them into Christmas tree ornaments. :wave:


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Michelle said:


> I thought I would give the Russian EH 6BQ5's a try in my Traynor. Loaded them up and turned on the amp, some crackle and pop but it was running, played for a bit and thought it didn't sound right, put them on the tester and it said fine, (yeah right). Loaded them back in and played a bit then another pop, this time I say the thermonuclear flash.
> 
> Both of them fried, smoky on the top, cracked glass on the bottom. One tube is actually taller than the other, guess the only thing that matches is the boxes. <shrug>
> 
> ...


You may have hit upon a new business there, Michelle. :banana:


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## Brian G (Aug 17, 2006)

So far I've had success with dealings with The Tube Store. I recently needed new matched-pair EL34's for my Rivera. I was happy with the sound of the existing tubes, which were Winged C's. These seem to get a lot of favorable comments, so I replaced with same.

The tech said the old ones were a little over-biased, the bases were darkening somewhat. The new ones sound terrific.

I had also replaced V1 - V3 with Jan Philips 5751's, going away from the stock Sovtek's and replacement Groove Tube 12AX7M's, and what an improvement!

Their prices also seem reasonable, and good advice. Both orders arrived the next day.

Brian


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Thanks for the input folks.. after some reading I have decided to go with tung sols in v1 and v2 and then a balanced ECC83 in v3 for phase invertion. I am goign to try the KT77's but might also grab siome shuagang. I have some NOS tubes in my Laney and yeah, tubes do make a diff so i figured i would pay the extra for the tung sols. I don't think i have really spoiled this plexi clone yet so might as well do it now. I also need to crack her open and remove the PPIMV i installed. I think something got loose and resulted in the fried tube. I also think i ran my tubes a bit hot, gonna bias a little more cautiously this time around, I need these to last me longer than 2 or 3 months of an hour playing a day.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I've beeen happy with the tube store, and with the KT 77's. Really nice tubes.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> Thanks for the input folks.. after some reading I have decided to go with tung sols in v1 and v2 and then a balanced ECC83 in v3 for phase invertion. I am goign to try the KT77's but might also grab siome shuagang. I have some NOS tubes in my Laney and yeah, tubes do make a diff so i figured i would pay the extra for the tung sols. I don't think i have really spoiled this plexi clone yet so might as well do it now. I also need to crack her open and remove the PPIMV i installed. I think something got loose and resulted in the fried tube. I also think i ran my tubes a bit hot, gonna bias a little more cautiously this time around, I need these to last me longer than 2 or 3 months of an hour playing a day.


KP, if you've put in a PPIMV then you may not have had a bias problem at all. You may have lost your bias!

I was a little puzzled when you said 70% and a cherry red tube. That's just nuts! You should never have had a problem. Even at 80% you maybe would have had a red spot develop that slowly got brighter. Some tubes are tough enough not to even show that! Cherry red? No way!

The only way I could see that is if you lost the bias totally to that tube and it just cranked on to full boogie plate current. Since the PPIMV is in that area where the output grids get both signal AND bias voltage if you had a loose connection then that could easily have snaffled the poor tube!

I operate as a dealer for the Tube Store. I get ALL my tubes from them and sell at their prices. They are truly some of the nicest and most professional people it has ever been my pleasure with which to do business!

I'd check that PPIMV out carefully...

:food-smiley-004:


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

i hope i got KT77's for my bday . people are always suggesting a tung sol 12AX7 for V1, which i hope to try out as well.

the jsx will be more of a fire-breather then it is already, muahahah!


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I've been buying my tubes from the tubestore in the last 6 months. I have gotten 3 different EL34's from then since, Svetlanas, SED Winged Cs and JJ E34Ls. I haven't had any issues with tubes that I have gotten from them and that includes, Tungsols and JJs.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Anybody else notice how quick the $$ can add up when shopping for tubes!!!  I better make sure my amp is running properly before blowing another set..


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2007)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> Anybody else notice how quick the $$ can add up when shopping for tubes!!!  I better make sure my amp is running properly before blowing another set..


Replace "when shopping for tubes" with "when shopping for any musical gear" and I agree completely. :smile:


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

and now i've got my eyes on a used 80's marshall cab with UK made G12T-75's.. lofu.. they had me at "80's" lol.. so i may just be unloading my Avatar at some point. Hell, its not my fault I turned out a boring old gt-75 guy!


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## bRian (Jul 3, 2006)

> I have read that many people don't dig JJ's all the way through


I haven't heard of any problems with JJ's, been using them myself for almost 5 years. And I agree the staff at the Tube Store are second to none, without a doubt the best service I've gotten off the net.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

No complaints about the tube store here either. I just got a new set of Mullard re-issue EL34's for my Laney GH100TI. Killer...

One note about the Tung-Sols. They sound great but they can be hit & miss. I've had half a dozen of them and 2 quickly developed a bad hum. One was in my Laney & the other in my Trinity. I tried the bad ones in all positions in all three of my tube heads with the same result. The rest have been fine & sound excellent.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Budda said:


> i hope i got KT77's for my bday . people are always suggesting a tung sol 12AX7 for V1, which i hope to try out as well.
> 
> the jsx will be more of a fire-breather then it is already, muahahah!


I don't know if the Tung-Sol will make it more of a "fire-breather". I used them in V1 & V2 in my Laney to mellow it a bit in fact - but I did have Chinese 12AX7's in the thing before that & they can be a little bright/edgy, especially in a Brit-voiced amp. The Tung-Sols are great sounding tubes though. Still plenty of gain/drive, but a warmer tone.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

They have super quick turn around time.. a day later and the tubes were on my step! Going to bias and chuck in the Kt-77's with tung sols and one balance ECC83 tonight and see how she fares.


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