Vintage Guitar article on tubes

[fierce_carrot]

November issue of VG has an incredible article by Terry Kilgore aka "the tube tramp" about using NOS tubes in amps.

The most interesting aspect of his article was about using various NOS tubes in the power section, but not an entire array of the same tubes. He suggested using ONE tube such as a mullard to "color" the sound and then stated the rest were there to provide the to power the amp, which made alot of sense to me.

Mismatching speakers was unheard of 15 years ago but is very common today.

If Terry's concept is true, and I think it has a tremendous amount of validity, would it matter which power tube socket the "coloring tube" was placed in?

[CaseyJones]

November issue of VG has an incredible article by Terry Kilgore aka "the tube tramp" about using NOS tubes in amps.

Terry Kilgore aka Sargeant Overdrive.

I think you mis-interpreted the part about mismatched power tubes, if you read on in context he talks about various 12AX7s.

Sometimes the Sarge is a little difficult to follow, meaning-wise.

Harp players like mismatched power tubes, sometimes that yields the smokey tone harp players seem to like. In guitar amps matched power tubes generally yield best response and as much headroom as possible in any particular circuit.

IMHO harp amp builders are behind the curve, technology-wise. There are a couple simple tweaks that are virtually ignored by the majority of harp amp builders.

It's good to see that Vintage Guitar has finally procured some relevent input on tubes. Guitar mags in general fall short of the mark when it comes to matters technical, for instance combining 12-18 watt PP amps with sub-10 watt SE amps in an amp "shootout" isn't much of a comparison. There are enough builders out there that vintage reproductions can be compared to other vintage reproductions, high gain amps to other high gain amps, etc.

[skyboltone]

Vintage Guitar Magazine is the only "guitar" mag I take. Whatever it covers, soup to nuts, it seems to be focused on information not drama and hype. I read the article. I took it to mean buy the one Mullard for the input tube and save your money for a good set of NOS output tubes.

They had a great shootout of 6V6s awhile back, which unfortunately I have lost or thrown out the issue, that explaned the relative strengths of about a dozen NOS 6V6s. They liked them all but were particularly fond of one RCA. I just can't remember which one....

[skeezbo]

What I got out of the article is that you can get good results if you pony up the dough for a single great sounding (probably NOS) 12ax7 and put it in your first gain stage; everything after it will will sound better because of it. I like to use something good as a phase inverter, too.
skeep

[JimiB]

however - if you had say a good single mullard EL34 and you found another tube that matched up with it fairly well current wise, I could see no problem running it like that. One mullard sounds better than no mullards.

[rfgordon]

I also found the article interesting. I've found it to be true that certain peanuts have distinct personalities, and some suit some amps while sounding wrong in other amps. For example, I always thought the clean on my Mesa Mark IV to be kind of sterile--until I stuck a Telefunken in V1. That one tube turned the amp from nice to amazing.

I've got a coupla dozen 12AX7s of various brands, and sometimes mating the right ones to the right amp takes quite a while. Some like higher voltages, others seem to prefer a lower voltage profile. A lot of mine are old "pulls" that have the branding worn off, so I don't know much about the origin of some of them, but most of them sound great.

I will also add that, in my experience, vintage/NOS 6V6s, almost regardless of brand, sound better than most new ones. The exception is the super cheap ShuJang 6V6s just luv a cathode bias amp.

[LeftyStrat]

+1 on the Telefunken for cleans. Closest production tube I've found to them is the JJ/Tesla EC803 S. Not as good as a good Telefunken, but similar character when you're trying to bring out some shimmer and dimension in a clean sound.

I have some old used Mullard 12AX7s that can really take off some of the brittleness on the highend, mucho buttery.

But V1 is usually all that really matters, as long as you use quality production tubes in the rest of the amp.

I tend to stay away from NOS power tubes unless I come across a real deal. I did manage to pick up one black base RCA 6V6 which sounds beautiful in the single ended amps I've built. But I just can't see spending $1k for a set of Mullard EL34's and having them wear out after a year or two. I guess if I was recording a lot I could just use them then.

But a stash of various NOS 12ax7's is definitely the most cost effective means of improving an amps tone. They last a lot longer than power tubes also.

[CaseyJones]

Vintage Guitar Magazine is the only "guitar" mag I take. Whatever it covers, soup to nuts, it seems to be focused on information not drama and hype. I read the article. I took it to mean buy the one Mullard for the input tube and save your money for a good set of NOS output tubes.

VG is slightly more tolerable than other guitar rags in that many of the mainstream mags feature the current issue undead rock stars playing 7 strings through Mode 4s, most UN-vintage!

As far as drama and hype goes... $30k plus vintage Strats are all about drama and hype. If you don't have a feel for drama and hype you're probably not good enough at self-promotion to be able to afford a $30k guitar!

Then again, a real 'Wreck is a $10k plus amp...

I tend to stay away from NOS power tubes unless I come across a real deal. I did manage to pick up one black base RCA 6V6 which sounds beautiful in the single ended amps I've built. But I just can't see spending $1k for a set of Mullard EL34's and having them wear out after a year or two. I guess if I was recording a lot I could just use them then..

The great thing about NOS power amp tubes is that a good set will last nearly forever unless they're used in an amp that's hard on tubes, even then, we're all techs so it's a matter of tweaking voltages to get the most from a set of Mullards for instance.

Mullard EL34s retail for around $325 a pair right now although REAL KT66s are getting pricey.

A shrewd horsetrader can still get good stuff at a bargain.

But a stash of various NOS 12ax7's is definitely the most cost effective means of improving an amps tone. They last a lot longer than power tubes also.

No doubt! While you're at it tuck away some 12AY7s and 5751s.

12AT7s are still pretty cheap, there are some great deals ot be had on them.