New Mullard Tubes?

Walter Broes

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I saw that, very interesting. I hope they'll be at least semi-affordable, and as rugged as the old ones. If they're doing a GZ34 of the same quality as "the real thing", I'm stocking up!
 

capnjuan

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Nice to see someone w/ creds give the EHs, JJs, and RubyDubys a run for their money ... and maybe put an end to sonic Blind Man's Bluff picking through used RCAs and the rest of them. News release doesn't exactly tout audio virtues. Encouraging that they will be produced to tight tolerances but I wonder if anyone really knows whether manufacturing tolerances are related to tone? They look like ships built in bottles ....

12ax7.jpg
 

capnjuan

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krysh said:
until then the preamp tubes of my choice are the JJ ECC803S, had an old mullard and they sound very similar.
Hi Michael; I too have had good luck with JJ 12AX7s/ECC83s and the JJ 6V6s. I am running a premium JJ 12AT7/ECC81 and I like that tube also. J
 

capnjuan

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Walter Broes said:
I saw that, very interesting. I hope they'll be at least semi-affordable, and as rugged as the old ones. If they're doing a GZ34 of the same quality as "the real thing", I'm stocking up!
Hi Walter; same thing for their EL34/6CA7 which is widely used in Marshall designs and was very popular in US hi-fi gear in the 60s and 70s. CJ
 

Walter Broes

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Yep. Never had an EL34 amp though.

The Super Reverb that got stolen had a Mullard Rectifier, and first two preamp tubes were nice NOS Mullards.

I had a JJ 12AT7 die on me two weeks ago.
 

gilded

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JP, thanks for posting the info about the 'New Mullard Company'.

I really dug the company history and the film reel about assembling tubes.

I hope the new company is good! I love old Mullard tubes in my Hiwatt amps and the Marshalls I used to have, not to mention Fenders, or a Hammond tone cab or two!!
 

cjd-player

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krysh said:
until then the preamp tubes of my choice are the JJ ECC803S,
had an old mullard and they sound very similar.
http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/product_in ... b6f96bda26

+1 I use the JJ ECC803S as the first preamp tube in both of my Traynor amps. Never had a Mullard to compare to.

I like the sound better than a standard ECC83S in the first position on both of those amps. But I use the ECC83S for the second preamp (distortion boost) 'cause it gives more gain for the boost.

Anyone tried the new gold-plated ones?

Just hype maybe???
 

capnjuan

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Walter Broes said:
Yep. Never had an EL34 amp though. The Super Reverb that got stolen had a Mullard Rectifier, and first two preamp tubes were nice NOS Mullards. I had a JJ 12AT7 die on me two weeks ago.
Hi Walter; Well, a certain BB member - who shall remain nameless - has a very rare model Epiphone amp that runs EL34s. I hear you on the dead 12AT7; every one of us has a horror story to tell about the failure of new tubes. In my opinion, the failure rate of new stuff is one of the biggest reasons why people chase 60s RCA black plates, Siemens, Amperexes and the rest of the vintage makes. The fact that they are still around says something important.

Speaking of ... I have a NOS/NIB black plate RCA 5963 (military version of the 12AU7) getting ready to go in a Gibson GA30 instead of a new JJ / EH / Ruby / Sovtek ... getting sick of throwing the new ones out. I recently bought a matched quad of GE NOS/NIB 6EU7s from a woman who was liquidating the assets of her brother's estate .... anything to get around the Sovteks; I've bought 5 Sovtek 6EU7s; two hummed/buzzed right out of the box... 40% failure rate of new tubes. Bring back the damn communists!! :evil:

I also bought a pair of NOS Sylvania 7591As ... just not willing to go through it all again with EH or Sovtek :evil: :evil:

cjd-player said:
...+1 I use the JJ ECC803S as the first preamp tube in both of my Traynor amps...
...Yes ... but will they still love you tomorrow? :wink:

Anyway, welcome back Mullard - I hope they show the rest of them how it's done. CJ
 

Walter Broes

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i feel your pain, I've had my share of tube trouble in the last year.

I'm actually having more luck with old, used preamp tubes I'm junking out of radios etc... than with the new stuff, go figure.
 

cjd-player

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capnjuan said:
cjd-player said:
...+1 I use the JJ ECC803S as the first preamp tube in both of my Traynor amps...
...Yes ... but will they still love you tomorrow? :wink:

Anyway, welcome back Mullard - I hope they show the rest of them how it's done. CJ

They've been hangin in there for over three years, capt'n, although not real heavy usage. On my main amp, that's used about 3 hours a week. My practice amp considerably less.

I bought them from Eurotubes. He claims to test each one. Maybe hype, but I've been quite satisfied with all of the JJ preamp and powder tubes I have purchased from him.

I just got into this tube amp thing about 4 years ago, so I'm still a newbe.
 

capnjuan

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Hi Carl; I have a pair of JJs in the front end of my GA18 - the amp in my avatar; they do just fine; clear, chimey, good balance top to bottom. The problem is that with the resurgent interest in tubes amps, lots of mfrs and distributors are jumping on the bandwagon particularly EH and Sovtek dregding up out-of-fashion tubes like the 7591, 6973, 5881, 7027 and a few others. In their haste to get their stuff to the market, they are going to sacrifice QA/QC for filling orders ... not to mention the fact that no one has made some of these tubes in 40 years ...

I thought it was interesting that even the Mullard literature talked about achieving 10% tolerances instead of 20% as if that were a breakthrough. Finally, you and I don't push our gear like Walter and other gigging musicians do; we get sweet tone a few times a week and life is good. Having to explain tube-enomics to an audience while red-faced is another deal ... s'why Walter and many others prowl for used, reliable stuff; all of a sudden, reliability counts as much or more than tone.

If you're interested, this link will take you to a BB where there's lots of talk about Traynors; many fans there of the older models: Vintage Amps CJ
 

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CJ, okay, okay, let the Party remain nameless, but what Epi guitar amp runs on EL 34 power tubes? I got's to know!!
 

capnjuan

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Hi Harry: the EL34-driven amp is an Epiphone EA-22 sometimes referrred to as the Mighty Mite, I don't know its original model name. Transformer-coupled reverb a la Fender, tremolo, ss rectifier, fixed bias but w/o adjustment pot. The anonymous owner and I once BB-boxed over the ID of the pre-amp tubes which, in the schematic, are labelled '6EU6' ... This is what Duncan Amps Tube Data Sheet Locator says about the 6EU6. ... or .. in the words of a famous physicist:

"Return to sender, address unknown,
No such number, no such zone..."

Further and since Gibson was using 6EU7s in its contemporaneous designs, I'm pretty sure this is the result of a draftsman's brain cramp: 6AU6 + 6EU7 = 6EU6 or something like that. The EA-22s show up on eBay at the rate of 1 or 2 a year. No voltages on the schematic but at the low end probably 35 watts; never had the pleasure myself but suspect this amp could break windows at 100 yards. CJ
 

capnjuan

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cjd-player said:
I bought them from Eurotubes. He claims to test each one. Maybe hype, but I've been quite satisfied with all of the JJ preamp and powder tubes I have purchased from him.
Hi Carl; interesting thread Here from one of the Weber VST Forums with posters talking about inconsistencies in new tubes; knowledgeable people and not too technical. CJ
 

Walter Broes

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I just ordered some NOS philips 12AT7's (first position in my new reverb tank, and I want the first tube my guitar hits to be a good one!), and some 5751's (philips too) to try in my 5E7's first gain slot, there's a 12AY7 in there now, a 12AX7 is a little too gainy for me in that amp.

I'll keep you posted.
 

capnjuan

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Walter Broes said:
I just ordered some NOS philips 12AT7's (first position in my new reverb tank, and I want the first tube my guitar hits to be a good one!), and some 5751's (philips too) to try in my 5E7's first gain slot, there's a 12AY7 in there now, a 12AX7 is a little too gainy for me in that amp.
Hi Walter; I got good results in my GA8 subbing in a 12AT7 to knock back the gain. So good in fact that a friend of a friend, an accomplished player, auditioned it two days ago and swore he couldn't live without it. He's since agreed to my price but it was the 12AT7, the mid-50s matched CBS-Hytrons, and the 6087 (military 5Y3) rectifier that he was listening to that charmed him.

I've gotten so pumped about old 6V6s, I bought these Bendix Red Bank 5992s today - not cheap but a matched quad and cheaper per tube than a matched pair that sold recently on eBay:

5992s.jpg



For the last several days, I've been listening to a pair of 1953 Hytron NOS/NIB 6V6s in my GA18; like dark rum they are ... with sweet, complex harmonics ... smooth breakup ... almost intoxicating! CJ
 

jp

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gilded said:
CJ, okay, okay, let the Party remain nameless, but what Epi guitar amp runs on EL 34 power tubes? I got's to know!!
It's me, Harry. Sorry I was AWOL in the follow-up to my post guys, but I found out yesterday that one of my dearest old musician colleagues passed away and I was on the phone a lot. :( Really tragic. He was the most gifted jazz composer I knew, and we played together in quite a few projects--a jazz band, a rock band, and a duet. Although the family isn't divulging the circumstances of his death, we all suspect that he took his own life. Even more disturbing is that he's the second one of us from the jazz group to exit this life this way. <sigh>

Anyways, yes. . . the 1964 Epiphone Mighty Mite EA-22RVT.

Tube complement a la schematics--notice the aforementioned typos, probably penned after a very late night out.
1-(12AY7) 2-(12AY7) 3-(6EU6) 4-(6EU6) 5-(EL34/6AC7) 6-(EL34/6AC7)

Haven't twiddled much with it outside of plugging in and cranking it up, and the capn is correct, it's a screamer. I eventually will try some mods suggested by a local amp tech who's very knowledgeable.

BTW capn, my GA-19RVT has found a new home. Actually it's the guitar tech/business partner of the amp tech mentioned above. My plate is full, and I'd rather fiddle with the Mighty Mite, which aren't so abundant.
 
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