MASSIVE 12AX7 TUBE SHOOTOUT! NEW, NOS, 21 TUBES!

[@greghill6117]

All the Mullards and JJs sounded the best to my ears.

[@naivesteve5722]

My dad used to work at Mullards Blackburn. I remember driving past the factory with him over forty years ago.

[@PeteThorn]

That’s cool!

[@jamestaylor3500]

Yes! That's very cool

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

best tubes ever made! nothing will ever come close .tried them all .this video is really a joke comparing them to chinese junk

[@bruzzgravely3470]

What about a jcm 1983 800 what would sound betterPete?? 20:29

[@nigelduckworth4419]

So did I but my dad didn't work there. My ex wife is from Blackburn and if my memory is at all functioning, was it on the right of the Ring road as you went towards Clitheroe?

[@JimboLodisC]

Not only am I a big enough nerd to watch it all the way through, but I immediately played it again to listen from the beginning haha

[@wrekkingcru]

True dat

[@elgalacs]

Amperex Bugle Boy sounds pretty full, love it.

[@musicalSFCat]

Used my studio monitor headphones during demo. Here's the top four which impressed my musical ears the most: 1. Mullard Anos Blackburn (RCA LOGO) - Nice full tone. Vey clean highs, nice bottom end. Indeed more gain. 2. Brimar - Wow. Great full well rounded tone!! 3. Phillips Mini Watt (Holland Made) - Another 12AX7 tube which has well rounded tone, clarity. Nice bottom end! 4. Jan Sylvania - Ballsy sounding. Well saturated bottom end, great clarity. Thanks for taking the time to demo all those 12AX7 tubes, Pete. Cheers.

[@goneflying140]

I could hear a difference even on my cell phone. There were a few that sounded thinner than others, and some were more gainy than others. I kept rewinding the video and re-comparing them over and over. Thanks for a cool comparison. I must be a true tone nerd I guess...

[@darkhorseO3]

The first Mullard was my favourite to my ear.

[@chrissargent8398]

Sovtek 12ax7LPS and new production Mullard CV4004 are the ones I use most.

[@Marshall-uy2dv]

The Jan Sylvania!Love em and they last forever!A certian guitar god loved these back in the day!

[@TAKEONEURBANPRODUCTION]

Like jan phillips

[@stevencorley3296]

thanks for re-amping, that's the only way to do a valid comparison

[@dyonight]

Thanks for this test! It confirms I don't have the ears or interest to go that rabbit hole! All tubes were FINE ahah!

[@DeeCeeROKS]

This an old video but it’s relevant to me at the moment. Am I the only one that loved the Tung Sol? That one stood out to me for some reason. I really liked the tone. Also that first Mullard was nice

[@JosephSouthard]

Not a single point I could disagree on. A friend of mine worked for Toshiba for a while & when they bought out a local shop they got a repair shop with a ton of old tubes & gave him a lot of tubes . We went on a tube shoot out weekend with plenty of beer. The old RCA tubes blew us away & seems they are still a Great tube. I have Sovtek in my 5150 that took a couple years sorting threw a few microphonic bottles, Mesa's in my Mesa LoL what ever brand they use from 10 yrs ago, & Mullard in my Crate amp that soud great. It's a fun tube game but man can it be time consuming. This vid is excellent for anyone getting into the preamp bottle swap. LoL

[@joebarkan]

As a listener, it's hard to avoid confirmation bias while reading your comments on each tube on the screen. But thanks for recording and posting this!

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

especially when he is hiding the fact that most of them are made in china

[@willieguitars]

The difference is very subtle and nobody really noticed it that much. As long as the Preamp tube produces a good tone, I really don't care much.

[@christianthompson7495]

For my ears I'd say the Mullards, the Holland made tubes and the bugle boys just had the tinge more of warm crackle that inspires! The biggest stand-out was the quieter less-gainy tubes like the Telefunken and EH. Great Tube Shoot Out!

[@McSlobo]

I think the main difference is in the crackle, perhaps the frequency of it. Some crackle hard and high for my ears, some are warmly and nicely crackling. Liked those bugle boys especially.

[@markreilly7052]

Thanks to this video, I took the plunge through this rabbit hole. I started by purchasing two used Sylvania Long Grey Plate 12ax7s, and a used Amperex Globe Logo 12ax7. The Globe Logo had a loud buzz when installed in the V1 slot of my '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, which meant I lost about $75 right at the start. Not deterred, I put one of the used Sylvania 12ax7s in the V1 slot of my '65 Princeton RI, which didn't make a big difference but did give me slightly more headroom. The other used Sylvania 12ax7 went into my Deluxe, and was a noticeable improvement over the original GT/JJ 12ax7. I then bought a ANOS JAN Sylvania 12ax7 ($70) and a NOS JAN Sylvania 12ax7 ($130!) and put the ANOS in my '68 Custom Pro Reverb and the NOS in the '68 Deluxe Reverb, both in the V1 slot. I noticed a big improvement in both amps over the originals (GT/JJ Slovak 12ax7s). The CDR actually sounds better than before when using it as a keyboard amp (less distortion with a piano patch), which to me was indicative of improved dynamic range. A couple of months later, I found a used Raytheon Long Black Plate 12ax7 with low noise test results from a dealer in Iowa. I put it in the V1 slot of my '59 Bassman LTD along with new JJ 6L6GCs (the amp had 500+ hours on the power tubes, and had begun to get slightly mushy). The Bassman has always sounded good, and I didn't notice as much improvement in the sound when compared with the original Russian 12ax7s. By comparison, the improvement in the deluxe was night and day.

[@vadenk4433]

I’m a fan of the long plate Sylvania too. I’ve never been a fan of any short plate RCA’s. Get ahold of a late 1950’s long black plate RCA 12ax7 and you’ll never go back. Another amazing tube is the long black plate Raytheon’s they are incredible. Unfortunately both of these tubes were made around 1958-1960 and are expensive. But that’s what I run in my Super Reverb and I have at least 60 different NOS & ANOS tubes that I’ve tried in it.

[@sopasadena1499]

My favs were the Telefuken Silvania Jan Amperex and RFT

[@riccovrea841]

All the Mullards sound great through KZbins compression to my ears. Thx Pete for another GREAT video.

[@williamhamrick5871]

Yeah, the Mullard NOS and Bugle Boy's are great as always. That American RCA was really good to my ears....as was the Philips Miniwatt.

[@robcunningham152]

That first Mullard sounded amazing. I've been using the CV4004 in most of my amps recently but I'm also a fan of the LPS. I always put an LPS in the PI. Thanks for doing this. Total nerdom....love it!!

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

those cv 4004 are russian sovteks that has nothing to do with mullards. mullard i63's are great for pi

[@XChristianNoirX]

No one has explained why an LPS in the PI... I just know that it's all over the internet, but haven't notice much of a difference if at all..

[@StratMatt777]

@@XChristianNoirX I haven't thought about this stuff in years, BUT I recall that the REAL thing you want in the PI is a tube that is balanced on both sides since each side is getting sent to half the power section (on a amp with 2 power tubes, the signal from each side of your PI is going to each power tube). Regarding the LPS, if my 21 year-old memory is correct, Mike Soldano told me that the LPS had something to do with cathode heaters I think? For example, only two of the four 12AX7s in my soldano astroverb are 12AX7LPS, the other two are just LP. I have no idea what I'm talking about, BUT regarding an LPS for the PI... all I know is that you want a _balanced_ tube where each half puts out the same amount in the PI so that each of your power tubes gets the same strength signal.

[@XChristianNoirX]

@@StratMatt777 You are welcome to try balanced PI tubes, but the general consensus is that it's marketing snake oil.

[@merwinjm]

Nice effort! I love the way you used you looper to get the exact same guitarl playing for each sample. I wish people doing amp mods would do this. That said, this reminds me of a wine tasting. I love it, but by the third or 5th or 6th cab tasting, I can't tell the difference or remember why I like the 3rd one.

[@tonefordays3808]

I have boxes full of old tubes. Some of my favourites are the Mullards, the RCA's, but my absolute favourite is the TESLA E83CC, Magic in V1 and in the phase inverter. I like the RCA's in the distorting stages (or V2 in a plexi type circuit to clarify, since the phase inverter also clips in this type of amp), adds some bite and harmonics, but in a way that doesn't come across as harsh.

[@57Techboy]

Thanks Pete, the differences can be heard, but KZbin does alter the sound significantly. Love the fullness of the Mullard and teeth of the Telefunken. I've always been a fan of the Amperex tubes too, I'm lucky enough to have a few bugle boys in my stash. I have a 65 Bassman that I spent 2 days on trying out a ton of preamp, phase inverter and power tubes to make it sound the way I like it. So much so that people ask who modded it.

[@ILuvJazzNJava]

I use the Mullard CV4004 in my hifi tube amp and they are great for that. Time to try in my guitar amps I think.

[@bradyoung1052]

Super nerdy I dig it. I like the brimar.

[@dougbarry7601]

This was like 30 years of my life experience of preamp tubes condensed into 20 minutes. The EH's have been my fav for 14 years. My RCA's and Sylvainia's have all expired or sold with the amp. So it was cool to hear them all in a true AB comparison, not from my memory over the years. Great comparison!

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

are you all working at eh tubes? is this a joke?

[@3rdtonefromthesun]

EH were horrible

[@georgecovetskie6717]

Your correct about the Mullard. They handled all frequencies with heart. Very well with compression. Leaves lots of control when playing.

[@rtosborne4]

I tried listening blind and there were definitely some that made me audibly yell, "YEAHHHH!' Great to hear so many back-to-back. Thanks for doing this!

[@Rainyman63]

I can listen to the Rebel Rebel riff all day long, tbh.

[@kostis6]

Now you have got preamps for the next 30 years :) thank you for your time and effort! Just ordered the 7025 EHs

[@andshanewalts]

Pete, you’re literally the coolest 💙🤓

[@joelcprice]

The Brimar, and Miniwatt were the standouts to me in that amp. I like the Tungsols for a dark amp.

[@johnsuggs7828]

I literally couldn't find a single thing wrong with this video. I'm not even a guitarist and I'm loving this. The playing was actually pretty good. You putting this together, with the explanations/information with each tube, excellent

[@Wonmanbanned]

Pete...if you read this...thanks. Your content I recently came across and have binged a bit. The content is always interesting and really good quality. Thanks dude.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Those EI yugoslavian valve had a nice fat tone. The last one was great. All of em good as long as they work. Surprised at how good the Ecc82 sounded(12au7). Thanks for opening up the doors on those lesser known brands that are pretty amazing.

[@Turboy65]

The Philips Mini-Watt really does stand out. It sounds more different from the average tube sound than any other one.

[@Cpt_Adama]

Thanks for all the massive work Pete. In the end you have to listen in a quiet environment on a really good system or isolated in headphones, which proves the point that in the mix or on the radio, or in the club you will never hear the difference. Paying ton's of money for that special cryogenic tube is a waste of money that could have been better spent on speakers or a different cab where you can really hear the difference.

[@alexchejlyk7764]

Great comparison video. Many sound so similar as to making a change wouldn't be worth the time. The JJ's did sound awful to my ear, fizzy and boxy. The unbranded Chinese tube was a surprise, it didn't sound bad at all.

[@АлександрЗябликов-щ1я]

Китай Psvane 12ax7-s pro ещё лучше!!

[@MegaChoo2]

On a side note, pete needs a tech to install a new v1 tube socket

[@2204JCM]

The LP/LPS is a Long Plate design. I find long plates tend to sound better but they can also be microphonic.

[@stringtheoryx]

I appreciate the test, Pete. I've designed a lot of tube amp circuitry, and I'm very critical of sounds of 12ax7's in particular. The internal structures of these tubes are visibly different, so why would they -not- have electrical variance. Sometimes major differences turn up in certain circuits. For example, the old BK Butler low voltage Tube Drivers do not work at all with some tubes that sound good at higher voltages. Those often used Yugoslavian EI's (your comments were exactly correct about having to select those for microphonics). Telefunkens can sound good in clean hifi circuits, but do not necessarily overdrive gracefully. (Original) Sovteks are often a miserable choice for overdrive, but they had less crosstalk between the two sides of the tube (yes, that's a thing), which made them useful in some circumstances. Anyway, this was a very ambitious venture, so thanks for taking the time.

[@JoseCarbia]

I've made a similar test some years ago. I even bought a tube tester and tested each tube before recording it. Similar conclusions... Mullards are just amazing in Marshalls (and in every amp, as I tested them in a BF Bandmaster and a Dual Recto). Most european old tubes are great, being the RFT the most dark and compressed (great choice for a 2203/jcm800). Sylvanias are the best among US made by far. I've sold all my GE after the test (I even prefer modern tubes). Great Job Pete!

[@fredeichenauer4568]

OMG.... those BRIMARS!!! Needs to find me a few of them. Thank you for your service Pete!

[@paulrichardson3010]

I love NOS RFT's in V1. As long as you have a good tube in V1 then you can put just about anything else in the other positions (usually JJ's or EHX)

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

you can put just about anything but why would you? pi and the tone buffer are very important as well. power and rectifier tubes are important as well.

[@longotown]

Great comparison Pete. I have a rough time with JJ's - dig the Mullards and like the JAN, as well as the RCA. The JJs just seem to give me ear fatigue in a hurry - harsh and hard to dial in! Thanks so much.

[@michaelzahnwehgitarre8957]

AC/DC Let's get it up is a riff you can listen to 21 times.... wise choice

[@PeteThorn]

I know right I was like which riff should I play because this is going to get annoying Hahahaha

[@bige778]

@@PeteThorn : It is hard to hear a great different, but i pretty much agree with yourè conclusion. It will better to hear the difference in the room, when the sound OPEN up. Did you record this with direct miking, or did you alsa use a room mick (condenser)? I listen to this with 80 ohms BD DT770. In the end, it is the right combinasion of all tubes in the amp, that (can) make a big difference, beside the "right" bias value. Nice demo though.

[@michaelzahnwehgitarre8957]

i highly appreciate the nerdyness and the effort. i obly have experience with Telefunkens. here in germany you can get them cheap out of old radiios and tape machines from the flea-market if you put some time and effort into searching. personally i find its not really worth the effort, especially not live. even in the studio its debateable...

[@swinehorde9118]

Hell yes. This just reaffirms my love for Bugle Boys. I dig mine out of old broken bakelite radios, film projectors and tape machines that I find at flea markets.

[@JH-nl6bp]

In my experience with tubes’ “they make a difference when you reach a certain level of playing.” When you find your tone-pick attack, you can’t tweak it with tubes-mods to fit your preference. If your a player and not a tube collector the Tung sols and JJs for $40 a piece are fine. I’d suggest to try another speaker before buying a $300 vintage “holy grail” tube.

[@odiumpugnator472]

Absolutely agree about speakers and the astounding difference it makes in tone, because it is the actual thing that moves the air creating a sound. Still, even after changing to a speaker one likes, even that new tone can be slightly altered with tubes, even tough the changes are very small comparatively. I too don't regard any tube as some magical thing that will make the tone noticeably superior. There are tubes that can go the wrong way too. :)

[@deano41.123]

My ears leaned into the original Mullards in this "test" . It was nice to hear another person test these out. I have gone loopy in the past trying to determine or look for differences myself in my single ended amp with 12ax, au or at valves. In this case, They're all not massively different to me, but there's a difference.

[@cappy781]

Ive done this on all my amps. Spend a day rolling pre amp tubes through the sockets until im happy

[@ZxLayER]

1st Mullard tested the best

[@astravir3924]

Awesome! Tung sol 12ax7 in V1, and older SED Winged "C" 6L6GC's in the power section for me, but I will experiment more with the 12AX7 after watching this... Love the Amp!

[@user-qr7ee2cp4y]

I appreciate how you start by saying the sound is very subtle. I kind of feel the same about tubes in that when it comes to tone, there's bigger fish to fry. I buy good tubes but don't dig in too much more.

[@carlbohnsack7634]

So I have a few of these old Silvertone 1482 amps. About 20 years ago I picked up an old TV repair man toolbox at a garage sale that was full of tubes. In the box I found 4 NOS Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7's. Put one in my old Silvertone amp and I could not believe how much better it sounded. I tried several other new tubes as well but man those old Amperex tubes sounded awesome!

[@sneifert1968]

That is dedication....or insanity 😉

[@waxhead63]

Cheers Pete , I realise this is 2 years ago but my custom made amp has just lost sound which I'm figuring is a tube so the tube shoot out has been helpful 🙏🙏

[@jcalzada74]

JAN SYLVANIA Sound very good

[@wimcoppens73]

Thanks Pete for making the effort to create this video, there is indeed a difference between the tubes, and you made it very clear in this video, i really enjoyed it !

[@dyamariv3628]

Thanks for the Video Pete, loved it and I especially appreciated hearing your thoughts on them as well. Some channels just let you decide and don't say anything, but I prefer to hear your feedback as well as you're in the room. Peace my Canadian Prairie Brother!!

[@hollyanforth1006]

Using a loop was excellent scientific control method, well done 👏

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I love you for doing this! Best of KZbin guitar nerdery!!!

[@PeteThorn]

Yo man! Just watched some of your fine vids..

[@BigHairyGuitars]

@@PeteThorn :) :) :)

[@Kroeber38]

Thank you, Pete, for the great comparison. I think the differences are subtle but they are there. I tend to like Telefunken and Mullard's Blackburn tubes.

[@toddniemann1921]

The AU really stood out. They were grouped pretty much how you explained. I’m now a Mullard fan, time to buy some tubes. 😀

[@michaelreid777]

Hello there. Great comparison. I have a bunch of Japanese Matsushita made preamp and power tubes. Different types and branded RCA, Sylvania, Bell & Howell, GE, all great preamp tubes made in Japan set up by Phillips. Don't hear too much about these tubes. Maybe that is a good thing as you can find them priced pretty reasonably.

[@antonix_81]

mullard reissue, new tungsol and so on are basically sovtek, they re made in that factory and selected for different specs i couldn't appreciate the small differences between the tubes (except when you put the 12au7),even with good earphones...said so.... in real life in my fender i prefer something like electro harmonix (sovtek) in v1, in my 5e3 jj 12ay7 and 5751 it's good ,sylvania and ge are quiet , old italian made rca or marconi are good and still cheap, and reliable...some of the european nade ecc83 are a bit noisy and flash on filaments...but i haven't been lucky founding a good one maybe👍🏻 Good Job Pete, i enjoyed the video a lot🙏

[@nikolajozanov]

I may be on some weird side... I did not find the riffs on the guitar dull after 21 repeat. The video is great. Thanks dude 🎸

[@jm_1214]

The Mullard 4004 original production is the best but very expensive and rare. I was lucky enough to grab 24 in the 90s

[@TempoDrift1480]

That's one of my favorite AC/DC riffs.

[@badtonestudio]

Great demonstration Pete! My 79’ JMP and I like the old British and German made tubes the most. However I’ve been using the reissue Mullards with great results.

[@neilsnow7973]

"Let's Get It UP!" I love that song! AC/DC forever!

[@J_Braz_]

The EH 7025 and the RCA at around 11 minutes in sounded the best to me. The JJ ecc83 mg sounded fizzy AF

[@PhillipCalvin627]

Old Stock: The Mullards all sound great. I also really liked the sound of the Brimar and the Amperex Globe Logo. New Stock: The Mullard 12AX7 Reissue and the RFT. I was kind of surprised to hear you say you didn't care for it, I thought it was pretty killer but I was listening specifically for what I'm looking for myself. ;) I'm not going to lie and say that wasn't some serious ear burn, but I found that going back and listening to small sections and comparing that initial lick really help put them into perspective.

[@rickya3877]

Awesome to nerd out on a Saturday afternoon!...it won't translate as well over KZbin,but the difference in sound (and feel) is pretty clear in person...the better tubes just have more complexity and an airy '3D' vibe...nice job!

[@slickguitar01]

Cool vid! I love the Mullard's, Brimar, and JAN Sylv. Great tone overall. :)

[@less_concerned1221]

That was great! I’m glad you put the comments with your impression for each. In person, some tubes push the speakers and have a little different touch sensitivity which cannot be shown with a recording, but it can affect how you respond in playing. Otherwise, they sound generally the same...but we always pay a premium for that last 5% difference in sound sparkle. Thanks for the video!

[@ttop23]

You are a hero, not least of all for adding time stamps! Fascinating to hear. Generalising slightly but to me the US made tubes seemed a little lower gain to my ear, and less balanced overall. Impressed with the Philips Miniwatt and obviously the Mullards. They seem so well balanced across the board. Fat but tight, thick mids but still super articulate and a nice open top end without being harsh. Thanks so much for doing this Pete.

[@loutielli]

For me, I didn't hear much difference that I couldn't make up for with a tweak of a tone or volume control. The most important thing to me is reliability, which is why I have my modern amps loaded with NOS tubes. Well done Pete! Now I'm off to re-learn Rebel Rebel....

[@michaelberry530]

Awesome video! I appreciate the time and effort it takes to create content like this, thank you.

[@mkii1964]

There is a difference, not huge to my ears. I have a bunch of NOS tubes and I typically roll them until I find the best for the particular amp. Thanks for sharing!

[@oldbluzguy]

The EH 7025 surprised me. I like a telefunken ribbed plate in V1 on a lot of amps. And yes the Sovtek is great in the PI slot.

[@vincenzoerriquenz2356]

What a great comparison! Of course we are talking about nuance here, and honestly I wouldn' t do that if not mandatory for a replacement, so I thank you for doing this tor US!❤️ About the tubes, once I listened to 3m Branded Mullard One i set It as a reference, It screamed " Malcolm Young and Ronno!" to me!❤️

[@mightymikeamps9317]

Already was a big fan of Bugle Boys, had some old Telephunken Diamond, old JAN 12AX7WA (of course for you know who), and old NOS Blackburn Mullards that were stolen were my best. Didn’t realize how great Brimar and Phillips Mini Watt were. I learned something. New production builds I have been using Sovtek LP 12ax7wa and Ruby BRST El34 which are just relabeled Shuguangs like Terry Kilgore used to sell

[@blacktapes3475]

Love these videos! My favourites were the Phillips Miniwatt, JAN Sylvania and I really also liked the reissue Mullard CV4004. Wasn't a fan of the Telefunken in the Marshall.

[@smokingun397]

This is exactly what I needed to see. Just the last few days I've been looking at replacing the AX7 in my Carvin Legacy 3. I want it to be less fizzy

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

try mullard i61 1959-1964 they are about 70-150$ at ebay, the best choice for v1

[@mariowillaert734]

Great playing as always Pete and nice comparision! Since I am from Holland, I like the Amperex and Philips Miniwatt most. They used to make them at the Philips plant in Heerlen. Also the Mullards (Blackburn) are great! For some reason, I never connected with the German manufacturers. However the SIEMENS ECC801S BVA (Bundeswehr) are great for the phase inverter position. I use that in a 1966 Bandmaster and sounds killer!

[@KinpatsuMusic]

Thanks for the cool comparison Pete! I found them to have quiet a lot variation; bright, fuzzy, dark, gainy etc. I liked the first Mullard a lot and the Amperex also peaked my ears.

[@yaveeya2992]

Thank you for doing this. I would have to say Mullard.. and Bugle Boy. I am using my tubes for a preamp and compressor... Mullard for Preamp and a Telefunken for Compressor.. I need to the Siemens triple Mica.. You Rock!!!

[@SecondMarsh]

Pete! Thanks for (accidentally) including the 12AU7s! Definitely heard the lower gain difference. I have some on order and I’m relieved to hear they have the sound I’m going for.

[@o-meg-a6043]

its a subtle difference sonically but makes a big difference in the feel of the amp (which often matters as much as sound to some players). Some tubes had more musical high frequencies, so more stable lows, some were much lower output. A lot of people make the argument that you can just alter your tone controls, but swapping tubes offer slight tonal/drive variations that adjusting the gain, lows or highs simply cannot match. Great work, and I agree that the LPS from Sovtek and 7025 EHX are some of the best new offerings out there.

[@curtisprice9806]

Well said!

[@qua7771]

I agree. I don't think deniers have access to a variety of tubes to experience first hand the effects of tube rolling. They make assumptions despite evidence to the contrary. I even had a recent comment that all tubes of the same type are exactly the same. I refused to get involved in a pointless debate. Some amps respond more than others to tube swaps. There are tonal characteristics that you cannot change with EQ.

[@DM-rc4yu]

Funny how all this "feel" vanishes whenever someone does a blind test.

[@nicwilson89]

I first experienced this when I switched a brand new JJ tube for a Tung Sol in the V1 position of an Orange Dark Terror and it made a massive difference, really opened up the amp. It was overly dark to begin with, kinda muffled and fizzy with a shitty bottom end...I know it's supposed to be a dark amp, but it was too much. Whacked in the Tung Sol and it was a world apart. Now I have fun switching tubes....generally don't like JJ tubes, the Chinese ones work well in the PI and stuff. It's good fun, I tend to switch them around a lot as I build custom tube amps and modify whatever anyone wants

[@Pepino969]

Omg. Same here. I had an Orange Rocker Combo and I replaced those JJs with Tung Sols and love the difference. Also tried Mullards too and they also rocked. I left the Mullards in the preamp and replaced the power amp with Tungsols. Amp was sooo much better sounding.

[@nicwilson89]

@@Pepino969Yea man, I think JJs in general seem to be a bit...crappy :/ I haven't liked them in anything tbh

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

jj has no highs! ugly soounding tubes.wait till you hear a proper nos at v1 , all those chinese/russian modern tubes are crap

[@cabotnunlist2077]

I liked the Amperex and Mullard tubes, and the Sylvania NOS one. But I was listening on nice headphones and they were all pretty close.

[@ThaUltimateDragon]

Fantastic video. I too can hear and feel the difference in pre-amp tubes. The Miniwatt's are my favourites, probably because I have them in my Marshall. All the Dutch tubes were made by the same factory and same manufacturer: Phillips in Eindhoven.

[@PeteThorn]

Is that the same as Heerlen? That’s where I heard the Amperex tubes made in Holland were made

[@ThaUltimateDragon]

Different city same company. Philips is one of our oldest companies. Could call them the Silicon Valley of the 50's and 60's! Old guy I recently acquired as a client restores jukeboxes and told me about the tubes just being rebrands. My neighbour used to be a Philips R&D engineer so might ask him if he can dig up some old books for us tube-nerds :-). Here you can see the 'Molenberg' factory in Heerlen: fabriekofieldotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/molenberg.jpg?w=1320 And this is the Philips tube factory in 1943-Eindhoven: imgur.com/a/CQl0bcA

[@srubel59]

Can't believe you went through all the trouble to do that. Thanks man! I've long since settled on those big plate Mullard reissues. One interesting note, in a parallel triode with shared cathode design, (think Matchless Spitfire V1/V2 for example) unmatched triodes can give you a slightly more noticeable audible difference in tubes and tube types. BTW, I'll use JJs in power stages but not preamp stages.

[@jacquesbureau5294]

I can hear the differences in my headphones. I must really be a nerd since I listen 3 times LOL! It will be helpful to narrow my choices. Thanks for this video.

[@josefk5659]

This is masterwork. You know what we want. God bless you.

[@paulcowart3174]

Very cool man Good stuff 👍 THIS is the kind of things players need and are interested in So saved to listen later on a good system after football 🙂 Thanks man

[@TheGospelGuitarist]

I love Mullards in drive positions and Tungsol in V1 for cleans. These two paired up are amazing in the right high gain amp. I had them in a Carvin Quad X preamp and it just killed with all those Mullards inside.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

Thanks for being crazy! This is really a great educational opportunity that is needed! Thanks so much!