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

A huge comparison of 12AX7 tubes! New ones, old ones... in my 1972 Marshall JMP 50. USE HEADPHONES! Or good studio monitors. Enjoy!
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2:21 MULLARD BLACKBURN (old stock)
3:07 TELEFUNKEN (old stock)
3:50 EH 7025 (new production)
4:33 JJ 12AX7 MG (new production)
5:17 SHUGUANG 12AX7B (new production)
6:01 MULLARD BLACKBURN#2 (ANOS)
6:45 MULLARD 12AX7 REISSUE (new production)
7:29 SYLVANIA 12AU7 (old stock)
8:13 EI 12AX7 (old stock)
8:57 JJ 12AX7 (new production)
9:40 BRIMAR 12AX7 (old stock)
10:24 RCA (old production)
11:08 RFT (new production)
11:52 TUNG SOL (new production)
12:35 MULLARD CV4004 REISSUE (new production)
13:19 SOVTEK LPS (new production)
14:03 AMPEREX BUGLE BOY (HOLLAND) (old production)
14:47 JAN GE 12AX7 (old production)
15:51 PHILIPS MINIWATT (HOLLAND) (old production)
16:15 AMPEREX GLOBE LOGO (old production)
16:58 JAN SYLVANIA (old production)
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[@naivesteve5722]

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

[@sneifert1968]

That is dedication....or insanity 😉

[@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.

[@blasher4]

It's not a HUGE difference to some, but to my ears it does. This is all about tailoring to the sound you're looking for. Personally, I like a tight but also balanced high gain sound for Rock and Metal tones. Tung-Sol and TAD 12ax7-C's are great for that. If I want a lower gain and less aggressive sound for alternative rock or Pop, something like ElectroHarmonics might be the winner. THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER TO THIS. It's all about taste. I promise. The key to take away from this is, find out what you want or are looking for in tone and go from there.

[@jimbaxter8488]

No offense, but, this only works if you are in the room with the amp and speaker cab and have the guitar in your hands under your fingers…

[@WatchesnguitarsDK]

Hi, I'm Christian. I'm a guitar nerd!

[@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

[@StamateTudorGuitar]

The Mullard tubes sounded fuller imo.

[@robvoyles]

The 80's and 90's Chinese 12ax7 were the best ever made and they do make a BIG difference in gain and tone and articulation with a very low noise floor. They came in all the major amps back in the day. thats all i still use. jj's are lifeless.

[@CzZank]

The old Tesla plant where the tubes were produced is a minute walk from where I live now. Haven't found any old tubes there yet :)

[@model_number_band]

Thank you so much for taking the time to record all these tubes with such a solid process.. Great comparison - cheers Pete!

[@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 !

[@michaelberry530]

Awesome video!

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

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

[@roderickhager8154]

Just a top notch job again! On everything from riff choice, video editing, equipment and subject...many thxs...🗿

[@ianrossmusic]

Thanks, Pete! I really enjoyed the old Mullards, the Amperexes, and for me the LPS is just fantastic. I've been using it in my gear but haven't had a chance to compare it to many tubes so this was super useful!

[@fredeichenauer4568]

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

[@riccovrea841]

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

[@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.

[@LucasMastropasqua]

Great video Pete! I started on an amp modding journey about 2 years ago and it’s staggering how much time I’ve spend looking at tubes and info. Nice to see people doing nerdy tube videos lately. I swear by that LPS in my phase inverter location, a Tung Sol in V1, & an EH in V2. Might try some of the tubes in this video I haven’t tried yet, in V1 based on how they sounded here.