preamp valve question for steve d

[django]

Hi Steve, can you tell me if the preamp valves that came with my from new 2466 are shuguang ecc83's.
If not can you tell me the make of the preamp valves marshall fit into the vintage modern's as i would like to stock up. :rocker

[LivewireBlanco]

Stock preamp valves are: V1= JJ, the rest are all chinese so yea Shuaguangs.

[django]

Thanks for the info livewireblanco

[DeanM]

iv another question!! i came across these tubes. it says china 12ax7. but theyr really cheap so i was wondering are these the same as V2,3 & 4? altho maybe there not the same as i suspect cos when i went to copy the link i noticed it says 12ax7b.

http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/produc ... tubes.html

but either way does anyone know what these are? and wud they not be worth pissin on??

also i dont know if the pic in the link is anyting to go on. most the pics on that site are general pics rather than actual pics

[SteveD]

There's only one factory making valves in China and that is Shuaguang. All of our valves are part numbered to signify where we source them from and because they are selected for specific conditions; - low microphony, high gain, low gain, etc.

In the Vintage Modern it is as LivewireBlanco stated. V1 is a JJ selected for low micrphony. V2,3 and 4 are 'general purpose' Shuaguangs.

[DeanM]

cool. i was thinking of orderin those in my link. 5 tubes for €25!! if they are good enough to go into the VM then i was thinkin they might be good for experimentation with future DIY amps and then say when an amp is tested and working then i could get some better tubes. rather than buyin some nice tubes to test amps with it would make sence to get some cheap ones just to have lyin around!!

[Green Manalishi]

I didn't care for the stock preamp tubes, other than the JJ. They certainly aren't the worst tube, that I have to give the honor of Sovtek. Tey sound bad in every application I've used them, mostly as OEM on amps I've bought.

I currently have Tung Sols in V1 and V2, and I had Jan Philips 12AX7WA lying around that I put in V3 and V4.

I am happy with that, and I'd be good with JJs too.

[slowpokerhino]

They certainly aren't the worst tube, that I have to give the honor of Sovtek.

My vote for worst tubes would be Electro Harmonix. To be fair, I haven't (and wont) try them in the VM.

[frank9310]

There's only one factory making valves in China and that is Shuaguang. All of our valves are part numbered to signify where we source them from and because they are selected for specific conditions; - low microphony, high gain, low gain, etc.

In the Vintage Modern it is as LivewireBlanco stated. V1 is a JJ selected for low micrphony. V2,3 and 4 are 'general purpose' Shuaguangs.

Steve, you mention the VM's V1 is selected for low microphony, but is it for high gain or low gain?

[SteveD]

The gain is unimportant in the selection of V1 as low microphonics is what we want. The gain is reasonably consistent anyway.

[frank9310]

Ok Mine finally went microphonic so I ran to Guitar Center and tried to get one but all they carry is Groove Tubes or Mesa. So I look at both types and compare what they look like inside and the Mesa STR-12 AX7-A plate structure inside looked identical to the JJ ECC83S with the round flat disk on top!

So I got it and boy was I ever wrong. While it looks the same it sounds like a buzzing bee from hell. I had to run to a rather large gig and I'm all set with my regular overdrive pedals so my first solo, the music stops dead for me to come in all dramatic. So I let out this powerful 15th fret 2 step bend on the B string. Instead of the usual, fat, rich and juicy, knock em dead sound that I typically get with the master set on 8, I get this almost un-hearable, muddy, bee sting of a note that sounded like dog crap!

So I back off the treble and gain and still lousy, with no definition. It basically killed most of my gig. I tried playing in HDR without overdrive pedals or LDR with mild overdrive and it was horrible no matter what way I tried to tame it.

[SteveD]

Try another valve, the other one may be crap or a rogue that slipped through the net.

[frank9310]

Hey Steve, another thing that happened by accident is one of my KT66s burned out as a result of me not having my speaker lead fully plugged in (I think). So I popped another one in and when I measure on CON 1 & 3 they were very different in measurements. Do you think that could also cause it to sound that way?

[slowpokerhino]

Just an FYI, Sam Ash carries JJ tubes in store. At least the one by here does. No KT66s though.

[frank9310]

Yeah, if I lived in Ohio I could get to one but in PA all we have is GC. Kind of makes it tough because Eurotubes who I think is the US distributor for JJ sells the preamp ones but their KT66s are the wrong kind and won't fit into the existing tube retainers. So I have to order those somewhere else and pay 2 separate ship charges. Then Metro sells JJ but not sure if their KT66s are Valve Art anymore.