Postby ClubAndCountry » 13 Dec 2009, 03:57
Remember that *no* mass-production amp manufacturer can use NOS valves - the supply is too limited and variable, regardless of the cost issue. There are a very few small boutique makers that use them, but they're only producing a handful of amps a year. Anyway, in the sort of market that Marshall are in - where cost is a significant issue as well - most buyers simply don't know or care about what the valves are as long as the amp sounds good out of the box. I know this is a bit harsh, and I certainly don't mean to insult anyone, but frankly most buyers don't even know or care what type of speakers are in their cabinets, and those make a *huge* difference to the tone, far more than the valves do. More knowledgeable customers can then upgrade their valves afterwards - and it does make a significant difference, in my opinion.
Groove Tubes are not an upgrade though - they're just a different (and in some cases, not even different, depending on what type of valves were used in the amp originally) type of modern valves. Groove Tubes are simply a testing/re-labeling company, and the valves are made in the same factories as everyone else's. There's nothing special about them, and if anything I think I've had *more* failures with them than other resellers, although that may just be chance. I would still give kudos to Groove Tubes and their founder Aspen Pittman - along with Mike Matthews of Electro-Harmonix - for kick-starting the modern era of valve production though - without them we might be fighting over the last remaining NOS valves, and large-scale valve amp production of any kind might have stopped in the late 80s or early 90s - it almost looked like it might happen for a while, and Marshall even switched to using 5881s for a few years in the 90s simply because they could not get a reliable supply of EL34s.
Also remember that the Mullard and Tung-Sol "reissues" now available are no more accurate than the reissue amps many companies make - they look similar from the outside and may sound similar, but are significantly different inside - and are actually made in the same former-Communist-country factories that produce the normal junk modern valves. They are *not* the same as the originals, although some of them are pretty nice-sounding by modern valve standards, and aren't anywhere near as reliable as the originals either. JJs seem to be the other way round - they're among the most reliable of modern valves, but don't sound like the old ones... which is either bad or not, depending on what sound you're going for.
:fart
Welcome to the forum Averbr.
