favorite preamp tubes in mts

what's everybody using throughout their amps. i like ruby's in my 1086 a jj83s in the first input on the chassis, a tung-sol 12ax7 in the loop input and another jj83s in the phase inverter with tad 6l6gc's at 40ma in the power section. rm100. i also have the recto and ultra mods in it but no matter what i put in them i don't like the sound anyway

Max,

I'm surprised no one has posted their fav's . For my style and tone ( and it's very subjective) I prefer the following preamp tubes with my RT2/50, which has Tungsol 5881's , and an unknown pair of 6L6GC's :

EG3- I wanted higher gain so I run Ei ECC83 matched high gain tubes .
EG4- Sovtek 12AX7WA's in both v1 and v2
HG- Sovtek 12AX7WA's in both v1 and v2
Twin- EH and EH ( nice clarity, low noise. )
SL- JJ 803s , and Tungsol ( a little noisy, but great for VH )

Loop, input, Phase inverter- all Tungsol 12AX7 .

I didn't notice any difference when changing tubes in the rear of the M4 , all pretty much sounded the same. I think the key there is just choosing tubes that are quiet, non microphonic.


Howard

All my MTS gear, mods and RM100, have been bought used. Some mods and the amp itself came with EH 12ax7's, one came with Ruby's and my XTC with Eden's.

I first tried JJ's with good results in subjective sound quality generally speaking except in the XTC.

Then i ordered a bunch of TungSol's reissue 12ax7's and fell in love with those tubes. I tried them in my Plexi, SL+ and XTC and got really good results, with more Marshall authority as well as better definition or clarity, those tubes are somewhat less congested in the mids compared to JJ's in my opinion.

I mix JJ's and TungSol's sometimes in some modules for cool combinations though.

my very own 2 cents.

Claude

seeker where did you get the ei ecc83 at ?, i heard they sound amazing but for guitar amps they weren,t reccomended because of microphonics. i would like to try them but everything i read on them says they won't work out, must not be true

I got the Ei's from www.tubedepot.com , and from www.dougstubes.com



Howard

so no problems with microphonics on the ei's?

No problems with microphonics using the Ei's yet. The only module I have trouble with is my Brown, with JJ 803S tubes it squeals, but it's just a POS.


H

is the elite series alot different from just the regular12ax7's. it says they are gold pinned and grided. i had jj 83s's that were the gold pin premium series and they weren't as mean sounding as the regular ones, they seemed to be smoother i should say. i'm real interested in the ei's but not sure what to go with. i was thinking the regular 12ax7's high gain version?

You had better hurry because I believe that EI tubbes are not made anymore

anyone use gt 12ax7m's, the mullard re-issue?

maximus1 said:

anyone use gt 12ax7m's, the mullard re-issue?

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Yes..but the ones I had were hit and miss...going microphonic...great sounding while they lasted, quite low gain but nice and detailed, clear and balanced sounding tube....fairly sweet breakup.

maximus1 said:

anyone use gt 12ax7m's, the mullard re-issue?

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Tried them and have yet to find a place for them. Subdued midrange, and NOTICEABLY mushy attack. Perhaps it's a bad one, but the first one I had didn't floor me either.

GT has great support though. They replaced a 2 year old tube for me FOC. I told them I put it on the shelf for two years and then when I tried it again started motorboating (All true). They gave me the benefit of the doubt and replaced it.

I have yet to try Tung Sols, but I like the Sovtek LPS, EH, EI, and JJ the best so far.

i' ve heard nothing but how awesome the gt-12ax7m's sound so i figured i 'd get some, based on all the reviews, sounds like i might be dissapointed. oh well, i 've been using the tung-sol in some mods and they are nice though i won't put them in v1 because eventhough they are aggressive and harmonically rich they are voiced towards midrange which will give the sound alot of balls but i like them in v2 on the mods much better. i like the eh 's in v1 they are great tubes. i like the jj's as well , but i can only use them on the chassis, my main mod is a 1086 and jj's cut the gain in half on that module for some reason. in my recto i couldn't get a decent tone with any tubes until i put the eh in v1 and the tungsol in v2, wow what a difference. after that combo my recto actually sounded like the real thing, finally. really want to try some ei's or tad's still

I bought a set of Tung-sols for my Marshall sound, having heard the GT Mullard re-issue was supposed to sound darker than the Tung-sol. Got a goldpin version at pos 1 for slightly lower gain and noise.
Then for Fender sound I bought a mix of JJ/ Tesla and Electro-Harmonix. All drivers and functional valves are EH AX7s and AU7s.

Noteworthy is I went with cryohardened valves this time around and to my ear they do sound much fuller and clearer than non-cryo ones. I'd recommend those anyday, espec if you find your amp irritably noisy and more so when pushing some gain.