Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
I'll keep that in mind. I bought a matched pair of JJ's.
Vacuum Tubes
- Thread starter Chuck D. Bones
- Start date
bluedmc777
Well-known member
JJs most likely would’ve been my first choice you just can’t beat the price!
bluedmc777
Well-known member
This thread could use more pics. I have some interesting Toshiba’s coming up that I’ve never seen. But for now How about some late 50’s and early 60’s Tung-Sol and CBS love. Two of my favorites. Pretty sure GE made most if not all CBS tubes but I love the first 3 generations of the long plate GE’s.
It's just too expensive where I am to buy NOS any more. As I build my own amps I like to use JJs and tune the amp to the tube. It's fun and affordable (except the bit where I can't afford to buy amp parts from the US any more and even tubes are becoming crazy expensive). The bits which are affordable are the bits where I swap the odd cap and resistor to change how the amp responds.
Even JJ tubes have skyrocketed in price in the past few years. I generally buy my tubes from the US but that's becoming scary $$. A basic JJ 12ax7 used to be US$8.95 not that long ago. Now they start at $16.79 at Antique. I guess one good thing I have discovered recently is that I like the sound of my fixed bias amps at 60% plate dissipation. It sounds good and my tubes last a lot longer.
If you use a Matchless or Bad Cat you might want to check how hot your tubes are biased. A friend of mine has a Matchless Lightning which goes through power tubes at an alarming rate. From the factory Matchless seem to bias their cathode biased amps at 110-120%. 100% seems to be the sweet spot for cathode bias and to me it not only sounds better but helps your tubes last longer and your amp to run cooler. I don't know why they bias so hot. It really doesn't sound that good to me. It sounds too glassy and bright, and cooling the bias helps the amps sound warmer and improves breakup in my opinion. Once you get below 90% the sound of the break up starts to sound worse again.
A lot of tweed Deluxes are biased too hot too. It's because the cathode resistor value is based on '50s wall voltages. When you get a 5E3 biased properly the difference is astounding. No more compressed mush past 9.00 on the volume!
Even JJ tubes have skyrocketed in price in the past few years. I generally buy my tubes from the US but that's becoming scary $$. A basic JJ 12ax7 used to be US$8.95 not that long ago. Now they start at $16.79 at Antique. I guess one good thing I have discovered recently is that I like the sound of my fixed bias amps at 60% plate dissipation. It sounds good and my tubes last a lot longer.
If you use a Matchless or Bad Cat you might want to check how hot your tubes are biased. A friend of mine has a Matchless Lightning which goes through power tubes at an alarming rate. From the factory Matchless seem to bias their cathode biased amps at 110-120%. 100% seems to be the sweet spot for cathode bias and to me it not only sounds better but helps your tubes last longer and your amp to run cooler. I don't know why they bias so hot. It really doesn't sound that good to me. It sounds too glassy and bright, and cooling the bias helps the amps sound warmer and improves breakup in my opinion. Once you get below 90% the sound of the break up starts to sound worse again.
A lot of tweed Deluxes are biased too hot too. It's because the cathode resistor value is based on '50s wall voltages. When you get a 5E3 biased properly the difference is astounding. No more compressed mush past 9.00 on the volume!
bluedmc777
Well-known member
There’s nothing wrong with current production tubes. I just like collecting and photographing them when I can. I’m not trying to give anyone GAS!
Bambalam
Member
I repair tube amps and radios so I'm always on the lookout to add to the stash. Inside one radio I was working on I found 2 tubes that were purchased the day after D-Day. I can imagine the owner of the radio running to the store in Red Wing, MN to buy them so he could listen to the war reports.
Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
And I'll wager they still work.
Bambalam
Member
They absolutely do!
cooder
Well-known member
Very cool! Those are 807s I guess? I built a single ended amp with them, still got a few spares from back in the day, similar age I guess, that measure 100%.
bluedmc777
Well-known member
What types of tubes are you looking for? I’ve a good bit of mainly small signal tubes not usually seen in amps that I have no use for.
Bambalam
Member
I made this tube spreadsheet and note what each tube was used for. I don't keep any TV only tubes, just radio, amp and some tubes used for test equipment.
Copy of *Tube List*
bluedmc777
Well-known member
I’ll see if I have any of those. Pretty sure I do
