SmokeJS
249 posts
May 20, 2014
3:40 PM
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Planning to order a couple of 6V6 tubes for my Meteor Mini and thought I'd add a spare EL84 power tube for my Kalamazoo One as the shipping cost won't go up. Turns out there's a lot of EL84 choices. One I thought I might like is a Mullard. It's not overly expensive. Not much headroom but with a crystal element JT-30 that might be great. Wondering if anyone out there has done any experientation? Thanks!
Last Edited by SmokeJS on May 20, 2014 3:45 PM
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NiteCrawler .
301 posts
May 20, 2014
3:48 PM
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What tubes are you ordering for the Meteor?I used JJ,s in mine and am happy with them.I think that Greg H would be able to give you the best advise as he has rebuilt and sold many Kalamazoo,s.If he does,nt chime in try e-mailing him direct.just a thought bro.Two great harp amps BTW
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HawkeyeKane
2519 posts
May 20, 2014
4:50 PM
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I've experimented with both NOS and current production. Best two I've heard with my Zoo are a West German Hammond and a new JJ. The JJ is a little stronger sounding than either my stock Raytheon or the Hammond to be honest. Its what I currently have running in mine. I also have a couple of Silvertone badged EL84's that I have yet to try in it. Not sure if they're GE or Sylvania.
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
Last Edited by HawkeyeKane on May 20, 2014 4:52 PM
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blueswannabe
469 posts
May 20, 2014
9:17 PM
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I like the RCA and Mullard for the EL84.
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Barley Nectar
398 posts
May 20, 2014
9:32 PM
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JJ
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SuperBee
2006 posts
May 20, 2014
10:55 PM
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I'm running JJs in 2 of my 3 EL84 amps...I like those better but there is more to it than the tubes. The one that doesn't have a JJ is also inferior in other ways. It's been a longish time since I swapped in the JJs so I don't really remember whether I thought they were better, but I left them installed so musta thought they were ok.
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SmokeJS
250 posts
May 21, 2014
4:11 AM
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Sounds like the Mullard EL84 has some support as does the JJ EL84. Maybe I'll get both. Thanks for the advice!
@NiteCrawler, planning on using JJ 6V6S in the Meteor. They're not expensive and apparently very robust and long lasting.
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Greg Heumann
2728 posts
May 21, 2014
7:59 AM
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Haven't heard the Mullard - old RCA is the best I think. But You should think about whether you need it at all. Tubes in Kalamazoos simply seem to last forever.
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
Bluestate on iTunes
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HawkeyeKane
2520 posts
May 21, 2014
8:45 AM
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"The one that doesn't have a JJ is also inferior in other ways"
What is it?
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
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barbequebob
2565 posts
May 21, 2014
10:09 AM
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My all time favorite NOS EL84's are GE's and Tung Sol (which were original equipment on Gibson amps) and for British amps, NOS Mullards. There is a reissue out on the Tung Sol, but I haven't tried it yet. Of the new production, JJ's sound closest to the GE's, but not quite as good.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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bloozefish
171 posts
May 21, 2014
10:23 AM
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I replaced the EH in my 'Zoo clone with a NOS Amperex and was very pleasantly surprised by the big improvement in overall tone. Haven't tried the Mullard.
James
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HawkeyeKane
2521 posts
May 21, 2014
10:50 AM
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Bob, have you tried a Sovtek EL84?
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
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barbequebob
2566 posts
May 21, 2014
11:55 AM
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I don't like any of the tubes made under the Sovtek name at all.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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HawkeyeKane
2522 posts
May 21, 2014
12:35 PM
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I've been told the new Tung-Sols are pretty much Sovteks with the Tung-Sol name slapped on em.
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
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blueswannabe
470 posts
May 21, 2014
12:39 PM
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the sovtek tubes are not as smooth as vintage tubes and are a little brighter. I still like the sovtek tubes and think that they are nice tubes but until and unless you have done a direct comparison between a vintage tube and a re-issue Russian tube, you will not understand. The differnces are subtle but they're there.
I still have the orginal tubes in my Kalamazoo which gets a lot of play. I would not replace any of them unless it was obvious that they have become microphonic or otherwise don't work.
@bbq- followed your advice on a 6072GE 5 star. wonderful tube.
I have not tried a GE EL84 nor a Tung Sol EL84, but is BBQ is saying it, I would follow that advice.
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SuperBee
2007 posts
May 21, 2014
4:01 PM
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Hi Tim, my 'inferior' amp is a stock version 2 epi vj. I haven't got around to doing any work on it yet. My better el84 amps are a modded vj, and a homemade SE job built on the chassis of a 60's Kriesler radio.
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SmokeJS
251 posts
May 22, 2014
3:31 AM
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In my original post I should have mentioned the Kalamazoo's current power tube is a Raytheon 6BQ5 and is very possibly original to the amp. My thought was given the tube is almost 50 years old it might be prudent to have a spare but given Greg's thoughts that's not necessarily the case. So tonal differences between tube brands aside, can anyone tell me if tubes decline with age and wherher or not a new power tube will make a significant difference? Thanks!
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barbequebob
2567 posts
May 22, 2014
10:40 AM
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With any tube, from long experience, tone changes over its lifetime and its often so gradual that it's almost impossible to notice. With the vast majority of NOS tubes (and I remember way back when what's now NOS tubes were what you always could buy brand new in the box in almost any musical instrument store, TV repair shop or drug store where they had tube testers were even cheaper than the newer stuff is presently) is that they tended to last much longer and a big part of the reason was that the components of these tubes, mainly made either in the USA or in Western Europe, were all made of military grade construction, meaning heavy duty EVERYTHING, but even tho some of the newer production stuff has come a long way, they still don't last as long because the overall construction still isn't nearly as good and clearly not even close to military specs and so they tend to wear out sooner and with power tubes, the first thing that starts to die out is the bottom end.
Some tubes will go microphonic as they get older and some are already that way OOTB. Those old Ratheons are very tough to score now but they are expensive and some of them are amazing. There is word that there are going to be some military base closings because of budget cuts in the US in the next few years and once that happens, there will be a greater supply of NOS tubes that will be ready for sale (the US military was once the single BIGGEST customer of every tube maker in the world and once all their computers were converted to solid state by 1985, the makers stopped making them altogether and sold their tooling to countries like China and those that were once ruled by the now defunct Soviet Union and the military already had about a 300 year supply of them.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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SuperBee
2012 posts
May 22, 2014
8:02 PM
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Svetlana...that's the name I was trying to recall.
The guy who used to maintain my amps also ran a gear hire business. According to him, he observed the Svetlana branded tubes were most reliable of the current-manufacture.
That intrigued me, because as far as I knew, Svetlana is now just another name used on tubes from Reflektor.
But the more I read, the more murky the whole tube-manufacturing business becomes to me.
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barbequebob
2569 posts
May 23, 2014
8:36 AM
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What used to be known as Svetlana is now known as Winged C. We'll never see tubes made like the way it was prior to 1985 when the now NOS tubes were everyday stock because the the tube industry lost its biggest customer of them all, the military, especially the US military and one military base purchased more tubes in a single year than all of the musical instrument amplifier companies combined ten times over all over the world and that's the truth and all those companies sold their tooling to countries like China, the former Yugoslavia, Russia, etc., but the quality of the parts, tho much improved since the late 80's, is still nowhere near as good nor last as long as the old USA and western European makers.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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