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I just got pounded by a euro-cretin.

I need 10 6L6 tubes and no crap, either.

No sovtek garbage, other than that I am open to suggestions including private sales.

If you have a good idea, please let me know where I can buy them as well.

I have 2 customers that want to carve their names in my back. lol

I've gotten most of my tubes from tube depot (tubedepot.com). Lots of NOS, good prices, they also do special requests (power matched sets, etc.). I don't like most of the modern tubes either, I always go with NOS when possible.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

I went thru a phase trying every tube that I could find, some very expensive ones to boot, but for my Mesa amps Im using Mesa tubes for the power section. I still mess around with the 12 AX7s in the 1-2-3 postion, but other than that Im finding a good consistent tone on my amps using the Mesa tubes.

Mesa branded power tubes are selected by Mesa specifically for Mesa amps, since boogies are not designed to have the bias adjusted. Personally, I like JJ tubes for the tone and price. They make a good 6L6. Are they as good as NOS GE's or RCA's ? Probably not, but IMHO, they sound fine. I use JJ power tubes in all my tube amps except I'm using some re-issue Tung-Sol 5881's in a Vibrolux Reverb. I've used JJ EL-34's, 6L6's, 6V6's, EL-84's. They have always sounded good to me. I've tried other brands like Winged C and Sovtek. They didn't sound as good to my ear. I guess I just like the JJ tone.

Best place to go for tubes is Euro-tubes.com....Simply the best!!!

allthumbs wrote:Mesa branded power tubes are selected by Mesa specifically for Mesa amps, since boogies are not designed to have the bias adjusted. Personally, I like JJ tubes for the tone and price. They make a good 6L6. Are they as good as NOS GE's or RCA's ? Probably not, but IMHO, they sound fine. I use JJ power tubes in all my tube amps except I'm using some re-issue Tung-Sol 5881's in a Vibrolux Reverb. I've used JJ EL-34's, 6L6's, 6V6's, EL-84's. They have always sounded good to me. I've tried other brands like Winged C and Sovtek. They didn't sound as good to my ear. I guess I just like the JJ tone.

I put a set of JJs in a 90s Laney AOR series amp (similar design to a Fender Twin). I did like the sound, they were better than some of the other modern tubes I tried.

Ooh you didn't like Sed/Svetlana 6l6's?

WOW, that blows my mind.

I thought JJ's were for a more modern sound, but I'll definitely give them a look-see.

The JJs sounded good in that amp, which was from the 90s.

In my Vibrolux Reverb, I found the Sed/Winged C's to be too clean for my tastes. But if a big bass response and crystal clear highs are your thing, they deliver in spades. They perform best when biased a little hot, so the reviews have said. I should give them a try again.

One amp I am working on is a Fender Twin Reverb in a 2x10 combo enclosure. (fender Quadraverb cab cut in half and re-tolexed)

I was going to go with 4 Svetlana/Sed, but they are too much $.

I can get the JJ's cheaper and they sound better/more versatile.

Does that sound right to you, Allthumbs>?

(JJ's at a better price and more versatile?)

I've never had a problem with JJ's. To my ears, they sound fine. Even better when they cost less.

allthumbs wrote:I've never had a problem with JJ's. To my ears, they sound fine. Even better when they cost less.

Oh sh*t, don't go there or we'll have grandpa chasing in here after me.

Rgr that, yes they are nice when you can get them :whispers: for less.. lol

www.watfordvalves.com

North London, UK. *THE* best and most highly respected tube/valve supplier in the world. Used them while living over in the UK for the past 11 years, and they know their onions (as the Brits say).

Watch out for the pound-to-dollar conversion and shipping/import duties though. If you see what you want and they have them, you'll have to stump up for them. Watford Valves specialize in buying up old stocks of tubes from government surplus, medical, and armed forces around the world so a lot of their tubes are NOS (new, old stock) which are generally regarded to be of higher quality than most anything produced today. Back when medical and military equipment used tubes (and indeed when tube production was more widespread), there were generally higher production tolerances/specifications. If you see a NOS tube that's JAN-spec (military), you can be pretty sure of it being a decent valve.

Note too that you may need to search for tubes using their European/Worldwide names (ex. a 12AX7 in the States is a ECC83 to the rest of the world, etc). Most are listed under both names, but just be aware.

Oh I already had issues with foreign tube suppliers.

I don't want to mention any names "EURO-TUBES" but they tried to rape me pretty hard until the BBB got involved.

Next thing you know, they even answered my emails and that was after they already had my $.

Wonders never cease.