Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

John or anyone else that wants to comment. Which tubes are better JJ or Groove Tubes? My question is what are the best tubes readily available for guitar amps and why?

It depends on the type of tube but I'm sure you know Groove Tubes are just rebranded cheap tubes sold at a premium.

Haley, Im currently using JJs, which I bought thru Euro Tubes in my mesa.

If you look them up online they have recomendations depending on how you want to sound. Plus if you have a question about what to use, they will respond to emails.

You know how many tubes are in a Triple Rec, well I got a full set, for $200.

I at one time or another have gone on tube quest for my amps and spent some crazy amounts of money looking for the holy grail of tone, but the set I got in my amp is great to me.

I personally never cared much for Groove Tubes, but I have used them a few times, in fact Ive probably got some at home in a box somewhere.

For EL34s my favorite is Svetlana winged Cs. I've used EH 6CA7s also and really liked them. I tend to use EH 6V6 tubes a lot too but have heard good things about JJ 6V6 tubes. Vintage 6V6 tubes are also pretty inexpensive unlike EL34s. RCA gray plates are my favorite 6V6. I had Shuguang KT66 tubes in my Vintage Modern that were really nice and held up well. I had Rubys in my Tweaker when I bought it and they sounded good but they have a reputation for early failure. I pulled them and stuck a set of Silvertone branded RCAs in it. For 12AX7s I usually buy EH.

+1 vote for JJ's..

Haley, Im currently using JJs, which I bought thru Euro Tubes in my mesa.

If you look them up online they have recomendations depending on how you want to sound. Plus if you have a question about what to use, they will respond to emails.

You know how many tubes are in a Triple Rec, well I got a full set, for $200.

I at one time or another have gone on tube quest for my amps and spent some crazy amounts of money looking for the holy grail of tone, but the set I got in my amp is great to me.

I personally never cared much for Groove Tubes, but I have used them a few times, in fact Ive probably got some at home in a box somewhere.

John, are you saying Euro Tubes website or JJ tubes website will answer questions and respond to emails? thanks in advance.

I have been using Groove Tubes and did not know they are renamed cheap tubes! I am considering getting an Egnater Tweaker 40 it has 2 footswitchable channels. I heard those ruby tubes are not dependable and it is getting close to time the Crate V32 is needing new tubes.

I went to the Eurotube website and well I think I'll try them for my Crate Palamino (salivating breaking out in cold sweat) I've got a feeva LOL!

HD I loaded my Triple with 6V6s and love them.

Haley, yeah the guys at Euro Tube responded to my questions about tubes, very quickly.

Im not endorsing them, cause we all have different things that matter to us, but for price, and quickness to reply to my questions I thought they were great.

Good Luck

+2 on JJ tubes. They are not super-rare NOS unobtanium for the golden ears set, just good consistent quality for working musicians at a fair price.

I believe Groove Tubes are usually re-branded Electro-harmonix. I used them for 5 years in my Hot Rod Deluxe and they worked fine but they are the only tubes that ever caught fire in the back of an amp (Princeton II) while I was playing

My amp tech suggests if someone offers a free set of Groove tubes just tell em "No thanks I'm good here."

I guess I got lucky. When I got my Peavey MX it was dead and I had it repaired in Houston. Two weak tubes were replaced with Ruby 6L6 tubes. I used it nearly 15 years with no trouble at all. Of course that was early 90's, 91 I think, so Ruby may have gone downhill since then. It has different ones now, I don't remember what, I'd have to go open it up. The Rubys were swapped out for weak tubes when I had a local "tech" (translate - thief) do the troubleshooting and find out the transformer was bad. He was right, I replaced the transformer and it worked perfect...after I replaced the weak tubes he swapped.

The only JJ's or Groove tubes I've gotten have been used 12AX7's, not trouble out of any of them so far. I did get one new JJ 12AX7, it caused the amp to pop at times, so I pulled it.

The best one I had for my Fender Champ was a used GE 6L6 I picked up at an antique shop for a dollar. Till the amp decided to commit suicide one night it was the best sounding tube I ever put in it. Never did figure that out, maybe one day I'll hit on something that will make it quit arcing across the tube sockets...I think I know now, the only thing I haven't replaced is the rectifier tube. Just can't put any money into it for a while and it needs new tube sockets again too...so it's on the back burner.

Okay, I ordered JJ's for my Carvin V3M I'll let you guys know how it turns out!

You'll be happy, Jeff.

(I have free groove tubes for anyone dumb enough to want them)
Remember I warned you..

You'll be happy, Jeff.

(I have free groove tubes for anyone dumb enough to want them)
Remember I warned you..

ROTFLMAO! I also have a box full of them! I'll keep some as back ups just in case!

The JJ tubes arrived Friday and I rushed home like a giggling schoolboy to find the new tubes! I had the vision of taking the top of my V3M and quickly changing 8 tubes! BWA HA HA! BIASING MY AMP? I knew (past tense) diddly squat! Okay does anyone remember that game from the 60's called "Operation" for those of you that have had to go into your head YOU KNOW what I am talking about? Anyhow I know how to bias an amp NOW and it wasn't pretty!
I didn't do any damage and I used that amp Sat. night at a gig. The difference in tone is significant. Your right Cap'n I do like the JJ's better. The only thing that V3M was lacking was edge. It was too smooth the JJ's give it an edgier gnarlier tone. I was surprized when I took out the old tubes to find they were Sovtek tubes!

All this tube talk got me thinking about picking up some vintage glass for the Tweaker. I scored a set of Baldwin labeled '62 long plate Slyvanias. They are real nice in the V1 slot. Very strong, high gain tubes. Stuck one in the Tweaker and played for a while today. It is nice & crunchy. I'm diggin' it for sure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-Bw8bLDuI



I got a pair of '70s Saratov 6P3S tubes on the way too but they are going to take a little while to get here from their homeland.