General Music Chat

OK, just got the tax refund cheque, and want to finally fix up the old Twin Reverb, but holy cow...just starting with power tubes has me scratching my head. There seems to be such a range of prices for 6L6 tubes. Does it really matter? Am I realistically going to hear a difference, or are we dealing with slick marketing bullshite? Below is one of many sites I've looked at.
http://thetubestore.com/6l65881types.ht ... DAodIFPCdQ

*cracks knuckles*

Ok man.. The Tube store is usually a REALLY expensive place to buy tubes. Dude should be incarcerated for some of his prices. Best place really is ebay.

Power tubes don't make a huge difference in sound. They are more responsible for more of the response and attack of your playing. But yea, there are differences. From what I'm hearing concerning Fender amps, is that as far as modern tubes go TAD 6l6 WGC's are killer. I'll be trying those out myself when it comes time to swap tubes in my Hot Rod DeVille..

Your preamp tubes are what's going to make the biggest differences in sound. In that area, there are extreme differences between how the tubes sound. But Fender amps aren't as transparent as say the Mesa I had to sell. So there's no real need to go all out on very expensive ones. I would still recommend NOS tubes. But staying with Sylvania, GE, RCA, Matsushita and Tung Sol will keep the cost down for you.

My current preamp tube seup looks like this:
V1- Sylvania JHS 12ax7 short-plate
V2- GE 12ax7a Long-plate
V3- RCA 7025

I'm not sure if your amp has a reverb tube in it or not. I would suspect it does, which means it should be a 12at7. The best 12at7 for the money in my opinion is GE 12at7wa 6201. or GE 12at7wc (green label). They are really awesome tubes.

Hey Shreddo,
You and the Hale-Brothers should work up a bitchin' Reggae version of Tube Steak Boogie!

Dax,
Sorry to screw with your topic, but I was wonderin', You out giggin' yet?
(If you ever move down to North- eastern PennsWoods,and if I ever get my new house built, we could put a decent gig together! )
HJ

Hahaha.. Not sure if I could convince them of that one Howlin'. If there was a song called Lau Lau boogie or Spam Musubi boogie I might be able to convince them.

Youd be in good hands Dajax. I'm still lovin the tubes shredd6 turned me on to. Freakin screams man. If turn the clean channel up past 4 its ear bleed time so sharp and clear ooohh man I get wood just thinking about it.

Ok man.. The Tube store is usually a REALLY expensive place to buy tubes. Dude should be incarcerated for some of his prices.

I was thinking the same thing.

Dax,
Sorry to screw with your topic, but I was wonderin', You out giggin' yet?


You know J, I've kinda given up on getting out and playing gigs, so I changed my profile to focus more on loose jamming, and recording. This is ok, because if I'm being honest playing in front of people has always been my least favorite thing as far as the music goes.

Dajax, Im in agreement with Shredd. Power tubes dont do a whole lot in the way of changing tone. One of my Mesas I did switch from 6L6s to EL34s and it did give it more of a Marshall vibe. For me in all my amps I try to get a JCM 800 tone. I finally after years of doing everything under the sun to get a tone realized that is what I was looking for.

The one tube that seems to make the most difference is whatever is in your V-1 slot. To me when I change that tube it makes the most dramatis changes of any tube. For me the truth is I bought all kinds of NOS tubes to try but in the end Im able to get the tone I want regardless of the tubes I use. Now Im a live player and its really not as critical as it may be to you. Ive heard your stuff and you get some great tones out of your amps, so you might need to be telling me what to do.

As far as tubes just make sure you have some that are performing 100%!