Jcm 900 Power Amp Tube Pick

[JeffP-SD]

Hey guys. I have a JCM 900 2100 that I am about to retube. I have ton of 12ax7's -JJ, tungsol, Eh and a 5751 sovtek. But am looking to get an el34 with the most amount of bass and headroom out of this 900. From calling different online sellers the Mullard seems to be the pick.....but does anyone have any suggestions? I also see when you buy a set it also comes with 2 regular 12ax7's and a balanced 12ax7 for V1!? Is the balanced V1 recommended? Thanks!

 

[DonaldBort]

Tungsol EL-34B's work well and sound excellent for both Marshall's I have them in.

check out this link;
http://www.thetubestore.com/Resources/Product-Reviews/EL34-Review-Chart

 

[JeffP-SD]

Nice, thanks Donald. Would you say they are more in the bass/headroom department than other el34's?

 

[wakjob]

From my experience with the Dual Reverb 900's...
the JJ el34L's have the most low-end 'whomp'.

Compared to the Shuguang el34B's which were a close second and a great sounding tube.

The EH el34... an ok traditional sounding el34.

The Winged C el34, best in class of modern made stuff.

And the old RFT el34. Well, what can I say?

I have old stock x2f el34's, but haven't put them in anything yet.

 

[DonaldBort]

No...They are actually really musical and none of the frequencies stand out as dominate. Dial in the resonance and you get the thump you want, dial in the highs and you get smooth highs that are not spiking shrill highs.
Plus they last and they won't break the bank!!!!! If you don't keep them in your amp you'll have a nice back up set .
The Amp EQ's really nice and they do have a nice break up headroom. Nothing Like an EH tube where you have a ton of headroom before break up.

I just posted some pics of my JCM 800 2004 in a recent post here, I am actually running them in this amp and I even went with tungsol 12ax7's in all 3 pre-amp spots. I am very happy with the sound.

 

[Gunner64]

I have Ruby el34bstr' s in my 2100 sl-x, and in a couple of 800s..I like them. Plenty of bass, good power..no bias issues. Seem to hold up well after repeated poundings. good tubes. And not too pricey either.

 

[DonaldBort]

I ran a quad of the Ruby El34b-str's in a 1972 plexi and I like this tube very much as well.
I had one of them go out on me, and I had to send the quad back to have them replaced. This is how I came across the Tungsol's. Bought as a replacement till my warranty tubes arrived and ended up liking them.
Thumbs up to the Ruby's el-34b STR's/$ too..

 

[Matt_Krush]

Get the JJ KT77's.

 

[JeffP-SD]

Cool, thanks guys. It's weird how these places were pushing the Mullards!

 

[Neil S]

I put the new Mullards in my DSL and to me they sounded really good but then again any new tube does.
I think the human ear is way too unreliable to use as a tone tool, even the noises you were previously exposed to that day or even seconds before can make a difference to what you believe you heard. (I was taught and had this demonstrated in a studio by a sound engineer with way more experience than most of us)

I think it would have to be done like this, record all the tubes at the same % bias settings, same amp settings, same room, same mike, same mike position, same re-amped track. all tracks loaded into the same session in a DAW then soloed at your choice during playback to give instant comparison to the other tracks.
Change any of the things above and the tonal differences would be greater than the differences between the different tubes I think.
(I don't see this done anywhere, even with the transformer manufactures. One site did a comparison but the track was not re-amped, the guitarist played differently each time and of course there was no "session" available to download and evaluate properly. there isn't even before and after comparisons anywhere)

If the tonal improvements were so great between different tubes and transformers I believe the manufactures would be emphasizing the point in just this way, but they don't. (I still put new transformers in my DSL and soon my Plexi reissue but believe the improvement in actual tone is minimal)

Others may hear big differences but I defiantly cant. I only hear very minor differences (they sound different not really better or worse) which could be brought about by any number of other influences.

I believe you can just buy any new power tube brand, bias it up and play.

 

[JeffP-SD]

Wow, thanks a lot Neil! That helps out a ton.

 

[JCMDOUG]

I have used the Mullards and they sound real nice my next tube to try is one from the Tube Store. here is some info on them they cost about 40.00 each. click on the our review

the Preferred Series EL34 tube is a premium high quality tube produced for us in China by the Shuguang factory. We found the best of current production, sourced it to our specifications and gave it a 6 month extended warranty.

The Preferred Series EL34 construction features:
- Grey plate and single "disc" style getter
- Gold grid wires
- Copper grid posts
- A carbonized filament for more efficient thermal radiation
- Low noise filament
- The bottle is made with a heavy gauge glass
- And finally the blue color base is a nice touch too!
From our review: The bottom end is amazing and the tube has tons of gain before it gets dirty. The real strength of this tube is the bass and midrange. Bass notes are rock solid and the mids are very rich and complex. The high end is very good but not bright. This tube really wants to be in your JCM 800 or other amp that can generate piercing top end."

Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent -
"The Preferred Series EL34's have an incredibly tight bass response, unparalleled clarity, and are very rich in harmonics. They are perfect for what I need out of my Diezel VH4 guitar amp. In combination with the Preferred Series 12AX7's, these tubes have brought my Diezel VH4 back to it's former glory. Many thanks to thetubestore.com!"

 

[twothemax]

got winged c for the power tubes in my 2100 and eh for the preamp tubes.
the guy i bought the amp from had jjE34Ls for the power tubes. he said it gave the amp more bottom end, i never tried but his bass pot was on 4.
the jj34ls are suppose to bass things up and apparently its got a nice drive to it too.
http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/JJ-Electronics/JJ-E34L-EL34

 

[erkl]

From my experience with the Dual Reverb 900's...
the JJ el34L's have the most low-end 'whomp'.

Compared to the Shuguang el34B's which were a close second and a great sounding tube.

The EH el34... an ok traditional sounding el34.

The Winged C el34, best in class of modern made stuff.

And the old RFT el34. Well, what can I say?

I have old stock x2f el34's, but haven't put them in anything yet.

IMO, JJ E34L's take the prize with a low mid bump of goodness. I also recently bought a set of TAD EL34B-STR - these are KILLER as well... I assume these are the same rebranded Shuguang noted by wakjob. Awesome tube, Iinitially bought them because they claim 500 Volts allowable on the screens with most other EL34's good for 425 or 450 V - of course I have had plenty of tubes deal with 500 VDC screens, but it is good to know something is made for a bit of extra juice.

 

[wakjob]

I have used the Mullards and they sound real nice my next tube to try is one from the Tube Store. here is some info on them they cost about 40.00 each. click on the our review

the Preferred Series EL34 tube is a premium high quality tube produced for us in China by the Shuguang factory. We found the best of current production, sourced it to our specifications and gave it a 6 month extended warranty.

The Preferred Series EL34 construction features:
- Grey plate and single "disc" style getter
- Gold grid wires
- Copper grid posts
- A carbonized filament for more efficient thermal radiation
- Low noise filament
- The bottle is made with a heavy gauge glass
- And finally the blue color base is a nice touch too!
From our review: The bottom end is amazing and the tube has tons of gain before it gets dirty. The real strength of this tube is the bass and midrange. Bass notes are rock solid and the mids are very rich and complex. The high end is very good but not bright. This tube really wants to be in your JCM 800 or other amp that can generate piercing top end."

Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent -
"The Preferred Series EL34's have an incredibly tight bass response, unparalleled clarity, and are very rich in harmonics. They are perfect for what I need out of my Diezel VH4 guitar amp. In combination with the Preferred Series 12AX7's, these tubes have brought my Diezel VH4 back to it's former glory. Many thanks to thetubestore.com!"

Everything "PREFERRED SERIES" that I've tried from The Tube Store has been amazing!

I don't care what they really are or where they are made, they just sound head and shoulders above most everything CP out there.

.

 

[grainman]

my tech suggest me the svetlana's el34 in my marshall...the're great imo....i also like the tung sol's but i had problems with filament grounding ...they may sound good but i donno if they can handle some of the current inside the amps..