No you're not. I'm of that small percentage of players who crave NOS tubes. Like a story about Marshall's heritage, I feel the same way about a 1962 GE Short Plate as someone would cherish a Plexi. There are some who would say, "He spent $5000 for an all original Plexi. He could have bought himself a new Marshall like a VM or a 410." The same holds true for the need for old tubes. I could by the current stuff, but to me, NOS adds character to your amp.
As far a someone in a crowd recognizing my tone over anyone else's? Ain't gonna happen, because not only can the crowd not sense a players tone, they cannot sense talent. I've seen the worst guitar players get the biggest applause. So that in itself makes the tone issue a moot point.
I told Puffer Fish that as long as I can buy a 12AX7 NOS for $25, that is what I will be running in my amps. From a technical standpoint, NOS tubes can handle a lot more plate voltage. Some of the current preamp tubes are designed right at the voltage operating point. This gives no ground for error. If you get a slight voltage surge, damage could result. Also, I still hold that the quality of materials and coatings used are better than what they are using today. Back when tubes ruled, it was all about making a tube that was better than the competition...spare no costs. Nowadays, it's all about the cost per unit and the bottom line. This formula usually means cheap, cheap, cheap. I mean it is bad when the Tube Store advertises that Sovtek's are no good for combos. To me, that is like saying cheap tube, do not buy. However, what is worse is that one of my 602's came from the factory with two Sovtek WA's in it (V3 and V4) and they are horrible!
I've never met an NOS tube I didn't like. (He-He, that's my Will Rogers imitation.)
There will come a day when NOS will no longer be available. By then, I will be near retirement and I probably will have sold all my gear off. In 2020 how much do you think an RCA 12AX7 will bring?
Some people like to roll tubes and the whole point is to get the best tone with the tubes available. Maybe you have six. Maybe you have sixty. The point is, it's harmless fun. You stick one in and maybe it puts a smile on your face when you palm mute a broken A chord and you can tell the difference over the tube you had pulled out. A while back, I was happy with the NOS tubes in my amp. But because of this forum, I realized that my amps could sound even better. It doesn't matter if anyone else can tell it, it only matters to me. Two tubes changed my whole perception about how my amps could (and should) sound. Now I've replaced tubes in my other amps as well, making sure I have a high gainer in V2 and an 7025 in V1. That is what really makes my TSL's come alive with a super clean channel and crunch-a-bunch.
Now for a while I got a little nuts with tube rolling and was spending too much time on it, but that was because I had a lot of experimenting to do. Now that I've found the formula, I can drop it a notch or two. What I have learned is that NOS tubes have character. (Did I say that already?)
Marty
:eek2::eek2:
