Preamp Tubes? - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?

[MartyStrat54]

I want to let the Aussie's on this thread know that there is a major tube seller on EBAY from Perth. He has been on EBAY for about three months or so, selling some really nice pre and power tubes. His user name is: angst46.

Look him up and then check out his auctions. Time to get some smokin toobs.

 

[RiverRatt]

Crack open a cold one cause its 1K time brohans!!!!!!!!!

Pop! Glug glug glug glug glug slurp!

Belch!

That's it. No more post parties for me. I woke up with an unmerciful hangover and my stomach doing flips. To add insult to injury, I didn't even stay up to bid on the Mullard and it went for $19.01.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Can I ask what hapened? Did you actually sit and drink bourbon until late at night? I haven't done that in a long time. One thing I don't miss is hangovers.

I'm sorry you missed out on the tube.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Are you mullards labled or relabled or both, blackburns? trades?

The majority of my Mullards are relabeled. I can buy them at a lower cost. Most are Blackburn codes, since that was the largest plant and made a lot of the small signal tubes.

You should try your luck on EBAY. Lots of single and two tube Mullard auctions going on. Do you have an EBAY account?

 

[RiverRatt]

No, I didn't go overboard. It was probably a combination of the bourbon and working until 9 p.m. last evening. That's the first hangover I've had in years. I was sleepy and the Mullard I was watching went from $9.95 to $19.01 with an hour and a half left to go. I figured it was going to go much higher in the final mintues and I didn't want it that bad. I wish I'd stayed up, now.

 

[solarburn]

That's it. No more post parties for me. I woke up with an unmerciful hangover and my stomach doing flips. To add insult to injury, I didn't even stay up to bid on the Mullard and it went for $19.01.

The train kept roll'n hah?!!!

Sorry you missed out on the Toob!

We got a 2K party coming up man. You gonna be there right...?

 

[MartyStrat54]

I'll make sure there is plenty of Root Beer and Apple Cider.

 

[solarburn]

This is the penta labs/groove tube mullard tube, I tone tested it with the stock v1, rft, telefunken, mesa. As of today im kinda digging the penta labs, it a bit brighter and little more clearer then the rest. The RFT second favorite, i like the crunch maybe a little better then the penta, the penta seem to have a bit more power, chimmy, glassy tone. I play more high gain red, this tube prob. awsome in the green clean with a strat. Dougs tubes still has some of these left after that thats it. really doubt groove tubes will make another like this, Doug said no one at fender can do this. Still like to try a mullard from Marty.
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next time I turn up it might sound not as good, but you know how that goes!

My Penta Lab didn't last very long before it started to rattle. I got it from Doug's several months ago. It was a decent sounding tube though. I had mine in V3 after moving it around. Maybe that's why it took a shit? I like the Mullard RI's too. Its a lower gain 12AX7 and is a nice way to clear things up a smidge.

 

[ken361]

My Penta Lab didn't last very long before it started to rattle. I got it from Doug's several months ago. It was a decent sounding tube though. I had mine in V3 after moving it around. Maybe that's why it took a shit? I like the Mullard RI's too. Its a lower gain 12AX7 and is a nice way to clear things up a smidge.

those were the gain of 105/100

 

[solarburn]

those were the gain of 105/100

The GT Mullard was 105/100 or the Penta?

I'm noticing that the GT Mullard says made in China. Now I know GT's are rebrands mostly(they have a couple that are tooled by them)but my Mullard RI is made in Russia. It actually says 110/115 on it. It does not sound high gain though.

The Tubestore has what I think is a pretty accurate description of how mine sounds:

This is a nice tube but in my opinion better suited to home audio than guitar amps. The tubes have well balanced triode pairs and a very even flat response. Compared to a Tung Sol it sounds a bit flat, but so does a NOS Mullard. Microphonics are not an issue despite the larger that average plate structure. The transconductance on my sample was the same as two NOS samples I measured. Not really high gain at all, but a real good noise floor and a nice smooth tone that doesn’t encourage ear fatigue the way some preamps can be. The Tung-Sol 12AX7 is my favorite preamp for guitars because it accentuates highs and lows. The Mullard adds virtually no tone coloring and is smoother sounding to my ear that a JJ ECC83S. For hi-fi gear the Mullard will likely be a winner but there are better choices for guitar amps for less money."

 

[MartyStrat54]

I'm getting sort of concerned. In the last week or so, the prices of tubes on EBAY have shot through the roof. I don't have an explanation for this. For example: Same seller, same tubes, same quality, two weeks ago $71 for four. Today $156. Another example: Four Amperex 12AX7's. They held steady at $86. Final sales price, $188. I've seen some tubes go in the high three hundred dollars. A good deal on Telefunkens last week was $30 each. Now it is like $50 or higher. I had nine lots of tubes earmarked and they all came due within five minutes of each other. I didn't win a single lot. Most went for $50 over my high bid. I hope this is just a temporary situation. I hope it's not a permanent trend.

 

[solarburn]

I'm getting sort of concerned. In the last week or so, the prices of tubes on EBAY have shot through the roof. I don't have an explanation for this. For example: Same seller, same tubes, same quality, two weeks ago $71 for four. Today $156. Another example: Four Amperex 12AX7's. They held steady at $86. Final sales price, $188. I've seen some tubes go in the high three hundred dollars. A good deal on Telefunkens last week was $30 each. Now it is like $50 or higher. I had nine lots of tubes earmarked and they all came due within five minutes of each other. I didn't win a single lot. Most went for $50 over my high bid. I hope this is just a temporary situation. I hope it's not a permanent trend.

What worries me about this is they have buyers that are paying that price. That will reinforce making that extra cash now. I also wonder why they went up...

On a side note guess what preamp tube just died on me a few moments ago?

 

[MartyStrat54]

What worries me about this is they have buyers that are paying that price. That will reinforce making that extra cash now. I wonder why too they went up?

On a side note guess what preamp tube just died on me a few moments ago?

You have so many, I'll need a hint. Is it all numbers, or does it rhyme with Lack Late? I'm hoping it Chinese.

 

[solarburn]

You have so many, I'll need a hint. Is it all numbers, or does it rhyme with Lack Late? I'm hoping it Chinese.

I'll give you a hint. Fist letter of my name twice...

 

[MartyStrat54]

Thank God it wasn't an American tube. It was a Joe Joe.

 

[solarburn]

Thank God it wasn't an American tube. It was a Joe Joe.

Hahaha! That JJ 803S went out with a big ass HUMMMMMMMMMMMM! Guess the rumors were true about it. I really liked how it sounded but Z experiment is over! The results are final. I can not recommend this one.

I'm demoing the JJ EL34L now. Haven't got them up to volume yet so I can't say yet but just from what I have experienced at lower volume they are alot like my Tung Sol EL34B's. I think there are only 2 CP power tubes I haven't tried yet. The Mullard RI and the EH. Oh and the plain ole JJ El34 I haven't but I really don't want to anyways.

 

[MartyStrat54]

That's the nice thing about having a two tube power amp. It's a lot cheaper and easier to do tube comparisons. Man, you have a load of CP EL34's. Good! I can count on you to make some suggestions. I already told someone to look you up about some feedback on preamp tubes for a DSL100. I figured that you were the man for the job.

Well that 803 was supposed to be the "hot" JJ. I guess it really got hot.

 

[Jae]

I want to let the Aussie's on this thread know that there is a major tube seller on EBAY from Perth. He has been on EBAY for about three months or so, selling some really nice pre and power tubes. His user name is: angst46.

Look him up and then check out his auctions. Time to get some smokin toobs.

Oh, I got some tubes off him. Only thing is i asked him the same question twice by mistake and he replied with "I told you twice, stupid" type of response. I was a bit dissapointed in the response to customers. But the guy was going through alot now, which I didn't know. I got a bit ticked off too when he asked me to pay him for an item I already paid for. I responded to him like he responded to me before. The guy seems to be going through alot so i didn't reply to his angry response. Oh, and for that he banned me from his auctions (lol). he does have some nice tubes, but I already got the good ones from him I wanted, so that's enough for me.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Well every once in a while, I'll break my rules and buy from an overseas buyer. Right now, I'm toying with the idea of doing some business with a German chap.

I can't believe you bought tubes from that guy. How long did it take for the tubes to get delivered? That's funny...you got into a beef with him and he axed you. Wow! Your a bad boy.

 

[ken361]

The GT Mullard was 105/100 or the Penta?

I'm noticing that the GT Mullard says made in China. Now I know GT's are rebrands mostly(they have a couple that are tooled by them)but my Mullard RI is made in Russia. It actually says 110/115 on it. It does not sound high gain though.

The Tubestore has what I think is a pretty accurate description of how mine sounds:

This is a nice tube but in my opinion better suited to home audio than guitar amps. The tubes have well balanced triode pairs and a very even flat response. Compared to a Tung Sol it sounds a bit flat, but so does a NOS Mullard. Microphonics are not an issue despite the larger that average plate structure. The transconductance on my sample was the same as two NOS samples I measured. Not really high gain at all, but a real good noise floor and a nice smooth tone that doesn’t encourage ear fatigue the way some preamps can be. The Tung-Sol 12AX7 is my favorite preamp for guitars because it accentuates highs and lows. The Mullard adds virtually no tone coloring and is smoother sounding to my ear that a JJ ECC83S. For hi-fi gear the Mullard will likely be a winner but there are better choices for guitar amps for less money."

there the same tube according to doug, penta had the first run of them. they coudn't sell them till fender bought groove tubes. Still going to test it more to see who wins the v1 lol