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

[MartyStrat54]

The 45's if good fetch about $10 to $25 each.

The 27's if they have the mesh grid can bring about $45 a pair.

The 24A's can go for 99 cents or as much as $12. Depends on brand and condition.

The 80 or 86 tube? If it has twin plates with a square cut on the top of the plate, it is a rectifier. This would be an 80 tube.

There isn't an 86 tube. There is an EF86, or a PCL86. I think you have an 80 tube. 99 cents on up to 14 or 15 bucks.

The rest of the tubes I doubt if you could sell, but I would stash them. If you had gotten a pair of 6V6's, you could sell the pair. It's hard to sell just one. Hang on to the 5Y3 as well. It is a rectifier tube.

I have a separate box that I keep odd ball tubes in. That was some old unit with all of those "globe" shaped tubes. So old in fact that it didn't have any 12AX7's. It was probably made in the early 40's before WWII. Wow!

 

[racko7566]

Damn.. thanks Marty. I really like old stuff, dont care about what there worth really, just fun exploring for them, and some are so cool with double getters on the same side and stuff. Wow if you think about it, some of these tubes could of had the sound waves of Orson Wells voice reading war of the worlds going through them. Sooo cool!!!!!

 

[racko7566]

If you guys dont mind I would like to post some pics of the cool looking tubes.

 

[MartyStrat54]

If you guys dont mind I would like to post some pics of the cool looking tubes.

Go right ahead. I love looking at those old tubes. Are most of them Philco branded? If you can get a clear shot of any acid etched part number, that would be great. Philco used a lot of RCA tubes. Look for the RCA octagon box on the tube. Also, Tung-Sol was big back then.

 

[jupiter89]

I wish I had 1/100th of the tube knowledge some of you guys have. Let me say I am a Marshall guy (have 5 heads), but I also have a Vox AC4TV, Night Train and will be getting a 1976 Hiwatt Custom 50 this week partially for curiosity and also to see how a Pink Floyd type of tone will sound through it vs. Marshall. (Unsure whether I will keep it or sell it). Anyway, I want find out if the tubes in it are good choices or not. There are 3 RCA 12ax7 preamp tubes, a Groove Tube ECC81 P/I tube, and the 2 power tubes are Seimens EL34's. I see the RCA pre-amp tubes mentioned a lot but not the Seimens power tubes. Are they a good tube ? I am almost positive that the early Hiwatts came with Mullards, because Dave Reeves the company's creator used to work for Mullard.

 

[racko7566]

This is the Philco 24a

 

[racko7566]

Heres the 45, their awesome looking...

 

[MartyStrat54]

I wish I had 1/100th of the tube knowledge some of you guys have. Let me say I am a Marshall guy (have 5 heads), but I also have a Vox AC4TV, Night Train and will be getting a 1976 Hiwatt Custom 50 this week partially for curiosity and also to see how a Pink Floyd type of tone will sound through it vs. Marshall. (Unsure whether I will keep it or sell it). Anyway, I want find out if the tubes in it are good choices or not. There are 3 RCA 12ax7 preamp tubes, a Groove Tube ECC81 P/I tube, and the 2 power tubes are Seimens EL34's. I see the RCA pre-amp tubes mentioned a lot but not the Seimens power tubes. Are they a good tube ? I am almost positive that the early Hiwatts came with Mullards, because Dave Reeves the company's creator used to work for Mullard.

A lot has to do with how strong the tubes are. The RCA's are fine preamp tubes if they aren't worn out. A 12AX7 can be damn near dead and still amplify the signal. I posted a long time ago about customers who actually liked worn out 12AX7's in their V1 position. Assuming the RCA's are good, I will say that the ECC81 (12AT7) can be replaced by another 12AX7 (ECC83). You don't have to use the ECC81 if you don't want to. Now the Siemens EL34's are in fact RFT EL34's and they are a superior EL34.

Do the RCA's have orange or white lettering on the tubes?

If you need any more info, just let me know.

 

[racko7566]

Was wondering, do you guys think NOS tubes in an amp make more of a difference in an older point to point amp then a printed circuit board type?

 

[MartyStrat54]

Was wondering, do you guys think NOS tubes in an amp make more of a difference in an older point to point amp then a printed circuit board type?

Every amp has its own tone (soul). Installing good quality NOS tubes will add to that tone. However, I do not think that it makes any difference on how the amp is wired. I mean it will make the amp sound different, but it won't make the tubes work differently. Most older amps had carbon composition resistors and they are known for being noisy and drifting. The more modern Marshalls use better resistors.

In short, the answer to your question is, "No."

 

[RiverRatt]

That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic. You nailed that slant top getter. Of course Valvo is a Philips brand. I would really like to try out a Valvo, Miniwatt and Amperex in a headphone amp and see how they sound. I would have to say similar.

Once again, great job of nailing that down.

What ever happened with this tube? How did it sound? If you ever get to feeling generous, I wouldn't mind trying it out sometime.

 

[solarburn]

Well my fellow tube rollers I just got my Top Secret highly classified box of tubes today. Martimus gave "ME" a special assignment which involves a very intense session of "tone titillation" here at our Washington facility. What is "tone titillation" you ask? Well I can't tell you otherwise the boyz in Black will hunt you down. Capeesh?

I'll give a hint...

I'll be getting Funken on my Tele.

Agent Solarius rolling out a here.

PS- They're watching...you!:Ohno:

 

[RiverRatt]

So when do we get the report? Crank them suckers up and dial in a little dirt. See ya in a few hours.

 

[solarburn]

So when do we get the report? Crank them suckers up and dial in a little dirt. See ya in a few hours.

I'm going to be at this a few days cause of my off and on schedule to play.

I just put in a smooth plate rated at 24-24 on Marty's tester and it sounded really nice on the green channel. Overdrive was smooth and warm. I've got a RFT Tele smooth plate version in it now with a 24-23 rating. So I'm just going to go back and forth with a couple today and rate those 2. That's all I'll have time for. First impressions of the character of the tube is I like them. Oh and I'm just doing V1 for now.

I'll get more detailed as I go along. I will try them in my NT as well so I'm roll'n 2 amps. Needless to say Its going to be a long session coming hehe.

 

[MartyStrat54]

What ever happened with this tube? How did it sound? If you ever get to feeling generous, I wouldn't mind trying it out sometime.

It's difficult to hear what it sounds like, because it is a V2 tube and stout at that. I used it with a 7025 to see if I could hear a little more of it and I would say it has a little more top end to it. Overall, the tube turns my Marshall into a harmonics machine. Did I say high gain?

A sad story. Last night, I tried to buy two Valvo slant getter 12AX7's. The price wasn't bad, but the shipping was $15 from Germany. When I went to pounce on them with 30 seconds left, the EBAY software froze and I lost out on them. The pair went for $49. Son of a...

There is a guy that has another pair of Valvo's, but his auction starts at $99. They are out there. I would like to find one or two suitable for V1.

 

[MartyStrat54]

More bad EBAY news. I thought that I had eight Mullards in the bag from the same seller. This was two lots of four. However, at the last moment, one of the lots jumped from $72 to $163. I did however get the other lot of four for $66.

It's like someone is out there claiming the end of NOS tubes and everybody who uses them are on a buying spree.

 

[RiverRatt]

So, should we start buying up Ei's yet? Some people are saying that they are going to be the same way in a few years.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Well they are back in stock in most places, but the tubes are blank. They uncovered a whole bunch of them that were to be relabeled. I think they are going for $17.99 for a 12AX7.

If they aren't microphonic, they are about as close to NOS as you can get.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Wow! I can't believe it, but we've answered everyone's tube questions. It sure is quiet. Any tube questions.

How about some more pictures of toobs?

 

[ken361]

ok! when I got my amp back from the tech he put in all marshall chinese hand selected and a sovteck in the v1 sounded pretty good but i kinda likeing this so far! v1tungsol, v2 mullard blackburn,v3 penta labs Mullard reissue,v4 mullard reissue(this tube sounds bad at v1 through v3 no probs in v4 and v5 marshall chinese. Seems to soften the pick attack some, waiting on the rft to come back! ok marty on this?