I had heard that the Russian made or Slovic made tubes have gotten their quality up there these days and wondered what you all thought .

I went with Jan tubes , while retubing my Super Reverb, and wondered if it is actually worth the money or not ?

I think the amp sounds great with the JAN tubes but if I can get something for less that would be great with me.

So what's your take on the great tube debate ?

Thanks !

Hi again George -

I guess a lot is subjective & depends on your amp, style & the sound you're looking for, if you use the amp alone or with pedals, do you need a good clean sound (loud?), do you want to get pure amp distortion at low levels in small rooms etc.

I'm still using a mix of Sylvania & Mullard in my main gigging amp, a Maz Junior, but modern tubes in my other amps.

I love the 'green label' Sylvania 12AX7WA for the Phase Inverter, makes my Maz 'give up the goodies' & break-up at quieter volumes, same with the Sylvania 5U4GB rectifier, all the other tubes are Mullard.

...but then Mullards aren't so expensive here in Hong Kong - esp. the later 'Cats Head' logo ones, (not so vauled by collectors & the Hi-Fi nerds who like to show off the '50's logos on the earlier ones, hehe), and I love the strong Vox vibe these give my Maz (which also has a Celestion AlNiCo blue), - it reminds me of my favorite old tan coloured AC15 from years ago.

My experience in the UK was that Mullards can last 20-25 years of gigging, and here in HK my Maz has had the same set for over 3 years so far, despite regular use (several 4-5 hour gigs a week) with no sign of any problems, so in my mind they are worth the extra for my main amp.

My local dealer guy no longer sells to USA etc. as apparently Mike Kropotkin (KCA) bought a load off him 2-3 years ago, only to sell them at a 400% mark-up on the net a few weeks later. Now we have to lug our amps up the narrow winding stairs to his 3rd floor showroom to 'prove' we are the real end-users & not dealers. Thanks Mike

With the Pro Junior, Laney LC15R etc. (more 'portable' for practice & small gigs where I have to rely on public transport), I just use modern tubes that they were designed/voiced for.

I tried sticking Mullards in the Pro Junior a while back, and while it sounded great at low volumes at home, there was zero head room & way too much distortion on the small gig I tried it on
when trying to keep up with a drummer. Since then I've gone back to modern stuff for these amps and its more practical - they were designed & voiced for these, after all.

I particularly like the Sovtek 12AX7LPS, this one seems the best of the current production I've tried so far.

Hope some of this has been useful, but again a lot depends on your gear & what kind of sound you are after...

Good luck!

Bill.
http://homepage.mac.com/cybercat/

I'm really diggin the Electro-harmonix tubes, which as basically, sovteks. Also, i'm using svetlana 6L6s in my power stage, and they're working out nicely. Like cybercat said tho, newer amps are built around newer tubes, so you may get better performance from a sovtek/svetlana/chinesebrandX than you would with a vintage NOS tube.

I am using a 68' Super Reverb that was blackfaced

The amp sounds really great and I had replaced the Tubes with all JAN tubes, Sylvania I think.

I do not like the idea of retubing every year or so like I had to with my Twin that was tubed with Sovtecs a while back .

I like the idea of the tubes lasting years and I suppose if they last years then the cost , although seemingly high, very well might be less when you figure their cost in years .

How long should the newer tubes last and have they gotten better then they were say a decade ago ?

Thanks guys I really appreciate your input

George

George...if you havn't before check out the link below for a great comprehensive review of the tubes you seek...I order all my tubes from Derick in the UK and his stuff is right on the money...

Watford Valves


Chow,
Seegs