Hey gang,
For some time I've been considering replacing my 5150's preamp tubes. It's a very early model, with the EVH signature on the front. This amp has had the bias mod installed & is running a set of JJ power tubes.
On my last project, the guitarist made an off hand comment that struck a chord with me: "The guitars have a slight fuzziness to them." Ok, when the clients notice, it's time for a change! The tubes in the amp were the originals... with the "made in China" sticker on them. 8th generation, if I'm not mistaken.
Well, I've heard some great things about the 9th Gen Chinese 12AX7, which I believe goes under the "Shugang" label...
Alright, so I know what to get. I picked thetubestore.com because of it's geographical location. It's in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It's about 4 hours away & it's also my home town. It also means no border hold-ups or brokerage fees from the shipping company.
It turns out thetubestore.com will sell balanced triodes for an extra $5, and match from tube to tube as well. The tubes themseleves are about $10 each, BTW. I bought a matched and balanced quintet for an extra $25. Not really too expensive, considering these are going into my main recording amp! I think the whole thing cost about $110 USD, including shipping, GST & PST. (goddamn government!)
Now what blew me away was that I shipped via a 2-3 business day service & got the tubes the next morning! Fucking great!
First thing I noticed: No more stickers on the tubes: These have "Made in China" inked on the glass. Cool.
Since the whole set has balanced triodes, installation is a no brainer: Just drop them in & don't worry about which socket is the phase inverter.
Ok, so the tubes went in without any grief, time for a test drive!
Analysis: These tubes are certainly cleaner, that's for sure! I noticed slightly less gain, but this was offset by a much tighter bottom end, more harmonic content in the mids, and a cleaner, less fizzy top. That & the fuzziness disappeared. Overall, I'm very happy with the tone of these tubes... they were exactly what I was looking for. That & the turnaround time from the store was freakin' unbeatable. If you're looking for replacement tubes, I'd recommend checking them out!
-0z-
For some time I've been considering replacing my 5150's preamp tubes. It's a very early model, with the EVH signature on the front. This amp has had the bias mod installed & is running a set of JJ power tubes.
On my last project, the guitarist made an off hand comment that struck a chord with me: "The guitars have a slight fuzziness to them." Ok, when the clients notice, it's time for a change! The tubes in the amp were the originals... with the "made in China" sticker on them. 8th generation, if I'm not mistaken.
Well, I've heard some great things about the 9th Gen Chinese 12AX7, which I believe goes under the "Shugang" label...
Alright, so I know what to get. I picked thetubestore.com because of it's geographical location. It's in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It's about 4 hours away & it's also my home town. It also means no border hold-ups or brokerage fees from the shipping company.
It turns out thetubestore.com will sell balanced triodes for an extra $5, and match from tube to tube as well. The tubes themseleves are about $10 each, BTW. I bought a matched and balanced quintet for an extra $25. Not really too expensive, considering these are going into my main recording amp! I think the whole thing cost about $110 USD, including shipping, GST & PST. (goddamn government!)
Now what blew me away was that I shipped via a 2-3 business day service & got the tubes the next morning! Fucking great!
First thing I noticed: No more stickers on the tubes: These have "Made in China" inked on the glass. Cool.
Since the whole set has balanced triodes, installation is a no brainer: Just drop them in & don't worry about which socket is the phase inverter.
Ok, so the tubes went in without any grief, time for a test drive!
Analysis: These tubes are certainly cleaner, that's for sure! I noticed slightly less gain, but this was offset by a much tighter bottom end, more harmonic content in the mids, and a cleaner, less fizzy top. That & the fuzziness disappeared. Overall, I'm very happy with the tone of these tubes... they were exactly what I was looking for. That & the turnaround time from the store was freakin' unbeatable. If you're looking for replacement tubes, I'd recommend checking them out!
-0z-
.
