Just ordered some new t00bs

[thadood]

4x JJ 6L6GC
1x Mullard 12ax7
1x JAN GE 5751

This should be the last time I retube the ole' Genz Benz before trying to ship it off and get my Sig:X (estimated time will probably be around mid-December. Stupid school is paying me in one check.. at the end of the semester). I've heard great things about the Mullards that are now being produced, that they're very smooth without a hint of graininess. I also finally went for it and got the 5751. I'm going to be using it in the Sig:X (so I can use some of the extra gain stages without being overly-saturated.

I'm going to spend a couple hours doing input stage shootouts between the Mullard and the JAN. Also, I think I may go back to the stock PI tube and try the Tungsol in the input stage, as well. Hopefully the results will be pleasing all-round.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

hahaha, i just put in an order with dougs tubes this afternoon, mainly JJ's and penta 12ax7's, but getting a tung sol, and a mullard 12at7 to experiment with.

I want to know if the new mullards are any good, they were tempting!

 

[thadood]

Update:

I got the tubes today (talk about speedy shipping! I love Doug's Tubes!).

First things first: removal of those KT77's. They're not in bad shape at all, and I think I found out why! For some reason, my amp's bias selection switch was set to 6L6. When I installed the KT77's, I had it set for EL34, with the bias pot set for minimum (it was hot @ around 46mA.. should've been ~40ish). Well, needless to say, with it set to 6L6, the biasing range was reduced. These things were running cold! For how long, I'll never know. I have no idea how that came to be.

Anyway, I throw the 6L6's in, and check the bias; a frigid 18mA! My PV was running at 487V, so the optimal setting for them was around 36mA. I set for 37. I turn 'er on, and play a few clean chords. Seems to be a bit more vibrancy and responsiveness. Very smooth, jazzy tone. I switch to the high gain. Thick, but a bit on the mushy side. Not a lot of definition.

In goes the Mullard! I move the Penta to V2 (replacing an ARS 12ax7) and put the Mullard into the input stage. Play some clean chords, still sounds nice, kind of bright. I switch to high gain, and it's buzzy/grainy. Barf!

In goes the 5751! I take the Mullard out and put the 5751 in place. Play a few clean chords. This time, I'm a bit more captivated by the tone. I keep playing on clean for a few minutes. It's very musical and detailed! I switch to high gain, and the buzz/grain is gone! I can't exactly put a label onto the kind of tone it brought out in my amp, but it definitely made my Genz sing a little.

Makes me want to do 5751's all-round. Hell, the amp has enough gain on tap.

 

[kmanick]

have you tried a Tungsol in V1 and the jan in V2?
I'm curious about the jan and the Mullards.
I just did a total retube from DougsTubes on my Mark III (I just went with his usual mark III set recommendation) but I put in Ruby Winged C 6L6's and JJ El34s in the outer slots and my amp really came alive.
Doug is cool (but I've had nothing but great dealings with Bob and jay at eurotubes as well).

 

[thadood]

I have a Tungsol, but it's in the PI. I may try that tomorrow, assuming I can find my old PI tube.

Also, on the preamp boxes, there's some numbers written on there, like 110/110. What's that mean? the balance between the two triodes? If so, if they're equal, does that mean that they're usable as a PI? Because my 5751 is 95/95 or something like that.

Oh, and another thing: I ordered a JAN GE 5751, and I ended up with a Westinghouse. I don't know if it's just a cosmetic/name change of the same tube, but I wasn't expecting to see the lavenderish-blue box =x

 

[kmanick]

yes, if they are equal it's a balanced tube and you can use it in the PI.
you can actually an unbalanced tube in the PI. there is some debate
about this, but I just go with it. (why buck the system)
hopefully you have numbers on the Power tube boxes so you can see how
closely they are matched (Doug did that with my rubys)

 

[thadood]

Yeah, they were. Plate current was around 32mA for one set, and 31.5mA for the other. I just used the hotter set of the two to set the bias. The Mullard isn't as balanced as the 5751. I'll see if I can find the boxes for the Penta and the Tungsol and see how balanced they are. Maybe the Penta is balanced enough to use in the PI. If it is, i'll give the Tungsol-V1 + 5751-V2 a shot. I'll keep playing with it until I find the best combo, at least.

I tried the Tungsol in V1 and the 5751 in PI (couldn't dig out my old tubes), and it was pretty good, but nothing specacular. I switched it back to V1 being the 5751, and put the Mullard in V2 for shits and giggles. The tone is actually pretty damn good! I kept this combination.