Best current production tubes?

[toneman335]

I am looking to put the best current production tubes in a Fender Tweed Twin reissue. Have a few questions:

. Is the 5881 the way to go for tone?
. Any downside to using all 12AX7 tubes?
. Who is making the best current production tubes for what I need?
. Who is the best source to purchase the tubes?

Please share any other information you think is important.

[PRNDL]

Many people are complaining about the recent decline in quality of new tubes. The simple truth is that the quality changes every few years, which means that the bast source of info is a tube guitar tech that matches the tubes and burns them in for a while. Even then, they can't control the quality, but you're much better off than buying something off the internet or eBay.

I'm fortunate to have a local tube guitar tech, Larry Rodgers, who does this. I plan on getting some new 6V6's for my new homemade amp.

BTW - Larry mentioned that 5881's were the best 6L6 tube, by far.
12AX7's are the highest gain of that type, which will give your amp more distortion and less headroom, plus a little more noise.

Changing preamp tube types and manufacturers was one of the first tube amp "secret" tricks Larry showed me. We swapped tubes with my first guitar amp and it changed from sweet blues to country honk to rock and blues crunch. I chose the latter.

[LesPaulMan]

I've been pretty happy with the recent SED Winged C's. Great tone and very reliable.
Have also had good luck with JJ 6L6's.

[mark norwine]

for good, consistent quality, I standardized on JJ a few years back & have had really good luck.

[slider313]

I'm using the new production Tung Sol 6L6GC STR's in two of my amps and they really sound great. They give a more "woody" tone than anything I've tried and have good bass response and a smooth top end. Their 12ax7's are also, IMHO, the best new tube of this type.

[HarryB]

I've recommended JJ's to my customers and use then in most of my personal projects. For the most part they have been excellent. There have been a few problems. Two or three 6L6's have had envelopes that rattle and I had one 12AX7 fail on a customer prematurely. Those problems popped up when I started using the vendor I use now. So it could be the vendor packaging/handling or the shipper they use rather than JJ's quality going down. But I really don't know. I do love the Winged C 6L6 & EL34's too. Never a problem with them.

[Backstage Kent]

I've installed a ton of JJ's, 6L6's, E34L's, 6V6's, & 12A*7's. Failure rate is pretty much zero, give or take a tube or 3. (Out of a few hundred--I'm OK with that!) My customers have all been very happy with the tone. That said, my current fave 6L6 is the short bottle TungSol, which so far seems to be similarly reliable--and it looks really cool. Tried the TS 12AX7 and liked the sound, but had 6 of my first 40 fail in various ways within 3 months, so I'm back to JJ's and EH's. If you want really bulletproof JJ 12AX7's, I highly recommend buying them from Ruby--the ones they sell as 12AX7CZHG are the highest gain, lowest microphonic ones out of the batches they buy, and for only a buck or two more. Personally, I think current production tubes are, in general, improving--of course, I lived through the dark days of the late 80's and early 90's when almost all current production was utter crap. We've still got a ways to go to match the consistency and quality of the golden era stuff, but at least it's moving in the right direction!

[HipKitty]

Our clients seem to love the SED's, the TAD's and the Tung Sol's as well.

[toneman335]

Is there a sourse of tubes you can recommend for service and price?

[Blue Strat]

SED 6L6GCs and EL34s are very reliable and toneful. The Tung Sol Reissue 5881s, 6V6GTs and 12AX7s are also doing well.

[Mike T]

I've had good luck with JJ 6L6's and 6V6's, Sovtek EL84m's and 12AX7WB's.

[mark norwine]

The Tung Sol Reissue 5881s, 6V6GTs and 12AX7s are also doing well.

But my big gripe was...and remains...."what are they"?

What New Sensor puts ON the box and what they put IN the box often have nothing to do with one another...

MM / NS bought the name. That doesn't mean they've re-created the old designs. I'm not saying they don't sound good...I'm simply saying that, as a buyer, I have no idea what I'm getting.

By contrast, if it says JJ on the box, JJ made it. I'm comfortable with that.

EDIT.......After re-reading, it could be construed that I'm taking issue with Mike's comments. For the record, I'm not. Mike is 100% right & I agree: these new "Tung-Sol" tubes sound nice. My issue....and yes, I springboarded off of Mike's post....is solely that, unlike JJ, Winged C {i.e. the REAL Svet}, or other "true manufacturers"....I have no idea what I'm buying when I buy re-branded tubes imported by MM. He owns the Reflektor factory, and that's fine. But why not call these "Reflektor tubes" and be proud of it? At least we'd know what's what.

[Blue Strat]

But my big gripe was...and remains...."what are they"?

What New Sensor puts ON the box and what they put IN the box often have nothing to do with one another...

MM / NS bought the name. That doesn't mean they've re-created the old designs. I'm not saying they don't sound good...I'm simply saying that, as a buyer, I have no idea what I'm getting.

By contrast, if it says JJ on the box, JJ made it. I'm comfortable with that.

EDIT.......After re-reading, it could be construed that I'm taking issue with Mike's comments. For the record, I'm not. Mike is 100% right & I agree: these new "Tung-Sol" tubes sound nice. My issue....and yes, I springboarded off of Mike's post....is solely that, unlike JJ, Winged C {i.e. the REAL Svet}, or other "true manufacturers"....I have no idea what I'm buying when I buy re-branded tubes imported by MM. He owns the Reflektor factory, and that's fine. But why not call these "Reflektor tubes" and be proud of it? At least we'd know what's what.

What are they? They're tubes made by New Sensor with Tung Sol labels on them. They seem to be "unique" in that they're not sold under any other brand names.

They is what they is;)

[jhc]

Is there a sourse of tubes you can recommend for service and price?

For JJs I've always had great service at eurotubes.com. I also just bought a set of NOS 5881s from Mike at KCA NOS Tubes (he also sells new production) - I think you'll find nothing but rave reviews here about his service.

[jetlag]

I would go with TAD short bottle 6L6s if you want mids and breakup, or winged Cs if you want the classic fender sound. Haven't heard the new TS 6L6GC though. For 12AX7s I'd go either RI tung sols or EH. For 12AT7s I'd bite the bullet and buy NOS - preferably RCA greyplates. I wouldn't put 12AX7s all the way across in the amp.

[cbnutt]

does winged C make a 6V6 ?