JJ ECC83S VS. Sovtek 12AX7LPS

[Braciola]

Anyone have a preference of these two for use in a soldano slo 100 with the gain running high?

[Jason Calieri]

I tried the JJ's in my VHT Pittbull CLX, and they sounded pretty bad. Kinda bland and not much gain.

I've also heard that the LPS doesn't do so well in very high gain applications, and that the EH is a better fit. Pretty sure Lord Valve wrote something about that in his last newsletter/catalog.

Jason

[aleclee]

Lord Valve recommended the EH over the LPS for my SLO clone when I stopped by his shop a few months back. He said that the LPS tubes are more prone to microphonics which is particularly troublesome in high gain beasts like the SLO.

Can't say anything about the JJs. I might try one in the V1 position.

[Chris N]

I just put JJ's in my Fender Twin Amp along with Svet 6L6. I'm pretty happy with them so far. Two of the Sovteks that came stock in the amp were microphonic right from the start. I was considering the EH, but a local repair shop had the JJ's at a good price so I went with them. I have the Sovteks in my Boogie, which came from Boogie, they haven't given me any problems. I guess it's about quality control.

[Taller]

First off, if you're considering JJ/Teslas', check with Bob at eurotubes.com. He's quite a knowledgabale amp/electronics dude, will talk to you about your application, will set you up with tubes graded for your particular application, and has customer service second to none. Prices are great, too.
Second, I found that when I first installed the JJs' in my Peavey Delta Blues, I was disappointed that I didn't hear an apparant difference from the stock Sovteks - then, once the amp got good and warm in about 10 minutes, the tone just seemed to bloom! Good stuff!

Eurotubes (http://www.eurotubes.com/index.htm)

[jlagrassa]

I'm about to load my Single Rectifier up with JJ's, I have in there now EH tubes and svetlana power tubes but the other night i pulled V1 and V2 and installed a couple of spare ECC83S i had around and man i loved the way the tone shaped up plenty of fat tone nothing shrill in the high end so I decided to email Bob. I am getting 5 ECC83S one of them is a balanced Driver tube and a pair of JJ 6L6GC I should have them tommorow!

[Braciola]

Originally posted by jlagrassa
I'm about to load my Single Rectifier up with JJ's, I have in there now EH tubes and svetlana power tubes but the other night i pulled V1 and V2 and installed a couple of spare ECC83S i had around and man i loved the way the tone shaped up plenty of fat tone nothing shrill in the high end so I decided to email Bob. I am getting 5 ECC83S one of them is a balanced Driver tube and a pair of JJ 6L6GC I should have them tommorow! Let me know how you like them all, because those are exactly the tubes I was thinking of trying. Thanks!

[LordRiffenstein]

Pretty simple for me, I hate Sovteks and I LOVE the JJ/Teslas. My Engl came stock loaded with Ruby tubes which happened to be all re-branded JJ/Tesla's. My Diezel came stock loaded with Sovtek 12AX7WBs and I switch the V1-4 with JJ/Teslas and I lost the high end sizzle I was hearing and I got a real smooth tone. There are people saying that they find the JJ's to be dark and muddy but I can't agree. I'll have to add that my amp tech selects the JJs himself, he orders a bunch and tests them again. Same thing Bob at Eurotubes does!!

HTH,

Yoeri

[Greggy]

Have recently experimented with 12AX7s in my mesa v-twin. Tested EH, Sovtek LPS, and JJ ECC83S.

Results: JJs won hands down. LPS second. And EH last. But the EHs by far sound the best in my Hellhound. So I'm happy and the LPSs sit in the drawer.

As mentioned above, the JJs minimize high end sizzle relative to the Sovteks (in my case the LPS), leaving a smooth top end. But YMMV.

Greg

[fjs1962]

I've tried both extensively in different amps. To me the LPS is a very well balanced tone but in a combo amp or with high gain they tend to get microphonic. The JJs sound clearer in my amps than the SLP, but not harsh. They also seem to be less prone to microphonics. I've also tried the EH, and thought they sounded "grainier" than the other two. I like the JJs the best and use them in all my amps now.