After reading a recent thread on this subject, I bought a "Yugo" "Real" tube from BK, and auditioned it against the stock tube and some other candidates as well. I used a stock EJ Strat and a vintage Princeton Reverb with just the TD in the chain.
First off, the choice of tube in the TD makes a significant difference - really. Way more of a difference in fact than the tube in the Zen 2 or Tonebone Classic, for instance. So we can put that issue to rest.
Here's what I heard in an extensive a/b today:
- Stock tube: sounds good. It's got a smooth fat gain structure.
- BK's Yugo: sounds GREAT. Fatter than stock, more sustain for sure, and more articulate at the same time. Simply inspiring for me. With the gain half up, the TD has a beautiful sustaining tone that stands-up to fast passages. Many held notes turn to a howl that is so like a super-heated high-power tube amp, but at managable SP levels.
- 60's NOS Mullard 12AX7: nice but too tame. Not what I want a TD for.
- GT 12AX7: sort of like a lower gain stock tube. Not bad at all.
- 60's RCA 12AT7: nice, really nice. It gave the TD a characteristic that was like a super-refined OD/light distortion. If I had two TD's, I'd have this tube in one of 'em. Still, for that "fatter-than-a-Rat" type tone that keeps an articulate attack, the BK Yugo is "it" for me.
So, if you are a TD user on the fence about laying down the scratch for the Yugo tube, here's yet another vote to do so.
From what I understand, BK selects the Yugos from his diminishing supply with a 50% rejection rate. So if you have been considering it, go pull the trigger. It really works for me.
-bk
(no, not THAT "bk"!)
First off, the choice of tube in the TD makes a significant difference - really. Way more of a difference in fact than the tube in the Zen 2 or Tonebone Classic, for instance. So we can put that issue to rest.
Here's what I heard in an extensive a/b today:
- Stock tube: sounds good. It's got a smooth fat gain structure.
- BK's Yugo: sounds GREAT. Fatter than stock, more sustain for sure, and more articulate at the same time. Simply inspiring for me. With the gain half up, the TD has a beautiful sustaining tone that stands-up to fast passages. Many held notes turn to a howl that is so like a super-heated high-power tube amp, but at managable SP levels.
- 60's NOS Mullard 12AX7: nice but too tame. Not what I want a TD for.
- GT 12AX7: sort of like a lower gain stock tube. Not bad at all.
- 60's RCA 12AT7: nice, really nice. It gave the TD a characteristic that was like a super-refined OD/light distortion. If I had two TD's, I'd have this tube in one of 'em. Still, for that "fatter-than-a-Rat" type tone that keeps an articulate attack, the BK Yugo is "it" for me.
So, if you are a TD user on the fence about laying down the scratch for the Yugo tube, here's yet another vote to do so.
From what I understand, BK selects the Yugos from his diminishing supply with a 50% rejection rate. So if you have been considering it, go pull the trigger. It really works for me.
-bk
(no, not THAT "bk"!)