I have a gig tonight, I am using Ruby el34's and 12ax7's, the amp is a Hughes and Kettner Duotone. I am using a paduak and curly maple custom hollowbody w Duncan 59 humbuckers, I think this paring is kinda bright and metallic sounding, what differences can I expect if I put a jj in v1 and v2, I have 2 new jjs lying around but Icant try them out before the gig w the kids running around. Will this smooth things out a bit better than the Ruby preamp tubes I have? Thanks.
I have EH 12ax7s in my, when I tried JJs they where darker. That was my amp which is an Orange Rocker 30. YMMV. Good Luck, Luke
Mike, I've had really great luck with the few (what was 9th gen Chinese) tubes I got from you many moons ago. Still a great overall tube. Unfortunately none have matched the stock tubes Randall Aiken/Henry installed in my Sabre. They were Chinese Ruby. What's new in terms of the current crop of Chinese preamps?
Not sure, I don't spend too much time following $10 tubes. The Ruby STR 7025 is a nice Chinese 12AX7.
The Groove Tubes 12AX7M (Mullard) is a great tube to warm an amp up. I know a lot of people have had bad luck with them, but I haven't. The JJ's are also a pretty warm tube. Check Mook's reviews, his findings are dead on. http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Tubes/MooksTasteTests/
You can also use a 20' guitar cable to tame some of those tones if you haven't tried that. Personally I think your guitar sounds great in the mix, cuts like a knife. If you're saying that your live sound is a little metalic, I always trace that (in my rig) to using very low cap cable v-s-v average Guitar Center cable. Live playing I much prefer a 20' cable to roll off some of that presence. Somethimes that's an easier adjustment than chasing smoke in mirrors with tube selection. You can spend a LOT of money when a $13 cable might just do the trick. The JJ will compress earlier, so that might have an aural effect of rolling off the highs.
JJ's will be a little darker/warmer. The best sounding preamp tubes that I've discovered are Ei's. Don't hear too much about them but they are so full, tight and woody sounding in my Marshalls. More so than any preamp tubes I've tried (Sovtek, EH, Chinese/Ruby, GT, JJ) They've really made a difference in shaving fuzzyness out of the preamps. I used to own a Duotone and I bet an Ei in the V1 would clean up some of the fuzzy edge on the dirty channel.
I have always heard the EI sounded great, but that they had serious reliability issues and were very microphonic. If you were going to use those tubes you really needed to make sure they were tested and screened very well. Of course all new production tubes have issues, but from what I have gathered, is that the EI tubes have the highest reject rate for microphonics and failures. Mabe some of the Tube Vendors here can add to this either confirmintg or debunking this.
Yeah, I've heard/read that Ei preamp tubes had some reliability issues. I guess I've been lucky, no problems for me with them. The only preamp tubes that I've had problems with out of the box were the JJ's. Good thing about preamp tubes, they're a cheap and easy way to tweak your tone.
I bought half a dozen EI 12AX7's about a year ago. I have gone through them and experienced bad microphonics and short lifespans. When they are working properly they sound great, but I won't be buying more because of the reliability factor. I am switching to JJs. I plan to get some from Eurotubes.
The Ei's are similar to the JJs. I had problems with Ei's until I started buying the golds. No problems since.
I had some Ei Golds in an amp & they sounded great. When I sold the amp, the new owner was amazed that I used these tubes cause they sounded like crap....very microphonic. So maybe they're just a temperamental bunch???? But yeah...on a whole, I think the JJs are pretty dark & it's nice to see Mike chime in saying the Rubys could be JJs 'cause they also sound dark to me. Right now, I have Sovtek LPSs, RFTs & Mullards in my amps....no issues with any in their respective amps:BEER
Yeah Id like to try some Ei's too- reliability issues or not. The JJ's while being warmer always took something away from the tone while they were at it- not sure-less definition and clarity I think. Every one I bought are lying in my tube stash and not in any amp... Of the current prodution tubes I own I like the Chinese, Sovtek LPS and EH.
The Ei in V1 of my Jubilee really has made a noticeable difference in my tone. Compared to the EH, Sovtek, JJ, GT and Ruby's, the Ei is just fuller, tighter, sweet in the midrange, not clanky, not boomy and shaves some of the fuzzyness out of the preamp gain. It's a warm sounding tube, kind of like the JJ but it just sounds better overall in my Jub than any of the other's that I've tried. For ~$9.00 a pop, it's an excellent way to tweak your tone. I haven't had any reliability issues with the Ei's, am I lucky? I've had a JJ crackle and spit at me though.
