What 12AX7 and 12AT7 will go with an RCA 6L6 Blackplate for Fender tone?

[Joost Assink]

Ok, thanks for all the great suggestions in my other thread. Now I need to find a great match for the RCA 6L6 Black Plate Power tube in the preamp and reverb stages.

So what's the best 12AX7 and 12AT7 to go with the RCA?

Mercury Tubes:
V3: comes with Groove Tubes 12AX7 for Reverb return and mix

V2: Comes with Electro-Harmonix 12AT7 for Reverb send

V1: Comes with Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 for Initial gain stage, post tone-stack recovery


Searching didn't do much for me.

I think the reverb is a bit too wet too soon (think surf-city) so I'd like tubes for the reverb circuit to fix that.

 

[jcs]

why that would be rca 12at7 and 12ax7! actually they are great warm tubes but not super gainy like some other 12ax7 can be.

 

[Blue Strat]

why that would be rca 12at7 and 12ax7! actually they are great warm tubes but not super gainy like some other 12ax7 can be.

+1.

Though you could easily "get away with" GE 12AX7s and a Mullard CV4024/12AT7. Some actually prefer these...there's no consensus.

 

[rockon1]

These! RCA blackplate 12AX7's of course!

 

[Blue Strat]

These! RCA blackplate 12AX7's of coarse!

Sorry Bob, I just can't help myself any longer.

Coarse: Refers to roughness, like sandpaper.

Course: Is the version you're using in your post.

As you were. Feel free to flame my bad grammar, spelling and lack of punctuation.

 

[jcs]

tubes are sort of like spices in foods, it pays to experiment with different combinations.

some 12ax7 have quicker breakup and are darker and gainy (rft).

i have these nos westinghouse square getter 12ax7 (that look similar to sylvania in some ways) these tubes have ample gain with a biting top end.

amperex bugle boy seem to always have more harmonics and overtones with plenty of gain ,theres a reason why they are priced so high they are outstanding tubes imo,but if you have a lesser amp circuit and muddy pickups you may not get the full benefit from these imo..

 

[Timbre Wolf]

tubes are sort of like spices in foods, it pays to experiment with different combinations.

some 12ax7 have quicker breakup and are darker and gainy (rft).

i have these nos westinghouse square getter 12ax7 (that look similar to sylvania in some ways) these tubes have ample gain with a biting top end.

amperex bugle boy seem to always have more harmonics and overtones with plenty of gain ,theres a reason why they are priced so high they are outstanding tubes imo,but if you have a lesser amp circuit and muddy pickups you may not get the full benefit from these imo..

I agree with you, on all points, about the character of these tubes. Good descriptions!

- Thom

 

[devbro]

A good RCA blackplate 12AX7 will sound great as long as you can find a quiet one. The longer the plate, the more prone to noise they seem to be. The short grayplate ones sound good too but if you want quiet, nothing beats a RCA7027. You can sometimes find Fender branded 7027's pretty cheap and they are dead quiet and very warm.

Another option is a new production tube. I like the Tung Sol 12AX7 in vintage Fender amps. They are bright like a chinese tube but not brittle. They also break up nicely and from my experience are pretty quiet.

 

[Timbre Wolf]

The short grayplate ones sound good too but if you want quiet, nothing beats a RCA7027.

RCA 7025?

Is that a long black-plate 7025, long gray-plate 7025, or short gray-plate 7025 you're discussing? My guess is that its the latter, and I like those, too, out of the RCA 12AX7 types.

- Thom

 

[Tramp]

I had a NOS Brimar CV4004 in V1 of my Merc for a long time. When it went microphonic, I tried a Tung-Sol 12AX7 RI I had lying around and liked it, so have kept it in.

V2 is a Mullard CV4024. Great tube and still relatively affordable, especially for a Mullard. But it will make your reverb wetter than stock, so this may not be what you're looking for.

V3 is now a NOS JAN Philips 5751. I'm a big fan of this tube, a lower gain version of the 12AX7, still available and reasonable.

As I mentioned on the other thread, I've been running Blackplates in the Merc for nearly 4 years and will do so as long as my stash lasts!

Enjoy the quest!

 

[Daniel-San]

I used the new Tung Sol 12AX7's and 12AT7's and liked them. Reminded me of RCA a bit and they're very quiet indeed. I've some Philips 12AT7's and GE JAN 12AX7's.
I now have the Tung Sol 12AX7's and the Philips AT7's in there.