Any NOS junkies over here?

[hawaii121]

Just curious if anyone else dabbles in these? It's almost impossible to have a civil discussion on TGP about this, but since we are much more civilized... What's your story?

[thesjkexperience]

Talkin' tubes?

[hawaii121]

Talkin' tubes?

Yep... Just picked up my first set of kt66 that I think are just terrific. Very 3d and incredibly sweet smooth od. I have always been more into 6l6gc but these may have changed me. I think donner runs a kt66 amp.

[SteveA]

I guess i may keep by EDT with those KT66s in Never wanted to part with it really.

[thesjkexperience]

I had/have a bunch as I needed a few less popular tubes for my Victoria 5e3 i.e. 6v6, 12ay7 and 5y3 It is nice because they are far more affordable than 12ax7, 6L6, EL34, EL84 and 5ar4 types.

I have not so much moved away from them, but the old Fender tweed designs are really improved by NOS where my Swart amps sound great with new or old. So, for the Swarts I tend to use old tubes for the 12dw7 and rectifier tubes where the new production are less reliable or do not sound as nice. THe Swarts run a bit higher, and a lot higher in the case of my SST-30, plate Voltage and there are only a few old or new tubes that can handle it without red plating.

I have been buying from Gregg at HiTest for over 7 years and I tell him what I have and where I want to go and his suggestions have been right on every time. His prices and selection are hard to beat though it is the quality of the tubes (and advice) that keep me going back. http://www.hitestguitars.com/

[dlibke56]

Hey Donnel! Dangerous topic for those of us with low resistance to tempatation....

I liked these two Youtube videos for some power tube comparisons... Maybe others will as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXRhWqNlcNs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMqJeIuk ... re=related

[hawaii121]

Sorry Daniel, didn't mean to start chumming the water...

Part of what has been fun with the Bludo is that it can take 3 different types of power tubes and each of them is genuinely different from one another. In the 6l6 variety, I have only been able to try a pair of KT66 I have because all of my 6l6 would require a higher value bias resistor. The most noticeable difference between the 6v6, EL34, and KT66 is when you get into OD territory. I know it's cliche, but it's true, the 6v6 are very American OD, EL34 Marshally, and the KT66 is very smooth and sweet. The cleans are different too, but not as pronounced.

I threw this topic out, because I figured anyone who was as particular as we all are about our BJFE tone would probably also dabble in this area.

I'll post a heartbreaking photo tomorrow (one of my BEST NOS preamp tubes met with an early death)...

[thesjkexperience]

I am a huge fan of nos 6v6! For my 5e3 I really like the 1940s Ken-Rad 6v6G as they are full of harmonics, are fairly balanced tone wise and when I bought 3 pairs they went that expensive. I think they are only $100 a pair now I paid around $70/pair.

My Swarts run higher plate Voltages and only certain positions, rectifiers and 12dw7, justify the cost as some of the new production tubes like Tung-Sol 6v6 (not good at high Voltages), 5881 and EL-34 are really nice for new stuff.

I loved nos Tung-Sol 12ay7, 5751 and 12ax7 as they are strong and have lots of top and bottom which I like to mix with GE 12ax7s for their rich mids.

The tough part of nos is the big tubes 6L6, EL-34 and up as well as the big rectifiers like 5ar4 or GZ-34 are so expensive! I would have to have a vintage head sitting on a chair to get the most milage out of them.

I have suspected my Wife's Victoria 518 (5f1 tweed champ) may have a failing transformer, so I have been cruising the Mercury Magnetics site for info and it has been a real education!

[hawaii121]

Yep, the NOS 6v6 stuff is still within reason, but if you go to a bigger dealer for EL34, KT66, KT88, 6550, etc, they hammer you.

Scott, I would call Mercury, they reverse engineered a blown transformer for me a while back and it was very fair on the price.

Here's the photo I promised... This WAS an NOS Mazda 3 mica ECC83s. I have no idea how it got cracked, but it did. I managed to get a few of these at reasonable prices about 3 or 4 years ago. They are my favorite for v1, v2 and I like to think of them as open and 3d with a very rich harmonic quality. Like many others, I also am a big fan of the amperex and mullard stuff. I currently have a VERY rare Mazda 3 mica 5751 which is unquestionably my favorite 5751.

[jdandry]

Just went through a bunch of NOS stuff for my TW Rocket clone.
For EL84s- Tried a pair of:
Mullards (original)
Siemens E84L
Amperex EL84
and just to hear them Boogie el84 (Russia or China I guess)
Settled on the Mullards, but the boogies sounded good also, a bit less overall depth, clarity and punch when compared to the NOS stuff and the NOS
stuff holds up sound wise much better at high volumes.
But in a band setting you might be hard pressed to really hear the difference in a live mix..studio i would go with the NOS.
Preamps:
I have a bunch of old Mullards, Amperex, RCA Black Plates, but the surprise was a pair of red labeled National 12ax7s made in India!
These sounded full, clear and lots of harmonic content..and quiet! I am using those two for v1 and 2 and a Mullard in v3.

I work at a backline company and we have a bunch of EH, Boogie and Sovtek 12AX7. These fail alot, I am constantly changing pre tubes
in our amps. They also sound pretty dull and flat. The worst are the EH.

I use RCA Blackplate 6v6 in my 6V6 amps but found that the Tung-Sol reissues sound really good.

To me, the preamp tubes will give u more bang for your buck in the NOS world. You will really notice a difference,
power tubes to a lesser effect unless u crank the amp..then u can start to really hear the power tubes.