Tube Preference

[Michael Minton]

it is sad to hear there are quality problems with JJ tubes. I’ve used them (haven’t bought any in a decade though) and found them to be good quality. JJ’s a Slovakian tube. EH owns the factory in Saratov Russia that makes Svetlana, Sovtek, Mullard (the reissue), and Tung Sol. I’ve never really had much of a quality issue with any of them, but boy have they gotten expensive in the past few years. Preamp tubes that I bought in quantity 20 years ago for 7 or 8 bucks are now approaching $25-30. ShuGang, in China, makes all kinds of tubes, but I had a bad experience years ago with a lot of Chinese tubes I purchased and never went back. New Sensor (the EH outfit) used to give better prices if you were a dealer, and you didn’t have to buy all that many in order to qualify.

[Luke Single Chesapeake Guitar and Amp Repair]

Hey Josh, for power tubes I pretty much exclusively use Tube Amp Doctor nowadays. I have had the same issues with JJ power tubes, as of late, that you are experiencing. Tungsol power tubes have significantly increased the amount of issues. I had two separate amps from two separate people yesterday with relatively new TubgSols and they were rattling like a spray can.

For preamp tubes I still use JJ. I also have random other preamp tube brands. I’ll roll them in different positions to try and find ones that I like. Occasionally I’ll get a noisy one but that’s pretty much always been the case. I use to use EH preamp tubes but I started to have a lot of noise issues and that’s when I switched to JJ. But that was years ago.

I buy all my stuff from Ce Dist. I don’t feel like they have the best source of tubes. Which is why they sell them so cheap. I think Tube Depot has a better group of tubes. With the exception of Tube Amp Doctor because they are vetted via TAD’s own process and I don’t think it matters where you buy them from.

Do you have a maximatcher and maximatcher pre? They are good machines. You can professionally test these tubes, at real world voltages, as soon as you get them so you can claim a return if you have issues.

[Josh Rieck]

Thanks Luke, I don’t have the maximatch machines, that I know of, my amp tech has a full rig but I’m not sure what all he’s using. I’m just responsible for getting him parts and making sure there’s an amp on his bench.

I’ll give TAD power tubes a try and see if we have any better luck.

[Luke Single Chesapeake Guitar and Amp Repair]

Groove Tubes are complete shit. It’s the only brand that I tell people to 100% avoid.

[Kenny]

Hello everyone! My first post here. I typically use JJ and use the Apex matched system from CE Distribution. Ive not had any issues with any of there power tubes. I HAVE waffled back and forth on 6V6 and 6L6 tubes as far as brand (I like Sovtek 6L6WXT,but i found they performed as well as JJ most of the time). I did buy a Maxi Matcher and Maxi Preamp II some years ago to make sure new tubes were good and verify used tubes were good. Check out the Apex System from CE and see if that doesn’t help. They are great people to work with AND i used them for almost 15 years now. Consistent.

[Josh Rieck]

I do by the Apex matched sets from CE, the tubes I’m really having issues with right now are the EL84’s, between amps we’ve serviced and the Orange amps I have in store it seems like the 84’s are dying on me left and right.

[Kenny]

Many newer amps( Blues Junior comes to mind) are set to run EL84s within an inch of their lives if not too much. When my shop was open,I offered discrete mods to help EL84’s run better in stock amps without changing the tone. Many EL84 amp can benefit from a few simple mods like that.

[Kenny]

Also,if using 6V6 tubes,JJ has a Double Mica version specifically designed for use in combo amps to reduce rattling.

[Daniel Petrzelka]

I’m similar to Luke in my preferences:

TAD Power tubes are my first choice for my custom builds and for repairs – great balance of quality and price. I’ve seen great reliability with these.

TAD Preamp tubes for custom builds if I don’t have old stock on hand.

JJ Preamp tubes for some custom builds, and many repairs if the client is more price-sensitive.

I run JJs in many of my personal shop amps, but I no longer buy/install JJ Power tubes for client amps. If they survive the first couple of hours, JJ sound great and perform very well. There have been a few power tubes that are unacceptably noisy, and a rare few that fail in those first few hours. Not worth my time testing and returning, or having performing clients take the risk in a live setting or on studio time.