Time for new tubes again 

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish) 12/28/2017 at 15:53 • Filed to: Audiositelock

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It got so hot that it blistered the logo

I haven’t been running these JJs for very long, but it seems like daily use is too much for them. One of them has been noisy from time to time, which mostly stopped happening when I biased them cooler. Yesterday another one red plated, and blew the fuse. I replaced the fuse, and while it warmed up again without noise or red plating, the bias is way off on both sides now. Regardless, these JJs are having too many issues for me to bother with them anymore. I’ve disconnected the Dynaco for now while I look for a good deal on some NOS Siemens/RFTs, which seem to be the best deal on vintage EL34s at the moment. They certainly don’t make tubes like they used to.

AestheticsInMotion > gmctavish needs more space 12/28/2017 at 16:12

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NOS is the way to go. I miss having something to experiment with different tubes

gmctavish needs more space > AestheticsInMotion 12/28/2017 at 16:21

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Yeah, that’s what I’m gathering. This one had a pair of Mullards and a pair of AEGs before. I may just get another used pair to match the good pair I have left, or just a quad of NOS cheaper ones, I can’t swing ~$1200 or so for NOS Mullards.

I figured the JJs were so cheap it was worth a shot, and maybe they’d be better than the Electro-Harmonix my friend goes through a couple times a year in his guitar amps, but nope. They’re cheap for a reason

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > gmctavish needs more space 12/28/2017 at 16:27

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What is this? I have no clue what I’m looking at

gmctavish needs more space > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 12/28/2017 at 16:42

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A cheap Slovakian EL34 power tube, from one of my tube amps

bryan40oop > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 12/29/2017 at 09:06

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Spaceships

MM54 > gmctavish needs more space 12/31/2017 at 17:16

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I’ve had iffy experience with JJs, I really dig the electro-harmonix 6CA7s in my guitar stuff; never used them for hi-fi.

That said, even “low-end” NOS is the way to go and miles ahead of what you’ll get new production. Fortunately you only need pairs; quads get absurdly expensive.

gmctavish needs more space > MM54 12/31/2017 at 21:13

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My friend has had bad times with electro-harmonix, so I figured I’d try out JJs. Now we’ll likely steer clear of both. I have a pair of the original “Dynaco by Mullard” EL34s that came with the ST-70, so I may try and source a reasonably priced par of similar used Mullards....I haven’t decided yet. For the price of a pair of used Mullards, I could have NOS Siemens/RFT.

MM54 > gmctavish needs more space 12/31/2017 at 21:46

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I’ve been out of the loop for a while, but I do remember the RFTs being a very good value last I checked.

gmctavish needs more space > MM54 01/01/2018 at 00:13

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They aren’t as good a deal as they used to be, but it seems like they’re still the best value

MM54 > gmctavish needs more space 01/01/2018 at 00:22

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I don’t have any NOS pairs (or even used pairs, I think) or I’d offer you something from my collection. All my old stock power tubes are singles I’ve accumulated (and a bizarre quantity of 6V6s).

I do have some cool 6L6Gs (think coke-bottle) and -GBs, but that doesn’t help you at all. One of these days I’ll have to share some pictures of my pile ‘o tubes.

gmctavish needs more space > MM54 01/01/2018 at 00:38

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Oh cool, I don’t really know anything that’s not related to ST-70s, but I’m slowly accumulating more general tube amp knowledge. And yes, you should. There are at least a couple of us who would be happy to see it