cragginshred
Roadie
- Messages
- 497
It had a JJ in there and I put the ARS pre amp tube in there they ship with and it sits perfect in the gain spectrum
Changed the v1 tube on my Slo 30
- Thread starter cragginshred
- Start date
nicolasrivera
Roadie
- Messages
- 505
V1 and V2 are such tone shapers, love to play with my amps and different tubes, but once that magic tube sits perfectly with the amp, it hardly ever gets swapped again unless it goes bad.
GuitarBilly74
Roadie
- Messages
- 722
What's the actual brand of the ARS tube? I used to live close to ARS and buy tubes directly from them. Most of them were rebranded JJs.
metropolis_4
Rock Star
- Messages
- 3,708
JJ 12ax7’s are the worst
- Messages
- 17,423
Fixed!
Good for loading in an amp you are selling and dumping them on someone else.
I beat them up a good bit here, and I think it is deserved, if you have ever had a
chance to compare them to alternatives and options 1:1.
That said, tubes arescarce, and becoming more and more scarce with new production being as minuscule
as it is. So, there is that angle.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
- Messages
- 19,557
From one gain nut to another; I thought your range was 8-10 on the dial? 
laxu
Rock Star
- Messages
- 7,149
JJ ECC83S tubes are the worst. ECC803S and ECC83MG are fine.
- Messages
- 2,094
Their ECC803 is pretty ok though.
- Messages
- 2,094
I’m interested. I didn’t know these existed.
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
- Messages
- 6,980
What about in a power amp, say a Mesa 50/50 or 2:90?Fixed!
Good for loading in an amp you are selling and dumping them on someone else.
cragginshred
Roadie
- Messages
- 497
No idea, but I will e mail Blad at Bad to see where they get them.
- Messages
- 8,527
I've always had good luck with their 6V6S and KT77. Rarely use their preamp tubes so not much opinion on those.Fixed!
Good for loading in an amp you are selling and dumping them on someone else.
I beat them up a good bit here, and I think it is deserved, if you have ever had a
chance to compare them to alternatives and options 1:1.
scarce, and becoming more and more scarce with new production being as minuscule
as it is. So, there is that angle.
GuitarBilly74
Roadie
- Messages
- 722
the brand should be labeled right under the ARS logo.
If it says "12AX7A/7025" - that's Sovtek
"JJ/Tesla" is JJ
"China" is Shuguang
These are the most common labels...
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Funk Soul Brother
Roadie
- Messages
- 537
Chinese tubes suck.
Eagle
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,936
It depends what you put them in and what position.
Put them in a modern tube amp anywhere but V1 and you won’t notice them. I have a box of nos mullard from the 80s and they can be fantastic in some stuff and make little or no difference in other things. I only use them in V1 or vintage amps these days because I have a limited number and I would not pay for what they cost today.
- Messages
- 17,423
I am pretty heavily biased against JJ, Tom.
I think they tend to be on the dark and murky side, or the really strident and
off-putting, stiff side. Not a lot of happy mediums there, for me.
Got pretty fortunate in that I bought a lot of great tubes when you could still
get US and UK Made tubes fairly cheap.
I actually have had better luck with the Russian Made stuff, and that is where
I would look for current new production.
Bob at Eurotubes runs a good show there. Good guy. I just don't particularly like the
product, and prefer other options given what else is available.
Totally get how economical the Euro/JJ/Tesla option is. Almost half price of what a
Mesa Branded/Graded 6L6GC is. But if I divide an extra $100 by 10 years (or more) of
expected life on a quad of 6L6s, then I am spending that $10 a year on a tube a little
nicer than the cheapest new production tubes out there.
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