Maybe it’s RUclips compression, my ears or my headphones but they all sounded almost exactly the same. I noticed a little more breakup with a few of them. What I did learn is that any of them would be just fine for almost all of us.
In a well designed circuit with good clean components that's supposed to be the case, some tubes break up sooner than others but if they are biased correctly they are supposed to sound similar, amps sound different because of different circuits and not different power tubes, preamp tubes are another story
Some tubes have a more consistant output over their entire lifespan Some tubes will outlast others by a substantail margin Some tubes were built to go in guided missles and were so overengineered That they still outperform brand new tubes Some tubes were built for medical equipment and are far quieter than a new chinese/russian tube Tone is a knob but ill never have to replace my Bendix Redbank 6V6s And they are dead quiet
Dave Friedman is ABSOLUTELY correct about the JJs, Purchased 4 matched/tested JJ-el34 (2005 UK - DSL 100), tone was off from the start, 2 months later I cleaned the pins and swapped the right/left, went verify the bias even though they're all matched (32mv, 32, 32, 31), both right tubes were red plating BRIGHT ORANGE, hit the power off before the HT Fuse blew, waiting to hear from the tech to know if it's from the JJs or bc of the Tube Depot... Haven't enjoyed playing in months (since purchasing), should have just kept the Winged C stock power tubes it came with until doing my research (like watching this video), JJ power tubes used to sound awesome with Marshall heads (especially the JCM lineup) but something has changed. If anybody has had a similar experience or a comment, please let me know.
Hi Pete: because so many people are still using and trusting JJ's, and we just all heard what Dave said about them, I'm going through a nightmare experience in the comment above, perhaps a good video would be to test out the new JJ's compared to pre-weirdness. I spent a lot of money because of ordering them over the Internet (from a trusted dealer), I definitely wouldn't have invested in them after watching this video, like so many other prices out there, companies are lowering their quality in exchange for profit. Recently JJ unveiled a powertube claiming to be optimized for classic rock, do I smell a gimmick
This needs to be a new series! Tube rolling 6L6, 6V6, 12AX7 V1, 12AX7 V2, 12AX7 PI, etc. Really enjoyed the video. BTW, I put a matched quad of EH6CA7s in a Mesa Stiletto Deuce Stage II last year, put in a adjustable bias mod, and they really sound better to me than the Mesa EL34s. Thanks for sharing!
I might sound super smug saying this because I’d think that if someone said this too, but I feel it should be said: some people are tone deaf more than others. There’s definitely a degree of tone deafness. Regarding power tubes, between the EL34s, there isn’t a crazy amount of difference; the 6CA7s have a smoother, 6L6 meets EL34 tone. The previous comment on the comment I’m commenting on ( I feel like I’m saying “comment” too much) regarding the break up of tubes is super important regarding power tubes. I find that it gets super hard to tell the difference between tubes on clean sounds. The more driven a tube, the easier the differences are to tell. However, when using distortion pedal, you’re at square one again. Distortion pedals have their own flavor of tone. A tube screamer, on the other hand, is okay as long as it’s not pushed too far. I guess there’s a sweet zone for tonal differences regarding overdriven tubes. When using a variac down to 65-75 volts, WITHOUT BIASING (since that’s the point of a variac to get that cold, uneven, crazy cold bias), you can hear some differences in tone there too.
@@VanHalenIsolatedI retubed my Mesa Tremoverb with NOS USA made 12AX7s and TAD 6L6s, and I couldn't belive how much better the amp sounded. I went from "I might sell this" to "I will never sell this amp"
@@VanHalenIsolated 99.999% of the population is "tone deaf" in the matter of differences that guitar tube amp "gurus" talk about. People can't hear the differences because for all intents and purposes, there aren't any. If you can't tell in a blind test, then it might as well not exist.
Thanks for doing this Pete! I put it all up on the studio monitors and had a good listen. The Siemens/RFT for AC/DC and the (New) Mullard EL34 for EVH. The best all rounder was the (New) Mullard EL34.
What I learned from this: Power Tubes are the last thing I need to consider in my tone chasing. Speakers and pre-amp tubes are way more important. And also, by watching all of this video, that I may be overthinking tone. LOL
New reliable power tube and thats all , i dont even want to know what is difference in sound between them , as long is fair price and new thats it. Maybe couple of preamps for tone " chassing " but again i dont forget that my amp has eq to shape tone so... and yes new strings have best sound. And i dont know if this can help others but i run amp neither clean on or dimmed, just on a verge of breakup so fairly unmatched and cold biased serves me the best.
They may be the last thing you need to consider. Fine. Over the internet the differences might seem subtle, but I can tell you from experience that the power tubes matter. More than speakers, pre-amp, pickups, strings or other stuff? Perhaps not. But don't relegate the power tubes to the forgotten items drawer. When you're standing in front of your amp, especially at stage volume, you can absolutely hear significant differences.
@@ivansindicic5960 No! that doesn't help anyone who is here to learn the difference between tubes. In fact it is disruptive. Why would you even wast your time here?
@@qua7771 there is no difference between two healthy tubes , no matter what brand they are, they are piece of electronics made in one factory for whole world, diference is in amp taht you put them...
I've parked EH6CA7's in my 100 was Superlead since they first came out but I might need to pickup a set of the EH EL34's next go around. I hear some good bark in the mid range and nice crush glass sparkle in the demo. Back in the old days, I recall reading an article around 1984 where Rudy Leiren mentioned he used Sylvania 6Ca7's in Ed's Marshalls and replaced them every other show. Outstanding demo guys!
Man, those JJs surprised me in the high gain test-great stuff! The Siemens were probably my favorite overall, but I'd be happy with any of them. You and Dave are total rockstars for making this happen!
From what I'm hearing all the talk about different tubes really isn't worth it... Maybe it sounds different in person but through my monitors I don't hear it. Great vid Pete... Always love to see Dave on here.
Pete Thorn once again helps to remove the cork-sniffer fog and get to the core of the truth - all while making me so friggin envious of his guitar chops and tonemastery. Thanks, Pete! Rock on...
I couldn't really hear too much of a difference sound-wise between the el34 tubes but hearing you and Dave talk about the sound differences helped to educate me a lot for when I purchase some spares for my dsl40cr amp. Thanks so much!
Um, this is the most geeky/cork sniffer content ever and I am absolutely here for it! Pete Thorn and Dave Friedman are putting in the work nobody else is willing to do. They should get the Medal of Freedom for this. (I’m totally serious.)
Agree, with other demos and comparisons between different versions of amps you never know which tubes are in any of the amps being compared and how they are biased, which render the comparisons useless. The winner may sound like nothing if biased like the compared amp and reverse. That said, my experience tell me, that the difference is more in the perceived volume and the definition in the sound. I used EH EL34s to tame 100w super lead amps loudness and Mullards to make 50w 1987 amps louder to compete with 2203s and split channel 2210s. They got a bigger low end, and as mentioned sort of fills out more of the space. So i guess that i totally agree with their findings, including their description of the Siemens RFTs.
This is natural for us to behave like this. You've been damaged from zero customer service and mass population. It's normal to listen to music. Jumping on the band wagon is a horrible life.
I love the nerdiness and will probably make a fool of myself by saying this, but I can’t hear that much of a difference, at least nothing you will notice in a band situation or in the mix on a studio recording.
Great video! Thanks to Pete and Dave!! I'm an EL34 guy, in my life I've tried in my amps JJE34L, JJ EL34 and Svetlana EL34 (2007 production); I remember the Svetlana was the most glassy top end and maybe scoopy but I liked them in the amp they were mounted.
Great video! A few thoughts. 1) Amp dependency. Definitely certain tubes work better with certain circuits, and some amps are more sensitive to tube changes. 2) In this video, the old Mullards definitely had a thing. They sounded bigger and badder, which surprised me. I liked them best for the mid-gain crunch. I liked the Siemens better for the high gain. Regarding amp dependency, I tried a number of EL34s with my Mesa TC50, including Mesa branded NOS SED Winged C, NOS Siemens, and new STR 447 (don't know what tube it is). There were subtle differences, but not enough to really make a firm conclusion, although the Winged C seemed to tame some harshness in the top end in that amp. Anyway, I just bought a new Marshall 1987x and put in the Siemens - WOW! A huge difference that I didn't expect. The amp came with Marshall-branded TAD tubes (red base). They sounded good, but were a little thick in the low mids and not as articulate as I would like. The Siemens transformed the sound. They removed the congested low-mid, opened up the higher mids and added harmonic richness in the upper mids and treble. Absolutely wonderful sounding. I biased them at mid 60%. One thing I should have done was to play with the bias with the original tubes. My impression is they may have been biased a little too hot. Regardless, the Siemens seem to be an amazing match for the Plexi circuit.
I love this! It's a good comparison of those tubes under those conditions and at that moment. What could be really cool is to be able to download the soundfiles, to hear them without YT compression.
Thank you. I appreciate you. I can only imagine the amount of fcking around it took to make this video come together. Excellent content, likeable, relatable and knowledgeable fellows. Total win.
Awesome video, thanks Pete and Dave! 🤘🏼 I see a lot of people commenting how they hear little difference, but one thing I’ve found is the playing feel is different between these tubes.. some just feel drier and like they’re fighting back, while some just saturate in a great way and make it feel easier to play!
Absolutely! I wish those who aren't concerned with their tone would find something better to do, than waste their lives watching things they disagree with. I'm in the process of tube rolling an amp, and discussions like this are golden. For whatever reason, topics like this usually attracts a ton of trolls.
@@joshsmith7033 I was going to say people forget that tube amps at one point may have been affordable but, for most working musicians having to consider amp maintenance into the cost of playing kind of rules out tube amps for most. I have a few tube amps but, I also play them sparingly because they are heavy as hell to lug around and I hate paying to service them but, I also don’t trust doing it myself.
@@joshsmith7033 Price, (un)reliability, maintenance, practicability. List goes on and on. They are like mechanical watches. Cool but for all intents and purposes, inferior to the alternatives.
Thank you Pete and Dave for your tremendous effort and sharing this knowledge! I learned a lot! And while we can all disagree on what we hear, the one thing that has been reaffirmed, and without question, is that Pete is a killer guitarist. I loved it!
When you're playing loud enough to get good amounts of power tube distortion then the speakers are really going so a lot of the sound is them which can make tubes sound more similar than they are. I use a power scaled amp which allows you to overdrive ouput tubes at low speaker volume and you can hear huge differences between tubes. My favourite for two extremes if you're trying to tweak your tone is Tungsol EL34B for lots of fat low mids/bass through to JJ E34L for a super tight bass. It's a cathode bias amp so this may be contributing to the changes of course as different tubes find their idle points.
well, that proves to me that don't waste time on tube choice, just get the most reliable. there are other things that make heaps more difference in tone. pick up choice, single or humbucker, the way you play your guitar, pedals, cables, buffers etc. excellent video to help us really know whether we are just going down a rabbit hole in search of illusive tube choice.
Of all the new tubes, I found the new Mullards to compliment the ACDC crunch riff the most. It was creamy, chewy, without messy top end, and the melodic aspects of the riff came across as the most cohesive, clear, and engaging. Seemed a tad quieter to me for some reason...but "I wish my plexi was louder" said nobody ever.
The vintage mullard is THE sound. Reissues are tuned for better guitar sounds. The original is just tuned for hifi audio. The Marshall valves are tuned for the stage performance with other instruments. Tuned for harmonics is a weird thing to do. Tuned for hifi or numbers is something you should avoid in life.
@@Gma7788 I don't get your point as you contradict yourself by saying the original Mullards are "THE" sound while being tuned for hi-fi, then saying "tuned for hi-fi should be avoided". Can you clarify?
I was pumped for this video and it totally didn’t disappoint! The ultimate video for all tube nerds everywhere! I love these sorts of comparisons. It’s mind blowing to hear the subtle differences between tubes. None of them sounded bad, just different shades of the same colour really. If you don’t care about the subtleties then any EL34 will do fine but if you do care, then down the rabbit hole you go 😂 The amount of effort that must have gone into the making of this must have been unreal! Thank you Pete and Dave!
I think I only heard a significant difference in the JJ EL34 (slightly less gain). The minor differences between the tubes are there, but it probably translates much better in person that over RUclips. Awesome video, thanks!
Good stuff I dorked out hard lol. Tubes are fun. I bought a box of vintage tubes, mostly EL34 and 6L6 tubes, years ago for $100. For EL34's I love vintage Matsushita's the most out of Mullard, Sylvania, etc. They chime and grind almost Voxish. I usually go Tung-Sol for new tubes, I like the high end clarity, or EHX for a softer tone tube. I liked the new Mullards too. They all sounded good just different. May your tubes glow guide you through the night.
Excellent work! This is very awesome! Much like your 12AX7 shootout, your recordings parallel my own listening experience with the same EL34s, pretty much dead-on the same. Those grungy/compressed SEDs are not my preference in a 50W Marshall, but can be a better match in a 100w, or a modern sterile sounding amp that needs some more character. In the old Marshalls, XF2s or RFTs for me! Which one just depends on if I want brighter (RFT) or fuller (XF2). Thanks so much to you and Dave for putting the work into this and sharing with us!
Digging in the dirt. I agree with you here that the new Tung-Sol is most like the old Mullard. However, that new Tung-Sol is also most like what I remember Eddie's early bloom was like in the middle register. When you hang on those 4th intervals there is a very unique 100-150ms where the last tone from the chord jab masks the initial / front end of the chord you then let ring out, it almost gives the impression of compression happening. It's not compression in a vertical sense, ie volume, it's a compression in a horizontal sense like harmonics are being squeezed through a bottle neck and it takes them a while to pop out and be fully expressed. Like, those 4ths that are held longer take a good 100ms before they settle down and begin to be clearly defined. I get that during the first 25 or so cycles that the strings make, when you slam them like that, they are moving kind of crazy relative to one another until they both begin to ''ring out'' in a more unified manner, but this isn't that. What I am hearing is a definite affect of the tube being, like, backed up as relating to its ability to produce anything close to wide-band frequencies. Check it for yourself. I've been looking for this for a long time and, thanks to this video, I do believe I found it. You just don't get things like that in plugins and modelers. By the way, Pete, I enjoy it when you play Van Halen about 300% more than just about when anybody else does. Not sure why, not going to analyze that.
Ive been using Tung Sol in my amp bc the high end does something nasty that frankly is quite enjoyable for me, however, to my ear, here the original Siemens stood out and were easy to listen to. My favorite in this back to back comparison by far. Nice video!!!
Totally fun trip...yeah, guitar-geeky-whatever, that's a great run down. Besides being all locked in has served as a great time to tone-chase, at least for me anyway. Mediums in any art form matter. Good stuff to know. I love EH and Matthews and the stuff he does, such an eccentric character that runs a great operation here in NYC. I love stuff that is made in NYC, so little of it left...he's hanging on.
Excellent test! I, like you, was expecting more from the EH’s. My favorite had been the EH6CA7’s for quite a while. I still really liked them in this test. I’d still like to hear them with the bias a bit higher. Thank you for your efforts and reviews!
Maybe my hearing sucks but I couldn’t tell that much of a difference between any of these, even listening on high quality earphones. I mean I noticed very subtle differences, but nothing that would drastically color the tone to where you couldn’t EQ it out or override it with a pedal.
The 6CA7s jumped out at me. That said, it's all win, I did not hear any clear losers on first listen. I was tuning into the very first run on Light Up the Sky and listening for how brightly the notes popped. Anyway, will listen more than once to see what else I hear. Thank you, Pete. We need much more of this kind of 'test piloting.'
It's tough to make or judge these shootouts especially with the digitization on U-tube. This was an excellent shootout IMHO. I'm running a true THX certified stereo sound system on my PC with a modified Klipsch setup and a 10" sub. First round demo NOS 1. Mullard 2. 6CA7 3. EH 4. Siemans New Prod 1. Tung-Sol 2. JJ 3. EH 4. Mullard New and NOS Svetlana sounded the same to me. Tied for 3rd on both NOS and NEW. What I listened for was the sweet harmonics from the amp power section at the beginning of each demo. The high gain shootout didn't work for me as my ears crapped out. Also the preamp colorization of the sound masked the power tube sound and it became a mix of the two. My ears are all scar tissue so I hear high notes and mid-high better and more accentuated than most people and my mid range is limited with bass a total loss in note definition. So I focus on what I hear and the sweet spot of highs and mid high. If there is any buzz it stands out like a sore thumb. The EQ in this was wonderful for me as it was right in the sweet spot of my limited hearing. Thank you Pete and Dave for a great demo.
Thank you Pete and Dave! Phew. Though I couldn't hear too much difference from speakers (a little, tiny bit more with headphones) I've got a list of a couple of sets of tubes I want to chase down...just to have around as replacements. I'm going to be buying for quality as much as tone (what little difference there is). We don't know what the future of these tubes and manufacturing will be so, not a bad idea to have some security in the parts kit. What a great test. Gotta love an SG with humbuckers going into a JTM 50 watt. Cheers!
I gotta get my 1974 Jmp 100 watt amp over to Dave (it used to belong to the great late Gary Ritchrath) recorded the solo to roll with the changes with it 👏
Great to see my 3 of my 4 favorite conversation topics Whisky, Guitars, Amps and cigars! I was drinking a Kirkland Canadian whisky while watching Pete's jams and have bought a bottle of Suntory for my Dad! I still have a bottle of 12 Yr Hibiki waiting in the wings for that "special" occasion! Only thing missing is a good cigar! ((:
This is the only tube test that is worth anything, because you have to drive the tube hard in a guitar amp, not all clean in a stereo. So great test hear.
This was very informative. It's easy to compare back and forth because the location for each tube name is clearly visible by floating the mouse over the individual segments. I'm a big fan of the old Mullard. First out of the gate, it was hard to beat. The Siemens almost ties it for me. But those new Mullards do the job beautifully and affordably. Too bad I don't have an amp with EL34's!! Haha
For live gigs I use current production tubes. Easily replaceable, good sound, reliable. Plus newer amps aren't very picky about tubes anyway. But for the old collectable vintage amps (Tweed Bassmans, Marshall Plexis) you gotta drop the big bucks for NOS glass. Keep the amp as original as possible, and the slightly sweeter nature of NOS tubes comes through better. At that level, it's worth 5x the money for the slightest improvement.
The EH EL34's have quite a pink/white noise characteristic on the top end. The new Mullard EL34 has a very nice mid tone to my ears. (Before I watched conclusion) :D Everything else was quite similair
I know I'm geekin out in a big way when this is of total high interest!!You guys have some true blue loyalty in your people. I have always heard just a touch more lows if using 6l6s, a bit more mid squish with el84s(my favorite for sure), and with el34s I just hear a balance that says Marshall tone to my ears. Especially when I was younger. That's at a very "average" bias level. I have only heard others in Fender amps for example. Thx fellas for this.
Honestly the small difference between the tubes is only gonna be heard in a studio setting if at all. They are there, but I think the player is going to notice far more than an observer ever would. In a live situation with drums bass and vocals, you’d never notice. It was a fun experience, and my personal takeaway is more of Dave’s opinions on tube reliability and potential for catastrophic failure. Great video guys thanks
You’re not wrong. Although I still think it’s best to go the distance and get the ones that sound best even by a little bit. Unless that means the Sylvania‘s which are just too damn expensive, I don’t even have those. But I do have some pairs of mullard, and Siemens To last me for quite a while
The same could be said about every one of the many parts that make up a guitar rig. The thing is, amazing tone comes from the sum of the parts. For an amp builder, everything counts.
Great playing and great song choices! To me of all the new tubes the EH 6CA7 sounded most like the old ones, particularly the OG Mullard. Who woulda thunk?
Dang! I finally get to hear those SED "Winged C" tubes I keep seeing people rave about in all the forums. Was not impressed at all! Glad I didn't dump a bunch of $$$ on those. I LOVED those Siemens/RFTs. My second favorite were the Tungsols. I was a little surprised as I have Tungsol EL34B's in my Marshall and I do love em'. But considering so many other tubes I've heard so much about I was a little shocked. I'll be looking into those Siemens/RFT tubes :))
Mr Thorn all of this is fantastic, but BRAV F-ING O on the new lighting. It looks so great! The video almost matches the playing now (your playing is a little not fair; so hence the almost)
Thanks Alan! Made some investments mainly in the new light that lights me that u don’t see. Makes all the difference in the world. Also learned a little bit about color grading, still a work in progress
yepp..... I tested my reference pair of NOS Mullard xf4 against most current production tubes several years ago in my workshop! The JJ EL-34-II comes the closest to my xf4s - I use them on a large scale (300+ tubes a year pre-covid) only two failures per year! They run in my Class A and Hot Class A/B (around 400V) circuits for years! Get a good supplier who re-test/re-select , don‘t buy direct from the factory .... my opinion 😉
Mid-gain: The Siemens are my favorite, overall. They’re focused, balanced and punchy. It’s a more versatile sound that appeals to my personal sensibilities. The old Mullards are easily the most distinct; classic, in-your-face midrange push and some wildness that exaggerates the control of your hands. Very cool. The EH el34 and the Tungstol reissue were my favorite of the new production, in so much that the b and c on the A string seemed to push the most air through those and the 3-5K drone from the unwound strings was compressed a little more nicely. Higher Gain: similar outcome. With the Winged Cs...it’s the 6L6 in certain old fenders that’s cool. Not really big on any of the others. Now I’m off to actually put my NOS Siemens that have been in a box in my closet for 6 years into my JMP. Thanks for this, Pete.
Yeah, I noticed that too. I liked the way the Tung-Sol did that over the EH's. The new Mullards seem to push the open E string (lower notes) more which is surprising as you'd think that would happen more with the EH's and certainly more with the Tung-Sols.
For me the original Mullards were the star.... second I liked the EH EL34... the rest I wasn't so keen on for one reason or another... Great Topic and vid tho... I have a 1984 JCM 800 which still has the original tubes... amazing!
Thank you for doing this test, which is near impossible for most people to do. I guess I don't have golden ears, 'cause they all sounded pretty similar to me, I suppose since every other thing in the chain is identical. Also, I'm not used to hearing such a raw, in-your-face, mid-focused guitar tone outside of a mix, especially on RUclips when people tend make isolated guitar tones much fuller, but it would be perfect when tracking.
Dang, that Sylvania... actually a little too silky or creamy for my setup, but wow, that's sweet. Thank you once more, Pete, awesome idea!. Kudos to Dave!
Siemens RFT was my favorite. The perfect balance of clarity and midrange snarl. The Sylvania 6CA7 had a nice clarity and twang. I can hear why Eddie liked them.
I run 60s RFT in my smallbox Marshall. Perfect fit for me. In my 68 100w I run a quad of xf2. Those amps deserve the best. IMO the mullards are a better match for a 100w than a 50w as there will be more headroom to balance them in the 100. They tend to get mushy in a cranked 50w IME.
To my ear, on the AC/DC test I ranked them Mullard , Mullard Repro, JJ, Siemens, Tung Sol Repro, Svetlana Repro, Svetlana, Sylvania, EH. On the EVH test I ranked them Siemens , JJ, Mullard, Mullard Repro,Tung Sol Repro, EH, Svetlana Repro, Svetlana, Sylvania. To my ear the Mullard sound really good, but I would not pay for them. The JJ or Mullard Repro sound really good too. The EH have a thing in the high end. I don't think I would realistically care in the room without a reference, but it was pretty noticeable and almost makes me feel like those sound different. The EH 6CA7 sounded better than the Sylvania to me. Not my preferred sound though. Great video Pete!
![Kodak Black - Versatile 4 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VcP_1Ua__vY/mqdefault.jpg)
This is what the internet is supposed to be used for. Thanks guys!
Totally agree.
The only thing that would have made it better is cats
This is one hell of a great video.
I thought it was for porn? 😆🤣
Maybe it’s RUclips compression, my ears or my headphones but they all sounded almost exactly the same. I noticed a little more breakup with a few of them. What I did learn is that any of them would be just fine for almost all of us.
I do not hear any difference that would make me go certain tube... All the same...
In a well designed circuit with good clean components that's supposed to be the case, some tubes break up sooner than others but if they are biased correctly they are supposed to sound similar, amps sound different because of different circuits and not different power tubes, preamp tubes are another story
Some of them seemed to have more clarity than others but, ya they are all very similar
@@ivanrohal7489 I like the Russian tubes :)
Some tubes have a more consistant output over their entire lifespan
Some tubes will outlast others by a substantail margin
Some tubes were built to go in guided missles and were so overengineered
That they still outperform brand new tubes
Some tubes were built for medical equipment and are far quieter than a new chinese/russian tube
Tone is a knob
but ill never have to replace my Bendix Redbank 6V6s
And they are dead quiet
PETE I can listen to you play Van Halen all damned day long, if that went on for another week I wouldn't be sick of it
Dave Friedman is ABSOLUTELY correct about the JJs,
Purchased 4 matched/tested JJ-el34 (2005 UK - DSL 100), tone was off from the start, 2 months later I cleaned the pins and swapped the right/left, went verify the bias even though they're all matched (32mv, 32, 32, 31), both right tubes were red plating BRIGHT ORANGE, hit the power off before the HT Fuse blew, waiting to hear from the tech to know if it's from the JJs or bc of the Tube Depot...
Haven't enjoyed playing in months (since purchasing), should have just kept the Winged C stock power tubes it came with until doing my research (like watching this video), JJ power tubes used to sound awesome with Marshall heads (especially the JCM lineup) but something has changed.
If anybody has had a similar experience or a comment, please let me know.
Hi Pete: because so many people are still using and trusting JJ's, and we just all heard what Dave said about them,
I'm going through a nightmare experience in the comment above, perhaps a good video would be to test out the new JJ's compared to pre-weirdness.
I spent a lot of money because of ordering them over the Internet (from a trusted dealer), I definitely wouldn't have invested in them after watching this video, like so many other prices out there, companies are lowering their quality in exchange for profit.
Recently JJ unveiled a powertube claiming to be optimized for classic rock, do I smell a gimmick
Great stuff!! We’re ready for the 6L6 shootout.
This needs to be a new series! Tube rolling 6L6, 6V6, 12AX7 V1, 12AX7 V2, 12AX7 PI, etc. Really enjoyed the video. BTW, I put a matched quad of EH6CA7s in a Mesa Stiletto Deuce Stage II last year, put in a adjustable bias mod, and they really sound better to me than the Mesa EL34s. Thanks for sharing!
Pete+Dave= Instant like!
Great vid. Maybe an EL84 one next?
Edit: with Dave too if possible! Your discussion at the end gave some good context
Honestly, I can't tell a difference. They all sound great.
I might sound super smug saying this because I’d think that if someone said this too, but I feel it should be said: some people are tone deaf more than others. There’s definitely a degree of tone deafness. Regarding power tubes, between the EL34s, there isn’t a crazy amount of difference; the 6CA7s have a smoother, 6L6 meets EL34 tone. The previous comment on the comment I’m commenting on ( I feel like I’m saying “comment” too much) regarding the break up of tubes is super important regarding power tubes. I find that it gets super hard to tell the difference between tubes on clean sounds. The more driven a tube, the easier the differences are to tell. However, when using distortion pedal, you’re at square one again. Distortion pedals have their own flavor of tone. A tube screamer, on the other hand, is okay as long as it’s not pushed too far. I guess there’s a sweet zone for tonal differences regarding overdriven tubes. When using a variac down to 65-75 volts, WITHOUT BIASING (since that’s the point of a variac to get that cold, uneven, crazy cold bias), you can hear some differences in tone there too.
@@VanHalenIsolatedI retubed my Mesa Tremoverb with NOS USA made 12AX7s and TAD 6L6s, and I couldn't belive how much better the amp sounded. I went from "I might sell this" to "I will never sell this amp"
@@VanHalenIsolated 99.999% of the population is "tone deaf" in the matter of differences that guitar tube amp "gurus" talk about. People can't hear the differences because for all intents and purposes, there aren't any. If you can't tell in a blind test, then it might as well not exist.
they all sound harsh compared to the siemens tubes. the siemens tubes are the most pleasent to my ears...
Thanks for doing this Pete! I put it all up on the studio monitors and had a good listen. The Siemens/RFT for AC/DC and the (New) Mullard EL34 for EVH. The best all rounder was the (New) Mullard EL34.
What I learned from this: Power Tubes are the last thing I need to consider in my tone chasing. Speakers and pre-amp tubes are way more important. And also, by watching all of this video, that I may be overthinking tone. LOL
New reliable power tube and thats all , i dont even want to know what is difference in sound between them , as long is fair price and new thats it. Maybe couple of preamps for tone " chassing " but again i dont forget that my amp has eq to shape tone so... and yes new strings have best sound. And i dont know if this can help others but i run amp neither clean on or dimmed, just on a verge of breakup so fairly unmatched and cold biased serves me the best.
They may be the last thing you need to consider. Fine. Over the internet the differences might seem subtle, but I can tell you from experience that the power tubes matter. More than speakers, pre-amp, pickups, strings or other stuff? Perhaps not. But don't relegate the power tubes to the forgotten items drawer. When you're standing in front of your amp, especially at stage volume, you can absolutely hear significant differences.
@@ivansindicic5960 No! that doesn't help anyone who is here to learn the difference between tubes. In fact it is disruptive. Why would you even wast your time here?
@@qua7771 there is no difference between two healthy tubes , no matter what brand they are, they are piece of electronics made in one factory for whole world, diference is in amp taht you put them...
@@ivansindicic5960 That's the end of our conversation. Bye.
I've parked EH6CA7's in my 100 was Superlead since they first came out but I might need to pickup a set of the EH EL34's next go around. I hear some good bark in the mid range and nice crush glass sparkle in the demo. Back in the old days, I recall reading an article around 1984 where Rudy Leiren mentioned he used Sylvania 6Ca7's in Ed's Marshalls and replaced them every other show. Outstanding demo guys!
Man, those JJs surprised me in the high gain test-great stuff! The Siemens were probably my favorite overall, but I'd be happy with any of them. You and Dave are total rockstars for making this happen!
From what I'm hearing all the talk about different tubes really isn't worth it... Maybe it sounds different in person but through my monitors I don't hear it.
Great vid Pete... Always love to see Dave on here.
Pete Thorn once again helps to remove the cork-sniffer fog and get to the core of the truth - all while making me so friggin envious of his guitar chops and tonemastery. Thanks, Pete! Rock on...
I couldn't really hear too much of a difference sound-wise between the el34 tubes but hearing you and Dave talk about the sound differences helped to educate me a lot for when I purchase some spares for my dsl40cr amp. Thanks so much!
Damn Dude! This took a lot of effort on your'e part. Thank you!
Those old Marshall's are so gnarly on the top-end. That's the sound of classic rock.
Marshall amps, like Les Pauls, are overrated and used by sheeple.
@@melvynobrien6193 someone forgot their meds today.
@@Billywagner22 once you understand the magic off the gold Marshall highs you fall in love
@@melvynobrien6193 Because your tone is superior to Eric Johnson, EVH, Michael Schenker, Duane Allman, Kosoff, Angus Young, etc., etc...????
@@melvynobrien6193 Mel loves his custom shop Hello Kitty Signature Model.
Those EH 6EA7's sound so good for EVH stuff. The midrange really has life and really cool snarl to it.
Um, this is the most geeky/cork sniffer content ever and I am absolutely here for it! Pete Thorn and Dave Friedman are putting in the work nobody else is willing to do. They should get the Medal of Freedom for this. (I’m totally serious.)
Agree, with other demos and comparisons between different versions of amps you never know which tubes are in any of the amps being compared and how they are biased, which render the comparisons useless. The winner may sound like nothing if biased like the compared amp and reverse. That said, my experience tell me, that the difference is more in the perceived volume and the definition in the sound. I used EH EL34s to tame 100w super lead amps loudness and Mullards to make 50w 1987 amps louder to compete with 2203s and split channel 2210s. They got a bigger low end, and as mentioned sort of fills out more of the space. So i guess that i totally agree with their findings, including their description of the Siemens RFTs.
Or maybe the Metal of Freedom.
Wrong.
We listen to music too.
You're using your own ego to educate yourself.
This is natural for us to behave like this.
You've been damaged from zero customer service and mass population.
It's normal to listen to music.
Jumping on the band wagon is a horrible life.
Were u using any kind of pedal boost?
Thanks Dave and Pete for taking the time to do this video. Really helpful!
This video is great. Same deep dive as the EVH tone video. Outstanding quality content.
When I hear amps and Smorgasbord in the same sentence, I'M THERE!! Thanks, Pete.
It’s Tube Talk! Love it
I liked the JJ and Svetlana sound. They are sharp and remember me 80's metal tone.
Thanks again guys for this video! I liked the Siemens/ rtf el34 in the demo and found and bought a quad . Sounds awesome!
Cheers!
Pete! I'm new to your channel. Love your videos, truly insightful! Thank you so much for the time, love and effort you put in.
Thanks, welcome to the channel!
Pete! This is the most excellent, to the point, informative video. Thank you for doing the work and posting
Wow, thanks for all the work it took to make this video Pete & Dave!
I can hear subtle differences in person when I swap tubes. But I can't for the life of me hear a difference in this video. But great work!
Thanks for the shootout Pete! Loved hearing Beating Around The Bush!
The tone he got in that is fantastic
I love the nerdiness and will probably make a fool of myself by saying this, but I can’t hear that much of a difference, at least nothing you will notice in a band situation or in the mix on a studio recording.
Great video! Thanks to Pete and Dave!! I'm an EL34 guy, in my life I've tried in my amps JJE34L, JJ EL34 and Svetlana EL34 (2007 production); I remember the Svetlana was the most glassy top end and maybe scoopy but I liked them in the amp they were mounted.
Great video! A few thoughts. 1) Amp dependency. Definitely certain tubes work better with certain circuits, and some amps are more sensitive to tube changes. 2) In this video, the old Mullards definitely had a thing. They sounded bigger and badder, which surprised me. I liked them best for the mid-gain crunch. I liked the Siemens better for the high gain. Regarding amp dependency, I tried a number of EL34s with my Mesa TC50, including Mesa branded NOS SED Winged C, NOS Siemens, and new STR 447 (don't know what tube it is). There were subtle differences, but not enough to really make a firm conclusion, although the Winged C seemed to tame some harshness in the top end in that amp. Anyway, I just bought a new Marshall 1987x and put in the Siemens - WOW! A huge difference that I didn't expect. The amp came with Marshall-branded TAD tubes (red base). They sounded good, but were a little thick in the low mids and not as articulate as I would like. The Siemens transformed the sound. They removed the congested low-mid, opened up the higher mids and added harmonic richness in the upper mids and treble. Absolutely wonderful sounding. I biased them at mid 60%. One thing I should have done was to play with the bias with the original tubes. My impression is they may have been biased a little too hot. Regardless, the Siemens seem to be an amazing match for the Plexi circuit.
I was totally ready for Beating Around The Bush to kick in during that intro!
Video quality looks great! I have no reason to be watching this more than once but.. I just love rock n roll..
Fantastic video Pete !!! Thanks 👍🏻
Thanks Pete and Dave!!! Appreciate the massive amount of time and effort to create the video so we could hear for ourselves.
I love this! It's a good comparison of those tubes under those conditions and at that moment.
What could be really cool is to be able to download the soundfiles, to hear them without YT compression.
Thank you. I appreciate you. I can only imagine the amount of fcking around it took to make this video come together. Excellent content, likeable, relatable and knowledgeable fellows. Total win.
Awesome video, thanks Pete and Dave! 🤘🏼 I see a lot of people commenting how they hear little difference, but one thing I’ve found is the playing feel is different between these tubes.. some just feel drier and like they’re fighting back, while some just saturate in a great way and make it feel easier to play!
Yep to me its what they feel under my fingers that my friend is a good point
so glad there is a few of us left that appreciate tubes.
14 strong! Hold brothers!
I’m obsessed with tube amps. They are just heavenly .
Absolutely! I wish those who aren't concerned with their tone would find something better to do, than waste their lives watching things they disagree with.
I'm in the process of tube rolling an amp, and discussions like this are golden. For whatever reason, topics like this usually attracts a ton of trolls.
@@joshsmith7033 I was going to say people forget that tube amps at one point may have been affordable but, for most working musicians having to consider amp maintenance into the cost of playing kind of rules out tube amps for most. I have a few tube amps but, I also play them sparingly because they are heavy as hell to lug around and I hate paying to service them but, I also don’t trust doing it myself.
@@joshsmith7033 Price, (un)reliability, maintenance, practicability. List goes on and on. They are like mechanical watches. Cool but for all intents and purposes, inferior to the alternatives.
A LOT closer than I was expecting. The original mallards sounded killer 👌🔥😎
🦆
@@ReWindElectricOld 🤦♂️ gotta love auto correction 😂
I know they don't fit here but the JJ E34Ls are really my favorite EL34 style tube. I know I'm likely not alone.
Yes, I use JJ E34L in my JCM800 too, and I am really happy with the sound.
Same
Have any of you had any reliability issues with your JJ EL34L's? How would you compare them to other EL34-type tubes you've tried?
I didnt notice a very big difference. Cool test thanks guys!
Thank you Pete and Dave for your tremendous effort and sharing this knowledge! I learned a lot! And while we can all disagree on what we hear, the one thing that has been reaffirmed, and without question, is that Pete is a killer guitarist. I loved it!
No JJ E34L?! It would've been nice to include them in the comparison!!
The RFT EL34 from GdR sounds very good. Rock n Roll damnation 👍
When you're playing loud enough to get good amounts of power tube distortion then the speakers are really going so a lot of the sound is them which can make tubes sound more similar than they are. I use a power scaled amp which allows you to overdrive ouput tubes at low speaker volume and you can hear huge differences between tubes. My favourite for two extremes if you're trying to tweak your tone is Tungsol EL34B for lots of fat low mids/bass through to JJ E34L for a super tight bass. It's a cathode bias amp so this may be contributing to the changes of course as different tubes find their idle points.
well, that proves to me that don't waste time on tube choice, just get the most reliable. there are other things that make heaps more difference in tone. pick up choice, single or humbucker, the way you play your guitar, pedals, cables, buffers etc. excellent video to help us really know whether we are just going down a rabbit hole in search of illusive tube choice.
i was using quality head phones. maybe in the room there would be more obvious tone difference.
How do you forget THE most important thing by far, the cab and the speaker. It's going to make 100x of a difference compared to changing tubes.
Of all the new tubes, I found the new Mullards to compliment the ACDC crunch riff the most. It was creamy, chewy, without messy top end, and the melodic aspects of the riff came across as the most cohesive, clear, and engaging. Seemed a tad quieter to me for some reason...but "I wish my plexi was louder" said nobody ever.
The vintage mullard is THE sound.
Reissues are tuned for better guitar sounds.
The original is just tuned for hifi audio.
The Marshall valves are tuned for the stage performance with other instruments.
Tuned for harmonics is a weird thing to do.
Tuned for hifi or numbers is something you should avoid in life.
@@Gma7788 I don't get your point as you contradict yourself by saying the original Mullards are "THE" sound while being tuned for hi-fi, then saying "tuned for hi-fi should be avoided". Can you clarify?
I was pumped for this video and it totally didn’t disappoint! The ultimate video for all tube nerds everywhere! I love these sorts of comparisons.
It’s mind blowing to hear the subtle differences between tubes. None of them sounded bad, just different shades of the same colour really. If you don’t care about the subtleties then any EL34 will do fine but if you do care, then down the rabbit hole you go 😂
The amount of effort that must have gone into the making of this must have been unreal!
Thank you Pete and Dave!
Thank you Pete, this is exactly what I've been hoping someone would do and is an amazing resource. You are the Man!
I think I only heard a significant difference in the JJ EL34 (slightly less gain). The minor differences between the tubes are there, but it probably translates much better in person that over RUclips. Awesome video, thanks!
Good stuff I dorked out hard lol. Tubes are fun. I bought a box of vintage tubes, mostly EL34 and 6L6 tubes, years ago for $100. For EL34's I love vintage Matsushita's the most out of Mullard, Sylvania, etc. They chime and grind almost Voxish. I usually go Tung-Sol for new tubes, I like the high end clarity, or EHX for a softer tone tube. I liked the new Mullards too. They all sounded good just different. May your tubes glow guide you through the night.
Excellent work! This is very awesome! Much like your 12AX7 shootout, your recordings parallel my own listening experience with the same EL34s, pretty much dead-on the same. Those grungy/compressed SEDs are not my preference in a 50W Marshall, but can be a better match in a 100w, or a modern sterile sounding amp that needs some more character. In the old Marshalls, XF2s or RFTs for me! Which one just depends on if I want brighter (RFT) or fuller (XF2). Thanks so much to you and Dave for putting the work into this and sharing with us!
Really really really..?
Just jokin'. Amazing video as always Pete, keep going
Digging in the dirt. I agree with you here that the new Tung-Sol is most like the old Mullard. However, that new Tung-Sol is also most like what I remember Eddie's early bloom was like in the middle register. When you hang on those 4th intervals there is a very unique 100-150ms where the last tone from the chord jab masks the initial / front end of the chord you then let ring out, it almost gives the impression of compression happening. It's not compression in a vertical sense, ie volume, it's a compression in a horizontal sense like harmonics are being squeezed through a bottle neck and it takes them a while to pop out and be fully expressed. Like, those 4ths that are held longer take a good 100ms before they settle down and begin to be clearly defined. I get that during the first 25 or so cycles that the strings make, when you slam them like that, they are moving kind of crazy relative to one another until they both begin to ''ring out'' in a more unified manner, but this isn't that. What I am hearing is a definite affect of the tube being, like, backed up as relating to its ability to produce anything close to wide-band frequencies. Check it for yourself.
I've been looking for this for a long time and, thanks to this video, I do believe I found it. You just don't get things like that in plugins and modelers. By the way, Pete, I enjoy it when you play Van Halen about 300% more than just about when anybody else does. Not sure why, not going to analyze that.
Great video Pete and Dave!! Thank you!!
PS, I see I am not the only one that like to record my cab upside down.. 🤘🏼
Ive been using Tung Sol in my amp bc the high end does something nasty that frankly is quite enjoyable for me, however, to my ear, here the original Siemens stood out and were easy to listen to. My favorite in this back to back comparison by far. Nice video!!!
Agreed The east German tubes roll off the high end in a nice way
Totally fun trip...yeah, guitar-geeky-whatever, that's a great run down. Besides being all locked in has served as a great time to tone-chase, at least for me anyway. Mediums in any art form matter. Good stuff to know. I love EH and Matthews and the stuff he does, such an eccentric character that runs a great operation here in NYC. I love stuff that is made in NYC, so little of it left...he's hanging on.
Excellent test! I, like you, was expecting more from the EH’s. My favorite had been the EH6CA7’s for quite a while. I still really liked them in this test. I’d still like to hear them with the bias a bit higher. Thank you for your efforts and reviews!
Maybe my hearing sucks but I couldn’t tell that much of a difference between any of these, even listening on high quality earphones. I mean I noticed very subtle differences, but nothing that would drastically color the tone to where you couldn’t EQ it out or override it with a pedal.
The 6CA7s jumped out at me. That said, it's all win, I did not hear any clear losers on first listen. I was tuning into the very first run on Light Up the Sky and listening for how brightly the notes popped. Anyway, will listen more than once to see what else I hear. Thank you, Pete. We need much more of this kind of 'test piloting.'
For Relaxing Times!!! haha I love that ! Thanks for this hard work Pete! Siemens and Sylvania for my vintage vote. The new EH EL34's!
Wow you guys geeked out big time!!! Thanks for all that valuable info!
It's tough to make or judge these shootouts especially with the digitization on U-tube. This was an excellent shootout IMHO.
I'm running a true THX certified stereo sound system on my PC with a modified Klipsch setup and a 10" sub.
First round demo
NOS
1. Mullard
2. 6CA7
3. EH
4. Siemans
New Prod
1. Tung-Sol
2. JJ
3. EH
4. Mullard
New and NOS Svetlana sounded the same to me. Tied for 3rd on both NOS and NEW.
What I listened for was the sweet harmonics from the amp power section at the beginning of each demo.
The high gain shootout didn't work for me as my ears crapped out. Also the preamp colorization of the sound masked the power tube sound and it became a mix of the two. My ears are all scar tissue so I hear high notes and mid-high better and more accentuated than most people and my mid range is limited with bass a total loss in note definition. So I focus on what I hear and the sweet spot of highs and mid high. If there is any buzz it stands out like a sore thumb. The EQ in this was wonderful for me as it was right in the sweet spot of my limited hearing. Thank you Pete and Dave for a great demo.
Thank you Pete and Dave! Phew. Though I couldn't hear too much difference from speakers (a little, tiny bit more with headphones) I've got a list of a couple of sets of tubes I want to chase down...just to have around as replacements. I'm going to be buying for quality as much as tone (what little difference there is). We don't know what the future of these tubes and manufacturing will be so, not a bad idea to have some security in the parts kit. What a great test. Gotta love an SG with humbuckers going into a JTM 50 watt. Cheers!
Whaaat? Almost 41 minutes of tube talk and test? Grab my like!
I gotta get my 1974 Jmp 100 watt amp over to Dave (it used to belong to the great late Gary Ritchrath) recorded the solo to roll with the changes with it 👏
Loved Gary Richrath's tone and playing, without him that band wouldn't have rocked at all. Great classic licks in Roll with the changes...
I WOULD NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANY ONE OF THOSE TONES GLORIOUS!
Great to see my 3 of my 4 favorite conversation topics Whisky, Guitars, Amps and cigars! I was drinking a Kirkland Canadian whisky while watching Pete's jams and have bought a bottle of Suntory for my Dad! I still have a bottle of 12 Yr Hibiki waiting in the wings for that "special" occasion! Only thing missing is a good cigar! ((:
This is the only tube test that is worth anything, because you have to drive the tube hard in a guitar amp, not all clean in a stereo. So great test hear.
So many good sounding tube's for a good Marshall
This was very informative. It's easy to compare back and forth because the location for each tube name is clearly visible by floating the mouse over the individual segments. I'm a big fan of the old Mullard. First out of the gate, it was hard to beat. The Siemens almost ties it for me. But those new Mullards do the job beautifully and affordably. Too bad I don't have an amp with EL34's!! Haha
For live gigs I use current production tubes. Easily replaceable, good sound, reliable. Plus newer amps aren't very picky about tubes anyway.
But for the old collectable vintage amps (Tweed Bassmans, Marshall Plexis) you gotta drop the big bucks for NOS glass. Keep the amp as original as possible, and the slightly sweeter nature of NOS tubes comes through better. At that level, it's worth 5x the money for the slightest improvement.
I’m a huge fan of 6CA7s
As an amp tech, if you change your power tubes, and there's a dramatic difference, your old tubes were TIRED OUT.
I would agree with that. Dramatic difference. But there’s definitely subtle Important differences in different tubes of the same type
Thanks guys, lots of effort put into this, but great service for guitar community! Gonna try the eh el34 if my favourite store gets them.
Looks like a lot of work went into this one :)
Looking forward to it!
The EH EL34's have quite a pink/white noise characteristic on the top end. The new Mullard EL34 has a very nice mid tone to my ears.
(Before I watched conclusion) :D
Everything else was quite similair
I know I'm geekin out in a big way when this is of total high interest!!You guys have some true blue loyalty in your people. I have always heard just a touch more lows if using 6l6s, a bit more mid squish with el84s(my favorite for sure), and with el34s I just hear a balance that says Marshall tone to my ears. Especially when I was younger. That's at a very "average" bias level. I have only heard others in Fender amps for example. Thx fellas for this.
Honestly the small difference between the tubes is only gonna be heard in a studio setting if at all. They are there, but I think the player is going to notice far more than an observer ever would. In a live situation with drums bass and vocals, you’d never notice. It was a fun experience, and my personal takeaway is more of Dave’s opinions on tube reliability and potential for catastrophic failure. Great video guys thanks
You’re not wrong. Although I still think it’s best to go the distance and get the ones that sound best even by a little bit. Unless that means the Sylvania‘s which are just too damn expensive, I don’t even have those. But I do have some pairs of mullard, and Siemens To last me for quite a while
@@PeteThorn Agreed! Any mojo that you can bring to the mix is gonna pay off in the playing.
The same could be said about every one of the many parts that make up a guitar rig. The thing is, amazing tone comes from the sum of the parts. For an amp builder, everything counts.
Great playing and great song choices! To me of all the new tubes the EH 6CA7 sounded most like the old ones, particularly the OG Mullard. Who woulda thunk?
Superb job and thx for investing the time and effort.
8:47 Original Mullard XF3
9:30 Original Siemens El34
10:15 Original Sylvania 6CA7
10:59 EH El34
11:34 New Prod Mullard El34
12:19 JJ El34
13:03 New Prod. Thung Sol El34
13:48 EH 6CA7
14:23 NOS Svetlana 90's
15:08 New Prod. Svetlana El34
Thats a big ass glass of Whiskey! Going to get some and listen again! LOL
We should’ve clarified that it was whiskey and soda 🤣
Perfect timing, I was looking for a new set of EL34s
Amazing video guy's. Seriously, thanks.
Dang! I finally get to hear those SED "Winged C" tubes I keep seeing people rave about in all the forums. Was not impressed at all! Glad I didn't dump a bunch of $$$ on those. I LOVED those Siemens/RFTs. My second favorite were the Tungsols. I was a little surprised as I have Tungsol EL34B's in my Marshall and I do love em'. But considering so many other tubes I've heard so much about I was a little shocked. I'll be looking into those Siemens/RFT tubes :))
Mr Thorn all of this is fantastic, but BRAV F-ING O on the new lighting. It looks so great! The video almost matches the playing now (your playing is a little not fair; so hence the almost)
Thanks Alan! Made some investments mainly in the new light that lights me that u don’t see. Makes all the difference in the world. Also learned a little bit about color grading, still a work in progress
WOW I love these kind of videos...
thanks for this!!!
But now you need to extend the comparison with the JJ EL34 II and the JJ E34L
:)
yepp..... I tested my reference pair of NOS Mullard xf4 against most current production tubes several years ago in my workshop! The JJ EL-34-II comes the closest to my xf4s - I use them on a large scale (300+ tubes a year pre-covid) only two failures per year! They run in my Class A and Hot Class A/B (around 400V) circuits for years! Get a good supplier who re-test/re-select , don‘t buy direct from the factory .... my opinion 😉
Mid-gain: The Siemens are my favorite, overall. They’re focused, balanced and punchy. It’s a more versatile sound that appeals to my personal sensibilities. The old Mullards are easily the most distinct; classic, in-your-face midrange push and some wildness that exaggerates the control of your hands. Very cool. The EH el34 and the Tungstol reissue were my favorite of the new production, in so much that the b and c on the A string seemed to push the most air through those and the 3-5K drone from the unwound strings was compressed a little more nicely.
Higher Gain: similar outcome.
With the Winged Cs...it’s the 6L6 in certain old fenders that’s cool. Not really big on any of the others.
Now I’m off to actually put my NOS Siemens that have been in a box in my closet for 6 years into my JMP.
Thanks for this, Pete.
Yeah, I noticed that too. I liked the way the Tung-Sol did that over the EH's. The new Mullards seem to push the open E string (lower notes) more which is surprising as you'd think that would happen more with the EH's and certainly more with the Tung-Sols.
For me the original Mullards were the star.... second I liked the EH EL34... the rest I wasn't so keen on for one reason or another... Great Topic and vid tho... I have a 1984 JCM 800 which still has the original tubes... amazing!
Fun Fact;
The Phillips/Sylvania 6CA7 tube was the US version of the EL34. It can be thought of as an EL34 in a 6L6 style bottle, with a harder vacuum.
Thank you for doing this test, which is near impossible for most people to do. I guess I don't have golden ears, 'cause they all sounded pretty similar to me, I suppose since every other thing in the chain is identical. Also, I'm not used to hearing such a raw, in-your-face, mid-focused guitar tone outside of a mix, especially on RUclips when people tend make isolated guitar tones much fuller, but it would be perfect when tracking.
Dang, that Sylvania... actually a little too silky or creamy for my setup, but wow, that's sweet. Thank you once more, Pete, awesome idea!. Kudos to Dave!
Siemens RFT was my favorite. The perfect balance of clarity and midrange snarl. The Sylvania 6CA7 had a nice clarity and twang. I can hear why Eddie liked them.
for 50w tone the RFT is my goto tube too, even over the xf's, Philips, TESLA, etc. Now 100w is another story.
I keep coming back. Great vids Pete!
I run 60s RFT in my smallbox Marshall. Perfect fit for me. In my 68 100w I run a quad of xf2. Those amps deserve the best. IMO the mullards are a better match for a 100w than a 50w as there will be more headroom to balance them in the 100. They tend to get mushy in a cranked 50w IME.
Also, I always finetune bias by ear after hitting the 65% spot.
The mushy 50 is great for blues music
Thanks Pete, now I have those riffs stuck in my head for the next 12 hours or so. ha
To my ear, on the AC/DC test I ranked them Mullard
, Mullard Repro, JJ, Siemens, Tung Sol Repro, Svetlana Repro, Svetlana, Sylvania, EH. On the EVH test I ranked them Siemens
, JJ, Mullard, Mullard Repro,Tung Sol Repro, EH, Svetlana Repro, Svetlana, Sylvania. To my ear the Mullard sound really good, but I would not pay for them. The JJ or Mullard Repro sound really good too.
The EH have a thing in the high end. I don't think I would realistically care in the room without a reference, but it was pretty noticeable and almost makes me feel like those sound different.
The EH 6CA7 sounded better than the Sylvania to me. Not my preferred sound though.
Great video Pete!