decent tubes?

[ibanezjunkie]

i intend to thrash at the stock tubes in my blackheart will it sounds lousy, then i gonna get new tubes.

recommendations? 12AX7s and EL84s

[Rampant]

Hi matey

I put mesa boogie tubes in my Crate V5. (1 x 12AX7 and 1 x EL84)
They sound good to me - a big improvement in tone over the stock Sovtek tubes...

Cheerz

Mark H

[tunghaichuan]

For current production tubes, I like JJ EL84 and Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH.

The JJ EL84 is a darker tube than some EL84s, but this is a good thing as single ended circuits using EL84s can be kind of bright and shrill.

The EH 12AX7EH is one of the few modern production 12AX7s I have experience with, but they sound good to me. The Sovtek 12AX7WA/12AXWB/12AX7WXT all sound pretty marginal to me. Although they are good as "hole fillers." :D There are some Chinese 12AX7s that sound pretty good, but they aren't particularly long lasting or reliable.

If you want to invest in NOS tubes, anything made by Mullard, Brimar, Philips, Telefunken or Siemens is likely to sound much better than modern production Russian/Eastern European/Chinese tubes. The European designation for 12AX7 is ECC83, FWIW.

tung

[markb]

Give the guys at Watford Valves (http://www.watfordvalves.com/) a call. They'll have a "best fit" for your amp. Hot Rox (http://hotroxuk.com/) are OK too.

[Rampant]

Give the guys at Watford Valves (http://www.watfordvalves.com/) a call. They'll have a "best fit" for your amp. Hot Rox (http://hotroxuk.com/) are OK too.

Weird coincidence I just ordered a 10" Jensen speaker for my Crate from HotRox today. Impressed by their service...