Just ordered some JJ/Tesla valves.

[ibanezjunkie]

£20 to fit out my amp with JJs? couldnt resist.

1x JJ-ECC83-S
1X JJ-EL84

what can i expect tone wise, over the old chinese tubes?

 

[kiteman]

I'm guessing you're retubing your BH5. The Chinese tubes seems to be pretty good for what they are so the JJs may be a small improvement.

I retubed my BH15 head with Mullard Reissues and while they sound pretty much the same as the Chinese tubes they get chimey when hot. Very sweet sound so maybe the JJs will do the same.

I'd like to hear how the JJs come out.

 

[tunghaichuan]

I'm guessing you're retubing your BH5. The Chinese tubes seems to be pretty good for what they are so the JJs may be a small improvement.

I retubed my BH15 head with Mullard Reissues and while they sound pretty much the same as the Chinese tubes they get chimey when hot. Very sweet sound so maybe the JJs will do the same.

I'd like to hear how the JJs come out.

In my experience the JJs tend to be darker. I actually like the Chinese tube better in the Blackheart. However, my Little Giant combo has developed a rattle and I suspect the tube. I plan to try out an 12AX7EH and a JJ EL84 when I have time to open it up.

tung

 

[ibanezjunkie]

someone told me the JJ 12AX7-S is 'darker' sounding (i guess this means less treble) which i look foreward to using for my medium to high gain stuff.

Someone recommended Tung-Sol preamp tubes, but ive had bad experience with russian made stuff -cough-metal muff-cough-

 

[ibanezjunkie]

oh btw guys, since youve done this before, how did you get the tube cover off the preamp valve? it would seem simple enough, but theres no enough room to get a screw driver in there to undo the screws

help?

 

[kiteman]

I thought they'd be twist off types. Is there a spring on top of the tube (inside the cover)?

 

[ibanezjunkie]

yeah i just checked its a twist off, thanks.

btw, is it neccesary to have the tube cover on?

 

[tunghaichuan]

The tube shield is mainly there to filter out noise. It won't hurt anything to leave it off.

It also might damp a marginally microphonic tube.

tung

yeah i just checked its a twist off, thanks.

btw, is it neccesary to have the tube cover on?

 

[ibanezjunkie]

hmm i just read some reviews, one of them was by a guy with an epi valve jr.

Sound Quality : 10
I have tried nearly every EL84 out there and nothing comes close to the JJ EL84's. Just an unbelievable sound. Thick, harmonic, musical, and saturated. As a matter of fact, I use only JJ tubes. I recently bought a little Epiphone Valve Junior stack for the house. I tried out about 10 different EL84's a nothing came close to the JJ's. If you own an EVJ, you owe it to yourself to go out and buy a JJ EL84 and a JJ ECC83S for the preamp. Let it warm up for about 30 minutes and then work the volume up to about 12 oclock. There is nothing like it for the low price of a couple of JJ's and the Epiphone Valve Junior. Unbelievable!!

if the blackheart BH5H is anything like the valve junior...i think im in for a treat

 

[TS808]

I tried JJ's when I had my Little Giant and I really didn't notice any difference at all to tell you the truth. When I re-tubed my Peavey, I did notice a difference with JJ's though.

 

[ibanezjunkie]

i should notice a difference...i have a slightly microphonic valve atm.

 

[kiteman]

I had a VJr combo and I used JJ EL84 and the RCA5751 (70% gain of 12AX7) when I retubed it. The JJ does sound good and the RCA was smooth sounding too. A very nice combo.