JJ KT77- Has Anyone Tried Them?

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A friendly bump on this one.

I just picked up a new Stilleto Trident, and am wondering if the new JJ KT77 would be a good match for this amp.
 
Howdy all, this is my virgin post.

Just for reference..My simlu class green stripe mkIII/mk3 was running all mesa tubes including a quad of 6l6's, then I took out the mesa preamp tubes and stuck in 4 smooth plate telefunkens and 1 amperex in V1.. just for fun, sounded better.

But my power tubes were dying, makin poping noises then they died.. blew the fuse!! time for an upgrade. So I just bought a high gain JJ tube kit from Bob @ Eurotubes, with 5 ECC83S, 2 kt77, 2 6l6 tubes.

No mucking around.. I ripped out all the old tubes and slapped in the JJ's the result??

Thicker harmonics, more crunchy with more upper mids 900k-2500k (Im now running less 2200 eq) , also the kt77's diffinately have more treble and clarity (now running less 6600 eq), Im running more presence (6 instead of 5) dark preamp tubes in affect here..so people say. But overall, a more balanced, thicker and tighter sound.To me the less EQing you do the better.

Obvisously Im comparing the overall change, so I cant pinpoint how just the kt77's sound. I think i have lost a little of the "Thump" 80k-120k you get when you palm mute due to the two kt77's, but thats only really noticeable at low volumes, it is NOT lacking in bass at all, but now I have the upper mids and crunch and clarity I have been missing all this time.

I just had band practice with my megadeth cover band this afternoon, and it sounds F**kin awesome, real happy. Now Im wondering how much mids I will loose if I try out a quad of JJ 6l6's, curious.... I want the thump and mids!!! haha get a tube made for that please bob.

BTW, I actually have 2 setup's: I use the mk3 for bedroom and teaching use, and a digitech 2101 (my main rig, also has high gain JJ's!) into the return of the mk3 using it as a simlu class power amp, then into a marshall 1932 2x12 cab with vintage 30's.

This is the best tone Ive ever had with both units, :D also you have to know that vintage 30's totally destroy celestion 90's and g12t-75s. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I am glad to hear the KT-77 sounds good because I have been contemplating switching el-34 to kt-77. I might try them too. If I don't like them I can always get the Marshall rebiased and plug em in there. I heard that they sound good in the old single channel amps.

BTW, the Amperex sounded better in V1 than the Teles? I find that kind of hard to believe. But then to each his own I guess.

Were the ecc83s set that you got a high gain selected set?
 
Hey Russ!!

Tell me what you are hoping to hear or gain from the change? they are fat, thick crunchy and clear, the descriptions Bob gives at Eurotubes is spot on. I used to own a Marshall TSL with el34's so I am familar with the el34 crunch, and I can say its all there but just fuller and deeper sounding to my hears.

The amperex worked well in V1 and V2, to say it sounded better.. all depends of course, it has more high mids than a tele but less bass and highs, but it will give your tone slighty thicker harmonics since V1 is the first tube in the chain, and also warms up the tone a little in V2, it was useless anywhere else since cuz its gain level is pretty low, Im a high gain kinda guy, it is a sutle change but any extra bit was worth it, the teles just sounded flat to me, balanced but flat. You must understand these comments Im making were with the MESA 6l6 tubes that were totally dead, but I could still hear the differnce, I was trying to get some xtra mids from sumwehere.

But all of that of obsolete now, the kt77's and 83S's give me all the mids I need...but how much of those mids come from the JJ preamps tubes exactlly.. I duno, my first impressions listening to my digitech are, that they have more mids than the teles, sound warmer and are now adding to my "better tone". I might put the teles and amperex back in to really hear the difference, but the KT77's are the key man. Im digging that CRUNCH!

and yes I got a high gain 83S set.
 
Hey Shane,

I was hoping to get more of a soulful tone actually from the JMP. To me there is only so much EL-34 you can take before getting sick of it. I have had 6550's in the 800 before but I kinda got sick of the headroom and wanted more distortion from the power end. I have tried using 12at7s in V1 and V3 of the JMP and with it in V3 the tone is very smooth though the gain and output disappears in the gain circuit. In V1 the 12at7 just makes the clean for lack of other terms clean and the gain channel too tamed. I have been thinking that what I really need is something more on the lines of another power tube change probably the KT-77. I had head of guys using the 66 or 88 also but I am not sure I want as much bottom and headroom as the 88 will give. The 66 might be the way to go if the 77 is not the answer. Sorry to talk so much about the Marshall here but I had to try to take advantage of the opportunity to get first hand reviews of the KT-77 from someone that isn't actually selling them. I was thinking that I might try the high gain 83s in the 800. It could use a little pick me up right about now.

As for my Mark IV, I think I will try the pulls before I invest in some fresh 34s. If I don't care for them then there is always another full set of 6L6s maybe the 454 or even the 430. I have an old set of 420s in it right now. If they are in any shape like the pres were then I better get em swapped soon before I start having problems.
 
I almost forgot to ask how much of an improvement were the jjs in the 2101? Did you have hte stock pentas or gts?
 
I can only imagine some kt77's in a Jmp, it will add some attitude and soul for sure, what speakers you are using with your Marshall? changing to Vintage 30's was one of the best things I ever did. I run my mk3 into my 2x12 whenever I can. I'd say thats a speaker with some soul.

I had 420's in my mk3 before the JJ's, I saw someone comment that they are one of the worst 6l6's ever made lol. Are you not keen on some JJ 6l6's instead of mesa ones? I do hear good things about the 454's and 430's.

My first 2101 came with GT's, my 2nd with Pentas, I was just comparing my old Penta's with the Mesa STR 12ax7a's and they look 99% identical. I remember the Penta's sounding kinda thin and lacking, I ripped them out asap and put in a Tele and Amperex.

The JJ's in the 2101 have a touch more mids and crunch to them than the Tele's, sounds great.
 
I may have to order some JJs for the 2101. How much tube character comes through the 2101 realistically? I might want to give the 2101 a shot at Mullards. I have the ppc-210 in it but I never play it. I think it is the Pentas that make it suck for me. I have never been satisfied with the lack of tone. I got the ppc-210 thinking it would help. It only added patches, seamless changing, and longer algorithms. I had already upgraded to 3.0a and nothing was helping so I redirected back to heads. I sold off the JMP-1 and 9005 I used to use to power my rack too.

The JMP has 1962 Blackburn Mullard ECC83s in it. The EL-34s are EH. I have been wanting to change them so those might find their way into the Mark IV if I get the KT-77s. I play the JMP through a 1960ax. It has 25 watt greenbacks in it. I play a Les Paul into it with a Boss SD-1 or even the GE-7 just for clean boost. It sounds really good. I don't think this will leave my possession. I might change to a bx cabinet though or just load the greenbacks into my JCM900 1960b cab. If I do that I will have to remove the V30's and put them in the ax cab. I dig that basketweave chekerboard grille cloth though. I actually favor the greenbacks over the V30s with the JMP.

I have been wanting a 2x12 cab or even a thiele 1x12. I love a 4x12 but can't always play into one. I have 6- 4x12 cabs. 4 of them are Marshall and 2 are Ampeg. I play a VL-501 into the Ampegs (they have 50's in them). I have the 2210 I like to play into the JCM800 1960a cab with 65's in it.

I like the little emergency backup Valvestate8008 I have to power the 2101. I know Valvestate...yuck. I just like it because it is clean and doesn't color anything. Plus, the thing is really light in the rack. The 9005 by itself weighed in like carrying 2 full heads. I can easily carry my whole rack setup now in a single 4 space and be self contained with exception of a cab.
 
I think the tube character comes thru on the 2101 like any other amp, the key with the 2101 is knowing how to use the EQ's and diffinitely using the CAB effect set at 7 or 8 in your algorithm's, and NOT using the XLR cab emulator output with the button pushed in!.. its terrible.

I actually prefer the 2101's tone to the mesa's, you should get your 2101 back in action!!

Sounds like you have been collecting gear for a while now, What do you like better about the greenbacks over the v30s??
 
Hi Guys -

Don't want to be a wet blanket, but you should know a potential problem with JJ's current KT-77 tubes. A very knowledgeable and well-respected tube dealer, Jim McShane, has reported that they've got sub-standard pin size, and this could cause considerable damage to your amp if they shook loose in use. I guess you can re-tension the tube sockets and ammend this problem, but be forewarned...

Here's a quote on the JJ KT-77, from his tube sales site:
4/24 note: Quality on these tubes is very poor, so I have decided not to handle them. If you opt to get them
elsewhere be sure you know what you are getting. All my samples had crooked bottles, all rattled with even
a slight tap on them, many had loose material inside the tube, and others had a shiny discoloration inside the
tube base that looks like getter flash (it clearly doesn't belong there on a new tube!). The pins are sloppily
soldered, crooked, and seem to be undersized (the tubes all are loose in sockets where other tubes are tight).
I cannot in good conscience sell them, sorry. Maybe someday when JJ gets serious about quality...

Caveat emptor!!

- T
 
Thanks for that warning, I've been considering these and now I'll have to think twice. :? This is the first I've heard of this, but it sounds like a serious bit of quality control needs to happen at JJ.
 
Well Im staring at my KT77's and wondering what this is all about, my pins are just fine and plug in just as well as my 6l6's, and my tubes dont rattle at all.

I got my tubes from Bob, so I know he wouldnt sell a bad tube that had these problems, and Im sure he would let JJ know if he had such issues with there KT77's, and they would fix it ASAP!
 
Hi Guys -

Don't want to be a wet blanket, but you should know a potential problem with JJ's current KT-77 tubes. A very knowledgeable and well-respected tube dealer, Jim McShane, has reported that they've got sub-standard pin size, and this could cause considerable damage to your amp if they shook loose in use. I guess you can re-tension the tube sockets and ammend this problem, but be forewarned...

Hey Timbre Wolf, Thanks for the heads up. That was news to me. I've been running a pair for the last few months and haven't had any issues. I have to agree that the pins on the pre-amp tubes appear a bit wimpy, but again, I'm not having any issues.
 
Here's the measurement, according to Jim McShane:

The typical octal pin measures .093" -.095". The JJs measure .083" - .085".

You can compare to your non-JJ tube pins, and see what you find. If you've got some JJ KT-77 that do not have the small pins, then no problem. But it seems worth checking.

By the way, Jim McShane has informed his contacts at JJ, so they are aware of the problem. Apparently, according to those contacts, they instituted this practice sometime around last September. If you discuss this with Bob at Eurotubes, I'd be curious about his reply, so please post any info you get.

- T
 
Shane C said:
I think the tube character comes thru on the 2101 like any other amp, the key with the 2101 is knowing how to use the EQ's and diffinitely using the CAB effect set at 7 or 8 in your algorithm's, and NOT using the XLR cab emulator output with the button pushed in!.. its terrible.

I actually prefer the 2101's tone to the mesa's, you should get your 2101 back in action!!

Sounds like you have been collecting gear for a while now, What do you like better about the greenbacks over the v30s??

I usually just use it with a poweramp (formerly a 9005 then now a 8008). I haven't used it in a while. The last time I used it was to play through headphones trying some new patches. I will have to chekout the cab effect settings on my presets. I haven't looked at some of those algorithms in years.

I can't believe you like the 2101 better than the Mesa though. I can see liking the use of the effects, but the tone? I like the tone of my Mark IV better.

I like the greenbacks for that classic Marshall sound. I play a JMP though them primarily. They get a nice little push and the midrange is sweet. I like them to be on the verge of breakup too. If pushed you get a little speaker distortion that helps that cranked sound.

I like the V30s for the great bottom. I like the v30 better than the g12t-75 but I think the 75 sounds better scooped. I don't play really heavy baritone type bottom but I do like those old school speed metal type rhythms. I like my 65s better than the 75s but it gets hard to choose because of each speakers character. I would like to get some of the g12t-100s or 80s to try.
 
Thanks for the finding Timbre wolf. I just took a set of Mesa 6L6's and mic'd the pins, Low and behold, .0935 diam.
It would seem that if the KT77's pins are,at worse case, .010 smaller in diameter that .005 a side might not be that sloppy a fit. But man,can you imagin if they got jarred looose and started arcing...OUCH.
 
i heard the jj kt77 pin sizes were too big and your tube socket will need readjusting before you can put new tubes in other wise bad things will happen
 
Timbre Wolf said:
Here's the measurement, according to Jim McShane:

The typical octal pin measures .093" -.095". The JJs measure .083" - .085".

You can compare to your non-JJ tube pins, and see what you find. If you've got some JJ KT-77 that do not have the small pins, then no problem. But it seems worth checking.

By the way, Jim McShane has informed his contacts at JJ, so they are aware of the problem. Apparently, according to those contacts, they instituted this practice sometime around last September. If you discuss this with Bob at Eurotubes, I'd be curious about his reply, so please post any info you get
 
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