Help me verify this 12ax7.

[Jerrick]

Hey guys, in my Dual Rectifier all the tubes are just like this one, and are unmarked, and they sound great. With as many shows I put that thing through, I know at some point a tube or two will get knocked around too much and end up failing.

From comparing it with pictures, im thinking its probably a JJ somethingor'nother but im hoping you guys know something I dont.

Actually, there is just one tiny mark, but its inside the tube. I had to photoshop it so it would come out in the pictures, but it looks like a 0 6 was written in there. A hint?

Thanks. (click for bigger res.)

 

[fluff191]

That is identical to the JJ's I have.

 

[Jerrick]

Im kind of surprised, cause I just checked out my poweramp tubes, which are labeled as Ruby, but they are actually JJ e34l. And I hear lots of people say that JJs have bad tone and reliability issues, yet mine just sound great, and have been in there for a little bit over 5 years now.

Now im not sure what tubes I should buy. Stick with JJs, or order up a few sets of preamp tubes and el34s and start messing around.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Just goes to show you, you can't believe everything you read on the inter-web.
Messing around is good. Just because someone says this or that sounds good, doesn't mean it will sound good to you, in your amp.
Do yourself a favor, and take the $80 or so you'd spend on a set of pre-amp tubes and get a couple good NOS Sylvania, Mullard or RCA blackplate 12AX7s instead.

 

[Jerrick]

Yeah, I think ill throw in a few mullards with my order. Ive always heard good things about them, so hopefully they work well.

Once I have time off from shows ill be able to really mess around with more tubes, but I gotta wait till after October for that.

 

[94Tremoverb]

Definitely a JJ. That fat rounded plate structure with the vertical dimple in the middle is totally distinctive.

I've found JJs to be among the most reliable of modern-production tubes, but I can't say I like the sound of them very much - to me they have a combination of muddiness and sterility that makes them very characterless. I prefer the power tubes to the preamps, but they still don't sound great. I guess if you like 'smoother' tones you may like them though.

Each to their own, I hate smooth-plate Telefunkens which are the most valuable of all old 12AX7s... I just find them clinical and cold-sounding.

 

[Jerrick]

I like smooth lead tones. Smooth as in liquid, sustaining.

But most of my distortion tone is very articulate, powerful lowend but not overpowering our bassist and crisp mids so even with low tunings and large chords, all the notes ring out well and dont disappear or just flub out as noise.

Must be the combination of guitar, boost, and speakers, cause they just work, with no problems I usually read online.

I just ordered a full set of tubes from eurotubes. Only a state away from me so I hope to get them soon. And theres a shop downtown with lots of NOS tubes. Ill pick up some random preamp tubes from them and grab another pair of rectifier tubes from them as well. I got an old pair of raytheon tubes from them that just felt amazing with the right amount of sag that chords would bloom out, but it was tight enough for the quick djenty bwomp sounds..

Haha, I love trying to describe guitar tones.

 

[konstantine RK]

Ive gone maverick with my roadking...

SPAX7's in V1 and V3.... I have 3 of those blank tubes and I got to get a picture in soon lol

Is 12ATS7 too weak for V5?

 

[212Mavguy]

Definitely a JJ. That fat rounded plate structure with the vertical dimple in the middle is totally distinctive.

I've found JJs to be among the most reliable of modern-production tubes, but I can't say I like the sound of them very much - to me they have a combination of muddiness and sterility that makes them very characterless. I prefer the power tubes to the preamps, but they still don't sound great. I guess if you like 'smoother' tones you may like them though.

Each to their own, I hate smooth-plate Telefunkens which are the most valuable of all old 12AX7s... I just find them clinical and cold-sounding.

Good post. Accurate description of the JJ tone. Smooth plate 'funkens are not the most expensive 12ax7's to get via ebay, Some of the Brimar, Mullard, Valvo longplate 12ax7's go for much more, and the 'funken ecc803s (10,000 hour super quiet background noise) are going 450 bucks each and up from there, used!

Incidentally the Telefunken rib plate 12ax7 in my opinion is a great guitar amp tube, especially when pushed hard into the dirt, it will give a great violin-like sustain that Jerrick likes. They last much longer than any JJ made today, even picking up a used one. I'm not fond of the smoothplate in guitar amps either, the attack is a bit muddy, the sound is a bit too bass heavy, and not all that many harmonics til you get dirty, and then not as much as the rib plate, an overlooked tube.