NOS tubes freakin rock

gnugear · Post by **gnugear** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:25 am

I aquired some old stock tubes today ... Amperex Bugle Boys, Miniwatt, and Brimers.

At first I thought, "big deal they just sound different". Then after a while I noticed how much richer, thicker, and harmonically sweet these things are. They've got that "bloom" that I always hear about. You can really feel it in the room.

This kind of sucks because I don't think I'll be buying new stock tubes anytime soon. Better start saving up that cash.

rjgtr · Post by **rjgtr** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:28 am

IF you like those, get some NOS Mullards. The sound you've heard all your like will be right there.

gnugear · Post by **gnugear** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:12 pm

From what I've read, the Brimers are relabled Mullards. I've got a real branded Mullard coming soon.

RattleCat · Post by **RattleCat** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:31 pm

The way I describe NOS tubes to my friends is like this...

When you put them in you notice a little difference that doesnt really knock your socks off. When you take them out and put current production tubes in you wonder what is wrong with your amp cause it just seems sort of lifeless and dull.

rjgtr · Post by **rjgtr** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:09 pm

The Brimars I have definitely are not relabelled Mullards. They are different inside. There is a real difference in tone between Brimars and Mullards.

gnugear · Post by **gnugear** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:44 pm

I got my Mullard today and it rocks. I still like the Amperex for V1 though

Rattlecat, that's exactly how I would describe it.

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:38 am

NOS Mullard Preamps in my Homebrew 68/69 Hybrid Clone really opened up my Volume and tone control from the guitar. (Yeah and I still love my Winged C Cryos)
There's that room filling harmonic overtone dynamic thing that you never want to let go of once you find out how to get it.
They really make a huge difference in the quality of your tone. I went all out and used NOS Mustard caps too, and Mercury Magnetics upgrade.

It's amazing how many so called boutique amps cheap out on tubes.

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:02 am

I'm tellin' ya, when I got the vintage Telefunkens that I use the difference was night and day. So much thicker and richer it just wasn't funny. I can't put a cheapo into the PI slot anymore even, one position goes cheap and your tone goes out the door. The new JJ ECC803's are the only new production I've got that come close (and they are pretty darn close at that!) but I haven't ponied up for the GT Mullard 12AX7's.......
I'm scared to try NOS power tubes.....I just can't afford to find out that my tone sucks again, especially when I added up how much the wife and I blew while we were on vacation last week

.......

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:19 pm

Those Buggle boys are sweet too. I heard some in a home brew
JTM/Bluesbreaker combo with NOS 5881,Bull Dogs, and MM Trannys. It's one of the sweetest amps I've heard. It's a nice "sum of parts" amp.

I haven't heard a Telefunken yet. I heard they're mucho dinero, but Holy grail territory.

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:36 pm

Now look what you made me do.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5783849155

5150loveeddie · Post by **5150loveeddie** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:03 pm

Think I'm gonna go for some xf2 mullard el34s there just $475usd/pair..I just need a quad!!!!!

Thanks Chris now I'll have to make some explanation to Charlie's momy

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:01 am

Jesus, I'm gonna have to sell every drop of plasma in my body to keep up with you guys' tube tastes, ain't I??

rjgtr · Post by **rjgtr** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:55 am

You'll be dizzy, but your amp will sound great!

1 or 2 NOS tubes can do the trick nicely. Mullard CV4004/ECC83s are worth every penny. They definitely are the right sound.

RattleCat · Post by **RattleCat** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:32 am

If you have a tester and you track your tubes you will notice certain tone "trends" among tubes even of the same brand. I always do listening tests through the same setup using a clean channel. Some have more bass, some have more treble, and some have just the right amount of sparkle. These always seem to relate rather reliably to the particular test results of the triodes. Also, its my opinion that the Rk/Ck values of the actual triodes in cascade will have a large part to do with this. So be aware of this in different amps or even different channels of the same amp that switch between different stages. The jist is that the output of the triodes will further accentuate the particular Rk/Ck values. I may be way off on explaining this, but your ears will tell you the difference. Once you are on to this you can be more selective about your tubes and know what your looking for. This way the NOS tube market can be approached with some frugalness. Also bear in mind that not all testers test the same yada yada, but some seem to test the triodes in the reverse order as my tester. So I not only want to know how the tubes test, but also what they were tested on. At some point you can narrow down which tube is going to sound good in what amp.... generally speaking of course