Metropoulos Forum

Got a pair of these from George to try and to compare to my vintage Telefunkens (since none of you guys ponied up to just send me some... )
Very interesting tubes here kids.
I only got about a half hour of playing time to swap back and forth between these and the Teles (my realtor was here when I got home to play so I had to wait.) First impression is that these are a very good new production 12AX7.
The EQ curve is very similar to the Teles. The main difference I noticed on the fly is that the Telefukens are a touch furrier in the mids and lows, not in a bad way, just slightly furrier -- maybe a hint more beef in the midrange for the Teles too.
The JJ was well balanced, with very clear mids and lows. I actually got to turn up the treble a bit with them. Very nice smooth distortion character. I wouldn't be disappointed if I had to throw away the Telefunkens and use these, snob appeal aside.
Interesting tube, guys.

Thats it. Im buying 10.

I have tried these. A really nice sounding tube with a good low end and high end. They have a lot of gain. Perfect for a Plexi, but may not be great in some really high gain amps.

I found in one of my amps, there was so much gain that my boosted sound wasn't as boosted as with JJ83S or GT-12AX7M. The JJ803S also seems to compress a little more at high gain settings.

Certainly a nice quality sound with just a little more scooped mids than a GT-12AX7-M. The mids aren't murky like a lot of the Sovtek 12ax7s.

I think I'm going to try and live with a few in my 1987x and Marshall 18 watt clone and see how they wear.

The mids are more scooped than the GTs? I think I'm going to try them.

This is a tough question ... but what tone do they approximate in a plexi?

In my amps, I get a really good VH tone with EHs. With GT Mullards they seem more AC/DC-like and with Ei Gold Elites the mids are more pronounced and Vox-like.

A good portion of the EVH tone are the American 6CA7s. They're more scooped by nature. If you want the most scooped mids, the 12ax7EH or Chinese tubes would probably work better. But the ECC803Ss are really nice. My advice is to buy one and put it in V1 to see if you like them.

To be honest, I'm hoping to like them, because I want a backup/alternate choice to the GT-Ms. I like the mids in the Ms. I'd try the Ei tubes, but they've been so unreliable in the past I'm afraid to take a chance on them. But your description is intriging; I like Mids as long as they aren't murky like with Reflektor made tubes.

I think the Ei Elites have been pre screened so they're more reliable. I really like the detail and clarity ... they sound really rich.

I have to be the odd ball here, but jj's only give me a muddy sound when I try playing on the neck pup or both on my LP. EH12AX7's have more of a midrange flavor but a little bright on the top end. I ended up with EH12AX7 in V2/V3 and a telefunken long smooth plate <> in V1 and it has a midrange punch and the highs seem to be smooth. I haven't tried a GT12AX7M yet so I cant comment on that one. I would like to give the GT12AX7M a try, but if it's anything like the jj's then I'm skeerd I'v just had nothing but bad luck with JJ's power and pre amp tubes. Lots of people like them. Maybe my amp just don't like them? dunno !

Just tried a jj 803 in V1 of my metro ptp 1987 clone and was well impressed- compared to the EHarmonix I usually use in my 2 1987's it was smoother but had plenty of gain.

I have tried the GT Mullard reissue in these amps and they for me do not have quite enough bite / gain.I do use them in my 2204's where they seem to smooth out the higher gain of that circuit.For info I have transformed an old 2204 by replacing o/t with George's Heyboeur and revalving using JJ El34L's , a GT mullard in V1 and JJ std ecc83's in V2 and V3

This amp is now very dynamic and crunchy - so much so I am going to keep the stock green caps rather than put sozo's in.

Anonymous wrote:I have to be the odd ball here, but jj's only give me a muddy sound when I try playing on the neck pup or both on my LP. EH12AX7's have more of a midrange flavor but a little bright on the top end. I ended up with EH12AX7 in V2/V3 and a telefunken long smooth plate <> in V1 and it has a midrange punch and the highs seem to be smooth. I haven't tried a GT12AX7M yet so I cant comment on that one. I would like to give the GT12AX7M a try, but if it's anything like the jj's then I'm skeerd I'v just had nothing but bad luck with JJ's power and pre amp tubes. Lots of people like them. Maybe my amp just don't like them? dunno !

Your not the only one. There is two of us! I too find the JJ's to lose definition and clarity in my amps. Id rather use Chinese,Sovtek LPS or EH's . Still gonna give the 803 a try though....

Have you guys tried the 803's? Its not only what were talking about but a very large destinction. I dont particularly like the 83's and the rest of the JJ premap line but I can say I do like these vary much though I think 3 of them in a Marshall can be a bit too much.

My longer term impression is that they sound really good, and still compare favorably to my Telefunkens (which some guys think are too much in a Marshall) but they just seem to have a touch less sustain....I have to work a little harder with the 803's to get that note to sing, the Funks just do it. I haven't tried the GT "Mullard" to see how it compares, but these would be my first call so far if I had to rely on new production 12AX7's. And I'm getting close to that point, I need another tube HiFi score before I run out of vintage 12AX7's.

Do you really go through them that fast or is it just you have too many new amps at this point and are using most of the good ones?

Billy Batz wrote:Do you really go through them that fast or is it just you have too many new amps at this point and are using most of the good ones?

Too many new amps. I keep moving my good ones out of my old amps and into the new Metros I'm building, because the Metros sound so damn good they're all I'm playing right now. My '75 still has a set of Telefunkens in it I think, but they'll go back in the Super Bass soon, it's missing that little bit of "sing" since I have the 803's in it to try out right now.
I suppose I could see what tube is in the vibrato on the Bandmaster and scrounge it for a new production tube........or the Bass channel on my '66 Bassman, I never plug in there anyway.