New Mullard or E34Ls?

[Ted B]

Chinese tubes= Bright, Cheap, Not Durable at all

The most recent Shuguang tubes are far improved over what they were making just a few years ago. Curiously enough, some of their high end audiophile tubes are regarded as perhaps the best ever.

Yeah that was a propper Homer moment. I trusted the guy and for the most part he was very good but on ocassion when he was a bit hard up, I think he invented stuff that 'really needed to be looked at'.

Some old amps that came my way for service had original tubes, but they were so tired and far down on emission that they weren't worth keeping. They do wear out. Nevertheless, always ask your tech to identify the issue and discuss with you prior to making any changes, especially if the amp has any 'vintage' value.

[AustinTx]

Johniss..
Check out this guy..he has quite a few low priced used tubes..I bought from him once and got some really nice NOS tubes.
At the bottom of the the page he offers used used tubes at low prices..might want to send him an email and see what he has for low dollars..

http://www.audiotubes.com/el34.htm

[AustinTx]

Chinese tubes= Bright, Cheap, Not Durable at all

The most recent Shuguang tubes are far improved over what they were making just a few years ago. Curiously enough, some of their high end audiophile tubes are regarded as perhaps the best ever.

They are getting better for sure and are great for clean tones...but the conditions that most Hi Fi tubes live in are inside of a house...not the back of a van or club getting bumped around and getting exposed to poor high and low AC or the 10 second standby switch flip. I have ventilated quite a few Chinese output tubes; I seem to attract melted glass,
even my Lava Lamp exploded.

That's one the reasons we all come to this forum! Finding out about improvements and what is going on! Awesome.

[johniss0001]

Thanks for your responces austin. I have been looking at the price of vintage el34s and to behonest they are waay out of my price range.

I have been using shugs in my amps for 2 years now in the power stages i have my 78 superbass biased as hot as the valves would allow me in their specs which is 40mV I biased that hot as an experiment and the amp sounds amazing after the 100hr mark. The amp is a clean amp i must admit but i like loud clean amps.

What the hell do you do to your amps austin? My amps are in and out of motors, venues etc and i've never lost a chinese bottle yet and that goes for my sound citys also

[Coot Boy]

I've gone over to the shugs as well, I'm sick to death of all the tube bullshit, the price is right and they sound great in my all my 7 Marshall clones, when you have a few amps the shugs are even more the way to go but I don't usually pipe up about it coz I'd rather the price stay where it is, let em all go n buy the =C= n whine about how the price keeps goin up.

[AustinTx]

If your getting good sounds and good quality from Chinese tubes...That is Awesome.
It really is all about what is working for you! As far as the prices go, got 6 Nos unused
Tungsram el34 in the mail yesterday, not quite as sweet as Mullards but, all 6 tubes for $50 us
total including shipping, bought from a private party outside of the US. Allways watching for
Fake Tubes can be a pain, but everytime I have gotten ripped off Paypal has refunded me.
Spend time scraping around for good deals, you never know who has what.

Texas is pretty rough on gear..even in good sized venues your gear gets set out on the sidewalk
or the bum piss alley. Stage temps vary from freezing to fry an egg. The AC is terrible, Winter
is 125v to 127v and Summer is 110v to 115, lots of stages are feed by extention cords. My live rig
includes Isolated regulated AC, plus a variac with my own ground wire clamp..If you play
thru Texas you know what I mean...just ask the guys who play at SWSX, you may have to roll your
gear down the street a half mile or so...This is tough on tubes but fun as hell!

Your Texas gear must also be able to withstand: Taco drippings, Blobs of Queso, BBQ grease,
Beef Rib bones, chunks of Tater salad, and the repeated vibration of hitting Deer at 65mph.
This is my local Texas BBQ Joint..Salt Lick BBQ

[myfoot]

Hey I think I saw that pit on Man V Food Ummmmmm brisket . I have to make it out that way sometime to get me some Texas Q!

[revolver1]

Man, that should be ZZ Tops next gate fold pic... Off topic I know but I loved the states last time I was there, wanted to get to Texas but Sandiego was as far as I could get befour the Amtrack pass ran out. Definately want to go back...

[AustinTx]

Revolver1....sorry didn't mean to get off topic...

[Tone Slinger]

THAT pit looks ALOT better than the 'Tres Ambres' centerfold imo. 'AA Bottom' for sure !

[BAinFL]

That picture goes well beyond epic awesomeness...