Got a bunch of vintage preamp tubes...where shoudl they go?

[TommyShameless]

POST EDITED, WITH PLENTY OF DETAILS AND PHOTOS ADDED!

Okay, I have the following heads...

1969 100 watt Metro Clone, lead spec - Currently running Shuguang "Green Dragons" from Tube Tramp. Center two tubes are pulled, and it is running on only the outer two. Sounds sick! This head goes through a Hot Plate.
1969 100 watt Metro Clone, lead spec - Same as above, but no Hot Plate. Lar/Mar kit is on it's way.
1967 100 watt Metro Clone, lead spec - Same as above...Lar/Mar kit coming soon, no Hot Plate.
1974 50 watt NMV Marshall, bass spec - Same as above...Lar/Mar soon, no Hot Plate.
1979 50 JMP master volume - Currently using a pair of Sylvania 6ca7 big bottles.

Guitarist "A" uses a Les Paul Gold Top with the ceramic pickups, and a Les Paul Custom with I believe 490 and 498 pickups in the neck and bridge, respectively. Guitarist "B" uses a Jackson PC1, and a Les Paul Custom with a Bareknuckles Geogg Whitehorn "Crawler" in the bridge.

We have the following sexy 12AX7's

4 Mullards...one is a yellow label, I61 ECC83/12ax7. It says "B4D3", "Made in Great Britain", "BVA" (in a little oval), and what looks like a "1" and a "G" on each side of that oval. The other three are ECC83, I63, B7L1.



3 Phillips Miniwatts...one says "ECC83" and what looks like "42J4". On top, it looks like it says "150" and "10", but I can't be sure because it is pretty faint. The other two are ECC83, and say "Import" on them. There was writing on the back but it is now so faint I can't read it at all.



1 Raytheon...12ax7A, and it says "Registered" "ROC" "ECC83" and "F13"



1 CBS...12ax7A, "Made in U.S.A.", "6117"



1 GE...12ax7A, and it says "Made in U.S.A." "7025" "KY" and "188-21"



Whole bunch of Sylvanias...they say "JH5" on them




Each head is running through a full stack, with (unfortunately) the 75 watt Celestions.

If you guys had these amps and these tubes, where would you all put them, and why? We play all original rock and roll that sounds like it could have come out around 75-85. You know, good stuff!

And yes, we use them all in concert. And yeah, it rules!


Tommy

[TommyShameless]

Bump

[demonufo]

What era is the GE tube (v. important)

The CBS tube could be anything (will know more with pics)

If the GE is 50's/very early 60's I'd put it in the Master Mk II in V1 to give it some more meat.
The mullard I'd shove in V1 of the 67 clone to thicken it.
I'd probably put Syl's in V1 of both the '69 lead clones to give them a tad more articulation (good in the PI(V3) too)
I'd probably shove the Miniwatts in V1 and V3 of the 50watter since 50's are my thang, and they're great tubes too, if genuine Heerlen.

V2 is less sensitive generally speaking, so prime tubes would be best moved into V1 positions, then start filling V3 positions. V2 would be the leftovers. But this is not a hard and fast rule at all.

[TommyShameless]

I'm going to take pics of the tubes on Wednesday night at rehearsal. This way we can clearly ID exactly what I have. I also have a Hammond 12ax7 somewhere around here that I got by accident. I need to find it, since I'd like to add it to the mix!


Tommy

[demonufo]

Hammond could also be anything. Possibly a Sylvania. Compare it to the others and see...

[DaveMcLain]

In my experience preamp tube preferences depend almost entirely on how the amp is being used. In my case the Marshall(1974 50watt) is used for rhythm guitar playing and generally the settings are all controls mostly up, presence at about 7 both channels jumpered with volume on 4 for bright and 2 for normal. Into Marshall Power brake two clicks down. Guitar volume and playing is altered to get different tones from the amp.

I spent quite a bit of time auditioning various tubes from my collection including some old GE tubes, Sylvanias, Brimar along with the modern production Chinese, JJ, EH and all the New Sensor brands, El etc. I found that my personal preference was toward the current production JJ's and a Groove Tubes Mullard copy in the PI. I know that sounds sacrilegious but it's the combination that seemed the best for me and my use.

It's interesting to compare the Marshall to my one hifi amp that uses a 12AX7 in each channel as an input preamp. In that case the same exact GE tubes that I didn't feel worked as well in the Marshall are the best and it's very noticeable. The sound is much smoother yet still more detailed, noticeably more too.

If I were you I would dedicate some time to some serious testing and be prepared in that you might find a surprise or two. Having someone else there to swap the tubes while you play and to do sort of a "blind test" would be very helpful.

[TommyShameless]

Bump, with a BIG update above!

[TommyShameless]

Just tried the 3 I63 Mullards in the 69 with the Hot Plate. Wow! Incredible tone! We found it sounded best with the volume around 7 or 8 with the Gold Top, and dimed with the Les Paul Classic.

Just prior, we had a Miniwatt in V1, and Sylvanias in V2 and V3, and that sounded really good, but this just killed it.

[TommyShameless]

Did some more experimenting today on one of the 69's. First thing we did was pull the I63 Mullard from V2 and slap a Sylvania in. Zero change in tone, so the Sylvania will stay and free up that Mullard for one of the other heads.

Than we started trying some other tubes in V1 and V3. We tried the Raytheon in V1, and it was cool for rhythm, but not so great for lead...kind of shrill. So we put the Mullard back in and moved the Raytheon to V3, and found a similar situation.

Then we tried a Sylvania in V1. It worked for Van Halen riffs but not much else.

Next up was a Miniwatt in V1. That sounded pretty cool. Real gainy.

We then put the Mullard back in V1, just to refresh our ears. Good god, what a sound.

Then we tried the GE in V1, and it was very similar to the Raytheon.

For giggles, we tried the I61 Mullard, which sounded decent, but was a little to dark and bottom-heavy for our liking.

We forgot to try the CBS.


Looks like that 69 will be keeping an I63 Mullard in V1 and V3, a Sylvania in V2, and the two center output tubes pulled. It sounds killer.

Time to move on to the other heads!


Tommy