Found some old Mullards!

[eljodon]

I have a Sound City amp that has been in my closet for awhile. When I look inside it had 4 Mullard EL 34 made in England along with 6 Mullard 12AX7.I changed all the tubes from my 50 watt Metro kit with all the Mullards and what an amazing sound. Very smooth top end and sweet sounding. I looked on ebay and these tubes are selling at a very high price. The Sound City Concord amp had been in my closet for 10 years. I bought this amp from a guy that also had it in his closet fro a long time, so I lucked out big time! Does anyone had any experience with these tubes?

[JimiJames]

heh... get a load a' dis guy... First post and we all hate you, you lucky bastage !

Smooth is the word I use for Brit Mullards, but man, that's a nice amp you robbed, Thief !

[vanhalen5150]

I've been on the lookout for tubes in this same manner. Unfortunetly the interweb has ruined it as far as getting them cheap. Everyone googlenets everything and now they too are amp experts!

[eljodon]

First post but long time reader! I was blown away because I had the amp for stored for 15 years. I purchased a Metro 50 watt 68' on Craiglist in mint condition, but the guy that previously owed it switched it to bass specs with MV and I just didn't like it. So I had my amp tech restore it to lead specs, no MV and he also installed 3 push/pull knobs, 2 bright switches (Volume 1&2) and on the treble knob a switch to change to JTM 45 pre specs. With all Mullards on the power tubes and preamp tubes it sounds incredible! I use a Aracom PLX 150 attenuator so I didn't need the MV. Besides, I just don't like MVs, I think is worthless for this type of amps. I've been playing guitar professionally for 30 years and owned many amps. I currently own 4 different Marshall type amps, so I'm always on a quest for NOS tubes. I'm not a newbie,I am a newbie as far as posting! But I've been watching you guys for awhile! Learned a great deal'

[eljodon]

I've been on the lookout for tubes in this same manner. Unfortunetly the interweb has ruined it as far as getting them cheap. Everyone googlenets everything and now they too are amp experts!

I would consider myself and amp expert since I've been playing a tweaking amps for 30 years.I was just surprised how much money they want for them.I sold my precious tube amps to invest the money in my studio 5 years ago and regretably had to use emulation amps. Now that I had some sucess with my music(film/TV), I started to slowly buy them back and I was just shocked how much things have changed since the last time I purchased tubes. So you shouldn't pass judgment on people, just from one post! But I undestand you frustration, because 6 to 8 months from now, I'll be looking for tubes that sound this good! I drive my amps up to ten(thanks to my Aracom attenuator), since I'm always recording with any of my 8 tube amps I now own, including a Metro 50 watt, Marsha Friedman HBE/BE, Aracom PLX 100(custom made 100watt plexi/JCM800 hybrid)86' Marshall JCM 800 50 watt, Groove Tube Soul o 75, Vox AC30,etc. Noe that we cleared things up, nice to meet you Sir!

[jcs]

Unless you have access to good testers, there is no way to know if those Mullards have weak triodes or worse yet shorts.

[eljodon]

I know, when I bought my 86' JCM 800 ,it came with Sylvania and the amp was putting out almost half the power.When I changed the tubes for a new set of new Groove Tubes I had laying around, the amp played almost twice as loud. The amp was never re tubed! When I tried the Mullards that I found on my Metro Plexi 50 watt, the amp sounded better than ever, the bass was tighter and the top end smoother. I tried several old tubes I had like RCA and Phillips and the sound wasn't even close. I also tried some new EH tubes and it sound ok but not as smooth. I also tried JJ's and it sounded muddy, the low end boy tight at all. I don't have a tube tester but my none scientific way to test my tubes is to compare the loudness with a VU meter with the same settings. The Mullards were as loud as the new EL 34 tubes, but the RCA and Phillips were not as powerful as the Mullards. I use my ears, if a tube tested well, it doesn't mean it's going to sound good. I didn't expect the Mullards to sound so good because they were old and I have no idea how hard they were pushed 25 years ago. That's how long the amp was stored!

[Roe]

last one I got was given to me for free. they turn up once in a while in Europe. I never pay more than 30-35usd for a tube anyway

[eljodon]

I got a set of SED EL-34WC quartet for my custom build Aracom PLX100 100 watt with one channel it's a Plexi style preamp and the other a JCM 800 style preamp plus an extra 12AX7 for added boost, 1kHz boost switch, a 4 position tone shift knob,2 bright switches (1 per channel),and a mid /high tone switch.The SED sound very nice with the amp. Jeff is the guy who built it and he put in the back the point's were you insert a multimeter ( 4 positive and on negative) and the bias knob near the first power tube so I can easily bias the amp without having to take the amp apaet or take it to a tech for biasing! I wish every amp would have this feature because it's so comvinient! The amp came stock with JJ'a EL 34 and I blew 2 power tubes on the left! I installed the SED biased tha amp, so I was ready to start laying down guitar tracks! The amp is very aggressive sound with a much tighter low end ! I'll never buy JJ's again exept for their EL 84 which sounds ok.I use an eq in the front end of the amp, because it makes a mediocre tube sound way better by cutting or boosting specific frequency.