Tube Choice

[jckid649]

If you were picking the perfect NOS tubes for each section of a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb what would you choose? If you had to choose modern day counterparts what would you choose?

[Stevem]

Well with no info posted as to what guitar(s) you use thru it, nor what type of music you play thru it, then the only thing I will choose to pass along is this for now!
The gain structure, current output and tonal nature of V1 for the normal channel and V2 for the vibrato channel will to a very large extent set the tone, response and feel of the whole amp!!
If you only play clean tones out of the amp and have no need for volume levels much above 5 or 6, than a good 12au7 will sound amazing in the V1 or V2 position!
If you need a little bit more gain and feel due to low output pickups like in a strat or a telle, than it will be hard to beat a tested JJ 12ax7 from Euro tubes, or if you have a spare 30 bucks over the cost of a current new tube, then get a tested NOS yellow label Sylvania 12ax7 from places like Up scale audio or KCA tubes and some others.
The 3 most important preamp tubes for the Vibrato channel are V2, V4 and V5, if you post more detail as I first stated then output tube info can be passed along!

[Blackburn]

I don't think it's necessary to overthink this since it's for a Twin. I doubt there will be much distortion of any natural kind and I've found most good tubes sound fine clean. Get good ones, get 'em matched and play loud.

[matt h]

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[jckid649]

Good tips. Truthfully I would vary my styles since I play different styles. I largely love late 60s early 70s hard rock. I have a LP custom with custom wound 59 PAFs and a strat with custom wound late 60s pups. I also love what I would term "hard blues" that vascilates between clean and dirt. I love how a twin sounds dimed with a litte od pedal in front.

So what about power tubes?

[Blackburn]

"Perfect" to me says RCA blackplate 6L6GCs. A matched quad of them = A new amp.

[matt h]

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[johnnyreece]

For "hard blues", I preferred KT66's. New Production Shuguangs (sold under various brand names) are nice. Preferred those to the things coming out of the Saratov Plant (New Sensor branded stuff). No experience with the JJ. I think those are the only new production ones made. I'd rather use a pair of KT66's in a twin. Lets you push the tubes a bit harder, more clarity through the OT.

For straight 6L6GC use, I really liked the Winged-C (aka "real svetlana" not the stuff new sensor sells as svetlana now) tubes.

I've got a pair of the Shuguang KT-66 in my JTM45 clone, and I really dig it. In fact, I can't get it back from my buddy who borrowed it!

[Stevem]

If most of your taste as you posted is in the rock sounds of the late 60s to early 70s than that's Marshall town and the twin will not begin to come close to that without changing out the speakers to Clestions or a clone type and dropping bass response out of the amp in favor of mids!
Unless that black face twin is a total basket case and in need of a full on rebuild I would look into another amp!

[Cliff Schecht]

I would drop in a set of Amperex Bugle Boys throughout the preamp (Telefunken's for the reverb driving position) and a pair of clear top RCA 6L6GC's, and of course a European 5AR4 (Amperex, Mullard and/or Telefunken).

[matt h]

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[Blackburn]

Cliff's just a badass that runs a 5AR4 in a Twin.

[matt h]

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[Cliff Schecht]

Heh I should have known better. Was thinking about my tweed Twin while posting - I shoved two rectifiers in that bastard!!

I mostly stick with JJ's for new tubes, they sound OK and haven't failed me yet (other than a few isolated cases where tubes arrived bad).

[Stevem]

That's a crock about having a repair bill from placing a tube rect from the 5AR4 family of rectos in a 6l6 socket and having a repair bill, you can even have the 6l6 in the recto socket at the same time and nothing will happen to make for any problem other than the Amp not working !!