JJ 803S Gotta try em

[talbany]

My Largest complaint with the Old Stock tubes is the low end is all over the place... Especially in the 100 watters.. They do give you an even order break up in the mids and highs and are no doubt sweeter!!!.. I like the OD to have some sort of focus when I am down on the neck (first 3 frets) banging around on the E & A strings with your fingers.. When you test these OS tubes in an OD circuit especially a NON HRM listen to how the low E strings break up.. Are the speakers kind of flabbin around on you down there....
That's my largest complaint with the older stuff..
The newer stuff LPS/EH's has a much more focused low end no doubt... But there is a quality about the break up in mids and highs...that just doesn't sound very musical to me..Like un even order harmonics...(I am not talking about every tube here just most of them maybe 30% work) The 803's were the first to deliver the tighter low end as well as a nice even breakup all the way up I thought... kind of got me excited and sparked the thread...The JJ's 83's is our stock tube we use in everything and is a jack of all trades master of none type tube... Maybe 2 in 10 sound Killer!!! I guess I am asking too much here!! IS IT ME!!




Tony VVT

[Funkalicousgroove]

I found that the GT 12ax7M is an AMAZING sounding new prod. tube for the 12-15 minutes they work before they die!

I really like the JJ ECc83, I don't find it bad sounding in any application, and they seem to take the fizz off the top end on newer Marshalls. The 803 sounds nice as well, I just think it really shines in the PI position.

[stelligan]

I really like the JJ ECc83, I don't find it bad sounding in any application, and they seem to take the fizz off the top end on newer Marshalls. The 803 sounds nice as well, I just think it really shines in the PI position.

Gonna try 'em in the PI when I get back from Chicago. Does anyone have any tips for the Arlington Million? Here to bet the ponies. Perhaps I can win enough to buy some NOS tubes

[talbany]

Funk

That's interesting... I had a Twin come in loaded with the GT AXM's and thought it sounded pretty damn good being a Silverface dohickie...The last thing I would have thought would have been the culprit would be the GT's.... had a real bad experiance with them a while back vowed never to return..


Tony VVT

[Funkalicousgroove]

Great sounding for about 12-15 minutes, then catastrophic failure. A real peach from our friends at GT.

Talbany,

Have you tried any of the "Gold" JJ's?

[talbany]

Really The tubes just fail... Ive never had them just fail.. They usually start to crackle hiss and spit...or get real microphonic...
I've never tried the gold pins.. since Ive never used the gold pin sockets.. whats the use in getting them if you don't have both.. I can say I just had a Komet constallation with gold everything EL-84's and couldn't really tell the differance in that circuit when I changed tubes.. The amp was nice but wasn't killing me.. Though I am not much of a 84 guy..If anyone wants to see some pics of the amp Ill be glad to post them ...



Tony VVT

[JimiB]

yeah post em!

[kleinm]

Great sounding for about 12-15 minutes, then catastrophic failure. A real peach from our friends at GT.

Talbany,

Have you tried any of the "Gold" JJ's?

My exact experience with about 5-6 of the 12AX7M. They sound great until they bite the big one. A total POS, IMHO.

I've tried both the 83 and 803 in Gold Pin versions. My hunch is that they're tubes that test well, then are gold-plated. I doubt the gold makes much difference (if any, IMHO), but as a general tube they are nice. Not sure if they're any better than a regular, cherry-picked JJ though.

One thing that still surprises me about the 803 is that they don't go microphonic as easily as some other long plate variations. A pretty nice tube, especially in some amps. Some times they're almost too fat, though. They're fun to try in V1.

Anyone tried the long plate Mullard reissue (New Sensor)? Looks like a well-constructed tube, not unlike the Sovtek LPS....

[Funkalicousgroove]

I've had those GT's do all kinds of strange things: One triode goes totally dead, or they get REALLY noisy, start squealing like a stuck pig, I've had a few that make a strange "field" around them that gets louder or quieter depending on how close your hand is to the tube. At any rate, they sound fantastic till they go south, and that usually isn't for long.

[talbany]

I had the exact same thing happen with a JJ ECC83... Real bad Humm as I ran a screwdriver down the chassis and got close to the tube the humm went away.. Never had that happen before... As for the Mullard reissues they are very well voiced and balanced tube.. If I remember right I did think they sounded a bit better overall than the JJ ECC83's and bit more consistant.. However the difference in tone didn't warrant the difference in price.. They as well go micro phonic but not as bad as the EH's...
Here is the Komet.. Extremely well built amp.. 1/8 inch Alum.. Chassis gold pin preamp Spragues all over mill spec pots.. PS Caps.. Looks like Xicon metal films Kens Fave.. Impressions The strangest thing was the 6sl7 driver for the clean channel in an EL-84 amp kind of struck me as a weird design.. A preamp tube with large plates driving a an output section with smaller plates..Don't know what they were shooting for there.. They had to use 1uf's for bypass caps to keep the low end in check.. When you have to use 1uf's on both sides of a tube that sits in a clean channel of an amp would.... to me throw up a RED flag.. So needless to say the clean channel is not very clean.. I was told Ken had nothing to do with the design of this amp...and I believe it ...looking at what's going on here..Don't really see any footprints of Ken anywhere here.. The OD is kinda cool Plenty of drive.. Stays in focus has a nice 84'ish top end to it and works well with the Vol and tone controls of the guitar.. NOT like a wreck but passable...My opinion the way the amp is constructed and built worth the 3 grand they are asking.. As for the tone 2 grand.. Oh and don't think tubes would help loaded with EI's...
That my story and I'm sticking to it!!!


Tony VVT

[Structo]

Have you guys had the same results with JJ tubes from Eurotubes?
I've ordered a few amp kits from Bob there and never had any catastrophic failures.
He only sells JJ's and I think he is pretty good about testing them and pulling the culls.
Just curious if any of you had ordered them from him?

[Funkalicousgroove]

I get my JJ's from Bob, its Groove Tubes that do the wierd stuff, not the JJ's.

[talbany]

We get ours from CE... We buy them by the box 100 and I dont believe they are tested... But we have very few duds!! maybe 2 or 3.. I'll cherry pick a few for the Custom High end stuff.. Maybe 10-15 in a box of 100..




Tony VVT

[Funkalicousgroove]

I used to get them from CE, until i got a case of someone elses rejects- I asked JJ who is their main distributor, or if I could buy direct citing the issues with the CE tubes- and they turned me on to Bob. To me it's worth an extra buck or 2 to not have to deal with testing them. I have a VTV Characterizer, but it takes time that I don't really have.

[angelodp]

I have a JJECC83 in V1 of my Rocket and was pleasantly surprised at the richness of this tube in this spot.

What about the Gt 6L6's and 6V6's are they problematic as well.

ange