shadco
Junior Member
Posts: 72
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Post by shadco on Feb 16, 2006 17:22:53 GMT -7
I just picked up one of these NOS JAN Raytheon 12AX7 Grade 1 from Mike at KCA I also popped a Nos Tesla EL84 in.
These are just a touch less bottom endy compared to the GT's They work really well and clean up the touch of mud I was getting from my Anderson with HB's
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Post by prowler on Feb 16, 2006 21:15:00 GMT -7
I never liked the GT 12ax7m. EVERY single one that I had went microphonic/noisy within 30-60 min of play time. Never going to buy one of them again. So far the Svetlana 12ax7 has work out best for me.
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Post by taswegian on Feb 16, 2006 23:46:30 GMT -7
I LOVE the Gt 12ax7 M's in mine but I haven't had any trouble with it either. Hopefully it will keep going for a while yet. My friend has some nice NOS Mullards but I haven't talked him into trying them in my mini yet
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Post by zdogma on Feb 17, 2006 6:35:11 GMT -7
i've had a bad 12ax7M too. When you turned the amp on it made a sound like a plane landing (it was brand new). This was before I knew about miles, and I didn't bother with the warranty, I just threw it out...
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Post by terryg on Feb 17, 2006 16:24:17 GMT -7
Earlier Ms had a mild propensity toward this. GT has been absolutely stellar in their support, though...I've had a few that would develop this 60Hz "click" sort of sound, or my amp would have volume/output when the volume was at 0. GT was very easy to deal with, and replaced them with no contest. I think these tubes are maturing really well, and I'm liking them in preamp and phase inverter applications.
Uh, if I hang in this forum I'm going to end up with a Mini, right?
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Post by myles on Feb 17, 2006 19:01:55 GMT -7
If any Z owner has an issue with the GT tubes that came in the amp new give me a call at 1-800-459-5687 in the mornings and I will get them replaced for you.
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Post by prowler on Feb 17, 2006 19:43:33 GMT -7
Myles... I really wish my experiences with the 12ax7m went differently. They did sound good when I first installed them. However they ALL went noisy & microphonic within 30 minutes of play, all 3 of them. Because of this I don't know if I can trust the "M". I was so disappointed that I threw them out as they went bad. One after another & another & another...
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Post by kruzty on Feb 18, 2006 7:00:43 GMT -7
I've had the M in my mini for a while now (hours of practice and a 4 hour gig) with no problems. Mine came with a JJ EC83 and I thought it was a little dark at lower levels. The M seems brighter and a little more open.
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Post by myles on Feb 20, 2006 12:56:34 GMT -7
Myles... I really wish my experiences with the 12ax7m went differently. They did sound good when I first installed them. However they ALL went noisy & microphonic within 30 minutes of play, all 3 of them. Because of this I don't know if I can trust the "M". I was so disappointed that I threw them out as they went bad. One after another & another & another... Prowler, Making a new tube from scratch is a pretty tough endeavour. GT has gone through a number of changes and it is getting better and better all the time but work is still progressing. Any issues will be covered under warranty but I can understand you concern if you had three go bad within 30 minutes! This sounds like a particularly bad situation to say the least! I have had M's in amps for very long periods of time without problems but have also have had my own issues on occasion. I generally use 4 M's in my Fender Blackface amps .... V1,2,4,5 and have had great luck ... other than one at the moment in a Twin Reverb in V2. I can leave the amp in standby for a long long time ... the tube is all warmed up and ready to go. Take the amp out of standby and after about a month of hard use when the amp was set to play it would tick-tick-tick for a few seconds. Over time, a few seconds grew to 10 seconds .... now it is 30 seconds or so. But it does stop and I do not want to swap out the tube as it has gorgeous traces and specs and does what I want it to do so I leave it in there. I don't not know what to say at this point other than GT is working on resolving any reported and discovered issues and the current reject rate is less than 1% of what is shipped. But ... if you are in the 1% the figure really does not matter much. There are more issues to address than most can imagine. Material, construction, contamination in alloys, even dirt on the wipers where the grid wire gets cleaned can all come into the picture. I love this tube in a LOT of amps so I am taking a high percentage of my time to work with folks to get a higher degree of stability as I want to keep using this tube for my own use and the use of many of my clients. GT will cover all issues under their six month preamp tube warranty. Now on a side note .... a very amazing tube in the Mini Z is the Brimar. It's short plates still can toss a lot of current and it does not go into compression as easily as a lot of tubes. It loves to be in amps like Marshalls or amps with cascaded gain stages so even in a single tube front end high gain monster like the Mini Z this is a really amazing tube that gives the Mini-Z more overall range. Mike at KCA has these generally. They are also spectacular in Marshalls, Mesa Rectos, Bogner 101's, Z 6545, and amps with multi stage gain front ends. V1 is generally all you need for the biggest bang for the buck. If you have a wad of cash in multi gain stage amps then spring for V1 and V2 with a nice matched one for the PI.
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shadco
Junior Member
Posts: 72
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Post by shadco on Feb 20, 2006 13:53:55 GMT -7
FWIW
My post wasn't meant as a knock on the GT12AX7M's. I've had one in the Mini for about 4 months bought off the shelf at Fat Sounds and I haven't had any problems with it. I prefered it over the stock JJ that came in the Mini but I thought it a little dark with the HB's in my Anderson especially the Neck pup. The Raytheon is very similar but a little less dark compared to the GT.
It's all good I also tried a NOS Tesla but it was too bright in the mini but really nice in my CG.
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Post by prowler on Feb 20, 2006 15:07:45 GMT -7
As much as I would like to try the Brimars I just can't bring myself to spend that amount of cash on NOS tubes. I try to stay with new production tubes because they are more available. Since I like the tone of my amp (which has new production tubes) I'm not going to bother spending the cash on NOS tubes.
However, I may have to break down and give the Brimars a go. I've REALLY want to hear them through my SRZ-65 & my Mini.
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Post by myles on Feb 20, 2006 15:15:48 GMT -7
As much as I would like to try the Brimars I just can't bring myself to spend that amount of cash on NOS tubes. I try to stay with new production tubes because they are more available. Since I like the tone of my amp (which has new production tubes) I/m not going to bother spending the cash on NOS tubes. However, I may have to break down and give the Brimars a go. I've REALLY want to hear them through my SRZ-65 & my Mini. Prowler, I am right in line with your thinking in many cases. Modern amps were designed with current production tubes in mind. One thing I love about the Z amps is that Dr. Z refrains from following some fad aspects of things like carbon comp resistors (noisy and much less stable than modern resistors) etc. Any of the folks I support on the road or who are working musicians I have using new tubes. We have a big easy stash of these, can hand pick them as we have a lot to pick from and can dial in amps to get right where the player wants to be. If there is an "emergency" on the road you can find replacements easily. The exceptions are.... EF86 tubes .... there are no new good ones. Amps reserved for a specific studio project .... I may use NOS tubes in some of these for these specific purposes. Other than phase inverters, preamp tubes can last decades so finding a cool NOS one that gives you the tone you seek can be a pretty nice upgrade for the $$$. But if your amp is going to travel hundreds of miles per week in a truck and be tossed all over the stage when still hot after a show when you have to be off the stage as the union clock is ticking .... then even NOS tubes can have a hard time holding up to this sort of torture.
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Post by myles on Feb 20, 2006 15:23:20 GMT -7
FWIW My post wasn't meant as a knock on the GT12AX7M's. I've had one in the Mini for about 4 months bought off the shelf at Fat Sounds and I haven't had any problems with it. I prefered it over the stock JJ that came in the Mini but I thought it a little dark with the HB's in my Anderson especially the Neck pup. The Raytheon is very similar but a little less dark compared to the GT. It's all good I also tried a NOS Tesla but it was too bright in the mini but really nice in my CG. The Raytheon from the 60s may be my favorite all around 12AX7. When Aspen Pittman wanted to reissue a classic 12AX7 he asked me what I would do. I said I'd do the Raytheon. Well, it is his company and not mine. He went with one of the Mullard versions that was his favorite tube. I can sort of see his reasoning as he loves to play a Strat through his Fender blackface amps. The Mullard is a tube that takes a bit of the bright edge off this combination. Still .... if it was my money and my company I would have gone with the Raytheon or a Mazda chrome/bright plate reissue. Then again .... how many folks would jump at a French tube (Mazda with shiney cheap looking plates?) The gray plates are nice too as are the British produced Mazda, but those French ones are very cool. Well, they sound amazing.
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