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Post by hdahs143 on Nov 26, 2005 18:13:26 GMT -7
Has anyone else tried the JJ ECC-803S? If you don't care for the ECC-83 that a lot of the MAZ amps came with, You may want to give this a try. It is has a much warmer, rounder fatter tone than the ECC-83. And at 12-13$ each they are priced around the Svetlana's and are readily available!
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Post by jwr on Nov 26, 2005 19:39:36 GMT -7
Hey hdahs143, I've tried that tube. Sounds great in my Shiva in V4, the tube for my boost channel. It sounds like a cross of a ECC 83 and a 7025 to me. Fat bottom and a nice, bright top end. Everybody should try one of these. A very cool tube indeed. Jason
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Post by G'OlPeachPhan on Dec 13, 2005 9:37:49 GMT -7
I've got a couple on the way to try out in my Ghia, my Lightning, and my tweed Champ. I also ordered a couple of the Tung Sol 12ax7a reissues to try out as well. I like to taste-test all the current production 12ax7's, and these are the two that I've not yet tried... Very eager to see what they do in my amps!
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Post by hdahs143 on Dec 13, 2005 19:35:09 GMT -7
I hope they both work out for you. It's always cool to have different flavors ;D
Let us know what you think!!
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Post by guitarman1 on Jan 23, 2006 11:16:01 GMT -7
Has anyone else tried the JJ ECC-803S? If you don't care for the ECC-83 that a lot of the MAZ amps came with, You may want to give this a try. It is has a much warmer, rounder fatter tone than the ECC-83. And at 12-13$ each they are priced around the Svetlana's and are readily available! I tried one in V1 in my Ghia and it's now may fav new production 12AX7. I agree with your description. Warm and full, but with excellent clarity, top end chime and complexity. My second fav is a GT 12AX7M. I also tried a new Tung Sol, but wasn't impressed. Sounded like a regular old Russian 12AX7 to me. You deserve some Karma for this most excellent tip!
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Post by hdahs143 on Jan 23, 2006 14:58:29 GMT -7
Glad you like them and happy to be of service. Sent some "K" back your way
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Post by guitarman1 on Jan 25, 2006 14:09:15 GMT -7
If anyone is interested, I just did some 12AX7 comparisons this weekend and posted my findings in the Carmen Ghia section of this forum. I didn't even realize this thread existed when I posted it. Pretty cool that a few of us came to the same conclusions on this tube without influencing each others opinions prior to listening tests. drzamplifiers.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=ghia&action=display&thread=1138034054
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Post by jwr on Jan 27, 2006 9:11:54 GMT -7
Hey guys, I just did a little tube swapping in V1 on my SR. last night. The ECC803 turned out to be a great sounding tube, it's a little bright if you plug straight into the amp(no pedals). But if your using pedals it can bring back a little of the tone that's lost from using them in front of that amp. Fat low end and brings back some of the chime that's lost due to extra cabling and pedals. It ALMOST sounds like the amp with the original tube that came in it with a guitar plugged straight into the front end. Hope this helps somebody, somewhere.
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Post by myles on Jan 29, 2006 11:52:08 GMT -7
Hey guys, I just did a little tube swapping in V1 on my SR. last night. The ECC803 turned out to be a great sounding tube, it's a little bright if you plug straight into the amp(no pedals). But if your using pedals it can bring back a little of the tone that's lost from using them in front of that amp. Fat low end and brings back some of the chime that's lost due to extra cabling and pedals. It ALMOST sounds like the amp with the original tube that came in it with a guitar plugged straight into the front end. Hope this helps somebody, somewhere. The 803S is a brighter tube with a different mid response also than the shorter plate ECC83S
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Post by guitarman1 on Jan 31, 2006 14:37:59 GMT -7
Hey guys, I just did a little tube swapping in V1 on my SR. last night. The ECC803 turned out to be a great sounding tube, it's a little bright if you plug straight into the amp(no pedals). But if your using pedals it can bring back a little of the tone that's lost from using them in front of that amp. Fat low end and brings back some of the chime that's lost due to extra cabling and pedals. It ALMOST sounds like the amp with the original tube that came in it with a guitar plugged straight into the front end. Hope this helps somebody, somewhere. The 803S is a brighter tube with a different mid response also than the shorter plate ECC83S The two 803s I tried in my Ghia didn't sound bright. Clear & open from top to bottom, but not bright. The 83s do sound a bit bright and brittle up top. I was using a GT 12AX7M in my Maz Sr in V1, with a Svetlana in V2. After swapping around, I now have the 803 in V1 and the GT in V2. Svetlana is outta there. This is my preferred clean to mild breakup tone. I did try a new Tung Sol 12AX7 in V1 of the Maz and cranked that amp up. The Tung Sol added some nice krang in the mids for that Marshall type grind. It was also very tight sounding and hotter with more gain. A most excellent rock n' roll tone.
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Post by G'OlPeachPhan on Feb 9, 2006 19:37:38 GMT -7
I agree... The 803's sound great in V1 of a Ghia... Big and tight in the bottom, clear up top, and open in the mids. I also agree that they are ideal for clean to medium breakup tones, but push them harder than that and I have other tubes I prefer... such as the EH 12AX7 or Tung Sol reissue -- I agree on that tube as well - GREAT rock tone!
As an aside, anybody had issues with microphonics with the JJ 803? Maybe I just got a bad one in the pair that I bought...
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Post by guitarman1 on Feb 10, 2006 10:05:38 GMT -7
I agree... The 803's sound great in V1 of a Ghia... Big and tight in the bottom, clear up top, and open in the mids. I also agree that they are ideal for clean to medium breakup tones, but push them harder than that and I have other tubes I prefer... such as the EH 12AX7 or Tung Sol reissue -- I agree on that tube as well - GREAT rock tone! As an aside, anybody had issues with microphonics with the JJ 803? Maybe I just got a bad one in the pair that I bought... Hey Peach. I got 2 JJ 803s and one is dead quiet, while the other will ring a little when I tap it with my finger nail. Doug from Doug's Tubes told me that he is having about a 20% noise reject rate with these, which according to him, is not a good percentage. He does test them and tries to weed out the bad ones. I think that long plates like the 803s are more susceptible to mechanical noise. I used to call any tube that rang when tapped microphonic, but Dr. Z once told me that it isn't considered microphonic unless it starts making noise when simply playing through an amp. So in answer to your question...no microphonics yet. I haven't had the chance to try w Tung Sol in my Ghia, but you've got me fired up to try one this weekend.
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reaper
Junior Member
Posts: 61
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Post by reaper on Feb 13, 2006 12:33:45 GMT -7
Seems I read that combo amps beat the 803s to death, don't remember where I read it though.
Luke
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Post by guitarman1 on Feb 22, 2006 10:34:21 GMT -7
I finally had some free time and tried the new Tung Sol in V1 of my Ghia CRANKED up. Too bright and steely sounding for my tastes in a Ghia, but good for rock in a Maz. I've been gigging for about 4 weeks now with 803s in V1 in my Maz combo & Ghia head and have had no problems yet. I hope they last, cause I love the tone!
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Post by guitarman1 on Feb 27, 2006 7:26:23 GMT -7
Well, a bit of bad news for the JJ 803 in V1 of my Ghia. The other day I started to get this really LOUD noise when I turned on the amp. It only lasted for a second, but the noise occurred every time I turned on the amp. It sounded like the same sound you get when you touch the end of a guitar cable plug when the other end is plugged into the amp, but very, very loud. I replaced the JJ 803 with multiple 12AX7s and the noise never re-occurred with any of them. I put the JJ 803 back in and the noise was back. The tube is about 4 weeks old and has less than 15 hours on it. The JJ 803 in V1 of my Maz is still functioning properly, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm going to try and send this back to Doug's Tubes for another. I'm really loosing confidence in this tube.
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Post by humphreyaudio on Mar 19, 2006 18:31:07 GMT -7
Seems I read that combo amps beat the 803s to death, don't remember where I read it though. Luke This is a Quote from Bob Pletka himself after I inquired about these tubes.: "Hi Mark, I would not recommend them in a small combo amp. You will shake them loose in short order. Thanks Bob" I eventually got one and it ended up as my PI tube. OUTSTANDING! I have two Svets in V1 and V2, with the JJ ECC803 in PI as I said. It gives the amp a BIG responsive tone. Glad I did it, but don't understand why Eurotubes is against it. Mark Humphrey Humphrey Audio
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 20, 2006 5:50:17 GMT -7
To me the 803 feels "hard". It does have a good wide frequency response.
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Post by G'OlPeachPhan on Mar 28, 2006 9:06:34 GMT -7
Agreed on the microphonics thing... I'm not concerned if they make noise when tapped... in fact, most of the preamp tubes I like the most in my amps ring when tapped -- I think that interaction adds something to the tone somehow... like transmitting speaker vibrations back through the tube or something to that effect...
But when a tube just keeps ringing on it's own when playing through the amp, I can't live with that at all.
I would think that Bob at Eurotubes suggests against using the ECC803 in small combo amps for V1, as that's where you're going to run into trouble with microphonics due the the increased exposure to vibrations from being right next to the speaker in a small combo cab. You should not experience any problems with microphonics using the tube in the PI spot on a small combo amp however.
I agree that the 803 has a bit of a harder feel to it than some other options, but it's also very open and big sounding... it's a great choice for V1 of a Ghia, which is an inherrently sweet sounding amp to begin with, so that 803 hardness doesn't really come through in a bad way on the Ghia as much as it might on other amps... like a Matchless Lightning for example - the 803 sounds WAY too hard in that amp...
In fact, most modern production tubes tend to sound way to hard in the Lightning, and the preamp spots in that amp generally require NOS tubes accross the board for my tastes... So a HUGE thumbs up to the Doc for designing the Ghia to sound so great with the much more affordable current production preamp tubes!
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Post by bustertheboy on Apr 8, 2006 18:58:24 GMT -7
Hey G'OlPeachPhan how do you rate the Lightning against a ghia volume and tone wise- i almost bought one instead of the ghia- which i love- because i'd been using a 65 vibrolux and thought i might miss the reverb (don't really)
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Post by sascha on Apr 13, 2006 12:53:22 GMT -7
Recently I ordered a ECC83 by JJ and one by EH, as well as a JJ 803 to try in my MAZ JR Head. I liked the clean sound with the 803 in V1, but for overdrive I prefered both the 83s there. I didn't like the 803 in V2 at all - it seemed to do some strange stuff, like higher frets on the B string felt a little dead. At the moment it sits in V4, but I'll give it a try as PI now after having read Marks post. BTW: No microphonics on the 803 so far.
Sascha
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Post by humphreyaudio on May 14, 2006 19:05:07 GMT -7
[/quote]
This is a Quote from Bob Pletka himself after I inquired about these tubes.:
"Hi Mark,
I would not recommend them in a small combo amp. You will shake them loose in short order.
Thanks
Bob"
I eventually got one and it ended up as my PI tube. OUTSTANDING!
I have two Svets in V1 and V2, with the JJ ECC803 in PI as I said.
It gives the amp a BIG responsive tone. Glad I did it, but don't understand why Eurotubes is against it.
[/quote]
....And of course Bob was right. My 803 flamed on me right in the middle of a show over the weekend. I had a hunch it was the PI and quickly changed it out. The amp fired and I never looked back.
Mark Humphrey Humphrey audio
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Post by ke4unr on May 15, 2006 13:01:49 GMT -7
I was hoping Mark would have shared his experience with this tube here...
I ordered one from Bob/Eurotubes last week.
He gave me the same warning verbally that Mark got by way of e-mail. He added that I "would be on my own", meaning no warranty. I've dealt with Bob for many years and have always trusted his judgement and advice regarding tubes.
Still, I really wanted to try one and ordered it anyway.
The day after I got it was the day Mark told me his had flamed out during a show! Yes, it sounded good in the PI, but I immediately put my Sovtek 12AX7LPS back in that slot.
I'm not gigging as much as Mark, but I'm not taking any chances either.
Ray K.
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