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Vintage threads from the first ten years

What tubes to buy?

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12/18/1997 10:30 AM
Mike Schulze	What tubes to buy? So I finally have some $$$ and I want to retube my pair of Twin Reverb II's and my '69 Deluxe reverb. So I need some 12AX7's, some 6L6's and some 6V6's. Any suggestions?

12/18/1997 11:28 AM

I went with Ruby Tubes STRs in my Pro and Deluxe Reverbs. Not too shabby.

I used the 6V6GTBCs for the Deluxe Reverb and am pretty happy with them as well. They are considerably hotter than the original 6V6s that were in there so the bias voltage had to be cranked all the way down just to get them down to 25mA per tube.

For the Pro I used the 6L6GCSVT. No complaints here either. I can't really give any AB comparisons other than I really like the way the amps sound now. The tube change in the Pro was overshadowed by my replacing the original Oxfords with Naylors. One of the Oxfords would crackle at the peaks.

FWIW,

--johng

12/18/1997 12:38 PM

What do you think of the Naylor speakers? Are they the more recent 12" model they're currently making?

I once installed the original Naylor 12" speaker into a customer's brownface Deluxe and was impressed how much it sounded like an old Jenson C12N - very bright and clear without sounding harsh.

Later on, Naylor retooled their manufacturing and came out with a newer version 12" speaker. I installed one of these into another customer's Ampeg Reverberocket. I was surprised by how much darker it sounded compared to how I remembered the older one. While the original model may have been a bit too bright, this one seemed to perhaps lack some high end. Or maybe it was just that particular example. I do know that Naylor advertises their revised line as sounding "smoother and fatter".

Anyway, I'd love to know what you think. I'm always on the lookout for speaker that give a vintage sound but can safely handle moderate amounts of power.

12/18/1997 1:25 PM

I bought the SD50s. Whether or not they are the more recent models, I don't know. I bought them a couple of months ago.

They are brighter than the Oxfords that were in there and have a wonderful tight bottom end. After I put them in and fired the amp up, I smiled. I think that if I had a middle tone control, I could get it to sound dangerously close to a Super.

Unfortunately I have never heard a Jensen C12N or a Weber so I can't offer any comparison. All I can say is I like them. I brought it to a friend of mine that owns a dead mint, 64 1/2 Super Reverb. It is *THE* most wonderful sounding amp I have ever heard. He said it sounded really, really good. Mentioned similarities between it and his Super. I think it would have been even closer if I had a middle tone control as he runs his middle at around '5'.

Don't know if I've given you anything useful, but it's all I can do at the moment.

--john

12/18/1997 11:55 PM
Tsmith	Svetlana6l6s sound really good in my brown vibrolux, clear lows,highs not harsh and strong mids For 6v6 Nos Phillips/Sylvania kept me from having to sell a deluxe that didnt sound right until-the phillips 6v6 set was put in. cant'ya hear me knockin sound right outta the box!!

12/19/1997 1:16 AM

Mike:

After reading the suggestions here at AMPAGE, I ordered some Sovtek 12AX7WBT+'s to go along with the WB's that Ruby Tubes sells and they work great together. Golden Dragon makes really nice driver tubes, but they are a bit hard to find. Here's a link to my page about preamp tubes:

Righteous" target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/3281/RiteTube.htm">Righteous Tubes!

Steve Ahola

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