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I was playing around this afternoon and figured that I would try out that GT12ax7m that I just got for the Silvertone in my AD60H. Holy moly! I thought that the amp sounded good before with the JJ, it is head and shoulders above with the GT. I didn't think that it would make that drastic of a difference with a good quality tube in there already. I know that there can be subtle differences in various tubes with the shootout that I posted a couple of weeks ago. But this is a major change in tone. It is smoother, more depth, more complex. Wow, I'm going to have to get another one for the silvertone now because this one is staying in the Vox.

Just tried the JJ in the Silvertone and it is quite a bit gainier than the GT, in a good way though.

That's one reason I like the Vox stuff more than the L6. A good tube just adds that warmth and compression that you don't get in 100% solid state.
I think I have a new Tungsol 12AX7 in mine.


Originally Posted by GearjoneserThat's one reason I like the Vox stuff more than the L6. A good tube just adds that warmth and compression that you don't get in 100% solid state.
I think I have a new Tungsol 12AX7 in mine.

And I have a pair of NOS RCAs in mine! My amp sounds great also!

Since I got my GT Mullard I've heard lots of horror stories about reliability. Mine has been great though, J.


Originally Posted by 75lespaulSince I got my GT Mullard I've heard lots of horror stories about reliability. Mine has been great though, J.

Yep....And it's the sole reason I haven't spent the incredible amount of asked money for those tubes!

I hadn't heard that yet, hopefully that isn't that case with my tube. So far so good and GREAT tone.

Originally Posted by 75lespaulSince I got my GT Mullard I've heard lots of horror stories about reliability. Mine has been great though, J.
After going through my small collection of AT7's and AX7's I settled for an old Fender grey plate 7025 for the Silvertone.....smooth! Seems to match the amp well.


Originally Posted by JumpMarineI hadn't heard that yet, hopefully that isn't that case with my tube. So far so good and GREAT tone.

Hopefully you'll never have a problem with your's Ryan,but I also have read some reliability issues with these GT tubes....I know I read mention of them on the FDP(Fender Discussion Pages) for starters..


Originally Posted by JumpMarineAfter going through my small collection of AT7's and AX7's I settled for an old Fender grey plate 7025 for the Silvertone.....smooth! Seems to match the amp well.

I use 12AX7 RCA grey plates in both my Vox and in my Cyber Twin and in my BF Fender combos,though I think I also have some Black Plate AX7s in there too? Either way,I like the RCAs...They sound good(warm,round)and they've been very reliable in every amp! Tone is number 1 but reliability is number 1A


Originally Posted by 75lespaulSince I got my GT Mullard I've heard lots of horror stories about reliability. Mine has been great though, J.

I recently ordered a couple of the GT12ax7M's from the factory- well, both were bad right out of the box- one had a loud ticking sound, the other was just plain noisy- I called GT, sent them back, and they sent me two more- and both have been great, sound great, and had no problems at all, they sound better than the Philips NOS tubes I had in there- I'm sold on the GT's. I do recommend that you pay a little extra for the SAG models, as they have been hand selected and tested.

you guys are really selling me on getting an ad120 head. stop it LOL.

-Mike


Originally Posted by XSSIVEyou guys are really selling me on getting an ad120 head. stop it LOL.

-Mike

You mean the VT Valvetronix 120 watt stereo head? Right?

Mike.....Trust my ears on this amp.....It's a very cool amp,and I Love mine,plus I do get great tones out of it into some Vintage 30s...

I've had no problems with my GT-M copies. I think that Todd at Revolution tests them out before he sent them to me. Buying from a good dealer will weed out a lot of unnecessary hassles. I will pretty much only buy JJ's from Bob at Eurotubes because I've never gotten a dud from him. Iquot;ve gotten a couple of JJ duds from Mojo. I don't think they test them out.

GT-M's are great when you want to smooth out and amp or tame the high end a bit. I put them into my Two Rock and the amp got too lifeless. Put them into a Tweed 30 watter and they sound incredible.

JJ's or Chinese when it comes to hard rocking amps where you want more gain, more of an edge.

Oh and this JJ ECC830S is one FANTASTIC tube! Longplate copy (Telefunken?) Andy at Mojo had negative experience with the ones he sold out, but I think that Eurotubes weeds out the off spec ones. Iquot;m not sure if Todd/REvolution sells them or not.

I've got a trio of them in the Franklin and I couldn't be happier. that is the stock tube on the Franklin. All new production JJ's in that amp. Why? I'm convinced that I need to sell an amp that sounds great with new production tubes. If someone want to experiement, that's fine. I just don't want someone to have to buy a $75 preamp tube to make their amp sound good again.

I've had a pair of the GT12AX7M's for a year or so now, first in my Orange AD15 and now in my '54 tweed Deluxe, wiht no problems and great tones. Scott F's description corresponds exactly with my experience. It's amazing how much difference in tone can come from different 12AX7's -- not as dramatic as different speakers, but definitely noticeable.

Two of the three GT 12AX7-Ms I bought went bad on me right after the warranty ran out. I had to go through a few in the store to find two good ones to replace them. I will NEVER buy another GT tube ever again. They do sound good but their reliability is very hit and miss. If you are having good luck with them, more power to you. My experience was less than stellar. I'm going with the New Sensor Tung Sol 12AX7s next.

Cheers,

CJ


Originally Posted by Usurper666Two of the three GT 12AX7-Ms I bought went bad on me right after the warranty ran out. I had to go through a few in the store to find two good ones to replace them. I will NEVER buy another GT tube ever again. They do sound good but their reliability is very hit and miss. If you are having good luck with them, more power to you. My experience was less than stellar. I'm going with the New Sensor Tung Sol 12AX7s next.

Cheers,

CJ

GT has been alot more hype to me over the years than anything else....I won't pay their astranomical prices and since all of the tubes available to us now come from alot of the same places,I'll not get em from GT....I've always stayed pretty current about tubes since the 1980s to keep myself educated on what's good and what sucks! GT isn't the only guy in town anymore selling good quality matched tubes.

glad it worked out for you. reminds me of that Dokken song, quot;you just got luckyquot;.

I use a gtm in the #1, #3, #4 of my 2 channel dual rectifier. I use a balanced phase invertor and # 2 by EH. I love this combo as the #1 gtm gives the body and tames some crappy fizzy highs while the #2 EH12ax7 gives the gain and scoops the huge mids a bit from the #1 gtm. The #3 fills the body out again and the #4 is the tube buffer fx loop and it fattens up the fx loop and seems to not deteriorate the tone like some fx loops do. The eh 110/110 phase invertor is a EH12ax7 and it is higher output than the gt and pushes out the sound/tone to the transformer in a great way. I tried every combination I could think of and this is my best combo aside from replacing the #3 with a EH12ax7 or Chinese.