It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:53 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:07 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm
Posts: 558
I am always looking for good NOS tubes, and really like the tone they give my Fender amps, would upgrading NOS RCA 12ax7's from the grey plates I have now to black plates be a noticeable difference? what about the difference between long or short plate in a black plate? thanks in advance for your input.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:53 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26416
Location: Tombstone Territory
For your first question, likely not. RCA's are the holy grail of vacuum tubes regardless of plate color.

As to the second question, long-plate dual triodes are more prone to becoming microphonic over time.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:10 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm
Posts: 558
Noted, thanks again Arjay.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:23 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26416
Location: Tombstone Territory
Anytime, sir.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:14 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
Look for NOS and high testing RCA 7025 (12AX7A) tubes. Whether black plate of gray plate. Very nice tubes, esp in Fender amps. High testing, low-noise used ones often test higher on my Hickok, than a lot of new tubes.

Also, good NOS 12AX7A are Raytheon. Their 5751 tubes (both triple and dual mica varieties) are considered one of the best of the 12AX7 sub-types. Red-orange label Raytheon are the best (US made). Yellow ones are mostly Japanese made, Raytheon licensed tubes. These are very good tubes, too. Matsushita (Panasonic) and Hitachi manufacturers for Raytheon.

Good hunting!


Some examples on EBay. For comparison sake, only:


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... 5&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... A&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=ra ... 1&_sacat=0


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:36 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm
Posts: 558
Thank you, problem for me is since putting RCA tubes in my amp a few years ago, it seems I'm always searching for more, right now shopping for my latest addition.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:43 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26416
Location: Tombstone Territory
There are plenty of vintage tubes other than RCA that provide superb tone and durability -- among them Raytheon, Westinghouse, Sylvania, GE, Telefünken, Mullard, and Amperex. Your loss should you choose to ignore them.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:33 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm
Posts: 558
Thanks Arjay, I agree, I have been sticking with RCA because I really like how they work in my Fender amps, but I have started to look outside the box, just added a NOS Mullard 12at7 to my new reverb unit and really like the tone.I have always been a little slow about looking outside the box, but am learning a lot on these forums. Here's a pic of the tubes for my reverb unit.Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:40 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
Nice bottles! Most US & Euro manufacturers of mil spec designated tubes are very good. Tungsol (USA), Raytheon, Ken-Rad, CBS-Hytron, Bendix, Centron-Richardson... made many tubes built to mil spec. Never really marketed for public consumption. Many work in consumer gear.

Sylvania, GE, RCA made a lot of mil spec tubes. Usually have the 4-digit designation. Like the 5751 or 6072. These can be used as substitutes for the 12AX7 and 12AY7, respectively.

A good program to check for tube substitutes and performance data is the Duncan Tube Data Sheet Locator (TDSL):

http://www.duncanamps.com/tdslpe/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:19 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm
Posts: 558
Great info, thanks!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Advice needed on NOS RCA tubes
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:19 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 7:06 am
Posts: 1662
BMW2002Ti wrote:
Nice bottles! Most US & Euro manufacturers of mil spec designated tubes are very good. Tungsol (USA), Raytheon, Ken-Rad, CBS-Hytron, Bendix, Centron-Richardson... made many tubes built to mil spec. Never really marketed for public consumption. Many work in consumer gear.

Sylvania, GE, RCA made a lot of mil spec tubes. Usually have the 4-digit designation. Like the 5751 or 6072. These can be used as substitutes for the 12AX7 and 12AY7, respectively.

A good program to check for tube substitutes and performance data is the Duncan Tube Data Sheet Locator (TDSL):

http://www.duncanamps.com/tdslpe/


Thanks just down loaded, this is what I have been looking for :wink:
mud


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: