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Post subject: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 9:25 pm
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Can anyone tell me the difference between the Sovtek 12AX7WA and the Sovtek 12AX7WC?


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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:00 pm
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Based on comparing these two tubes in two of my amps, HRDlx and BJr, the WA is cleaner/clearer and the WC is a bit more aggressive/distorted. Although both tubes are supposed to have a gain factor of 100, the WC seems to have a bit more gain than the WA. I preferred the WC in my BJr (all three spots), especially for the driven sound, but I preferred the WA in the HRDlx (all three spots), for a better clean sound. :idea:

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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:14 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Based on comparing these two tubes in two of my amps, HRDlx and BJr, the WA is cleaner/clearer and the WC is a bit more aggressive/distorted. Although both tubes are supposed to have a gain factor of 100, the WC seems to have a bit more gain than the WA. I preferred the WC in my BJr (all three spots), especially for the driven sound, but I preferred the WA in the HRDlx (all three spots), for a better clean sound. :idea:


Awesome, I definitely agree. That's what I thought too from experimenting with the two in V1 of my Blues Jr III. I didn't like either of them in V2 and the JJ ecc83 actually worked best there. I think I prefer the WA in V3 but I'm not sure yet.

I can't make up my mind on the V1 tube. I like the WA better with the Les Paul because it gives it just the amount of brightness it needs, but the WC seems to give the strat more fullness and a bit less brightness. The less brightness seems to help out the bridge pickup but nothing else really. I can't seem to make up my mind on the two.

I should be receiving a svetlana, tungsol, & a Mullard 12ax7, as well as a Jan Philips 5751 in the mail tomorrow so maybe one of those will win the spot.


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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:34 pm
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Have fun. I thought that I was going to wear out my sockets by swapping tubes in and out so much, until I found the ones that I liked.....then I found some others that I liked, the GT 12AX7-C sound great in the HRdlx, but I still like the WC better than the WA or the -C in the BJr. I found that the lower gain tubes such as the JAN Phillips 5751 were not as versatile for me and the sound that I want. While the 5751 worked well for taming the harshness of the HRDlx drive channel (especially well when used in V2), the clean channel was also tamed a bit too much for me, and I didn't care for it at all in the BJr. :)

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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:39 am
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I´ve swaped my sovteks on my Pro Jr for JAN Sylvania 12AX7WA´s and Telam EL84´s. Couldnt be happier with the sound.


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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:52 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Have fun. I thought that I was going to wear out my sockets by swapping tubes in and out so much, until I found the ones that I liked.....then I found some others that I liked, the GT 12AX7-C sound great in the HRdlx, but I still like the WC better than the WA or the -C in the BJr. I found that the lower gain tubes such as the JAN Phillips 5751 were not as versatile for me and the sound that I want. While the 5751 worked well for taming the harshness of the HRDlx drive channel (especially well when used in V2), the clean channel was also tamed a bit too much for me, and I didn't care for it at all in the BJr. :)


Yeah, I actually intend on putting the 5751 in V1 of my hotrod Deville to drop the over-loudness and clean it up a bit more. I'm hoping it does the job well.


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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:38 pm
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So i got my package today. so far in V1 I've tried a Sovtek WA, Sovtek WC, JJ ecc83, Tungsol 12ax7, Svetlana 12ax7, Jan Philips 5751, & a Mullard 12ax7. I definitely liked the Mullard the most. zero noise, pristine glassy-smooth tone, and gave me the best classic chime sound. I was really impressed since it's just a reissue but I am definitely going to buy more. I'm convinced they're worth it.

Got a question though.. I noticed one of the pins on it (the mullard) is sort of matte gray while the others are your typical shiny metal. I don't know if it was like that before I put it in or after I took it out the first time to try another tube. It still works perfectly fine and sounds the best though. Does anybody know what this means?? I've seen it on a sovtek 12ax7WA I had in the past too.


Also.. Of the amount of experimenting I've done with V2 I noticed the JJ ecc83, while not sounding good in V1, actually thus far sounds the best in V2. Any thoughts or comments on this?


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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:17 pm
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Some tubes' pins are treated/coated, and some tubes' pins aren't. You can usually feel the difference between the two when inserting the tube into the socket. Don't worry, the finish didn't come off in the socket, they were that way to begin with. :idea:

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Post subject: Re: 12ax7 Sovtek question
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:42 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Some tubes' pins are treated/coated, and some tubes' pins aren't. You can usually feel the difference between the two when inserting the tube into the socket. Don't worry, the finish didn't come off in the socket, they were that way to begin with. :idea:


thanks Shim! As always


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