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Topic: EL84 recommendations? |
Dave Meis
From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
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Posted 2 Nov 2020 12:44 pm |
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Looking to retube my Peavey Delta Blues 1-15.. obviously, I'm looking for late breakup.
It came to me with Mesa branded tubes that I like the sound of, and would buy again, but they're $50 a pair.. and I need 4! I've had too many failures with JJ's, so, not interested in those. 
Anyone using a quad EL84 amp that they like the sound of? TIA! |
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Mike Auman
From:
North Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Nov 2020 10:04 pm
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I know you said you had trouble with JJ, but I have a dual EL84 amp (Maven Peal Zeeta) and when I needed to re-tube I talked to the guy that designed it (Dave Zimmerman) and of all the options, he recommended a matched set of JJ tubes from Tubes and More/Antique Electronic Supply. I've been very happy with those. A set of 4 will run you in the $50 range, or burned-in for $5 more. But if you want other brands, they have a good range that they'll match and burn in, they use Apex matching, https://www.apexmatching.com/ .They're at https://www.tubesandmore.com Mike
_________________
Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel. |
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Mark Draycott R.I.P.
From:
Portland, OR
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 2:58 am El84
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I have had good luck with the Russian 6P14P-EV.
They have a tighter feel and later breakup. They work very well for me. I have read that they are very robust and will last.
_________________
1976 Sho-Bud Pro II, 1976 Sho-Bud LDG, BF Fender Deluxe, Evans FET 500 LV, BF Princeton Reverb, '68 Vibrolux Reverb |
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Aaron Johnson
From:
Lemoore, CA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 4:55 am
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| Try the 6P14P-EV. They last a very long time and sound nice to my ear. |
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Dave Meis
From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 10:11 am
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@Mike: JJ seems to have a solid reputation, but after having failures with the 6L6's (catastrophic) and EL84's (noisy at idle), I lost confidence in the brand... I wish they had worked for me, considering their cost and availability.. 
@Mark and Aaron: I see that tube with many suffixes..K, M, ER, EV, no suffix.. where do you get yours? I see the Reflektor factory has their own site, too.
Thanks! |
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Ken Metcalf
From:
San Antonio Texas USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 3:02 pm
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See if KT88s will work for you.
_________________
MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes |
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Fred
From:
Amesbury, MA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 4:20 pm
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| Ken Metcalf wrote: |
| See if KT88s will work for you. |
A Delta Blues would require some pretty serious modification to to use KT88s |
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Greg Forsyth
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 4:27 pm
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| I installed a set of JJ tubes in my Delta Blues 115 and within about 6-8 hrs of playing time 2 of the El84's blew. Different sockets. They sound much better than the Sovtek tube they replaced. You may have to spring for the Mesa tubes. |
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Dave Meis
From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 6:18 pm
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@Greg: That's kinda what I'm thinking, but I'm going to look into the 6p14p cv's a little deeper. The ones with no suffix are stock Sovteks, but the EV's might be worth trying. Still.. it's hard to argue with success..  |
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Aaron Johnson
From:
Lemoore, CA
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Posted 3 Nov 2020 7:20 pm
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| Dave, I bought a dozen or so off of EBay from a Russian seller years ago. The EV is a long life tube. I’ve run them hard and they do last a long time. You can probably find nicer sounding tubes but for the price, they tick all the boxes for me. |
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A J Head
From:
Compton Ca
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Posted 4 Nov 2020 1:19 pm Re: El84
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| Mark Draycott wrote: |
I have had good luck with the Russian 6P14P-EV.
They have a tighter feel and later breakup. They work very well for me. I have read that they are very robust and will last. |
I had a Drz Z with el84s, I fixed the problem of them red plating by changing to Russian 500v military grade tubes. Seems, and I may not have the terminology correct, that the Dr Z was supplying/drawing 300v to the tubes, which is what the JJ were rated at so, any tube that was below spec would red plate when driven. |
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John Ducsai
From:
New Hampshire, USA
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