Marshall Amp Forum - View Single Post - Power tubes?? Who, What, When Where how??

Jae · 09-09-2009, 10:09 PM

Yeah, I agree 100%. When I got the Marshall JMP '78, there were some GT EL34s in there. Not saying they are bad tubes, but the amp actually didn't have that bottom end. I didn't even check what preamp tubes were in there, we'll get back to that later.

But I blew one of the power tubes (my fault for running it without a speaker cabinet, stupid me.) Then me, still a novice in tube world just bought the nearest GT EL34's again. Slapped them in. I tell you, there was just no bottom end again. I just figured that it's a vintage amp, so it's not as powerful as before. But it was harsh sounding too at higher volumes.

Today I stuck these Mullards in there and there was the bottom end I didn't even know this amp could produce.

I have to tell you. I never even opened the covers for the preamp tubes the whole time I had it (lol). Until I found that people swap these preamp tubes quite frequently. This other guy I met started to take them right out while the amp was on standby and i didn't even know you could touch these things. I thought they were like touching a hot stove. (i burned my hand once real bad playing around with my 5W Fender Champ amp from one of the tubes inside so I never got near them for awhile.)

I opened up the cans, and there was not a single Mullard, Telefunken or anything like that, just CP tubes. I don't want to bad mouth CP tubes, but after trying the NOS, I don't think I'll ever go back.

Yeah, the guy who had it before me didn't know about all that I guess and had all the CPs in there. Now the amp sounds ALOT warmer, has sustain and bottom end and that punch.

Thanks to everyone here especially Marty.

I'm not done yet though, I'll post some more good pics of other things I can get. I'm planning to replace the tubes in all my amps with Mullards or Tele's. I also have another quad Mullard xf2's OOs matched coming in soon hopefully and I can post some good pics for you guys. This forum has been really good to me. Thanks!

And I agree totally Marty. Why do these people have a good vintage amp and put in crappy CP tubes in?
I don't mind spending a little more to get a better tone and experimenting. Some people I feel are too scared to experiment (I myself was before, not knowing alot). I say make a good investment and get better tone, not stick some cheap CP tubes in and get bad tone.

But then again it's all preference. My preference is NOS all the way now!!

09-09-2009, 10:09 PM	#62 (permalink)
Jae Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 261	Re: Power tubes?? Who, What, When Where how?? Yeah, I agree 100%. When I got the Marshall JMP '78, there were some GT EL34s in there. Not saying they are bad tubes, but the amp actually didn't have that bottom end. I didn't even check what preamp tubes were in there, we'll get back to that later. But I blew one of the power tubes (my fault for running it without a speaker cabinet, stupid me.) Then me, still a novice in tube world just bought the nearest GT EL34's again. Slapped them in. I tell you, there was just no bottom end again. I just figured that it's a vintage amp, so it's not as powerful as before. But it was harsh sounding too at higher volumes. Today I stuck these Mullards in there and there was the bottom end I didn't even know this amp could produce. I have to tell you. I never even opened the covers for the preamp tubes the whole time I had it (lol). Until I found that people swap these preamp tubes quite frequently. This other guy I met started to take them right out while the amp was on standby and i didn't even know you could touch these things. I thought they were like touching a hot stove. (i burned my hand once real bad playing around with my 5W Fender Champ amp from one of the tubes inside so I never got near them for awhile.) I opened up the cans, and there was not a single Mullard, Telefunken or anything like that, just CP tubes. I don't want to bad mouth CP tubes, but after trying the NOS, I don't think I'll ever go back. Yeah, the guy who had it before me didn't know about all that I guess and had all the CPs in there. Now the amp sounds ALOT warmer, has sustain and bottom end and that punch. Thanks to everyone here especially Marty. I'm not done yet though, I'll post some more good pics of other things I can get. I'm planning to replace the tubes in all my amps with Mullards or Tele's. I also have another quad Mullard xf2's OOs matched coming in soon hopefully and I can post some good pics for you guys. This forum has been really good to me. Thanks! And I agree totally Marty. Why do these people have a good vintage amp and put in crappy CP tubes in? I don't mind spending a little more to get a better tone and experimenting. Some people I feel are too scared to experiment (I myself was before, not knowing alot). I say make a good investment and get better tone, not stick some cheap CP tubes in and get bad tone. But then again it's all preference. My preference is NOS all the way now!!