Tubes, Tubes, Tubes

[hendrix2489]

Hey guys, just had one question.  I am about to change my jj el34's in my music man 212-65, and was looking at mullards for replacements.  They look pretty good but there are three different color Red, Blue, and green.  I was  wondering what the difference was.  I know it is probably a stupid question but  i gotta ask. 

One more thing i was wondering was a comparison between mullard and siemens el34.  I know siemens break up early but is it smoother or are mullards more fender-ish.

thanks in advance

[petemoore]

  Military mullard types are industry standard, if they're still good.
  A number of tubes are popping up with 'mullard' somehow attached to their nomenclature, from what I read these are very fine tubes.
  Whether they are 'actual' mullard would take a mullard and a lot of testing or an opinion to figure out..whether any difference translates to actual 'better-ness'.
  Could there be an unknown anomoly in old tubes that sets them apart?
  Other than that I tend to assume blindly that modern tube reproductions of mullards are great tubes, so close as to be *indistinguishable from the old ones.
  Could be there's a perception of them being warmer simply because the speakers, watts and volume controls as well as the music played on old mullards lended towards a smooth reproduction, old mullards were run in old record players or other reproduction applications which are probably often unlike todays applications.
  *Except for the ______ [I forget the material's name] coatings between pins and glass, IIRC the old ones had triple laminate [and some new type offers it?] the new ones have single laminate but it's thicker..[sketchy rememberances of the reads I dug up]..
  If I was me and had to choose, I would *get new reproducion mullards or tubes of another flavor for some other reasons.
  *Actually I would consider getting a few first, say output tubes and a critical input tube [maybe swap to see if there is a 'critical input tube position to compare tube types in], try that out, then amend thinking to have a new 'tube view' for the application [noting likes/dislikes].
   

[hendrix2489]

the tubes i have to replace are the ouput so im going tol use mullards,

but what kind (red)soft, (green)medium or  (blue)hard what are the difference?

[soulsonic]

No EL34 is going to sound "Fender-ish".... the only way to get that sound is with 6L6s.
I haven't tried the new reissue Mullards yet, but that's because I'm hooked on Svetlana EL34s.
As far as Soft, Medium, and Hard go, that may be a reference to the quality of the vacuum inside the bulb, but I'm not entirely sure. I guess if you want something more like was a Fender sounds like you should probably go with "Hard" because that's pretty much what a 6L6 sounds like when compared to a normal EL34.

[MetalGod]

There are two Mullard EL34 repros currently being made...

(1) the ones labelled as Mullard and made by New Sensor/Sovtek (Xf4 single getter repro)
(2) the Groove Tube ones made in China (Xf2 double getter repro)

The guy I get my valves from says the GT's are the better of the two and are also his fave current production EL34.  Take that fwiw but I've never been dissapointed with his recommendations and I'm very picky.  I'm gonna get some of the GT EL34s soon to compare with my NOS Mullards.

[petemoore]

I'm gonna get some of the GT EL34s soon to compare with my NOS Mullards.
  I think that's the 'final figure' on it, see how the tubes do in your application [amp/speakers/your ears].
  Every once in a while i try a tube [tung-sol mullard type for instance, 12ax7], [JJ 6v6 output] which is decidedly 'better', louder, more bell like, smoother..whatever..than what I had in before.
  Of course I'm using a smaller wattage amp so it's probably more obvious than when I was swapping tubes for possible [but not real] tonal benefits in 50W+ amps.

[jonathan perez]

you know those mullards with the grey logo? those are the ones ive been using. and yes, theyre close to 100 bucks. are they worth it? YOU BET YOUR SOGGY BOTTOM! groove tubes are relabled tubes, sovtek, i believe. carvin uses them. and they blow.

[nightingale]

Not to start any controversy.
I am a tech at a full service music store. I have 4-5 amps come in per day to me. I trust the EH [Russian] tubes in the field over the Chinese GT clones.  I have had problems off and on with the so called "china plates" [6l6], and Chinese mullards [el34m] have embarrassed me a couple of times too.

I would check out the EH 6ca7 too.

This is just what I have observed in the field, not trying to knock any ones favorite tubes.

be well,
ry


Geese, I sound like an EH commercial these days?

[foxfire]

i would also suggest looking into 6ca7's. i would also suggest looking into old tubes.

[soulsonic]

So far, I've had the best luck with the EH EL34s and the Svetlana EL34s. My current favorite 6L6 is the JJ - though that may change when I try the Svetlana.
Svetlana tubes are awesome.

[MetalGod]

I haven't tried the GT Mullard EL34s yet, it'll be interesting to see how reliable they are.  They're not relabelled Sovteks though, they have dual getters for starters.

The New Sensor Mullard EL34 looks like a rebadged Sovtek, but New Sensor swear it has a different internal construction.  I don't have either here to compare so it's difficult to say.

As for the EH 6CA7, I thought it was a bland and flat sounding valve that killed any life my Marshall had in it.  Winged-C EL34s were much better, as were the current Svetlana-branded EL34s which had quite a strong midrange I liked.

In the end though I just put some NOS Mullard EL34s in the amp as nothing else made the amp ROAR