Electro Harmonix Tubes (12AX7s in this case)

[ambulancevoice]

are they any good?? cause i found them in bulk (or order as many as you want) for $7.50 each, and i want 3 or 4. Of course, on the listing there is a quote from electro harmonix giving great praise to these tubes, but i dont buy it.

should i go for it???
or buy some Mullard reissue tubes...

[foxfire]

i haven't heard/read anything good about the mullard reissues. if you're gonna buy new i'd suggest JJ's. but be aware that i believe in things like "mojo" and monsters. thats why i have a box of about 50 or so old/NOS tubes sitting on a shelf somewhere. my point being that the EH tubes are most likely gonna sound fine and, until you try them in your specific amp it's a bit hard to say. 

[GibsonGM]

I've had zero luck with EH 12ax7's...I've bought 2 or 3, and they've each gone microphonic in no time.  A buddy of mine has had the same results.  I tend to use JJ's (+1, foxfire), I find you can beat them, drop them, throw 'em across the room and they still work fine!
I suggest paying the $3 more for JJ's....

[BlueToad]

I think the Mullard reissues are actually relabeled EH? At the very least, I've never heard any praise for them from anyone without a bunch to sell.
Carl

[exhausted]

i tried some in an 18W amp i recently built.  they were fine for the gainier stuff but on clean tones i could hear fur as the notes decayed.  i popped in a mesa-branded sovtek that i had lying around and the fur was gone.

[ambulancevoice]

hmmm
the Mullard reissues are by New Sensor corp, which is EH, Sovtek etc i believe, aparently there to the exact (or say 90%) specifications of the the original Mullard tubes, but i dont really know for sure
i seen JJ's around, alot too, so ill probably get them

i plan to build a pair of 12ax7 pre amps from some Sunn O))) amps into a stomp box in series
after that, ill build a low wattage amp using a 13EM7 valve
then after that, once i get more money, im gonna build the Pentone amp from Artifact
which is a great sounding amp
i seem to have lost my knack (or whatever) for building pedals with transistors and sh*t
and ive leart a good amount about valves, and i REALLY wanna build something with them
so yeah!


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4-x-JJ-ELECTRONIC-12AX7-ECC83-S-Low-Noise-Tubes-NEW_W0QQitemZ330210764047QQihZ014QQcategoryZ109837QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
:D:D exactly what im looking for
btw, an Electro Harmonix 12ax7 at Jaycar is Aud is $34, for one!

[dschwartz]

two words.. "THEY S U CK"
i bought 4 of them.. no bright and with fur on clkean tones, like gatey...really bad..also, bad gain characteristics..

even my chinese cheap tubes sounded a lot better

[ambulancevoice]

two words.. "THEY S U CK"
i bought 4 of them.. no bright and with fur on clkean tones, like gatey...really bad..also, bad gain characteristics..

even my chinese cheap tubes sounded a lot better

:DD:D:D:D
im gonna go with those JJ's above
good price

[morcey2]

I've never used EH tubes (other than rectifiers), but I have to concur on the JJs.  I've had really good luck with both the ECC83s and ECC803 that they produce.  Another tube you should try is the new Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7.  I picked up a few of them and they sound awesome.  They're a little bit warmer to my ears than the JJs.  I've used them in an 18watt lite, plexi, High Octane, gretsch 6150t, 6G3/5E3 mutant amp.  They sounded good everywhere.  The JJ ECC83s sounded better in the HO, but the Tung-sol's didn't sound bad by any stretch.  They're a little more expensive than the jjs, but i think you need both.  They are New Sensor made IIRC, but they are awesome tubes.  I've got them in the V2 and PI position in my Plexi6V6 and they overdrive very nicely.

Matt.

[8mileshigh]

I had an EH 12AX7 in my Bassmaster and found it exceedingly glassy sounding, I swapped it for a Svetlana and pretty much fell in love, what a difference.  The drawback is that tube went microphonic but the seller was nice enough to replace it for me.  It's been going strong for 3 years now.  

I think the JJ's may sound darker but smoother.  The people I know who put them in Marshalls and other high gain amps didn't like them.  I only have JJ EL34's and really like them alot.  Excellent sounding power tubes.

Chris

[mongo]

almost OT but, what kind of tubes would be OK for an EH Englush Muff'n?  I have one and the EH tubes it has are really starting to sound like s##t...

[ambulancevoice]

almost OT but, what kind of tubes would be OK for an EH Englush Muff'n?  I have one and the EH tubes it has are really starting to sound like s##t...

i think all the EH pedals that have tubes just have there special 12AX7's in em
hahahha, so just sub em with a better set of 12's
but just check to make sure
cause there are other things they could put in there

[theundeadelvis]

I have to agree that my experience with EH tubes has not been good. Bought 4 and 2 were microphonic. For new tubes JJ's have been great for me.

[drewl]

I order stuff from EH all the time and usually all the tubes sound very good.
They had some trouble with the Russian mafia trying to force them to sell the company cheap, and resorted to tactics such as shutting power off to the factory etc.
I'm convinced it caused problems as I've recieved a few bad batches of the newer tubes in the past year, while stuff made by them before the problems were fine.
So far the 12AX7's seem to be okay again, and fwiw I've had a few new tubes from every mfg. you can think of go bad or become microphonic...especially JJ's.
The EH's seem to have a bit more grind, while the JJ's are a bit mellower.
Alot of people are offended at EH's buying up the rights to vintage tube names like "Mullard" and while their versions are not the same, at least they are still trying to develop new tube designs.

Luckily I've found tons of old stock mullards, telefunkins, GE's etc. in stuff people throw away, like old organs!

[axg20202]

I've probably used most of the tube brands currently in production. Tastes differ, amps differs, tube batches differ, resellers differ. Personally, I've never had any complaints with the EH tubes I have bought (of any type). None have gone microphonic in extended use. In fact, there have been ocassions where they have outperformed supposedly 'better' tubes in blind tests. As an aside, I think there's also far too much bs around supposed NOS tubes. Many tubes sold as NOS are in reality OOS (old old stock!) and there's no telling what they've been through before they end up in your hands. After buying all sorts of mojo tubes, some great, some bad, I've often ended up installing current production tubes because they were frequently better sounding, and that includes EH tubes among others. Trust your ears, not the printed label and certianly not audiophile hyperbole.....and furthermore, it is not reasonable to dismiss a tube brand based on a sample of a handful of tubes, particularly if they were bought together from the same supplier.

[ambulancevoice]

Trust your ears, not the printed label and certianly not audiophile hyperbole.....and furthermore, it is not reasonable to dismiss a tube brand based on a sample of a handful of tubes, particularly if they were bought together from the same supplier.

good point

anyone know a good way to do a p2p layout??? to much effort on photoshop
im on a mac just so you know

[MetalGuy]

I order stuff from EH all the time and usually all the tubes sound very good.

Trust your ears, not the printed label and certianly not audiophile hyperbole.....and furthermore, it is not reasonable to dismiss a tube brand based on a sample of a handful of tubes, particularly if they were bought together from the same supplier.

I'm buying regularly EHs in bulk directly from New Sensor and I'm satisfied with the quality and how they sound. And this is without the tubes being matched, tested or something. Of course you can find a microphonic tube or even defective but considering the wholesale prices for 50 ot 100 pcs I think I can live with that.

[bumblebee]

imo EH tubes (sovtek) sound good,thats it a twin reverb.
im still using the stock tubes that come with the amp.4x6L6, 4x12AX7 and its one of the nicest sounding amps ive ever heard.

[brett]

Hi
I've had variable luck with EH 12ax7s.  The older (10 to 20 years ago) Sovtek-labelled ones seemed a lot better.
But I've had variable results with JJs, too.

Tubes are just annoyingly variable and unreliable.  My experience says that about one in 3 12AX7s of whatever brand is going to sound bad or fail (usually by going microphonic) within a couple of months of installing them. 
cheers

[Ripdivot]

I use to be a tech in a music store and we always ordered EH tubes. The problem was when I would test brand new ones in 2 different types of tube testers (dynamic and mutual conductance) I would get about 1 out of ten that tested good. I would pay extra for new old stock and you would be much farther ahead.