Looking for tubes

I have a 212-75 with two 6L6 power tubes. When I got the amp, it had Groove Tubes. They are OK. I have heard that a new set of tubes can really up the sparkle factor. Since I live in a fairly small town, no one carries this stuff locally,
so I really have nothing to compare. Are there any websites out there that run down different manufactureres and types with comparisons of the sounds they produce?
Thanks,
Glenn

Glenn,
There are lots of sites out there that sell/review tubes. The best info comes from Myles Rose. See www.musicplayer.com and check the guitar forum. For JJ's see Bob at www.eurotubes.com and get on the spam list from Lord Valve @ NBS electronics. That should get you started. I'm currently searching for the perfect tube set-up for my 1999 Fender "Evil" Twin. I'm swapping and trying lots of pre-amp tubes - something that I'll never have to worry about with my MM (110-RD Fifty). BTW, for my MM, I've tried expensive NOS (New Old Stock) Phillips 7581A tubes, Groove Tubes and my current favorites: Svetlana 6L6GC's. Anyone else out there have some tube stories, I'd love to hear 'em...
David

The "what kind of tubes should I use" question comes up pretty often these days.
I asked a guy that works with amp restoration and he told med that for ex. there are only two kinds of 6L6 today... Sylvania and rest.
Sylvania makes the only "new" tubes today. The rest, GT, RubyTubes and so on are all russian or chinese, pretty much all the same.
If you buy GrooveTubes then you'll probably get a pair of chinese tubes that are matched in the states.
I did put GT in my MM combo, and they sounded ok. I chose a pair of russian tubes and had my local service guy to match them, and to be honest I like the sound of the russian tubes better. Of course there is the price to...GT about 100 euro / pair, Sovtek 35 euro / pair

Honestly, the Svetlana 6l6's seem to be pretty darned good. In EL34's, I'm using JJ's EL34L's. They really do sound great and I had several sets of Amperex and Sylvania to compare them to. I'd tell anyone to try them-just make sure you get the EL34L's as they do seem to take the higher MM voltage better. Mike.}

I found this at www.eurotubes.com, which sells JJ tubes...since an EL34 tube burnt out spectacularly in my HD130 once--it got so hot the glass melted, and the speaker coil in my speaker was ruined!--I took a special interest in his last statement...
"E34L
Factory description: Gold plated control grid for improved fidelity. Special plate alloy improves plate dissipation as compared to the standard EL34 resulting in stable performance at higher power levels.
My observation: This tube has about 20% more head room than the EL34 with the same great sound. Great tube for Matchless, Bogner. I have them in one of my old SUNN heads. Incredible sound! "The tube" for master volume Marshalls using EL34?s. This is the only EL34 type tube that I have found that will stand up to the 700 plus plate volts found in the Musicman HD 130 amps."

http://www.watfordvalves.com/mainindex.h tm
Test reports on valves some good info

http://www.resurrectionradio.com.au/prod ucts.htm
hi all , came across this site its based in Melbourne Australia , hope this maybe of help to all the aussie mmamp lover
ENJOY!!!!!!

I have MM HD one-fifty, and I'm looking for best tubes for it.
It works on 700V, and I think that originally there were four 6L6GC's.
Could somebody help me?
Thanx!

I do think if you post as anonymous you should get a anonymous answer.unless you are a rock star,
try some 7581A!!!!!!!

I just bought a 212HD 130 off ebay & when I received it, the Power tubes were mixed. He said they were new, but I can't figure out why he put in 2 6L6's and 2 EL34's. Any ideas or suggestions on which to use when I get a matched set?

HD130 comes with EL34/6CA7. You should not use the 6L6gc tubes.

See, that's what I thought but when I looked at them again last night - there are THREE 6L6's and only one EL34! The tube placement diagram is still on the inside of the cab & it says EL34/6CA7 so I can't figure out what he was thinking! I suppose I should get on changing these out sooner than I was originally planning to - right? And (please forgive my ignorance) if I want 4 matched EL34's - that doesn't mean that they're all EL34's or all the same brand/rating does it? What's best to replace these with?

Yes that is right all 4 the same brand & rating
I like the Svetlana & use them in the amps I repair. If you get them from Antique Electronic
in Arizona tell them it is for a Musicman and
you need high Voltage.PH#480-820-5411 Thay have many brands, you may want something else.
You will have to set the Bias all so.

Thanks for your help Terry. There's just one more thing - why and how, or at least HOW do you do that? Is it something that someone of my obvious inexperience can do or do I need to take it in to the shop? If this isn' t the place to give such directions,etc. could you please point me somewhere I can find out?

Rory go to Adjustments,Maintenance & calibration
Then go to Setting Bias, See if you can do the bias or take your amp to some one that can, but that is how it is set. I can Email it to you.

If you've got time, please go ahead & email it! I'll go get it from that section too. Thanks again Terry you've been a great help!

hi im new here - im Carl from australia (210HD130+212RH130).
i originally had mesa valves (probably shitty wack our name on it valves) which i thought were great, but after a custom transformer rebuild (hand wound downunder) i purchase svetlana el34's - not bad at all!- it seems they are the shit for this model amp.

In EL34 tubes the Svetlanas are real nice and the JJ Tesla from Yugoslavia are great sounding too.
You could also try the Electro-Harmonix 6CA7EH, which is physically a closer match to the original Sylvania 6CA7 tubes your amp probably came with.
Just make sure you check the bias on your amp when switching tube types.

I keep hearing about Biasing and 6ca7 / el34 tubes, which is what I use in my MM Sixty-Five amp. Do I need to bias my amp? I replaced the Sylvania tubes with GrooveTubes a while back because they died.

Biasing the tubes is something that you hopefully don't have to check or adjust everytime you replace tubes. Some people will check the bias setting to make sure all is in order but this requires at least a meter and the amp chassis has to come out of the cabinet.
Bias is simply the current that flows through the tube at rest with no signal. If it is too high, your tubes will fail or prematurely wear out. If it is set too low, then the amp will probably sound "brittle" or "cold" or "lifeless".
Generally, if your tubes are not overheating and show NO signs of the plates glowing red under any circumstances (look at them in the dark), then the bias setting is probably not too high. This is the more dangerous condition.
If the amp SOUNDS good to your ear, then it probably isn't set really low... although a low setting will dramatically increase tube life.
Checking and/or setting the bias current just guarantees you know where it is at (in a safe zone), that the tubes are well matched (same bias current) and many people can hear the difference and know where it sounds good to them.
The trick is to settle on the tube type and rating you prefer, set the bias to be optimal for these and only replace them with identical tubes of identical rating. Under these conditions, you might only want to check the bias setting when you see a reason to.
Those of use who work on our own amps will generally check it everytime because we are more comfortable that way. This is more difficult for those unfamilar with working on tube amps... the voltages inside the chassis CAN KILL YOU!!! When in doubt, stay out of the chassis and take it to a technician for this sort of preventative maintenance.

FYI, Right now the Tubes that I have in my 410 are original and working perfect but I know sometime in the future will need to be replaced, I found a site that has some pretty good info for anyone out there interested you can check it out at.....http://scobro.150m.com/riviera/powertube guide.htm

sorry, correct site is.............http://scobro.150m.com/rivera/powertubeg uide.htm

Disregard the last two posting just type rivera power tube guide in your browser....it will pull up

just for info purpose's the jj e34l seem to work great (in hd-130) and just as good as the original 6ca7's.....they are holding up just fine!

Try str415 mesas in a HD 150. They seemed more mellow than Sylvies. For the other MM amps, I did find some vintage Holland made EL34s which were said to have compromised 'flashings'~whatever that means~and they sound like whipped cream. I could hardly believe it because they actually break up. Normally I go with the EL84 (a heavy duty version) and those yellow jackets, because the normal sound of a MM amp with Sylvania's is just too damn clean (harsh). The holland made 34's sound like 84's with a lot more punch. A nice surprise, really, to not have to cut the main volume in order to get break up! I haven't seen this since I played humbuckers (25 years). The EL34's were found on ebay, were said to have good test numbers, and they were cheap...a well known vintage make. I would buy these all day long at this price. They actually distort...amazing.

Maybe it's just me...but I have not found new tubes that 'breathe'. I have some GT's which glow red hot, possibly the bias is off, and the amp sounds tight and all, but it isn't one I reach for. It's clunky.
I don't know if old tubes were made differently, or if they lose some of their essence over time and thus sound better, sort of like old pickups do with their weakened magnetics. I never found a new pickup that sounds close to old ones either, though 'vintage' Lollars are about to be tried in a telecaster....

6L6GC's My vote, from tone to value is the:
Winged C (FORMERLY known as Svetlana).
Regards,
Marc
HD210 One*Fifty Combo

I got HD150 and the amp tech put EL34's in it.is it ok?or should I change them back to 6L6GC's ?for the new model,I'm pretty confused choosing whether JJE34L or Winged C 6L6GC's.I use this amp for bass only.
thanks,
Saras

In my certainly opinionated opinion(how's that for double talk!), the el tubes are usually a little more likely to break up, which is not really want you want for bass. I would probably use 6L6's or one of the higher power tubes like a KT that won't be pushed as hard. JMO Mike.

thanks alot Mike,I'll try that asap.