The Continuance of Tone – NOS Tubes

Had I known a few years back that buying a high quality boutique amplifier was going to NOT be the end of the quest for tone I may have saved my money!.  I love my Two-Rock amp very much but when it’s time to change the tubes, there is very obviously a lack of quality in tubes manufactured today which reflect both in longevity and in sound quality.

Many places out there including ebay to purchase NOS (New Old Stock) tubes however there are a lot of counterfeit tubes out there too claiming to be NOS that are simply Not.  While NOS means New Old Stock it doesn’t mean they are brand new,  Generally from the 60’s and 70’s these tubes can be used as well but still test as new.  I don’t concern myself too much with that because the life expectancy of these tubes still outweigh the new ones being manufactured and sound that much better.

Good Score last night… Some Circa 1954 Military grade Telefunken Long Plate Preamp tubes for the Two-Rock. Once a few cents each are over $100 a piece now. But the creamy smooth clear and punch tone you get from them are so pleasing to the ear. Hard to find these old tubes these days…. Hard to believe i will be playing through tubes almost a decade older than my old ass!  I picked them up from The Tube Museum in New York.

The difference is that the Telefunken (which were made by RFT in Germany) have a stamp right in the glass in the middle of the pins. Can’t really counterfeit these. New tubes being manufactured leave a lot to be desired. I have tried many. The materials may have been less crude in the early days with less impurities. Perhaps that makes the difference I don’t know, but clearly the difference CAN be heard.

The good thing is when you find a stash of New Old Stock tubes out there, their in a vacuum…. Nothing really degrades in a vacuum. So they stay pretty much new. The military had warehouses full of this shit.

The biggest problem is the demand for these and while there are literally hundreds and maybe thousands of different tubes the most common ones and sought after tubes are common ones used today like 12AX7, 5751, EL34, 6L6 and 6V6. They are the most widely used tubes in guitar amps. So while there are billions of NOS tubes out there, that can’t be said for these particular values.

There are some tubes that come close and sound pretty good. I highly recommend the 7025S from Tube Amp Doctor. They are building tubes the old way with the old tooling and materials. This particular tube is much like the old Mullard Style preamp 12AX7 tubes.

Why not comment here on what your favorite tubes and places to buy them are!

Jamming with a Legend (Matt Schofield)

July 22, 2016

Canadian Government Takes one more shot at the Music Industry with a 12 gauge.

September 02, 2013

Odds & Evens – Washago Music Festival 2013

August 23, 2013

Mark Wigston

Guitarist Mark Wigston is well known in the local Toronto Music Scene. Having been a full-time musician for the better part of 20 years, and touring with some great bands like The Shuffle Mothers, Snakeoil, Boarderline, The Touch, and having toured extensively in Canada and in the USA with some larger acts like Burton Cummings. He has become a sought after Blues Gun for Hire in the Toronto Music Scene. After hanging up his axe as a full-timer he and his family packed up and moved to Muskoka to recapture the small town atmosphere and to settle into a more relaxed life.