DeathTide wrote:

DeathTide wrote:
Yes on rebiasing.....Well, all Dick Dale would’ve used were RCAs and they sound great!

Way, way back in the early sixties when Dick, me and probably a plethora of other musicians needed tubes we would go to a local drug store, head to the tube tester, check our tubes and if they did not register as the manual required buy whatever brand the store carried: RCA, Phillps, GE, etc.

No one knew what the hell biasing was about: we just replaced our tubes and played. I haven't replaced the tubes in my 61 Showman in 25 years and the amp is just as loud and clear as any other Showman or Twin I have heard. My trannies did not burn up because I failed to rebias it.

Dick now uses tubes that he gets from Ruby, some Chinese, some Russian because of the costs to buy NOS. Does his amp sound much different than when RCA or whatever brand tubes were in in amp in the day?

Just an opinion from an old fart, but do what make you feel right.

I recall the Tube-Amp Book was written by Aspen Pittman and further recall he owns, or owned Groove Tubes, tubes that were manufactured in China and Russia. I recall a dozen years ago he got his hands on some Phillips NOS and peddled them. He got his hands on SOVTEK (maybe misspelled) tubes and put his GT brand on them.

Of course he is going to push tubes and biasing. I'm not buying the voodoo biasing theory. I know a dozen musicians from the sixties who are of the same opinion.

In my opinion, the biasing is akin to what guitar sounds better and was made with better quality: my 61 Strat v someones MIM, MIJ or wherever it was made.

Wood is wood; steel is steel; alnico is alnico. It does not take a degree in rocket science to assemble a guitar using those elements.

tubeswell wrote:

. . . But don’t discard all modern production tubes without trying them. Some of them can be very good. All tubes exhibit variability to some extent. Even with NOS you can get dud ones. The only way to decide whether you like a tube is to plug it in and see. You can’t do that if you don’t have them.

Much agreed. I bought a set of the new production Groove Tube 6L6s a while back and ended up with a perfectly matched quad which sound great in my Twin.

Vintage NOS tubes are no guarantee of greatness. Many of the surviving NOS tubes may we’ll be there because they were rejected back in the day, when techs had huge assortments of tubes above their workbenches and used whichever tube worked best. I remember watching a friend, who was a tech employed by RCA, and he would mix and match from the rack of new tubes above his bench. Actually, I have seen this more than once. I always wondered whatever happened to the new tubes which were tried and rejected. Did they get purged from the system, or are these the surviving NOS tubes which are for sale today?

I’ve had good luck with new production tubes. I use 12AY7s up front in many amps and usually buy ElectroHarmonix tubes for this. I’ve used JJ 6V6s with consistent success, too. There are no perfect answers, but I wouldn’t break the bank just to get NOS tubes.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:14:21

Tqi wrote:

I'm building my amp with NOS tubes because I could get a box of fifty and mix and match the best ones, for less than it would cost to buy the six tubes I need for my pre-amp from a modern manufacturer.

<<<<<<< Not a tube snob.

I don’t think anyone would argue with that hahaha

Guitarist for Wolfhand and The Donner Beach Party.

Stratdancer, the 5751 will give you a little more clarity but not likely what you are looking for. The nature of the amp in that environment.

Ya know what I think? I don't think anyone could pass a blindfold test on the different tubes available. I think it's all psychological.

Last edited: Mar 03, 2020 21:09:47

dickey wrote:

Ya know what I think? I don't think anyone could pass a blindfold test on the different tubes available. I think it's all psychological.

This is exactly what someone who can’t hear the difference would say.

Daniel Deathtide

Surfin’ Europe – Surf gigs in Europe
The Malbehavers – Instrumental Surf Music from Tilburg (NL)
Tout Tilburg Surft – Malbehavers’ debut EP

I’ll mention two scenarios where tubes made an audible difference, but not necessarily in the way you might think.

One was my Twin. The OEM tubes tested well, but were not all that well balanced as a set. New production tubes in a well balanced quartet and the amp sounded much better. My DRRI was biased a bit cold from the factory. One little tweak and they were much better. Either was noticeable, but neither was because of bad tubes, low quality tubes or what have you.

Simply stated, the improvement one hears from re-tubing might not be simply a matter of better tubes, but could be better balance between tubes or a matter of biasing.

It’s like vitamins. Now, if you are deficient in a certain vitamin, it can cause problems and these will be alleviated if you take a supplement. However, if you take supplements without a deficiency, all you will end up with is vitamin-rich urine. If the body doesn’t need a supplement, then it will not help you. If tubes are deficient, yes, better tubes will help, but if the tubes are ok, your pouring money down the drain.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.