EL34 comparison Mullard vs Siemens vs Sovtek vs Telefunken vs Svetlana vs Electroharmonix, etc

Massive EL34 shootout using Rivera Fandango 55watt 2x12. See more at Rivera.com See the EL 34 clean tone comparisons on our Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rivera/159007317493932

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mullard
• Sovtek
• Svetlana
• Siemens
• telefunken
• power
• tubes
• EL34
• Guitar
• amplification
• Rivera
• amps
• sylvania
• Tung
• Sol

[dewycatt2112]

well" I know the amp itself sounds F"n fantastic!..as for the tubes?.Everyone hears differently, and Its hard to tell.For me" it sounded best when he was playing with the Winged C"s and svetlana"s..maybe it had nothing 2 do with the tubes and it was just him attacking the strings differently than with the other tubes? My experience is that all this tube stuff is mostly "HYPE" for marketing! Advise?= Buy the most reliable tubes from an established manufacture!..Continued...

[Riveraprod]

@dewycatt2112 well said. Our amps have a very wide dynamic range allowing you to adjust for a wide range of tones with any guitar. When an amp has a small dynamic range you'll might want to experiment with tubes to get your tone.

[faffytron]

I agree, the Winged C's stuck out. If you listen closely on the lead tracks though, the British Mullards sound nice on the last few bass notes, nice and warm... They all seemed to have some strong points though.

[guitarthroat]

@timersk1 Not to say that certain amps don't sound awesome with specific NOS tubes. Old Marshalls often sound great with old Mullards or RFT's EL34's. Same for old Fender twins with GE Blackplate 6L6's and Sylvania Big bottles. But who can afford that shit? And the supply is dwindling more and more. When it runs out, then you are stuck using new production tubes anyway.

[guitarthroat]

@timersk1 It's all personal taste. Modern production amps are designed around new production tubes for the most part. I know lots of guys that use high end ENGL and Framus amps that will use nothing but Shuguang power and preamp tubes because they claim NOS tubes don't sound right in their heads. Both these manufacturers use Sino tubes from Valve Art or Tube Amp Doctor as OEM standard equipment and recommend them as replacement tubes.

[guitarthroat]

@timersk1 No offense, but that sort of thing is absolutely subjective. I did a blind shootout between JJ 6CA7, JJ EL34L, Winged C EL34, NOS RFT EL34, New Sensor new production Svetlana, and Valve Art EL34B and most of the players actually liked the JJ 6CA7's and the Valve Art EL34B's the best. So the NOS hype is nothing more than "vintage disease" at it's worst. You know, the irrational belief that if something was manufactured before 1980 it has magic powers and is sonically superior.

[skydog46]

Anyway.....you guys stick with whatever this video leads you to tube wise, and I'll keep playing my NOS Mullards. If you want to sell yours, please contact me.

[skydog46]

These are the type of shootouts that are very well meaning, but don't end up proving anything except the amp sounds pretty good. There are way too many types for the ear to remember, the sound bytes aren't long enough. Part of what makes a tube the one for you is how it feels when YOU play it and many times its the weird things that you play that exposes and sheds light most on the tubes you're using. The oddball harmonics, the crazy chords and note passages...etc.

Anyone wants off their NOS