tubes

you surely would not find them in any guitar store here.

try Wel Audio Labs and Martin Electronics at the first floor of Burlington Square

and be very sure you *need* NOS Mullards before going down this path.......

also.. there are imitations out there....
 
ianheng said:
whats wrong with nos mullard? or is there any better options for el84?
Click to expand...

nothing wrong, just that the real deal English-made ones are priced well into the stratosphere, and the perceived value is very relative to your amp.

Electro-harmonix is marketing new Russian-made Mullard reissues

and then there are the fake 'Mullards' out there that are relabeled chinese tubes .

if you ask nicely, the boss of Wel Audio will pull out a real one and a fake one and show you the differences.

what amp are you intending to run them in?
 
i highly recommend trying the reissues first to see if you can hear any difference from the stock tubes, before plonking down a few hundred bucks per tube for NOS.....

Wel audio is probably the only place you can find old mullards in Singapore.

on a side note, JJ's EL84s work VERY well in that amp. these are rated for higher plate voltages than normal EL84s, they they will last long in the ACs, which are known to eat up power tubes. Martin Electronics carries them.
 
Last edited:
oh uh, and i just realised, to retube your AC4TV with an NOS Mullard EL84 and 12AX7 would cost more than the amp :x
 
IMO, spending so much on NOS tubes for a AC4TV doesn't really make sense. As others have pointed out, the price of the tubes itself may be more than the price of the amp. Plus there is no guarantee you can hear the difference. Even if there is, chances are it will be very subtle due to the size of the amp and speaker. It's better to save up that money to buy a better amp, say a Vox Night Train or AC15 for example.

Personally, I once tried NOS tubes before and I was not convinced. For the money, the difference was very little, and not necessarily sounded better. Now I'm using "regular" tubes for my amp (JJ for preamp and Svetlana for power amp), and I'm pretty happy with them.

On a side note, if you visit TGP forum regularly, don't be easily caught up by some of these gear geeks. They're willing to spend crazy money for that little tonal subtlety which only they but nobody else can hear. Well, maybe a bat.

:)
 
does this tube make your sound really nice? how does the sound differ?
look nice though, maybe i'll buy
 
Wow i had no idea that tube replacements went into the hundreds. I recently got a got a second hand blackheart little giant and i fear that i might have to change them out soon. Any idea about how much that would set me back? There's a single EL84 and 12AX7 Preamp tube in it.
 
NOS = New Old Stock - vintage but unused tubes made in America or England up till the 60's and 70's. Can cost a few hundred bucks a piece.

Modern tubes - made in Russia or China, tens of bucks a piece

if your amp isnt vintage or very high end, the benefits of using NOS tubes are negligible. Silly even.
 
 
Didn't expect to see tubes discussion here man...finally something I am more familar with...
NOS tube is not better or losuier in sonic wise..It depends whether you like that particular sonic signature or not..I am not a big fan of mullard stuff reason being, they are expensive and a lot of fakes...and what I have heard if that a lot of the NOS are rejected stuff during their production life. How is it possible to have so many NOS floationg around..It just like finding a 1960s NOS Les paul..

BTW what amps are you using? not many amps use EL84...
 
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