Tung Sol 12AX7s

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Tuesday Nov 20, 2007

Anyone familiar with Tung Sol 12AX7s?

Ordered a pair to use in my TubeWorks pre. Hoping they arrive by tomorrow
to try out tomorrow night.

Just curious as to thoughts, experience on/with these.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Tuesday Nov 20, 2007

I believe that's what my MP-2 had in it. I liked the sound of them, they had alot of high end to them IMO.
I'd say that they are a reputable company and brand.
My Engl has Groove Tubes in it, and I think they sound good also.

What tubes did you have in it?
You'll have to keep us posted on your thoughts when you get them in.

orangekick · Post by **orangekick** » Tuesday Nov 20, 2007

I have heard that they are a bit bright. I'm interested in them anyway. I hear good things, let us know when you get them.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Wednesday Nov 21, 2007

Ya, it was up between Groove Tubes and Tung Sols. This version of the TubeWorks
doesn't have much gain so I went with the T.S. since it's supposed to provide more.

I'm not like big, blazey Metal sound guy, but the T.W. gets loud at low volumes and,
even with the gain ALL the way up, it's not much.

NO idea what's in there currently. No name or any kind of indication on it. I BELIEVE
the old T.W. used Groove Tubes, but this was probably swapped out at some point.
I just got this a week or so ago. Had my 922 Pre for years and it was THE thing.
Everything else I've been trying lately has been to get back to that or mebbe stumble onto something better. Not goin' to happen, so got this.

And, it's what's finally convinced me that it's okay to hoard everything forever and to
EVER get rid of ANY extra stuff is a fool's game!

Even with what is has, I love it. For a basic drive sound I just use my Boss O.D. on
the clean side and for lead boost go to the drive channel with the O.D. on. Lead sound
is really good as-is (And, I prolly shouldn't be messing around) but I'd like to use the Drive channel on the TubeWorks as my main rhythm sound instead and just use the O.D. as the boost, which is how I ran things for years.

Lesson to all the youngsters out there. If you have a sound you like, stay with it or
you end up in amp/tube Purgatory trying to get it back. And keep EVERYTHING.
A cable goes bad, you think you should get rid of it,? DON'T! Never know when
you might be able to cut a 12" section out of that sucker and it'll save the day. And
keep the remnants of even that! ACCUMULATE! She says you need to get rid of
stuff that's piled up in the basement?! Tell her my sad TubeWorks tale!

Anyway,...hoping the Tung Sols arrive today and I'll get things swapped out for tonight.

Hopefully, it's not too bright (Don't want to be over-powered intellectually by a pre-Amp tube).

BTW, below is a good tube ref site:

http://www.boiaudioworks.com/article.php?article=12AX7

Happy T-Giv to all!

DaveP.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Monday Nov 26, 2007

Guys,

Got the Tung Sols put in Saturday. At the time, only had a second to turn the amp on
and take a listen. But, as soon as I turned the thing on, it was FREAKING INCREDIBLE.

WHAT a difference. I was kind of wary after the mention of a lot of high end. My pickup
choice is, for all intents and purposes, single coils with more mid-range (Hot rails from
the early 90s. Prolly more akin to a P90 with less sustain, actually). Figuring that
everyone else was prolly using HBs, didn't bode well. But, this didn't turn out to be the case (Wait another year, buy more, and it very well may. Mebbe it's time to stock up).

I did find that what was in there was a MESA 12AX7-A. Was actually considering trying
these. Glad I skipped it. If not for the site in the previous post, never would've checked
out the Tung-s.

Anyway, played Sunday night and that was the first time I actually got a good hearing
of them (Need to find a better way of trying stuff out than shows). Great drive, love the
tone and, there's more of a consistency with the volume. Doesn't seem to go from
too quiet on 2 way too loud on 3.

I just sold the H&K. Now I'm kind of curious as to what it would've been like with the
different tubes.

Overall, couldn't be happier. Ah. Crazy the joy a little Russian piece of glass with a
filament can bring.

Bloodsong · Post by **Bloodsong** » Saturday Feb 16, 2008

wow is right! i threw 4 in my Engl Fireball it it sounds completely different. it went from a little too stiff for my tastes to really round and smooth and bright in a good way. highly recommeneded for hi gain amplifiers...

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Monday Feb 18, 2008

Cool man. I need to stock up on these, I think.

orangekick · Post by **orangekick** » Wednesday Apr 23, 2008

I put a Tung Sol 12ax7 in the V1 slot of my Dual Rectifier and I am impressed. Just that one tube gave me a ton more clarity.

Bloodsong · Post by **Bloodsong** » Wednesday Apr 23, 2008

me too. i think when ppl say that they're bright that they are confusing it with the amount of clarity they suddenly hear.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Thursday Apr 24, 2008

Bloodsong wrote:me too. i think when ppl say that they're bright that they are confusing it with the amount of clarity they suddenly hear.

Think you're right about that.

orangekick · Post by **orangekick** » Thursday Apr 24, 2008

I concur.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Thursday Apr 24, 2008

Touting the TungSols.

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Thursday May 29, 2008

I just installed 4 power/ 5 preamp into my Dual Rectifier and all I can say is WOW. It didnt get brighter; I just didnt need to have as much treble. I left my bass and mid settings the same, lowered my gain a pinch more and pulled the treble back a notch....

the clarity is amazing. Im sold.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Friday May 30, 2008

I have my 9200 Power amp at Terry's right now, cause it was making a weird noise, and lost over 50% of it's power for some reason.

We tested the power and pre tubes and they all registered at around 82-84, so it must be a capacitor, or something else??

But anyway, I am putting Tung-Sol's in the pre side when it's done, and then eventually in the power side as well, but I'm gonna use the Sovteks up first.

Can't wait to hear the Tung's, I've heard good things, and also reading you guy's post has made me want to try them even more.
That's providing the old Marshall has some life left in it.

Post by **Ron** » Saturday May 31, 2008

metalchurch wrote:I have my 9200 Power amp at Terry's right now, cause it was making a weird noise, and lost over 50% of it's power for some reason.

We tested the power and pre tubes and they all registered at around 82-84, so it must be a capacitor, or something else??

But anyway, I am putting Tung-Sol's in the pre side when it's done, and then eventually in the power side as well, but I'm gonna use the Sovteks up first.

Can't wait to hear the Tung's, I've heard good things, and also reading you guy's post has made me want to try them even more.
That's providing the old Marshall has some life left in it.

It could very well be a bad tube socket. I've fixed many tube amps and have seen those symptoms lead to that solution before.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Saturday May 31, 2008

Ron, I'm not too sure really. It was cracking and making my speakers pop, and it would hum really loud.

At first, I never thought too much of it. I would just power it down, count to 5 and fire it back up and it was good to go.

It would only do that maybe once a month or so, and it was very sporadic.

Once I find out for sure I'll post, to let you know.
Thanks for the input.