Peavey Ultra Plus 120 tube suggestions

[MODEL5FX]

Anyone have any actual experience with tube combinations they care to share? Thinking about the std kit from Eurotubes and them adding a milder tube to swap in positions for a test run.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Tube combinations, no. I have had good luck with Sovtek preamp tubes in Marshalls...hell EL34s were good by Sovtek too. Personally I haven't found a huge difference in tubes. They all sound about the same. Even the GT EL34s I picked up at GC and slapped into my amp with NO bias check sound great, still cooking strong a couple of years later.

[warlok]

I had the high gain full set from eurotubes in mine and liked it.

[horns666]

Tube combinations, no. I have had good luck with Sovtek preamp tubes in Marshalls...hell EL34s were good by Sovtek too. Personally I haven't found a huge difference in tubes. They all sound about the same. Even the GT EL34s I picked up at GC and slapped into my amp with NO bias check sound great, still cooking strong a couple of years later.

Yes..for me Sovtek and Tung Sol !!! There was a big difference to me compared to JJ preamp tubes. I don't like JJ 12AX7s...weak and thin.

[levantin]

Yes..for me Sovtek and Tung Sol !!! There was a big difference to me compared to JJ preamp tubes. I don't like JJ 12AX7s...weak and thin.

Tung Sols and Electro Harmonix for me please.

[Trem]

Tung Sols and Electro Harmonix for me please.

I tried combinations of jj's, tung sols and electro harmonix in my old ultra plus 120's, and i have to say that after at first settling on an electro harmonix in the first slot for the crunch channel, and tung sols in the others, i then just decided to go all tung sols.

My perception was the jj's were the worst, or not what i was looking for...too gritty, ratty, the electro harmonix mixed with the tung sols - well the electro being in the crunch slot wasn't that exciting, just meh, but when i put all tung sols in it, it purred. The perfect amount of dirt and sizzle, it just sounded perfect on every channel. Even the crunch channel could be considered a bit more than crunch with the gain cranked it was hard to tell it wasn't on the lead channel. After getting two bad sets of JJ's for the power tubes i went with Rubys in the power section.
Those amps are great. I went with the standard recommended sovtek for the power inverter? tube, i didn't get any sleep last night so i forget what it is called... it's a low gain clean tube.

[levantin]

I tried combinations of jj's, tung sols and electro harmonix in my old ultra plus 120's, and i have to say that after at first settling on an electro harmonix in the first slot for the crunch channel, and tung sols in the others, i then just decided to go all tung sols.

I guess that was a bit confusing, I mean Tung Sol 12ax7's for the preamp and EH 6L6's for the power section, but as far as I gather your amp runs EL34's right?

[Trem]

If you are asking me, no 6L6.
I mainly quoted you well because i thought you were talking 12ax7 in general, and i had tried that combination with the 12ax7 in that amp.
Tubes of course are an individual preference, some people don't notice much of a difference either way, and others do.
I think a small part of it could be brand, as in quality of the build. But mostly i think the main difference with tubes is getting a
matched set and the specific gain quality of it to jive with your amp or preference. You know some within the same brand running hotter or cooler
than the next set. It's subtle, but for some people it's a world of difference. I agree with Bill in that i don't care for JJ's much. I know
they sound good in Marshalls, talking EL34's, but i think i prefer 6L6's most of the time, i just had a bad experience with that brand and you know how first impressions go.

btw, to clarify on the jj's i'm speaking of, i got 2 sets in a row power tubes that were bad. The 12ax7 jj's, i just didn't care for the sound of them in that amp.
The Electro Harmonix 12ax7 was ok, not really bad at all, just the tung sols were "more" of the good stuff i was looking for.

[djpharoah]

I've got one and love it with the JJ preamps and JJ 6L6s. Sounds amazing and can go from 5150 to very "wet' sounding XL stuff.

[MODEL5FX]

6L6's and 12AX7 are the tubes. Eurotubes has JJ's and EC835's in their retube kits for the Ultra 120. I've heard mixed reviews of the JJ's.

Have all of you owned a ultra 120?

[warlok]

ECC83S is the same thing as a 12AX7. Honestly, it's gonna be up to your ears. I did have one. There was a mix of no label, sovtek, and EH preamp tubes and Sovtek 6L6's in mine when I got it. I got the JJ set and liked the raw sound of them. I never tried anything else in that amp. As a comparison (in another amp), in my RM100 I've tried a bunch in modules and find that Tung-sol's are the smoothest sounding to me. Very open and clear. EH's are more raw (nice bite to the gain) but are not as clear sounding. JJ's are raw but not as open sounding as the Tung-sol's. Some call them dark, I'd say they have a bit less highs but had massive tight lows. It comes down to liking some tubes in some amps/modules and others in others. Sadly, you kinda have to try them out. Also for me, I'm not gigging so power tubes don't make much of a difference for me. Not getting into the saturated sound cranking the hell out of it. The EH and the JJ 6L6's I've compared weren't different to me. Both sounded great when I did crank them up but didn't go for long periods past noon on the volume. That's why I like modded modules.. Good luck!

[Grim]

Mullards are the only way to go, obviously.

[MODEL5FX]

Have ant of you purchased through eBay or know of a decent supplier that sells good tubes but leaves a few dollars in your wallet? Lol