Anybody Else have Problems with JJ tubes?

[Brewmaster]

I have had a handfull of repairs come my way lately that turned out to be tube problems, both preamp and power tubes. All were JJ's. In each case the customer told me they just replaced the tubes so that couldn't be the problem. Famous last words. Guess what? Yep, bad tubes. I pulled one JJ 6l6 that was red plating, another that didn't work at all.( I doubt it was a bias issue, when I replaced them the bias pot was set as low as it could go.) Also, I had ordered several matched sets of JJ 6l6's and two of the 3 sets were bad. I have recently had several JJ 12ax7's that were bad as well, brand new, right out of the box. All were returned and I got EH's instead.

I need to know if these are a result of a bad run or not. I'm not getting any answers from my suppliers so I'm going to ask here first.

[tomteriffic]

I have had a handfull of repairs come my way lately that turned out to be tube problems, both preamp and power tubes. All were JJ's. In each case the customer told me they just replaced the tubes so that couldn't be the problem. Famous last words. Guess what? Yep, bad tubes. I pulled one JJ 6l6 that was red plating, another that didn't work at all.( I doubt it was a bias issue, when I replaced them the bias pot was set as low as it could go.) Also, I had ordered several matched sets of JJ 6l6's and two of the 3 sets were bad. I have recently had several JJ 12ax7's that were bad as well, brand new, right out of the box. All were returned and I got EH's instead.

I need to know if these are a result of a bad run or not. I'm not getting any answers from my suppliers so I'm going to ask here first.

Dan, the JJ's have been my go-to power tubes for my Teefus modded Classic 30's. I'm pretty sure you know that the C-30's are hard on power tubes and the JJ's hold up and sound great.

Having said that, I haven't had to buy any new sets recently, so you may be bumping into a bad production run issue?

BTW, the GT EL-84S is a rebranded JJ. They've worked just fine as well. Maybe the extra layer of QC would help under the circumstances?

[Armitage]

I've had nothing but problems with JJ tubes. Their quailty control is terrible, and failure rates are stunning. For a couple years they used smaller then average pin sizes and burned out tons of sockets too.

[HSB0531]

While we're on the subject, anyone try the Electro-Harmonix branded tubes as an alternate to JJ's & Grovetubes?

[Hgb5000]

I installed JJ's in my Fender amp about three weeks ago, both preamp and power tubes. Within days it cut out on me and I had to take it to my tech for repair. I have no idea if the two things are related and I haven't made it back down to Charlotte to find out what the actual problem was.

[Ethan]

Who works on your amps down here HGB?

HSB, there's a set of 6V6's that Groove Tubes sells that I've been thinking about grabbing, which are relabeled EH tubes-you literally turn the tube around and the EH logo is on the back of it! I just have had other things on my list to get before those, but I'll let you know how they work out if I get them

[murkat]

JJ's have been nothing but probmatic for me.

I dont care for there 12ax7's anyway, tone wise.

Microphonic galore in V1.

power tubes sound flat, sterile, plain jane.

I dont know why alot of people swear by them,

I dont get it.....

I know what I like, JJ's not in the like category.

[bubs_42]

I use Ruby's.

[RCM78]

I've had issues with JJ 6L6's blowing the fuse in my 5150 combo. Brand new right out of the box. Put the old tubes back in and it works fine. Happened with two separate matched sets.

[ArnieZ]

I also don't care for the tone of the JJ 12ax7's, but have used the el84's and enjoyed them with no problems. I have always purchased them from a reliable vendor that does his own testing and burn in. I have not used any of their 6v6 , 6l6, or el34 tubes.

ArnieZ

[HSB0531]

Who works on your amps down here HGB?

HSB, there's a set of 6V6's that Groove Tubes sells that I've been thinking about grabbing, which are relabeled EH tubes-you literally turn the tube around and the EH logo is on the back of it! I just have had other things on my list to get before those, but I'll let you know how they work out if I get them

Thanks, sounds like they re-label several brands.

I use Ruby's.

Thanks, I'll look into those also.

[e-isle rock]

I just bought a used VHT 50/12. Came loaded with JJ EL34L's and all JJ preamp tubes except the reverb driver. Amp sounded very harsh. Replaced preamp tubes with some old RCA's and Sylvania's and had a huge improvement. Now I just need new power tubes!

[bizzwriter]

I went to the LA Amp Show a few months ago, and attended the panel discussion, which included the 65 Amps guy, the Fuchs guy, and the Nolatone Ampworks guy, plus Myles Rose (former Groove Tubes guy) and a few others. The message loud and clear from the panel was that ALL current production tubes suck -- some more than others -- and the smart move is to buy up as many NOS tubes as you can afford. Old-production NOS tubes last WAY longer than current production (making them a good value, despite their higher price), they sound better, and they ain't making anymore of them!

[HSB0531]

Not sure if they sell tubes to non-customers of theirs, but you could check with Manley Labs for certain tubes

Link:

http://www.manleylabs.com/

What I don't get is that while there is a demand for tubes in th MI market, you would think that at least one company would offer higher quality tubes. Everyone is having a hard time finding quality tubes.

In the "old days" the quality of tubes was way better, whereas the quality of components like capacitors and resistors was not.

Now, you have many companies producing outstanding tube guitar amps with the weak link being the tubes.

[Doink]

I get my JJ's straight from Eurotubes. They're local to me, so I take my amp in and they set the bias and give everything a thorough look over. I ended up bumping the bias down 3 volts in my Lee Jackson head, and I like that a bit more than what they set it at. But they treat me well, and I haven't had any problems with JJ tubes, except for one preamp tube that came in an old head I bought used. No telling how many hours were on that tube and what abuse was doled out by the previous owner.

In total I have about 22 JJ tubes in service, and they sound great!

Where do you people get yours from? My Lee Jackson head came with some Ruby branded JJ's, and I know GT rebrands JJ's too. Do you have an amp tech go over your amp? Tube amps are really easy to mess up! There is tons of information on www.eurotubes.com . They really know their amps and they care about helping players achieve the tone they're after.

[Armitage]

Bob at Eurotubes is probably the worst guy out there. He's a great salesman though... like a used car salesman in the movies. He's probably blown up more amps then anyone out there. I remember reading his arguments with Peavey about certain of his tubes he was recommending to run in the XXX... Peavey was saying it would ruin the amp, he'd argue they were fine. After a few hundred or so amps blew up, he started blaming Peavey... for using the industry standard screen resistor. Peavey kindly fixed hundreds of amps... Bob just walked away from the whole mess.

He got caught having a half dozen identities on the Peavey owned forum, where he'd recommend his own tubes to each other and talk about how great they were... then sent out lots of PMs not to buy Peavey tubes, but to buy from some great guy who just happened to only carry JJ tubes (himself), because they were just "that good."

[Craig S]

I have them in my Egnater Rebel 30... I was getting horrible tube rattle and assumed it was the EL-84's...nope! The 6V6s... The amp was brand new...Eganater stood behind his product.. these JJs are crap... My experience with EHX 12AX7s is bad also...

As for the JJ's being the "miracle tube" for the Classic 30..... I heard so many comments that it was night and day after somebody switched to them....what a load.. I've owned a bunch of C30s and they pretty much all sounded like a C30 no matter what tube, subtle differences at best.

[cloakerz]

i have had a lot of trouble with jj tubes recently. had 5 12ax7s go bad, lasted about 6 months in a rivera r55-112. bought a nos telefunken off ebay and WOW what a difference in v1!

[JES1680]

I've never cared for them personally, but I do use them them in Quad EL84 amps. They seem to be tougher than the EH's, and EI's I've used, but I don't think they sound any better.

[HSB0531]

Somebody needs to start up a company that builds high quality tubes for guitar, bass, & hifi amps.

Tubes that are far better than the stuff out there now, but at a competitive enough price.

Yeah, I know, I'm dreaming