Electro-Harmonix Tubes

[amplexus]

Keep in mind also- EHX, Sovtek, Svetlana, Tung Sol, Mullard, Gold Lion, Amperex, and most Groove Tubes and Mesa Boogie branded tubes are all made by the exact same company (New Sensor, Mike Matthews) in the same Xpo-Pul factory on the same lines. There are certainly design differences between all of the various brands and models- but the people and production lines making them are the same so overall QC and reliability will be pretty much the same on all those.

Your choices for tube manufacturers these days are basically New Sensor (Russia), Shugang (China, and may not have reopened yet, or only in a limited way?), Psvane (china, very dodgy startup quality. Former Shugang employees. Still questionable), JJ (Slovakia), and Western Electric (US- but only makes one tube type the 300b and it’s eye wateringly expensive)

It doesn’t matter what brand is on the glass it comes from one of 4 factories. Shugang was really doing impressive work and QC was very very good before they shut down. It sadly appears that now they are only focusing on transmitter and industrial tubes upon reopening. Psvane has come a long way but the reliability and QC is still very very questionable imo.

JJ has always been solid, but some of the specifics models have been (anecdotally) having high failure rates. Specifically the EL34 variants and I think one of the rectifiers. I’ve never had a bad 12ax7 or 6V6 from them tho. Ymmv.

 

[CJ]

My3gger was that TubeDepot by any chance?

Amplexus, thanks for the clarification.

I expect to see a flood of NOS tubes on the market as us baby boomers get ready to croak.

 

[Matador]

Psvane (china, very dodgy startup quality. Former Shugang employees. Still questionable)

Can confirm: on a whim, I bought an assortment from them after contacting the factory. It included 10 12AX7's, 10 12AT7's, 4 6V6's, and 4 6L6's.

Of the 12AX7's: one was junk (no current would ever flow), 5 were severely microphonic and popped/crackled, and the other 4 tested and sounded fine. On the 12AT7's: all worked, 2 were microphonic, the other 8 were mostly ok, however 2 were highly imbalanced between the two halves. All 6V6's worked initially, and biased to within a few mA of each other), however one of the pairs died rather quickly in a 400+V Fender environment. When they were working they sounded great. All 6L6's were electrically fine, however 1 was EXTREMELY microphonic. Not only did it ring like a bell, when pulled out and shook, the metalwork rattled inside like the elements were extremely loose. The 4 6L6's were also all within a few mA of each other.

Of the stuff that worked, it all tested and sounded great, but sending nearly 35% defective material indicates that QC is essentially non-existent (at least right now). Given even their bulk pricing is not a significant discount over EHX or JJ, I can't see any compelling reason to consider them further.

 

[Tubetec]

Theres a very simple test you can do on the fly to check a tubes likelyhood to be microphonic ,without even energising it , you hold it close to your ear and give it a tap with your finger , any weirdness will be clearly audible , a hash of metalic sounds or sometimes a distinct resonant ping at a given frequency , in a good tube it should be minimal ,

Unfortunately the days when I could walk into the local music shop a select from a batch of tubes are more or less over , online you just take what you get ,and by the sounds of it tube quality isnt what it used to be .

For me the Sovtek 5881WXT was one of the toughest most long standing 6L6 types , I saw pairs I fitted last upto a decade in service with gigging musicians .

Ive found the Shuguang a bit patchy at best , bucket of bolts 12ax7's , although some later era EL34's werent so bad , still a high failure rate compared to Russian made .

 

[amplexus]

Can confirm: on a whim, I bought an assortment from them after contacting the factory. It included 10 12AX7's, 10 12AT7's, 4 6V6's, and 4 6L6's.

Of the 12AX7's: one was junk (no current would ever flow), 5 were severely microphonic and popped/crackled, and the other 4 tested and sounded fine. On the 12AT7's: all worked, 2 were microphonic, the other 8 were mostly ok, however 2 were highly imbalanced between the two halves. All 6V6's worked initially, and biased to within a few mA of each other), however one of the pairs died rather quickly in a 400+V Fender environment. When they were working they sounded great. All 6L6's were electrically fine, however 1 was EXTREMELY microphonic. Not only did it ring like a bell, when pulled out and shook, the metalwork rattled inside like the elements were extremely loose. The 4 6L6's were also all within a few mA of each other.

Of the stuff that worked, it all tested and sounded great, but sending nearly 35% defective material indicates that QC is essentially non-existent (at least right now). Given even their bulk pricing is not a significant discount over EHX or JJ, I can't see any compelling reason to consider them further.

This squares with what i’ve heard as well. The ones that work sound great but the QC and overall manufacturing is so bad that its not worth rolling the dice on them yet.

 

[Tubetec]

I think PS Vain might be a more appropriate name ,
It seemed to me they care more about packaging and labeling with fancy coloured tubes ,
They look like a set of 1940's-50 Amperex 6L6's I have, with the shouldered bottle shape .
I saw a few other China made EL34 on sale over the years , but never was willing to take the risk ,

I think Marshall now use a Shuguang tube as standard , the one with the red/orange base , maybe those tubes get an extra level of quality control over the standard .
I know that Peavey use China made tubes in the Valve King series and they tend to be unreliable
What make do Fender and Boogie use nowadays ?

The problems relating to Chinese tube production seem to be a facet of the way the factories are run , a trained up workforce often seem to get moved or change , leaving a new batch of workers with little or no experience on the production lines , visually the tube construction is poor , microphonics are poor ,and lifespan in a given set also tends to be low .


Ordering tubes from the UK to Ireland has more or less ceased to be an option for me anymore ,Langrex ,Billington
USA Tubedepot likewise ,
TAD is the other option ,but their China made EL34 and EL84 I often saw go bad prematurely , where one or two tubes in a set would hog plate current and depending on placement of the push pull pairs and bias the situation could worsen over time , all ending up in premature failure .


The collateral damage from the Ukrainian and middle eastern situation on tube output from Russia is obvious too . Hopefully EHX can keep the ball rolling .

 

[imaradiostar]

I believe the red base TAD tubes are made by PSVane but go through a lot more stringent testing; they may even be a different product. Recently Dave Friedman said on Tone Talk that he is using them in production and claims he prefers their EL34 to any other current options, and has seen excellent reliability. He sells a LOT of amps!!

It's reasonable to assume any other red base tubes are the TAD PSVane tubes. I wonder if all boutique amps products are using them, or just Friedman?

Jamie

 

[amplexus]

I believe the red base TAD tubes are made by PSVane but go through a lot more stringent testing; they may even be a different product. Recently Dave Friedman said on Tone Talk that he is using them in production and claims he prefers their EL34 to any other current options, and has seen excellent reliability. He sells a LOT of amps!!

It's reasonable to assume any other red base tubes are the TAD PSVane tubes. I wonder if all boutique amps products are using them, or just Friedman?

Jamie

TAD tubes were all Shugang afaik.

However with the facory fire, closure, move, and slow restart it may have been enough for them to shift to PSvane given that they’re ex shugang employees.

The Shugang thing is extra disappointing because before they shut down they were becoming the new powerhouse manufacturer. The QC was miles better and the tone and overall reliability was excellent. They were OEMing most of the Tube Store’s Preferred Series models to their specs and those were excellent tubes.

Now we’re back to a new chinese company with all the growing pains. I will admit they have come a long way in a short time, but the QC issues make them still not ready for primetime. I would love to see them succeed tho. More good modern tube factories is a good thing for everyone!

 

[imaradiostar]

TAD tubes were all Shugang afaik.

However with the facory fire, closure, move, and slow restart it may have been enough for them to shift to PSvane given that they’re ex shugang employees.

The Shugang thing is extra disappointing because before they shut down they were becoming the new powerhouse manufacturer. The QC was miles better and the tone and overall reliability was excellent. They were OEMing most of the Tube Store’s Preferred Series models to their specs and those were excellent tubes.

Now we’re back to a new chinese company with all the growing pains. I will admit they have come a long way in a short time, but the QC issues make them still not ready for primetime. I would love to see them succeed tho. More good modern tube factories is a good thing for everyone!

Yes, the fire was a major problem for lovers of vacuum products! Sort of like the fire that took out AKM, the audio converter manufacturer. A ton of products had to be redesigned for new ADCs and DACs. Supposedly the newer TAD products are all from PSVane, but that's only what I heard.

This tube stuff gets discussed a lot on Tone Talk and Pete Thorn's YouTube channels. They claim that after the fire PSVane absorbed some of the skilled laborers from Shugang, and that the newer PSVane guitar oriented products are excellent, a cut above the Shugang products.

I would assert that Dave would know; he's probably buying more EL34s than almost anyone these days.

I have no first hand experience, so I am just sharing what was said.

Jamie

 

[Matador]

I would love to see them succeed tho. More good modern tube factories is a good thing for everyone!

Totally agreed!

I feel they are definitely going to be a contender if they can get their QC sorted out, as their bulk pricing is quite attractive (I use a ton of EL84's, 6V6's, and 6L6's), but I don't have the bandwidth to sort them myself, and like I said, they aren't THAT much cheaper (at a high failure rate) that it makes it worth it for the time investment.

For example, I think for an 8x8 bulk mailer (64 12AX7 tubes), they quoted roughly $500 (or around $8 per tube), but with a ~50% failure rate, that doubles to an effective $16 per tube, which is already at the same price as a generic JJ, and even approaching that of an EHX (and both in single unit quantities), and both of those are from USA suppliers and have already been screened.

 

[Wavelength]

I use the 6072A in all the guitar amps I make. Not a big fan of the 12AX7, but have used the 5751 a bit. I have a couple hundred 5 stars left, but pretty much use the JJ (12AY7) and the EHX. The EHX has less gain than the JJ in most of my stuff. I do use tube rectifiers so on voltage is slow ramp. I also DC and regulate all my filaments for the 6072A. Remember all these 12A#7 tubes are built the same way. The grid pitch is different which accounts for the gain or mu of the tube and the corresponding Rp. The 6072A, 5751 and other upscale versions of the 12A#7 line have lower DCR on the filament which makes the available electrons higher and therefore more dynamic.
I have not had any failures but DC filaments on the 6072A and 12AY7A are pretty much the norm for long life and low noise.

 

[amplexus]

Yes, the fire was a major problem for lovers of vacuum products! Sort of like the fire that took out AKM, the audio converter manufacturer. A ton of products had to be redesigned for new ADCs and DACs. Supposedly the newer TAD products are all from PSVane, but that's only what I heard.

This tube stuff gets discussed a lot on Tone Talk and Pete Thorn's YouTube channels. They claim that after the fire PSVane absorbed some of the skilled laborers from Shugang, and that the newer PSVane guitar oriented products are excellent, a cut above the Shugang products.

Yes I definitely agree the PSvane people were former Shugang, i think they even stated as much at some point.

No disagreement about TAD- I hadn’t heard anything explicitly as you have, but given the existing relationship with Shugang and how they would have been high and dry with the fire and closure, it makes sense they would have pivoted to PSvane. Presumably the people there would already be familiar with their designs etc.

Of course now that we say it out loud I have to wonder if the reason (planned or otherwise) Shugang isn’t doing audio/MI tubes anymore is because the PSvane guys bought all their equipment and toolings for such and took it with them….

 

[My3gger]

My3gger was that TubeDepot by any chance?

Amplexus, thanks for the clarification.

I expect to see a flood of NOS tubes on the market as us baby boomers get ready to croak.

They came from a local seller who was probably buying in Europe.
I had a good laugh seeing 75$ JJ ECC83s treated by the "Black Sable noise reducing process"

 

[Quayhog]

I have a Microphone Parts ELAM kit that’s wonderful. Plus I have three C28b SDC mics that also use the 6072/12AY7 tubes. I have enough NOS to keep my mics happy and maybe experiment in a guitar amp for the rest of my life. All four mics are awesome. I haven’t tried any JJ tubes. As a hobby I repair and build tube amps and I find issues with infant mortality with them. If they work for a moth they will last a long while. They tend to fail early, usually by becoming noisy.