DOUG (Anm.: Roccaforte): All of us in this industry are still battling the tube situation. Although its getting better,
it still stinks, especially preamp tubes. What has been your experience with the current manufactured tubes, and
what are you using now?
MIKE (Anm.: Soldano): You're right Doug, the tube situation has been a drag ever since the American manufacturers
quit making tubes back in the '80s. It is getting better though, and there are actually some new "upgraded" versions
of tubes being made now that promise to be better than the American made originals. I've been using the Sovtek 5881
power tube in all of my 50 and 100 watt amps ever since the Philips 6L6 went out of production in the late '80s. These
tubes have proven to be rock-solid reliable, very consistent, have good service life, and sound great, as well. I like them
a lot! We offer the Groove Tubes KT66 as an option for those who want something more aggressive sounding than the
Sovtek. In the Astroverb, we are using both JJ and Sovtek EL84s, and I'm quite happy with both. The Avenger is the first
amp we've ever offered the option of EL34s in, and for those we are using the Ruby EL34BSTR. I haven't had a lot of luck
with most of the Chinese power tubes, but these EL34s are quite good. There are a bunch of new 6L6 type tubes that have
come around in recent years, but I haven't really had time to thoroughly test them all yet, so I can't offer an opinion on them.
Our biggest tube problem has always been preamp tubes. In a high gain amp, you need the best tubes possible, because
every bit of shot noise, hum, or microphonics in the tube is going to stick out like a very sore thumb! My tech Bill and I try all
the new 12AX7s as they become available, and we have found that right now the best tube out there is for high gain applications
is the JJ/Tesla ECC83S. We still have to hand pick and ear test them to find one good enough for the first preamp position, but
all in all, they've proven to be the best choice. We are still using Sovtek 12AX7LPs in the tone driver, reverb and phase inverter
stages. They sound good and have very good service life. While we're talking about tubes, I'd like to say something about
all the fuss being made about changing an amp's sound by changing tubes. I get calls all the time asking what tubes
someone should use for a darker sound, or a brighter sound, or whatever. The truth is, the changes you get by changing
tubes are so subtle that it's hardly worth the effort. You can do much better, and have more options, by experimenting
with different speakers instead. Speakers can do more to color an amp's sound than tubes could ever do.
