Joe, what are your preferred tubes and why?? (Page 1 of 2)

I like JJs a lot for the poweramp but not that much in the preamp section.
They have a character to let the amp sound a bit darker and mellower.
For trebly and harsh sounding amps they are great. And of course for anyone who likes that character.
I found a nice preamp tube. Its the Mullard RI. You can find them here www.tubedepot.com
Very musical and warm sounding tube. I have it my 1974x and in the Budda.
I will order them for the upcoming HRM too.
But back to your question, Joe what tubes are you using?

Alex

Yes the JJs have a quiet darker and warmer sound character.
I think I have eaten up 3 weeks of waiting now. Since Nik estimated 6-8 weeks in total
there is still 4-5 weeks to wait. But the black Vox diamond grill cloth has arrived already.
The 2550 took only 4 weeks and was in time here. Sometimes I wonder I should have gone for the
2555 too. The 2550 sounds way better at lower volumes. In rehearsalroom with the band I have
the lead master on 10 and the main output master on 6. Pretty loud already but still in a range that I
can work with. Next week my new cabs will arrive. Of course I'll make a new rig clip then.

Alex

In all the interviews Joe has given, I've never heard him mention anything about tubes. This makes me think that he's not much of a tube swapper, but his amp tech may be.

It also may be the fact that most of Joe's amps very high end, and built just for him. In these amps, the guy who designs the amp has hand picked the tubes that are in there, and tweaked the amp to sound right with those tubes. So there's really no need to veer off and try to figure which tubes sounds best in each amp, when you can just replace them with whatever is already there.

Budda amps are designed around fairly cheap, sovtek preamp tubes. So if you ask the designer what tubes sound best in his amps, he will tell you sovtek, because he voiced the amp to sound best with those tubes. I've tried others that I have lying around (NOS mullard, brimar, tungsol...) but always go back to sovteks.

IMHO You can drive yourself nuts swapping out tubes, but I think with the higher end stuff, you're better off sticking with what's already in there. That being said, I don't have the most sophisticated ear, and I may not hear subtle differences between tubes that someone else might...

Actually, I've recently read an interview with Van Weelden and how he had to come to Germany, because one of Joe's VW amps dropped or so and van Weelden himself repaired it...if I remember corretly he mentioned putting in some regular tubes and that Joe had no specific wish on the tubes.

Folks, JB can use whatever equipment there exists on earth...he will always sound great!

Hey Guys,
         I usually prefer JJ tubes for everything.. EL-34s and 6L6's .  Two Rock was always nice enough to throw New Old Stock GE 5881's into my amps that I bought.. Only problem with going there is the expense and the durability.. My stuff moves hundreds of miles a day.  Its played hard, put away still warm and travels.  So the JJ's work for me.  Mesa tubes run too hot but are good, Svetlana and new Mullard and Sovtek are good to the chrismas tree and not the amps, Groove Tubes are ok, depending on the rating. My favorite of all time is a tie, Old Tesla's from the czech republic and Siemens from Germany.  Again its all season to taste here.  But a bad tube will ruin your amps tone. 
Joe B
PS, when running new tubes, break them in. They will all start out a bit sterile, but a week in its magic, two weeks in they are perfect , three weeks in you start to lose midrange and by week four its over.. time to start again..

Any preamp tube preferences?

Maybe it also depends on how you run the amp.
Joe cranks his 100 watter full up while most of us cannot
because we gig in smaller locations. At least I do.
But I'm sure that tubes react very different on the volume.
I personally don't like JJs in the preamp. For Joe they seem to work well
as his sound is great of course. As EL34 they are fantastic.
The new mullards are great for preamp and EL84 amps.
And of course for Christmas trees.

Alex

Pre-amp tubes are again subject to taste.. Like you your amps have good days and bad days.  Power plays a big factor in that.  Anyway.. Old GE are great for 12ax7s and 7025, 12 AT7s I like RCA.  I use a AT 7 in my chandler tube driver.  Makes is less gainy as it should. Peter Van Weelden has the best knowledge of tubes I have ever run across.  He also owns the best collection of tubes.. For blue collar street preamp tubes.. I d use JJ honestly.. Thats whats in the Jubilees and dumbly things I own.. Be sure to not get too involved in the nanoisms of tube and concentrate more on achieving the tone from your playing and attack.. Thats the real key IMHO
Joe B