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A preamp valve went dodgy on me at our gig last Friday. Replaced it with a spare 12AX7 I had, but I prefer the sound with an AY which I had none left, so had to order a new one. The one that died was an Electro-Harmonix, which is the most readily-available, and had lasted me 18 months so I just bought another one, but I noticed there are TungSol ones available now - but at three times the price.
I've seen people remark about Russian valves (like the EHX) being unreliable, so what's people's opinions on the TungSol 12AY7s? Worth paying three times the money for? I've got a couple of EHX on order now so it's not an immediate problem, but I'd be interested in people's thoughts.
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Thanks for that. I'm certainly happy with the sound of the EHX, and TBH if they last 18 months I'm happy with the life at the price they are. Just if the TungSols last three times as long or sound fantastically better (which I know is a matter of opinion) then I'd consider perhaps forking out a bit extra. I'm a bit wary of NOS ones - is there really any guarantee they'd be more reliable than modern ones, and the prices people are asking are often silly. Although sometimes you see them at sensible prices.
BTW, my amp's a Blackstar HT20 head, so a hybrid preamp design. I use an AY in the dirty channel mostly to give a more sensible control over the gain at the lower end of the scale (I'm not a metalhead!). It's not an officially supported swap, but lots of people are doing it and I've had no trouble until now.
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Aren't they a bit more gainy than a 12AY7 though? The AY sounds really good in my amp for my tastes, so I'll probably just stick with that.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I had assumed the TungSols I saw are new current production ones, but I could be wrong. They were on the HotRox site, and looking at them again the description does say "original USA" so perhaps they are NOS. Either way, it's still three times the price of a new EHX, which I know I like the sound of in my amp...
Does that mean the EHX are still the only 12AY7 in production?
Interesting ESchap, perhaps I'll keep an eye out for one of those - I've got a couple of EHX ones to keep me going now, but a longer-lasting alternative does sound tempting if it sounds the same. (I assume you meant 6072, can't find any reference to 6092)