geoffbyrne Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 I have some valves around, so I though about trying them in my GB Shuttle 6. Now I know that the Shuttle is deliberately engineered not to be too sensitive to which particular valve is in there, but I thought I'd try. (There a poster named "Agedhorse" in Talkbass who is, in effect, Genz Benz' development engineer and it's well worth while finding his posts & giving them a read if you own a GB) I have: An unmarked tube I bought as being a 5751 - I have no reason to believe it isn't. The Ruby 12AX7 which is stock issue. A Marshall ECC83 A Chelmer ECC81 A NOS Mullard ECC83 A NOS CV4004 (Military Spec Mullard ECC83) I tried them at two setting - clean and dirty, through headphones with all the tones set at 12 o'clock. Peavey Cirrus BXP with tones centred, both pups, vol full. Please note that all comments are purely subjective and are of a personal preference. 5751: Clean - surprisingly sweet - certainly better than the Ruby Dirty - found it very harsh - not very musical Ruby 12AX7: Clean - OK, but not as 'sweet' as the 5751 - maybe more hi mids. Dirty - Not as harsh as the 5751, but still not great. Marshall ECC83 Clean - not dissimilar to the Ruby - maybe a little bit fuller - more low mids? Dirty - pretty much same as Ruby Chelmer ECC81 Clean - ECC81's are not known for tone, but this sounded OK - pretty much the same as the Marshall, but obviously with lower gain. Dirty - again, very like the Marshall Mullard ECC83 Clean - audible difference - sounds much fuller and sweet, maybe I'm kidding myself, but to these ears there is a benefit here. Dirty - maybe just a bit smoother & creamier than any of the above. CV4004 Clean - unsurprisingly, very like the Mullard ECC83 Dirty - not just quite as nice as the Mullard, but very close. None of these differences is 'in your face' - they are all subtle. Maybe they are all in my imagination. I've left the Mullard ECC83 in the Genz Benz and put the 5751 in V1 of my Laney VC30 guitar amp, and the Marshall ECC83 in V2 - it already has an ECC81 in V3. The Laney sounds great cranked. I'll carry the CV4004 with the Shuttle as back-up and put the Ruby & Chelmer as back-up for the Laney. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 What about EHX? Have you tried one yet? I replaced the stock valve in my Trace Elliot GP12-X with a EHX 12AX7 and the difference was huge. I'm selling my Trace now to go for a Shuttle 9.0 just because of the height and i'm thinking in keeping the EHX to try it on the Benz. If anyone has tried it i would realy apreciate a coment. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voxpop Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I have put these Mullard M8162 valves in both my Little bastard and Spyder. They give a very smooth tone because of the lower gain compared to the ECC83. They give around 60 - 70% of the gain compared to a ECC83 / 12ax7. If you prefer a smooth low gain sound then I can recommend giving them a try. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CV4024-M8162-12AT7WA-ECC81-MULLARD-KQDDK-8509-VALVE-1PC-/390164035409?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item5ad796b751"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CV4024-M8162-12AT7WA...=item5ad796b751[/url] Link is to an Ebay seller..............Its not me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='920796' date='Aug 10 2010, 05:07 PM']What about EHX? Have you tried one yet? I replaced the stock valve in my Trace Elliot GP12-X with a EHX 12AX7 and the difference was huge. I'm selling my Trace now to go for a Shuttle 9.0 just because of the height and i'm thinking in keeping the EHX to try it on the Benz. If anyone has tried it i would realy apreciate a coment. Cheers[/quote] My understanding is that the JJ, Marshall, EHX & GT are mostly rebranded (but selected) Sovteks although I could stand corrected on this. I'll stick with the old Mullards. Tung Sol has quite a good reputation, as did Groove Tubes *before* Myles Rose left them. G. Edited August 11, 2010 by geoffbyrne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 [quote name='voxpop' post='920838' date='Aug 10 2010, 05:51 PM']I have put these Mullard M8162 valves in both my Little bastard and Spyder. They give a very smooth tone because of the lower gain compared to the ECC83. They give around 60 - 70% of the gain compared to a ECC83 / 12ax7. If you prefer a smooth low gain sound then I can recommend giving them a try. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CV4024-M8162-12AT7WA-ECC81-MULLARD-KQDDK-8509-VALVE-1PC-/390164035409?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item5ad796b751"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CV4024-M8162-12AT7WA...=item5ad796b751[/url] Link is to an Ebay seller..............Its not me.[/quote] I'm not familiar with the M8162, but by the sound of the gain level, it 's probably the equivalent of the 5751. As I said above, the 5751 was lovely clean, but very harsh to my ears in overdrive. This is now in V1 of my Laney VC30 & sounds great. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 FYI here's a link to the spec sheet gains for the 12xx7 family: [url="http://thetubestore.com/gainfactor.html"]http://thetubestore.com/gainfactor.html[/url] G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithless Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 While I just got Shuttle combo with Shuttle 3.0 amp, which is amazing by all means, just wanted to check about its bigger brother, Shuttle 6.0 - is the Tube Preamp a [i]real [/i]one or more like an imitation of tube, if that makes sense? Judging from ridiculous amps weight, I thought it's just sort of imitation, but I'm not sure, when you're discussing valves here.. easy Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 As I've mentioned above, you'll get a LOT of valuable info on the Shuttles by going over to Talkbass & searching the postings of 'Agedhorse' - he's one of the main designers. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodl2005 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Late, I know, but,... Yep it's a real tube in there,& adjusting the tube gain makes a lot of difference. It will give a nice tube grind. & yes, check out Aged Horse's suggestions re eq. Help a lot. I like the following:- Bass-11 o'clock Mid freq-8 o'clock Mid level 2 o'clock Treble- 11 " Buttons- bass boost -ON Mid scoop- ON hi boost -Off Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Interesting. I've moved mine on. It sounded great at low levels, but when it came to gigging volumes there was something lacking for me. i can't put my finger on it, but despite trying all the things I've read, I just couldn't get the kind of 'grunt' out of it I get from my Ashdown MAG 400 (485W @ 4 Ohm UK built). I've also moved on the Laney VC30 as I really don't play much guitar any more. However, if it works for you, I'm delighted. I defo. found that the Mullard made a difference. I'm very interested in the MiBass. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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