40 yr old ECC83

[Mike Irvin]

I was back east at my dad's last week, and snagged a couple of ECC83's out of a late 60's Ampeg Reverberocket II that I had in high school.

I dropped one of them into my Blackheart BH5 head, and man what a sweet sweet sound! Nice smooth saturation, and some awesome bark and bite when you dig in.

I can't tell what make it is, as the silkscreen is wearing off, but it looks like it says Ampexxxx and has a pic of a tube with a rocket or something exploding out of the side. Blows away the JJ I had in the BH5 prior. The other tube is a Telefunkin. I have not tried it yet. ( I'm too blown away by this one at the moment)!

Amazing sound since I know this tube has not been fired up since 1974.

Gotta love old tubes!

[TeleDog]

I got a prehistoric KT66 signed by Fred Flintstone himself!

[Mike Irvin]

Man!!! I was just laying down some riffs, and I thought, "this little guy really rocks", cause the whole house was shakin!

Turns out it was just a 5.7 earthquake.

Oh well, back to jammin.....

[dwagar]

I pulled a shitload of 12AX7s out of a '66 Baldwin organ. I use them in both my Marshalls. Old tubes can be sweet.

[Mike Irvin]

Yep! They sure can!

[rocknhorse1]

I have a matched 63' Mullard in my V1 and the difference is night and day compared to what was there before. Well worth the $45.

[coldsteal2]

i should dig through my old toy box, i bet i have
some old preamp tubes from the late 60's

[TeleDog]

I'd think twice about taking some old tube and using it with your amp right away. Tubes can short too, and can damage the amp sometimes.

Tubes also wear out, so a tube that's been in use for a lot of years, old and vintage as it is, may not sound the best when you use it with your amp.

There's a lot of subjective stuff here, we want to believe what we want to believe, but just act with a little caution before using that expensive tube amp as a lab rat.

[dwagar]

You're right, I do test them with this old thing for shorts etc before I use them.

[JMV]

Very cool, but what did you do with that old Reverbrocket!?

[Cygnus X1]

Good stuff.

Why am I thinking Amperex tube?
I have preamp tubes (pulls) from the 1950's that test great
and sound wonderful.

Why so many sockets on that tester of yours?

Here is mine, a Hickok 6000A mutual conductance field box.
Not the greatest, but gets the job done:

(Pic was ripped from elsewhere)

[dwagar]

Originally Posted by Cygnus X1

Why so many sockets on that tester of yours?

damned if I know

it's an old drug store one I think. My bass player found it at a garage sale, I snagged it for a whopping $5.
I know it's not a good one, but it tests for shorts, gives me a rough idea how good the tubes are.

I think I've used, oh, 2 or 3 sockets, haha.

On further thought, yours is a more pro tester, mine was designed for 'self testing', I think that's why there are more sockets, less knobs to turn.

[Cygnus X1]

Originally Posted by dwagar

damned if I know

it's an old drug store one I think. My bass player found it at a garage sale, I snagged it for a whopping $5.
I know it's not a good one, but it tests for shorts, gives me a rough idea how good the tubes are.

I think I've used, oh, 2 or 3 sockets, haha.

On further thought, yours is a more pro tester, mine was designed for 'self testing', I think that's why there are more sockets, less knobs to turn.

If it works...it is great!
Can't go wrong for a fivespot.


Mine is pro, but for a traveling pro.
It is a lower line Hickok, but it does what I need.
Solid as a rock.

Wonder if that tube the OP found looks like this?


And regarding the Telefunken...one of my favorites.
I have two, one my holy grail in V2 of the old Deluxe Reverb.
The other is a GZ34 Telefunken in the same amp.
Both came with the amp back in '83, and I have never found a good reason to replace either!

[TeleDog]

I'd guess a set of sockets for each socket type. Back then when everything was tube powered, from TVs to radios, it kinda makes sense.... I suppose.

[Cygnus X1]

Originally Posted by TeleDog

I'd guess a set of sockets for each socket type. Back then when everything was tube powered, from TVs to radios, it kinda makes sense.... I suppose.

Or different settings for all those sockets.
I can only think of about 9 different types.

The Hickok has many more adjustment knobs to dial in the various tubes.
His has few.

And that Hickok is New-Fangled: it tests transistors and SS diodes!


I just know I get a "special feeling" every time I press that "Gas" button.

[Mike Irvin]

Originally Posted by Cygnus X1

Good stuff.

Why am I thinking Amperex tube?
I have preamp tubes (pulls) from the 1950's that test great
and sound wonderful.

That's it! It's an Amperex. Thanks much for the picture post!

I know it sure sounds sweet. I might try the Telefunken tonight and compare.


Thanks again!

[Mike Irvin]

Originally Posted by JM Vasek

Very cool, but what did you do with that old Reverbrocket!?

I'm going to bring it out west when I get the chance, and restore it. Everything is original, and has the foot switch. Just needs a good cleaning, cap change, good ring out and tube change.

Still has the original Jenson concert series speaker that's in great shape. The amp was used very little, and last used in 1974.

That might make a good post.

[JMV]

Originally Posted by Mike Irvin

I'm going to bring it out west when I get the chance, and restore it. Everything is original, and has the foot switch. Just needs a good cleaning, cap change, good ring out and tube change.

Still has the original Jenson concert series speaker that's in great shape. The amp was used very little, and last used in 1974.

That might make a good post.

Heck yeah! We'd love to see it. I'm sure once you or an amp tech have gone through it it will be killer.

[dwagar]

Originally Posted by Cygnus X1

I just know I get a "special feeling" every time I press that "Gas" button.

oh jeez, be careful of that button. Every time you press it you want to buy another guitar.

[Cygnus X1]

Originally Posted by Mike Irvin

That's it! It's an Amperex. Thanks much for the picture post!

I know it sure sounds sweet. I might try the Telefunken tonight and compare.


Thanks again!

The Bugle Boy is worth crazy money...google it.
Same with that Telefunken.

LOL at dwagar.


The ReverbRocket is a cool amp.
Awesome reverb tones on it.
Can't wait to see it.

[Mike Irvin]

Originally Posted by Cygnus X1

The Bugle Boy is worth crazy money...google it.
Same with that Telefunken.

Wheeee doggy! Your right!

All I know is that when I put it in the Blackheart it sang a sweet song! Never heard another 12AX7/ECC83 sound like that.

Must have gone through my whole box of preamp tubes and nothing touches this.

Thing is this is my high school amp, and these tubes prolly have less than 50 hours on them. I got the amp from the owner in 71, and he rarely used it. Figure it's circa 67/68.

Oh and I plugged my 90 Strat plus in tonight, and I swear that amp now and the Strat are made for each other.

I'm gonna drop in the Telefunken tonight and see what it sounds like.

[BillB1960]

I just picked up a pair of NOS 1965 GE 5751 tubes. I put one in V1 on my Crate VC2110R and man it does sound smooth. Hard to beat old glass!

[Cygnus X1]

Some of us were busy posting tube testers around here.
Even if you aren't a tech those testers are worth their weight in gold.

Some of those old "pulls" keep chuggin' along just fine.

[rocknhorse1]

Yeah, The one I got was a bit used and tested WAY above spec. So I guess its just OS.