Best valves brand for a vintage Fender BF deluxe reverb?

[Ariel Lobos]

We need to replace the whole kit in a vintage 65 fender blackface deluxe reverb, do you know the best available today?

[Don Mogle]

Ariel,

When I was having my Twin checked out and upgraded, my amp tech told me that the Tube Doctor tubes were fine tubes and warmer sounding than the JJs.

I went with the JJs just because they were less expensive (I was already shelling out some cash for the electronic upgrades). I have been using the Twin for several months now and the JJs seem fine to me. I put a 5751 in V-1 to allow for extra headroom for steel.

I believe Ken Fox used JJs in his amps and found them to be completely acceptable.

Finally, you could go the NOS route and get some GEs RCAs, etc. This option would be more expensive, but those tubes may be worth the extra cost. They seem to last a long time which may make them worth the extra expense.

Do a search on this topic and you will find a lot of posts. I hope you find something you are happy with.

Don

[Ariel Lobos]

Thanks a lot for your answer Don. It seems those are good choices, old stuff is hard to find and i dont know exactly where to go for that.

[Ken Fox]

I am a real fan of the JJ preamp tubes for the Princeton. The 6V6 by JJ is a true 14 watt tube, very clean. Might not be as soft a sound as you want for the power tubes. Just a thought.

[Ariel Lobos]

Good point Ken. We think in this amp for a smooth and sustaining crunch and overdrive. Which brand you think could fit better?. We need two 6V6, four 12 axt, two 12 at7 and one 5y3 rectifier.

[Ken Fox]

I have two Princeton Reverbs that use 6V6. I use NOS Sylvania in them. I do like the JJ for all the rest of the tubes.

Of course NOS RCA would be great as well for all the tubes.

Maybe someone will chime in with some better suggestions for you. I can't say that I have had a lot of playing time on Deluxe reverb amps as opposed to my Princeton reverb amp (my favorites)

[Ariel Lobos]

Thank you! I have a silverface princeton, clean as a crystal, love it

[Brad Sarno]

NOS RCA

[Steven Husting]

Are you certain you need a 5Y3? Normally you would use a 5AR4 or 5U4, depending on the year of manufacture.


Steven

[Ariel Lobos]

No, im not, i readt it in Aspen Pittman book. It is a 1965 and the book covered just that year

[Steven Husting]

There should be a tube chart inside the amp. If this is a real '65, according to the schematic it should take a GZ34/5AR4. A 5Y3 wouldn't last long in that amp. It IS used in the older TWEED Deluxe, but that amp has little in common with the DR.


Steven

[Ariel Lobos]

Good advice Steven, thanks. Yes it is a real 65, some parts are from 64.

[Bob Carlucci]

NOS RCA

= $

[Tom Gorr]

I have bought used RcA 6v6s for cheap. Greyplates I believe. ... Just have to find them.

I think the new Tungsol RI 6v6 are very vintage sounding.

[Steven Husting]

NOS RCA and Sylvania 6V6 can be had for reasonable prices, at least over here.
The "TungSols" sound good to me, too, and I use them when I don't want to use the good stuff.

Steven

[Ariel Lobos]

the paper inside says : one GZ34, two 6v6 GT, three 7025, two AT7, one AXT

[Carl Mesrobian]

the paper inside says : one GZ34, two 6v6 GT, three 7025, two AT7, one AXT

AX7.

I've got old GE's in a BF Princeton. You could also look for NOS RCA. Are there any shops near you? Or hit an auction site .

I am thinking of getting a pair of Russian Tung-Sol to try out, or JJ's.

[Bill Terry]

I bought some Tung-Sol 6V6s for my '66 DR. I didn't hate them, but I've been curious about some sort of NOS just to see if I'm missing something and don't know it.

[Ken Fox]

I just bought out a bunch of NOS Mesa Boogie 6V6, EL34, EL84, 5y3 and 5U4 tubes from our local music store. Research on them tells me they use JJ, Sovtek and others to make their tubes.

I have a few NOS Sylvania 6V6GT still. I use those in one of my Princetons and they sound great.

Really hard for me to say who is "best". I like a lot of different brand tubes for sure. I looks for a good tone and a reliable product. Must say I have been thru a lot of JJ tubes with very few issues. Even a to of Ruby tubes as well lately.

[Carl Mesrobian]

[Scott Lee]

I have found "the tube store" sets to have the most cost effective replacement sets based on tube quality, tone, affordability and availability at any point in time. Their "premium" set for a given amp seems to be a sweet spot; $262.55 right now, includes 2 tung-sol 6V6GT's (remember Fender runs these HOT in a deluxe reverb, takes a robust tube to last in the output), 4 "preferred" series 7025's (tone path for both channels) Mullard 12AT7WA (you might get away with lesser tubes here for the reverb drive and phase inverter but they probably have a deal on the mullards now, my last set of 12AT7's were AN mil spec ) and a preferred series 5AR4 rectifier. Preferred series is the tube stores' "house brand", sourced based on their experience. I have retubed quite a few amps, and instead of spending hours researching the latest & greatest for that amp (like I used to do until recently) I just get a preferred series from them and have not been disappointed.

[Ken Fox]

Tube set for $104.00 at Antique Electronics

https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/t ... uxe-reverb

[Carl Mesrobian]

If you are going to buy Tubestore set, make sure you match the circuit number, AB763, etc... I think it's too much. If there really is a difference in sound, how much of that will be heard when you play in a crowded noisy venue, unless you are doing concerts and the sound engineer complains about your tone? When Leo was building these I doubt that he was angsting over "premium" sets of tubes..

Ariel you mentioned "We need to replace". Is this for yourself, a customer, or an artist you maintain gear for? It's up to who pays for them which set you go with, no?

I'd go with Ken's suggestion. Keep the extra $170 and spend it on something frivolous, like a night out somewhere

[Greg Milton]

I have found "the tube store" sets to have the most cost effective replacement sets based on tube quality, tone, affordability and availability at any point in time.

My recent experience from the Tube Store is that tubes said to be matched were far from it. Not sure if I'm just unlucky...

[Ariel Lobos]

Sorry for the delay, hotmail overlooked your answears and i missed them. Carl i work in a recording studio here, we share the cost, ill buy the tubes and the technician will re-bias it for free.This amp is such good sounding machine with the jj tubes, if it could sound better would be amazing. I am going to Dallas for the convention,i´m asking the people who usually sell parts there, ill writte amplified parts maybe they have NOS. It´isn´t neccesary for me the whole pack right now, i could pick it one by one and put them together someday