drinking the NOS tube kool-aid

exhausted

I've never been much interested in buying up old USA made tubes like some folks since everything my amps use are in current production anyway. Plus I probably don't have trained enough ears to hear the difference anyway.

However I do have this fender reverb unit reissue that comes with a 6V6 power tube. But the circuit is true to the original that used a 6K6 which no one makes anymore. So I always wanted to find a 6K6 to see how the reverb was supposed to sound.

I found some last week for like 4.50 each so I finally bought a couple. It was a overstock sale so you don't really know what your going to get but I ended up receiving zenith and CEI branded tubes and they're definitely old.

Popped one in today and the reverb is definitely different. Not as harsh and since the 6K6 has less power I can actually open up the dwell control a bit. Before I had to keep the dwell and tone well below 5 for things to sound ok and usually kept the mix way down too. Now everything seems to have much more useable range.

Anyway this post doesn't have much of a point but I do think I'll hoard a few more 6K6s since once they're gone they're all gone and the reverb circuit really did benefit from using one. Still not much interest in paying mega $$ for old 6V6s or anything.

Also really dumb: the groove tubes 6V6 the unit came with just has their logo screened over the electro harmonix logo. So cheesy. So never buy groove tubes unless you like paying for middlemen.

I've always known they were rebrands but I don't remember them being so lazy as to be so obvious before. My princeton's tubes are the same.

Pacomc79

shoot I wish I'd saved you the ones I found in that old hammond model M.

geez. Maybe I should be talking to all kinds of people about old stuff from their grandparents come to think of it.

So you liked what it did to the reverb eh? Man once you have all that control over the reverb you wish everything was like that.

Groove Tubes and Ruby Tubes are rebrands as are most if not all manufacturer brands.

All Those Yesterdays

There was a article with in this past year that said groove tube bought some old equipment for tube manufacturing. Made it sound like they were going to start producing tubes in the US. Just haven't heard anything since.

ianvomsaal

Me either, I hear you . . . I don't get all the hoopla about it either.
However, a few things Groove Tube does do is "Test the Tube" "Rate the Tube" and "Match the Tubes" for sets.
They check the tubes rating and match the tubes accordingly (2's with 2's, 5's with 5's, 7's with 7's, etc, etc).
I completely agree, middle-men suck, but at least they go a little further than just putting their name on other people's tubes.