I just bought some military issue 12ax7s. JEESSH, I can't believe the difference!! To any one who reads this. If you want tone, gain, and much higher feedback threashold find some old Telefunken, GE, Mullard, Sylvania or RCA militaries. They were (from what I understand) built to be used in military radar and radio arrays. They are usually listed as NOS (New Old Stock) since most are stock from the 50's, 60's and 70's. There numbers might be listed with a JAN in the front of them, stands for Joint Army Navy.
They will cost a good buck. A good set of these will cost anywhere from 50 to 100. They are built like a fortress and have a life expectancy of up to 100,000 hours.
I took a $300 preamp and made it sound like a million. Some links to get info and cost if you are interested.
http://www.bws-tube.com/htm/tubes.html
http://www.vacuumtube.com/guitar.htm
A guy at a guitar store suggested I get these. He was right. I will never doubt that my preamp uses the tubes for more than coloring again.
Dave
