Crack;Bottlehead OTL

[Nebby]

Teflon sockets purchased, as well as $150 of tubes

What tubes did you get?

[crappyjones123]

i can feed the habit as well. got plenty of crack derivatives to float around

[Nebby]

i can feed the habit as well. got plenty of crack derivatives to float around

Just picked up a pair of 421a's last night. Damn you crappy.

[Beefy]

What tubes did you get?

1x 6AS7G, 2x 5998, 2x 12AU7 - all middle-range NOS, nothing fancy yet. Takes me to a total to five of each tube, with a mix of NOS and new production.

[crappyjones123]

Just picked up a pair of 421a's last night. Damn you crappy.

you wont be damning me when you listen to them. the ones from ebay?

[Nebby]

1x 6AS7G, 2x 5998, 2x 12AU7 - all middle-range NOS, nothing fancy yet. Takes me to a total to five of each tube, with a mix of NOS and new production.

That's what I started off with, basically. Let me know what you think of the 5998's

you wont be damning me when you listen to them. the ones from ebay?

Yea, but I think it's a different seller than the one you got yours from.

[Beefy]

That's what I started off with, basically. Let me know what you think of the 5998's

I most interested in how the JJ ECC802S hold up to the better NOS tubes. The guitar guys go nuts for this particular tube.

[Nebby]

So it would seem that they do go nuts for that tube. Do post your impressions please

[crappyjones123]

ive heard about 8 or 9 12au7 variants now and havent heard anything as quiet as the amperex bugle boy 12au7. next comes the hytron 5814a. could live with either but 421a + the bugle boy is what i listen to most of the time.

[Beefy]

Picked up my tubestore order from the post office today...... the Teflon tube sockets are indeed leaps and bounds ahead of the ceramic ones. Well worth the money.

[crappyjones123]

just picked up a mullard 12au7 b6h made at the blackburn plant with the original box. was helping one of my moms friends clean out their garage and found a stash of tubes. only thing that didnt look busted/useless was this mullard b code 12au7 and a rca 12au7 which has no sound in the right channel. nice score nonetheless for a mornings worth of work. letting the tubes warm up now but upon an initial listen the mullard + 421a = pretty fucking nice. the acoustic guitar sounds WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY nicer than with the bugle boy 12au7 but the mullard takes a smidgen off of the top end i think. first pair of 12au7s i have been able to tell a marked difference between. maybe its just that i have been listening to the bugle boy for the past week straight and now switching tubes makes the differences more apparent. nonetheless, very very nice tube.

you guys are making me want to go ahead with the crazy build now =/ are there any teflon tube sockets that go into the holes of the stock top plate without any modifications?

[Beefy]

The Woo ones that Looser101 linked to above do indeed fit without any modifications. They are a touch tight on the screw holes for the octal mounting bracket, but still doable.

[crappyjones123]

fack.

[Beefy]

If I were you, I'd buy a better pot before I bothered with the tube sockets. That change will definitely require modifications though.....

[crappyjones123]

like...?

[Beefy]

I'm going to use one of these: http://www.partsconnexion.com/tkd_64186.html with a 50k series resistor.

[n_maher]

Anyone hunting for output tubes should drop postjack a line. He and I were speaking the other day and he mentioned having [3] 5998's as well as an pretty-rare 2399 that he's looking to part with. All of these came from the original Menace collection and should be in very good shape.

[Beefy]

Tempting, but with a 6080, 2x 6AS7G and 2x 5998A, I can't possibly need more tubes....... can I?

[crappyjones123]

i have a few 5998s now...the 2399 is one i havent heard of. any thoughts on how it racks up against the 421a nate (or posty)? i havent really used anything other than the 421a as the 5998 and the 6as7g dont seem to do anything better than the 421a to my ears. perhaps i am just trying to justify their cost but i really do like the sound out of the 421a better.

[crappyjones123]

Tempting, but with a 6080, 2x 6AS7G and 2x 5998A, I can't possibly need more tubes....... can I?

you can never have enough tubes. dew eet. 5998a is the suck. purchased one just to see how it would stack up against the others and it did suck just like nate said it would. standing alone it isnt bad but once you hear an actual tung sol 5998 then you cant really go back.

[n_maher]

Every 5998A that I've seen is simply a 6080/6AS7, not bad but not a real 5998 either. Also, FWIW all 5998s were made by TS, there are just many rebrands out there so no need to pay for the TS name if someone is trying to get a premium. Also, the 421A is just a 5998, but tests and listening seem to indicate that they are the lowest noise versions. Still, I wouldn't pay a super premium for a 421A either.

[Beefy]

The only 5998A datasheet I can find claims that they are exactly the same as the 5998, except for the glass envelope and base.

I've also read claims that the 5998A was only ever made by GE but the Tung Sol datasheet above disputes that. I also have Sylvania and GE 5998A's right here in front of me that are clearly quite different from each other.

Heater draw on the 5998(A) is 2.4A compared to the 6080 and 6AS7 at 2.5A, so they can't be exactly the same.

I'm going to go and drink, heavily, until this all makes sense......

[n_maher]

All I can say is that the 4 5998A's all had plates from 6AS7's in them and not the 6 dimple 5998 plates, it was an easy visual distinction.

[Beefy]

Nice tip!

Things seem further confused by the 7236. This tube seems highly regarded, but is actually a computer-rated 5998A with the flat plates. Drinking still seems like a great idea

[n_maher]

Cheers to that!