MB1 Tube Choice Opinions

[rnolan]

So MB1 dudes, what are your recommendations/experiences with different tubes in MB1s ?
I recon the new sensor Mullard short plates would work very well, low microphonics (to sit on top of those biggg rumbles) and so 3D.

[kawai2g4b]

I have some JJs in mine right now as it just got back from the shop and they watch up well.  Tubes for the MB-1`seem a bit subjective for me.  All of my basses sound drastically different (e.g. passive short scale, active long scales, 6 strings passive/active), more so than a normal that a group of guitars would.  Since basses can sound so different, I would go for warmer tubes that will get you a more smooth distortion (like with an SVT).  My Kawai Alembic copy FIIB bass is very bright leaning and sounds horribly shrill through a bright tube powered rig, and my short scale sounds ridiculously boomy and undefined without good mid clarity from the amp.  The JJs in mine seem to occupy a good middle road  and I get the best out of all my basses with them should I use the tube section on my patch.

[rnolan]

Hey kawai2g4b, guitars the same, they all sound so different (keeps life interesting  ), I'd be interested to hear how the new short plate Mullards sound in a MB1, they are definitely much more 3D than the JJs in a MP2, I recon guys like you and Peter and BDS will instantly detect the improvement, but I don't have a MB1 to try them in....

[Andrea86]

I like old RCA TUBES and i have One on my Trace Elliot preamp and it sounds great!!! I have to replace TUBES also to my ADA MB1 and i would like to know if it's better short or long plate. I think short but another opinion should help me more :)
Thanks!
Andrea

[rnolan]

Hey Andrea, the short plates tend to be less microphonic than long plates so would probably be better in a bass rig, particularly if you have the MB1 on top of a speaker box, or when you play loud.  RCA made great tubes, but apart from NOS RCA's I wasn't aware you could still get them ?  Also some like to use a different tube in the V1 and V2 positions as they all have different characteristics.  I put some Mullard long plates (the short plate variant has only been available recently) in my MP2 and was blown away by how they tracked even the slightest pressure change fretting a note.  I had some JJs in for a bit, nice tube, very tight, greeeeat feedback but not as subtule to my ears and broke up a bit on the bottom E (82hz).
Cheers Richard

[Peter H. Boer]

I've tried plenty of tubes.
JJ's are in my live MB1 now

NOS Mullards are in my Studio MB1 (or it might be NOS Philips, not really sure)

[rnolan]

Hey Peter, are you using long or short plates ?

[Andrea86]

I put a RCA long plate on my Trace Elliot and 2 Sovtek on the MB1 (the tubes that i found when i bought it) and the RCA sound great so i will buy other 2 RCA tubes short plate on my MB1 'cause i play loud and i enter into ADA from my bass directly so, as you told me, short plate should be the better solution.
Fortunately i have an old electronic shop near my home and the man who works in there repair all these stuff (preamp, power amp ecc.. but only anagogic stuff, no digital....old school eheheheh) and he has a lot of old tubes and good prices! He advised me to try RCA and when i putted it into my Trace Elliot it was just incredible :)
Hope to try again this sensation putting RCAs into my ADA.

[Peter H. Boer]

Hey Peter, are you using long or short plates ?

I don't know really, they're high mu JJ's. Might be longplates. (Can't check, as I'm on holiday now)

[rnolan]

Hey Peter, enjoy you hols my friend...

[rnolan]

I put a RCA long plate on my Trace Elliot and 2 Sovtek on the MB1 (the tubes that i found when i bought it) and the RCA sound great so i will buy other 2 RCA tubes short plate on my MB1 'cause i play loud and i enter into ADA from my bass directly so, as you told me, short plate should be the better solution.
Fortunately i have an old electronic shop near my home and the man who works in there repair all these stuff (preamp, power amp ecc.. but only anagogic stuff, no digital....old school eheheheh) and he has a lot of old tubes and good prices! He advised me to try RCA and when i putted it into my Trace Elliot it was just incredible :)
Hope to try again this sensation putting RCAs into my ADA.

Cool, great to have a dude like that close by  And old school (keep it as analogue as possible) like me  :whoohoo!: . Let me know how the RCA's sound (very good I suspect from what you say re the Trace E).  I've heard some good things about Sovteks but not tried them personally.  I also play loud  >:D although for guitar tubes (I have MP2(s)), we are chasing lots of distortion/clipping/controlled feedback (feedback is where the JJs were great..) which (while you might like a bit of growl (go Peter)) is not necessarilly what you are chasing for bass (clean/sharp/articulate/warm, good/fast transients).  Attached is a really good article re tubes you may find interesting (some clues to maybe why the RCAs are so good..).  BTW how did you go re compressor IC ?
Cheers Richard

[bcklndt]

I also want top quality tubes for my MB-1 .. it now has 2 12AX7EH (russian sovtek tubes), so I guess there's room for improvement.
Any advice on do's & don'ts for TAD (tube amp doctor) tubes?
I have TAD's in an upgraded Klemt Echolette BS40 which sound really good .. at least way better than Sovtek tubes ..

.. new sensor Mullard short plates ??

[rnolan]

Hey bcklndt, I went with the NS mullard long plates in my MB1s and they are great.  While you might go with the short plates (which I'm sure would also be very good), the long plates are a bit more 3D and respond (track) very well to slight changes in your fretting fingering pressure.  While typically short plates are selected as they are a bit less susceptible to microphonics than long plates, I've not had any microphonic issues with them (sitting on top of a pair of Boogie P112s) and the added depth that long plates bring really works for me.

[bcklndt]

Hey bcklndt, I went with the NS mullard long plates in my MB1s and they are great.  While you might go with the short plates (which I'm sure would also be very good), the long plates are a bit more 3D and respond (track) very well to slight changes in your fretting fingering pressure.  While typically short plates are selected as they are a bit less susceptible to microphonics than long plates, I've not had any microphonic issues with them (sitting on top of a pair of Boogie P112s) and the added depth that long plates bring really works for me.

Cool .. gonna check for Mullard tubes