Tube Matching

[ajeffcote]

Some of you here (like me) will remember the days when you bought tubes from a supplier and tossed them in, and all was good. The concept of matching sold a lot of tubes, and for the most part, that is still all it is good for, as far as guitar amps go anyway.

If you do buy matched tubes, remember that the only thing being measured is gamma, and nothing else. Also, matching is not an indication of quality or lifespan.

OK,I'm not up to speed on the process of tube matching.These tubes were supposed to be within a 5% tolerance for emissions and current draw.Spoke to the supplier(Brent Jesse) and he will readily replace the pair,if I want.But they are sounding so good now that I can't possibly send them back.
As far as the relevance of matching tubes,I can only speak from very limited experience.If I set the bias for one tube to sound nice and warm and the other tube is not into that warmth zone,I can increase the current to bring them into a balance of,maybe one tube a little past the sweet spot and one tube a little before it.And maybe all this is just wasted speculation.As intently as I listen,and as particular about my tone as I may be,my ears are not nearly as good as they used to be.And who am I trying to please?The old guy with hearing loss from too many loud amplifiers blasting in his ears.Nine out of ten people can't hear the difference,anyway.
Yeah,it's just for me.

[Old Tele man]

...to be really HONEST, in light of todays' imported tubes, "matching" is actually more of a final quality-control screening event...as in: "...yep, they're both operating faily closely to each other; and not dead."

[stokes]

After burning in for about 36 hours they are about 4 Ma's apart.And they sound good.I'm still going to install another bias pot so I can adjust to whatever my preference maybe.
Thanks for all the replies.I welcome and appreciate the wealth of knowledge you all have shared with me.I've learned a lot since I started prowling around this forum!

Okay then.If they are 4ma's apart,they are matched as well as any guitar amps tubes need to be.Within 5ma's is a number most suppliers use as a "standard",but I have used tubes that are 7-10ma's and they are fine.More than 10ma's I have found become bothersome,with some tubes,additional hum and somewhat weaker sounding.

[ajeffcote]

I know I said they are sounding good before,but I have to say it again.The RCA tubes are installed in my Allen Accomplice,which sounds pretty good with JJ's,EH's,Tung-Sol's,Sovtec's,etc.,but it sounds so much better now.All these years I thought that a tube was a tube was a tube.That as long as they worked that was as good as it would get.I was wrong.

[stokes]

I know I said they are sounding good before,but I have to say it again.The RCA tubes are installed in my Allen Accomplice,which sounds pretty good with JJ's,EH's,Tung-Sol's,Sovtec's,etc.,but it sounds so much better now.All these years I thought that a tube was a tube was a tube.That as long as they worked that was as good as it would get.I was wrong.

Enjoy your newfound NOS addiction.