Revolutionary or just another try?

[Daver]

For the clean clips I'll guess that clip #1 is the Tech Tubes. The overdriven samples I previously guessed that the Tech Tubes were clip #2. Hey, am I the only one playing here! What do I win?
Dave

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi Steve,

I just listened to both clips very carefully, the first clip sounds "flatter", thus a little "mid-rangy" to me, while the second one has a certain amount of "hollowness" on the mids, which makes for a good match for a strat ( or strat-like guitar ) with the PU switch in positions 2 and 4, and renders both the lows and highs more evident, ( at least to my ear ), like it has been "naturally equalized".

Hope I managed to describe my "sonic sensations" well enough .

I must say I like the second one the most, but I believe the "tech tube" clip to be the first one.

If I'm wrong I promise I will hit my left hand knuckles using a ruler

Cheers

Bob

Edit....I have NOW seen the pic, and I' m glad to see 't was a strat indeed....this means that, while other parts of my body are starting to malfunction ( ....not THAT part....I was talkin' 'bout my eyes ), my ears are still working fine .

[Steve Conner]

Yes, it was a Strat using the middle pickup. I much prefer the clean tone of the Strat to my other guitar, which has humbuckers with covers.

I agree with Bob's sonic sensations, but as for which clip is which tube, I'll wait a bit longer before I spill the beans, to see if anyone else wants to have a guess.

[dai h.]

I like 2 better. Bit chimier in the top end.

[Steve Conner]

Hi all

OK, so I didn't get round to doing the measurements yet, and now the equipment I was going to use has blown up.

Anyway, in both sets of clips, #1 was the Mullard and #2 was the Techtube.

I found a home for the Techtube where I like its characteristics very much: The active EQ circuit in my Ninja Toaster. It was designed to overdrive the tube somewhat at high levels of boost, and the smooth distortion from the Techtube seems just right.

[tubeswell]

Hmmm... I do like the No. 2 tube sound, which has noticeably more highs that you can hear on the clean track. I'm going to order some ASAP

PS Thanks for those clips Steve :-)

[Robert M. Martinelli]

If I'm wrong I promise I will hit my left hand knuckles using a ruler

OUCH!!!!

That d@mned ruler HURTS!

I won't be able to shred at least for a couple of days, but I had that coming!

Cheers

Bob

[BackwardsBoB]

I much prefer valve-test 1 and clean-test 2. I think they'd better match my Tele. You're right about the tradeoffs though. It's hard to cut without an edge.

I too am waiting for the curtain...

[Sweetfinger]

Like a dying Oarfish floating up from the depths, comes the bump. Any news on these?

[tubeswell]

Like a dying Oarfish floating up from the depths, comes the bump. Any news on these?

Yeah - sadly they went bankrupt. Shame - cos they had a really interesting vid on their website about the old Mullard Blackburn factory that showed the entire tube manufacturing process in the glory days - it was really cool stuff. Steve Connor bought one one (or two?) of their tubes and posted the soundbytes on this site last year.

[Sweetfinger]

I watched that video. I LIVE for stuff like that! Hundreds of tubes whizzing out of machines the size of small houses. Sexy ladies with cool accents sorting and testing-n-stuff!

[tubeswell]

FWIW I found the series on the 'tube


YouTube - Mullard - Blackburn Vacuum Tubes Factory (Part 1)

YouTube - Mullard - Blackburn Vacuum Tubes Factory (Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrLSLxb5Jqg&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-828...eature=related