preamp tubes brands?

[needlework]

I wanted to  change my Zoom 9150 preamp tube 12ax7a (it sound too "80", and I play mainly extreme metal) and so I started to search some information aboute tubes.

Some says JJ are the tubes with the fattiest sound on the market, some says china tubes to be smoother than other, some says that russian tube are the best (I've read comments about russian tube for military use found in militaria gatherings that sound amazing).

what are your personal experiences? what tube do you prefer and why?

[brett]

Hi
The sound of valves depends on many things.
In my opinion, the main factors affecting the tone of 12AX7s and similar tubes are:
Context: which stage is it in? (e.g. gain or phase inverter?)  What amp is it in? (e.g. Fender twin or Mesa Boogie?)  How is it biased (neutral like Fenders or way off-centre like the Real McTube?).  Is it likely to oscillate or vibrate (and go microphonic)?
Brand and type:  short or long plate?  rugged construction or lightweight? (both can be good)  WB usually gives a little more gain than WA (but not always!).
The rest of the chain:  are the speakers or the guitar rubbish?  will a death metal pedal overwhelm any subtle differences?
Psychological: rare is better than common. high cost is better than cheap.  vintage is better than recent. 

In general, I feel that the psychological factors are overlooked.  Some people can hear magic in old Mullards, but for some reason I can't.  Maybe it's because my budget isn't as limited as most people.  (ie there's no "grass is always greener" effect)
I get annoyed at valves going microphonic, which can affect most tubes, but in my case it's been Sovtek long-plates and JJs that have rattled themselves apart.  On the other hand, JJs seem to have ok construction, are easy to get, cheap and I like their tone (in my Marshall 18 watter, Firefly, MusicMan65 and the clean channel on my Marshall JTM60).  However, in the distortion channel of my JTM I mostly use Sovtek WBs for the little bit extra gain (average 5 to 10%).

In the end, it's all very personal and subjective and individual experiences can vary a lot.

[chieljan]

Hey!

Actually, I don't think switching a tube in a device like a 9150 will take your sound from "80" to "extreme metal". Better build (or buy ) yourself a nice metal distortion effect...
Use the zoom for things like choruses and flangers and all the other nice things multi-fx do, or to warm your clean sound with some tubeness, and blow the death metal distortion heck out of everyone with a nice stompbox or amp with a dist pedal you dó like.

Good luck on your extreme metal tone quest!

CJ

[sfx1999]

JJ ECC83-S for your 12AX7.

I have tried the JJ ECC803-S, but I didn't like it as much. It was kind of flabby.

Please note that it will probably still sound 80s even with new tubes.

[mars_bringer_of_war]

IF the tube in your Zoom unit is involved in the signal at all, it's more than likely being used as a diode, or at the most in a starved plate application. Changing the tube will do little to nothing in changing the distortion tone of the unit. Don't waste your money.