What's New Archive

What’s New Page Archive

Below is the archive of the Eurotubes “What’s New” page taking you all the way back to December of 2003 02/05/15

03/14/11 - The JJ EL844 gets it's own page! This should be fun! Check it out here! 02/16/11 The new JJ 5Y3 is here! You can now find these tubes in the online store for 15.00 each. 02/01/11 - Read the 2011 NAMM review here! 01/26/11 - The new JJ 5Y3 is a reality! This new rectifier tube is directly heated just as the original RCA 5Y3's that we have been carrying and consider to be the best available. Other current production 5Y3's made in China and Russia are indirectly heated and as many of you have found out the hard way, these tubes produce higher voltages than real directly heated 5Y3's. The Chinese and Russian 5Y3's are very stiff feeling and sounding where the new JJ 5Y3 has all the magic of the RCA Black Plate 5Y3GT. The JJ is very dynamic and gets that breathy sag when you really crank things up! The pic below shows one powering a pair of KT66's in our Anderson 20/45. As usual JJ designed their 5Y3 to exceed original standards so these will be an option for most amps running a GZ34 or 5U4 if less power and an earlier breakup is desired. In the coming weeks we will be running these tubes thru as many amps as we can to get you first hand info on application and performance. We will have the first batch of these tubes available in about 2 to 3 weeks!

01/07/11 - The reviews are starting to come in on the EL844. Here is a good one! From: budbbc [mailto:budbbc@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 7:48 PM To: Eurotubes Subject: Customer Review Hi Eddie & Bob. This is Bud Bremner from Vancouver, BC and I recently purchased a low output retube kit and damper rings for my Peavey Classic 30. Long story short, I absolutely love these tubes! The low output EL844’s initially took me by surprise - with my P90 equipped Les Paul Custom wide open, the clean channel was distorting and the amp had never done that before. I called Eddie and he took the time to explain the headroom differences between the standard EL84 and the low output EL844. (Your customer service rocks!)Now with my guitar at just 30-50% volume, ooh baby this clean channel is so sweet. : ) It gets a bit grainy if you push it but that’s what would happen if you had standard tubes and cranked the snot out of it, which is what we like to do right?! Now, with just my volume pot and picking dynamics I can control the amount of warmth I want from the clean channel. The lead channel gain is so smooth, I never knew my guitar and amp could sound like this. My last tubes (GT) were buzzy sounding but the JJ’s are tight, focused and sing with harmonic richness I’d never heard from this amp. Now that I understand the character of the low output kit, man, I’d never go back to standard EL84’s unless I needed the volume for a larger gig. I’m a customer for life!For those reading these reviews before purchasing, take the time to consider your playing style, playing environment and read the explanations of the re-tube kits for your amp, you’ll be so glad you bought JJ’s from Eurotubes! Thanks again Eddie for the education. Cheers! Bud Bremner, Vancouver, BC

12/23/10 - A little clarification on the EL844. A couple of our customers have brought it to our attention that a few of the "all knowing tube guru's" are speculating that the new JJ EL844 is either an EL84 that tests out low or a rewired EL83. Well gang, they are myles off... The EL844 was spawned during talks with JJ at their factory in the Slovak republic as far back as 2007 where our initial request was for a 5 watt tube that could be used as a drop in replacement for an EL84. We get thousands of requests from customers wanting a lower output and earlier breakup from their VOX AC's, Fender Blues and Pro Jr's along with a variety of other EL84 amps. So we thought it was time for a low power EL84. Like many new tubes the EL844 was over two years in the making. JJ decided that the proven plate structure from the EL83 would be a good starting point and we saw the first prototypes back in the first part of 2009. These had a good clean sound but the distortion was not what we wanted. The tube really started to gel in the middle of 2010 where we found the latest versions not only had a great clean but now also exhibited a very defined and harmonically rich overdrive. We knew it was a winner! JJ worked to get the output down as far as possible and it ended up at 9 watts which is 25% less than an EL84. Please feel free to copy and paste the info above if you happen to run into a tube guru that's over dissipating about the EL844!

11/12/10 - Announcing the new JJ 6550, EL844 and Big Bottle 6CA7! These are now available in the online store! The new JJ 6550 is ready to go! Everyone here at Eurotubes took a step back when we first auditioned the new JJ 6550. Most 6550's and especially new production tubes are pretty sterol sounding so our benchmark was to A/B the JJ 6550 against some of our NOS GE, RCA, Sylvania and Coke bottle Amperex 6550's. Most of the time JJ Electronic tubes will hold their own with NOS equivalents or even surpass them but in the case of the JJ 6550 these are hands down the best 6550 we have ever heard. They are very warm with a great clean tone and the breakup raw, crunchy and gritty. If you want an Angus - AC/DC type tone then these tubes really deliver! they are simply a lot of fun to play. The JJ 6550 will not make as much power as the JJ KT88 and the KT88 is thicker sounding, in fact some players feel it's too thick, so if you want a fatter sounding tube than a 6L6 that breaks up earlier than a KT88 then the JJ 6550 may be just right. The JJ Big Bottle 6CA7 is another welcome addition to the already extensive line offered. It has the harmonic complexity of an EL34 in the upper mids and highs and the round low end of a 6L6 so it's as close to mixing an EL34 with a 6L6 in one bottle as you can get. We just loaded up Marshall DSL50 with a pair of these and and the first word that came to mind was "wooly". The low mids were FAT, and the high end sparkle was outstanding! These are a great "in-between" tube for the Peavey XXX and JSX amps as well as just about any other EL34 type amp such as Marshall, Laney and Mesa to name a few.

11/04/10 - Time to cut the new JJ EL844 loose! Here is a first look and these are now available in the online store. Since our announcement about the EL844 there have been many false speculations as to the origin, nature and purpose of this tube. Some have speculated that it's replacing the JJ EL84, this is NOT true, it is simply another alternative. It is NOT an EL84 that tests out weak and it is NOT an EL83! It is a newly designed tube for players who want a little less power and an earlier breakup from their EL84 based amps. The EL844 is a low power variant to use in place of an EL84 and will drop into most cathode and fixed biased amps like the Orange AD amps, VOX AC amps, Laney VC amps, Crate V and VC amps including the Palomino, Budda amps, Fender Blues and Pro junior amps. It is also an option for all the 5 watters like the Valve Junior, Blackheart, Mini Cat and others. If your amp is adjustable bias like the Marshall 201 and 401 or Bugera V22 then because the EL844's dissipate 9 watts these must biased 25% lower than standard EL84's. The EL844 will reduce the power output by 25% which is about a two decibel difference and is quite noticeable, so if you're looking for a modest reduction in output and a great sounding tube the EL844 is here! For those of you who are familiar with the old EL83, the EL844 plate structure is quite similar but the EL844 is NOT a replacement for an EL83!!! It is quite different.

10/21/10 - A little over a year ago we asked our good friends at JJ Electronic to build us a low power EL84 and they agreed to do it! It's not an easy task to build a tube that has never been built, but JJ has proven they are the people to do it. We have been testing different revisions of the brand new JJ EL844 since January of 2010 and it is ready! We talked about several tubes that would be welcome additions and we have to tell you, JJ has been VERY busy! We are really happy with the way the EL844 has turned out! It's a wonderful sounding tube and will dissipate right at 9 watts rather than 12 watts which will be a great option for players who want to get to the sweet spot at a little lower volume. As for the other two tubes, that's a secret! Eurotubes is announcing all three new tubes with a full page ad in the January issue of Guitar Player Magazine which will hit the stands and arrive to subscribers on November the 27th. We will have all of these tubes in stock and ready to go by 11-15-10 when we will fill you in on everything! Here is a sneak peek of the ad!

06/01/10 The new "EuroDamper" Tube damper rings are here! Custom made from high temp soft durometer silicone. Check them out here!

04/05/10 The new Tube Coffee Mugs are here! After receiving many requests for “Tube Girl” coffee mugs we finally found a source that could do her justice! Most all screen companies can only print an image that is two inches tall but our source has really brought her to life at just less than four inches. These will not fade in the dishwasher either.

01/28/10 Check out the NAMM review for January 2010 here!

04/21/09 The new Baseball Jersey style shirts are in! We had a couple of these printed on the last run and everyone who saw them wanted one. Since we were all but out of shirts, we printed up some of these in very cool "Olive Green and Black" and in "Smoke Gray and Black" They are 3/4 sleeve classic Jersey style. These are the highest quality Jersey Tee shirts we could get and they are 100% pre shrunk cotton just like the Black and Vintage Cream Tee's! They are available in the online store in Large XLarge and XXLarge. We also have a new run of the standard Black and Vintage Cream Tee's.

01/27/09 We just got the new Eurotubes Tube Girl stickers in! We have had so many requests for these that we had to do it. They are 3" X 4" vinyl bumper stickers that are UV coated so you can stick them on windows, bumpers, guitar cases, amps, girl friends and just about anywhere! These are now in the online store for 1.00

01/21/09 We have finally caught up from our yearly trip to the NAMM show and you can read a report here, NAMM 2009 It's always fun to announce a brand new tube so we would like to announce that JJ has introduced a 5U4GB rectifier tube! We have been running a test batch of the new 5U4GB's thru a bunch of different amps here in the Eurotubes studio over the last month. So far we are very impressed with the dynamic response which is very much like the RCA 5U4's, not too stiff with just the right amount of sag. We have really been needing a good 5U4 and I was very happy when the good folks at JJ responded to my request for this tube with a commitment to building it. We now have the first production batch of these available in the online store.

10/08/08 We like to be first, so as soon as I heard that Ted was making the Mass III I ordered them! So here it is, the new Mass III 150 watt attenuator! This is really a nice unit and Ted has taken the art of attenuators to a new level. Unlike any other attenuator on the planet, it has three attenuator controls which are Bass, Middle and Treble, this really gives a lot of control over the sound you can get when attenuated down. It also comes with a real handy foot switch for the bypass circuit. This means you can set a two channel amp up to get two clean volume levels and two driven volume levels. Nice!! As you can see by the pic's below its a well made unit. The price is 250.00 and they are up in the online store. We'll see how long the first batch lasts! For all the features it has including a line out with volume and tone controls, its again in a class by its self. The first pic is on top of my Anderson to give you an idea of the size of the Mass III.

08/13/08 For all you vintage SUNN fans! We had a very special photo shoot with Conrad Sundholm the father of SUNN amps with the Eurotubes SUNN collection so the SUNN page is now updated with some great shots! You can see them HERE.

07/10/08 We took possession of our first Amplitrex AT1000 on 06/16/08 and we have been running it thru its paces for the last three weeks. At this point in time we are simply going to call this machine the last word in tube testing. It is the most well thought out and precise tester we have ever used. In short, a thoroughly amazing piece of gear! In the past we had found the VTV Characterizer very helpful in allowing us thru experimentation to find certain grades and characteristics that worked very well with different amps but the extraordinary accuracy and available data that the AT1000 offers has taken our in house testing and grading to new levels! You can read more about it and see it here!

04/29/08 The "Guitar Info" page has been updated with a page for Orange Amps and VOX Amps along with some additional info for you B52 players on the B52 page.

04/04/08 The new Vintage Cream "Tubes Are Good" Tee shirts are ready! So many of you ask us to screen these in a color other than the standard Rock & Roll Black (white was most requested) that we experimented with some different colors and decided on Vintage Cream. These really look great and are now available in the online store!

03/14/08 Just got done with the review for NAMM 2008 read it here!

01/25/08 The new prices are in affect... Maybe if we all vote for Ron Paul he will stop our government from giving away all of our money and the dollar will once again rule the world and prices will go down!! I'm an eternal optimist...

The prices listed in the online store are good thru this Friday. Unfortunately we received the largest price increase in our ten year history with JJ Electronic at the first of this year. Now that we are out of older stock we will be raising the prices 01/25/08 The reason for the increase is because the value of the American dollar has fallen drastically compared to the European Euro thanks to our government…On a more positive note a NAMM review is coming soon!

11/20/07 The new "Tubes Are Good!" Tee Shirts are in! Yes, they made it ahead of schedule and are shipping out NOW! Craig says "VERY COOL!"

11/07/07 You Orange Amp players may be interested in seeing what we did with an AD30HTC over on the bottom of the Weber page here!

11/03/07 THE NEW EUROTUBES TEE SHIRTS WILL BE READY 11/28/07!!! That's right! We have a brand new Tee shirt design and even a few Hoodies that will be ready for Christmas! The centerpiece artwork was done by local Portland artist Amanda Davis. I discussed the project with her back in September and conveyed the concept as a 40's to 50's pinup style with a very happy and classy lady riding a rather large tube! After getting the general idea sketched out Amanda was finished with the piece a couple weeks later. I scanned the original, added the text and headed for the screeners. It turned out that it was going to be a 14 screen print. That's correct FOURTEEN screens!! The shirts are in process now and will be ready the 28th of this month. I'll get them up in the online store shortly where we will be accepting pre-orders for these. So whether you're buying a Christmas present for yourself or for a friend you can order them ahead of time and we will hold all the orders and process them only after the shirts are ready to ship the last week of this month. Here is a mockup of the actual Tee shirt so you can see how they will look!

10/25/07 Due to an overwhelming number of requests from VOX players we now have retube kits up in the online store for the 90's reissue AC30's and for the new Custom Classic AC30CC's and AC15CC's.

10/24/07 Two subjects today! The first on KT77's in XXX and JSX amps and second, Integrated quads for 5150II - 6505+ amps! #1. KT77's. We have been getting LOTS of mail and phone calls about running KT77's in Peavey XXX and JSX amps. It seems that PV has decided to advise their customers that this would damage the amp and they are advising players NOT to use the KT77's. This of course is simply an answer given by a paranoid and most certainly unqualified individual... Anyone who knows anything about tubes in general and about the KT77 in particular would know that the KT77 was originally built by Genalex back in the 70's to be a drop in replacement for any EL34 and is not any harder on an amp than an EL34 is. We have been running the JJ KT77's which were built at my request by JJ Electronic (for which I sacrificed a prized pair of my own Genalex KT77's for them to tear down) in the later part of 2005 and we have been running them in XXX amps for two and a half years and in JSX amps for a year and a half. They sound great! And no, they will not blow up your amp... We also use these in Marshall's, Orange Amps, Laney's, Bogner's and Mesa amps just to name a few. They are a wonderful alternative for players looking for an EL34 type sound but needing to retain a maximum amount of low end. ********************************** #2. Integrated quads for 5150II - 6505+ amps with KT66's! After receiving quite a few requests about running KT66's in 5150 II and 6505+ amps we decided it was time to answer the call, and once again, go where no one else dare! So we did. There is not enough room between the tube sockets to run a quad of KT66's but there is enough room for two KT66's in the outside holes and a pair of 6L6GC's in the inside holes so we used the same Integrated quad that we use on the original 5150 and the newer 6505. You can see a pic of them below all fired up. The sound? Very cool! You get the creamy smooth mids and top end of the KT66's mixed in with the cutting edge of the 6L6GC's! This equals a big fat tone that is truly unique and full of harmonics. This is a plug and play option for 5150 II and 6505+ amps. Just install and turn the almost useless bias pot fully counterclockwise and ROCK! I just put up kits for these in the online store.

07/13/07 We just returned from another visit at the JJ factory. This was our first time in their new building and it was spectacular! They have built a lot of new test and production equipment. A new factory tour is here! Meetings went very well and there will be new products which we will announce in about 3 to 4 months!! As for the latest new release, the JJ KT66, it is proving to be a great tube and we have been supplying Mike over at Dr Z with these for a few months now and he is VERY happy with them as the rest of our Route 66 customers are! A customer of ours pointed me to a post on the Dr Z forum. Since I do not post on forums I figured I would address it here. This is the post: Re: Some confusion with KT66 tubes , which to use « Reply #15 on May 12, 2007, 7:27pm » A friend of mine was warned not to buy from eurotubes. He was told that they sell all kinds of relabeled and used junk, etc... I imagine these would be safe though, since they're easily identifiable. So to address this all I can say is we have never sold any re-branded tubes and never will. In fact we pride ourselves on selling ONLY factory branded JJ Electronic and NOS tubes and as Myles Rose has stated over on Harmony central "Eurotubes testing and matching is what I would call up to medical standards."

06/17/07 We just put up a new "how to" bias video which is a generic bias video done on an 800 Marshall and the procedure shown applies to almost any adjustable bias amp. I have also included a list of amps from A to V and their average plate voltage and bias points. You can find it here.

06/09/07 We have been working on a new combination of tubes for the ever popular Mesa Dual Rec again and have found yet another great setup. I set out to design a retube kit for you drop tuned players who want a "kill on contact" low end but have out grown the scooped mid thing and need a good solo voice along with a massive chug. In the past we have used a quad of KT88's for this because they are SO fat with a thunderous low end, but because of how thick they sound they don't cut in the upper mids and highs quite as well as 6L6's or EL34's do. As you probably know we are the guys that like unconventionality and I'm always keeping tabs on different grades of tubes that have potential for abstract applications so, we did a little experimenting and found specific grades of KT88's and KT66's that will work together in a Dual Rec! So what do you get? Well the KT88's handle the thunder and punch and the KT66's give you a great open mid and high end that cuts and crunches up at higher volumes. This combination is VERY cool and even though I'm not a drop tuned Metal player I must admit that these are going to stay for a while in my DR because they seem to do everything very well! I just put up kits in the online store for these! The pic below shows the black base 66's and 88's along with the GZ34 rectifiers but the Integrated quad of 66's and 88's match up so nicely that you can run them in the 6L6 mode in either the solid state or tube rec mode and in either bold or spongy with no bias mods or worries. The clean tones are spectacular and the drive tones can tip the Richter scale!

04/08/07 We have the first production run of the long awaited JJ KT66 in stock!! Yes, everyone who was on the waiting ling has been satisfied and we have stock left! They are now available in the online store. We have been running these in my Anderson Amp, my Univalve and in my Dual Rec and these are a wonderful option. To quote my son Eddie "I LOVE these tubes!" They are his new favorite. A great option for Single and Dual Rec heads. The bases are the same diameter as the KT88's so these are not a good option for combo amps with the Bear Trap style tube retainers. You can however replace the Bear Traps with the cap style spring retainers which will work nicely, but remember that you need to stretch these out just as with KT88's because too much pressure on the big double curve bottles can cause breakage when the tubes get hot! Just about any 6L6 amp can use these if there is room. The KT66's like the KT88's measure 2 1/8" in diameter so you need a very minimum of 2 1/4" measured from center to center of your tube sockets.

03/29/07 We have just finished testing on the new JJ EF806! The JJ EF806 is a premium version of an EF86 and we could not be happier with its tone and performance! I have been asking JJ for this tube for years now and have always stressed the fact that microphonics must be very low. Well they have pulled thru again! Its quieter than any of my NOS EF86’s and the construction is almost identical to the Telefunken EF86 and it has the same sweet open sound! We just ran these thru a Dr Z, Z28 and they were VERY quiet with only a slight knock heard thru the speakers just like it should be when the amp was cranked all the way on. The JJ EF806 is now available in the Eurotubes online store and they are priced at 22.00

03/16/07 We have some more first run KT66's in the house and just ran these in our Dual Rec. (See pic) These are going to be a great tube for Dual, Triple and Single Rec heads, not to mention other 6L6 amps! They have a big tight low end and a huge open mid and high end that crunches up at high volumes just like the original Genalex. These tubes draw a lot of natural plate current so the warmer grades get the cold fixed Mesa bias right up where it should be in the 6L6 mode. The pic below shows a quad of them running in the tube rectifier mode with a pair of JJ GZ34's and you can also run them in the solid state rectifier mode if you like. The bases on these tubes are the same large metal base that is used on the KT88's but it's black in color. A very cool look! Because of the large diameter base the bear trap spring tube retainers will not fit around the base of these tubes so they can either be pushed down as shown in the pic or removed. If you want to use these in Mesa combo's you would need to remove the retainers and install spring style retainers if the amp is a gig amp and constantly moved around. For applications in other 6L6 amps you will need to have at least 2 1/4" measured from center to center of your tube sockets because the JJ KT66's are 2 1/8" in diameter! We are expecting a larger shipment of the JJ KT66's in the first week of April! For now I am compiling a KT66 list because the quantity will be limited at first.

01/28/07 The big news is the JJ KT66! Yes, we have first run KT66's that we are now testing and running thru a bunch of amps. So far this tube has exceeded our expectations! We ran it up against some of our NOS Genalex KT66's and it not only held its own but it was simply more musical with greater harmonic content so to say the least we are very excited about these tubes. The first production run is scheduled for the end of February and we will be getting them! I don't have any pricing yet. The second new tube is the long awaited EF806 which is the premium version of the EF86. We are busy testing this one with reports to follow. These should also be available in early March.

01/28/07 Just back from the 2007 NAMM show read the review here!

12/20/06 The new Eurotubes Bias Probes are HERE! As lots of you know, we are now a Weber dealer and we also carry the Weber probes and will continue to carry them. We have found that while these are great units they are also very tall, so in amps that need a short probe we now have one! We are making these from high quality JJ ceramic sockets and JJ tube bases. They are the type of probe that measures in Milliamps. These are now in the Eurotubes online store for 25.00!! It's shown here with one of our "Cheap" $10.00 Multimeters.

11/28/06 The new Eurotubes stickers are HERE! So many guys have been asking for stickers that we finally got off dead center and got the job done. They are nice full four color, laminate coated, so no tearing and they stick big time! We have been shipping out all orders with a free sticker since last week and if you want to purchase more of them they are two for a buck in the online store!

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