basic tube question

[excellrec]

so i'm gonna try putting a new tube in a compressor for fun. I asked the company what works and they said..

"You can try using any type of dual triode ECC83/12AX7WA valve"

I looked up and read some stuff on tubes and what the names mean and so forth and am sill a bit confused about a couple things.


1. are all ECC83/12AX7WA's dual triode? sometimes it says a
"dual triode 12ax7" and sometimes it just says "12ax7"

2. what about all the little adaptations... for a 12ax7lps. Or various other little off-shoots, usually when finding these it says something like "....a 12ax7 with a lower noise floor" soooo it will work in place of a 12ax7 right?

which also brings me to the original reccomendation from the company.. they said a ECC83/12AX7WA , isn't an ECC83 just a 12AX7 not a 12AX7WA, is this possible, or am i over analyzing his casual usage of these terms? Anyways, thanks guys/girls.
Arit

[toledo3]

They can all be used interchangeably- they will just have slightly different specs. And all of them are dual triode, whether it says it on the tube or not.

[Jack Pettit]

In guitar amps the 12AX7 type of pre-amp tube is very common.
It's really a family of tubes, you can get a list from most vintage tube dealers. I have a collection that I use for guitar amps.
Some are Hi-Fi, some are colored, some compress more than others. A telefunken will cost bunch, a chinese one will be cheap.
Lots to play with.

[excellrec]

okay, well now that thats out of the way. Do you guys have any suggestions for compressors. The unit that i'm tinkering with is a hhb fatman d/i compressor thingy. I use it mainly for guitar d.i. and synths. The thing i don't like about it is that it darkens the crap out of stuff and removes all the detail. I excpect a bit of this but i guess i just dont like the manner in which it does this. The tube in it now is some cheap sovtek. I am well aware that a tube change may not be the answer to my problems but i just wanna see what happens. I'm considering a mullard or telefunken.

[jagarinec]

Originally posted by toledo3
Want mixing/tracking feedback? Checkout MFR @ The Fade- http://www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php

man, this is a cool link. it´s exactly what i´m looking for

[Jack Pettit]

Mullards or Telefunkens are not cheep.
The mullards I buy now are CV4004's I think, one's that were made for the military and even those are hard to find.
$35.00 or $40.00
They are warm and fat sounding.
I have one Telefunken (diamond bottom) but I don't like it for guitar, to clean and HI-Fi. It was $60.00 years ago and
they are VERY rare.

Good Luck

[Phunkeman]

I would go to the tubestore.com and read up on it. The site has a ton on information that a layman can understand. which is what i am.I have a little better understanding of whats going on and have a nice reference when i need it. i was looking into changing the tube in a mike for a different sound and came away quite pleased. There are so many tubes that can fit into a particular circuit. Its kinda like choosing a particular wine to drink. The cool part is not all tubes are super exspensive...some can be. Look them up you will be amazed.