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Tesla Heritage: Are JJ Tubes the best modern tube manufacturer?

I’m always curious about getting the real story on tubes: where they come from, the metal used to make the electrodes, their construction and what makes them tick; in short, factors that affect their QUALITY. But tubes are an archaic thermionic technology that long ago had its day. Tube manufacturing giants, Philips, Mullard, Tung-Sol, RCA, Sylvania and others ceased operating decades ago, and we’re now left with just a handful of manufacturers based in Russia, China and JJ Tubes in the Slovak Republic. The tube industry is just a shadow of its former self; there’s no longer that vast sea of expertise to support tube research and development for domestic, military/space applications and scientific research back in it’s heyday in the 1960s. But some of the skills still survive, even flourish, in small pools, such as JJ, where the art of making tubes is being kept well and truly alive. There are good reasons to like JJ.

Firstly, their tube reliability is excellent, on a par with some of the best batches of new old stock tubes. We seldom encounter any tube failures and on the rare occasion that we have, JJ supplied replacements at no cost. Secondly, they’re a family operated business and are always efficient, courteous with and down to earth. This is very important to me in today’s world where it’s a constant challenge to fight through all the marketing hype employed by some tube manufacturers and vendors. If you take a look at JJ’s website you won’t see any rebranded tubes, cryogenically treated tubes, matched tubes or any of the other marketing gimmicks employed in an effort to disguise the absence of any genuine research and development effort. Thirdly, and finally, JJ Tube do have genuine heritage. If you look at the picture above you’ll see that a Tesla ECC83 tube made in 1973 has exactly the same same kind of anode plate, mica support and getter construction as a modern manufacture JJ ECC83. This is because JJ tubes are manufactured with some of the same tooling as Tesla tubes. The old Tesla tube fabrication machines were physically moved from the Tesla Rožnov factory, Czech Republic by Jan Jorgo (JJ) to Cadca, Slovakia (some 50km east) in the early 1990s. Bravo Jan Jorgo! You not only preserved a small piece of tube manufacturing history but you also kept it working and alive.

You can find out a little more about JJ Tubes and the other components used in Effectrode pedals here

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9 COMMENTS

Robert M. October 2, 2016 at 05:44:24 Log in to Reply

I've been using both the Blackbird and the PC-2A for a number of months now. I do quite a bit of stuff with various acoustic instruments besides guitars and the bass response of both Effectrode pedals is simply wonderful with the lower octaves. Anyone reading this who was wondering about this, there's your answer. - As for the tubes, I don't do much reading about the current state of the industry. The stuff Phil has posted is about it on that score. But somewhere (don't remember where) I recently read that an American company has gotten involved with or outright purchased the Soviet/Russian production operation. Yes, the previous expertise of the past tube engineers may be just about gone, but I read that the Americans are gradually working to upgrade the current quality of the Sovtek tubes being made today and in the future. - Is there any truth in that? If so, it's much needed and bodes well for the industry.

Dan Peick January 19, 2016 at 03:28:28 Log in to Reply

Phil,Now using my PC-2A on my Jazz Bass. (In addition to my guitar use) Really improved the input conditioning to my B15N amp. It's now smooth as silk! Thanks again for one hell of a great Compressor Phil ! I think I'm on my second output tube, and three years use so far! Is there no signal this thing can't tame? WOW! This rivals my Summit TLA-50 VERY nicely! Thanks Phil,Dan

Phil January 19, 2016 at 05:00:42 Log in to Reply

Hi Dan,Thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts on the PC-2A. Really pleased to hear it's working for you on bass. I use it on bass too when recording direct. Works like a dream.

Phil January 14, 2016 at 06:18:17 Log in to Reply

You're welcome.

Michael Foisy January 14, 2016 at 07:16:33 Log in to Reply

Thank you very much Phil! I appreciate you getting back to me so quick. After seeing a couple YouTube videos I'm totally hooked and am convinced it would make my basses sound amazing. Take care.

Michael Foisy January 12, 2016 at 07:36:12 Log in to Reply

Hello, I have been admiring your SR-71 Blackbird tube pre-amp, it is gorgeous. I've found a lot of information about it being used for guitar but can it be used for bass too? I am a huge tone freak and play a Dingwall Prima through an Alembic preamp, a Stewart power amp and a Bergantino 3 way cabinet. Would that pedal be a good match for distortion? I would also like to use it as a tube DI. Will that work too. Thank you very much. Michael

Phil January 13, 2016 at 04:21:08 Log in to Reply

Hi Michael, The short answer is yes to both your questions. I know of several bassists using the Blackbird tube preamp. There's a geat deal of control over lower gain/drive levels, plus you can swap out tubes for even lower gain if required. The Blackbird is perfect for DI and adding some extra dimension and tube warmth to the sound of guitar. Over the course of the this year I'll work to get some sound clips of the Blackbird being used with bass online.

David Waters January 7, 2016 at 10:53:31 Log in to Reply

Phil What would be the best option for new EL34 tubes in a 1978 Hiwatt DR103 when NOS are not available - would you use the JJ EL34's only? I have a matched quad os Winged C Made in Russia tubes which I don't like at all, and am currently using Genelex Gold Lion KT77 (made in Russia) which sound really really good. Also what about replacement capacitors? It seems that they are re-branded items as well, and F&T don't make the right size anymore for the DR103. I had to get TAD ones which I am not happy with.How is the Effectrode delay coming along?Thank you and Happy New Year!

Phil January 8, 2016 at 01:39:09 Log in to Reply

Hi David,I'd certainly recommend JJ EL34s. Still working on the design for the delay, will be posting more info soon. Happy new year, Phil

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