Mini Jubilee tube recommendations?

[Damjan R]

Noob question but I will try and explaing. Got a Mini Jubilee with 2x12 cab 2 months ago... Honestly love it...
It does great cleans even in a band context really cuts trough the mix and ofc some amp overdrive alone or boosted with TS, Klon style, boosts like FFX it does it all really well.

But started thinking about tubes so my next questions are:

I know that the Mini Jub doesn't need biasing because it is cathode bias (in my case that is amazing because hard to find a tech nearby and a good one at that).
Also I know that it uses 2 EL34 tubes in the power amp and 3 ECC83 or 12AX7 in the preamp.

I am based in Europe and as far as I noticed my best bet is to buy from JJ tubes directly becuase most shops that sell tubes charge a lot extra.
But if you have anything else to recommend feel free to do so, my tubes right now are JJ's that came with the amp and with nothing to compare them I love the sound.

Also at least talking for JJ i see that they sell different types of EL34's for example and now my MAIN QUESTION is if you could educate me because the tubes that are right
now in the amp seem to be an alright balance between getting saturated gain tones and nice cleans (looking for versatility).

So if there is a thing in tubes like for example "with xyz tubes you can get a hair more headroom or more saturation" could anyone inform me on that please?
(not really looking for more saturation because max I would play something to like hard rock territory and there is more then enough gain on tap in the amp on its own
so I guess that I would look for tubes that are similar to the stock ones or with a hair more headroom).

And how often do you need to change power amp and preamp tubes? Based on that I will probably buy a pair or two in the following months.
I play the amp maybe 5-8 hours in a whole week (depends maybe less maybe more if there is a gig) so lets say 2 times per week band practice but for general use
I play a small solid state practice amp and my main amp the Jubilee is for band practice and gigging.

Hope I can get some help on here, thanks in advance.

 

[Kinkless Tetrode]

I'm using 6CA7 fat bottle tubes in mine. EH , not JJ. Not that I have any reason to doubt that the JJ's would not also work. I think the 6CA7 compared to EL34 give it more open mids and just a bigger, wider, sound. The difference is subtle but I notice it.

I went through a period of tube rolling a few years ago. With exception of V1, I didn't notice any difference by different preamp tubes. Now in V1 I did notice a difference in the distortion quality. I ran an old RFT there for awhile but it went microphonic. Since that time, I have been running an old Mesa Boogie branded 7025 (12AX7) from the 80's with good results.

I have replaced the power tubes a couple times in about 6 years. Both times after one of the power tubes developed a hum.

As a general rule I only replace tubes in tube amps if they develop a problem or fail. I think replacing tubes by a schedule is falling prey to marketing. If it still sounds great there is no need change them IME.

The tubes mine came with from the factory were a JJ in V1, Shugangs in V2 and V3 (both still there) and Russian Tung sol Branded EL34B's in the power slots. I put the Tung Sol EL34's in my 50 watt Jubilee. They are still there. I don't know what the Mini Jube ships with now.

 

[Kutt]

Longevity of power tubes depends on how hard they are pushed volume wise and how hot or cold they are biased. Assuming the existing JJ power tubes are on the newer side and reasonably biased you should be able to get at least four years or more out of them given your 5-8 hour per week schedule.

As far as saturation, some power tubes are rated for earlier breakup which means they will distort (and saturate) a bit more quickly than a higher rating. When I type "rating" it's just a number system. It does not indicate that one tube is better or worse than the other.

JJs are good tubes. I think Electro-Harmonix and Tung Sols sound really good in Marshalls. My mini Jubilee (and full sized Jubilee) both shipped with Tung Sols. I rolled a couple other brands and went back to the stock Tung Sols.

Here is an example from EuroTubes, a JJ dealer here in the U.S.. You can request a specific grade (a.k.a.) rating when ordering from them:

 

[Jubilant]

I’ve had great success with Mullard EL34 RI power tubes.V1-EH 7025 V2-Mullard CV 4004
V3-Mullard CV4004 Sounds great through both speaker cabs I use greenbacks&V30’s.

 

[Maxbrothman]

Tube failure is statistical. Today. 20 years time. So you just got to keep spares and replace when they fail.

It is a good idea to try switching out tubes if you are not the happiest with your amp's tone. How a tube will sound is dependent on the amp's circuit. So you just got to pick the brand you dig the most for your amp.

The way you learn if a tube gives more headroom or more gain or less of this and more of that is to read and watch what people have done with that exact circuit and exact tube combination.

 

[Moony]

I am based in Europe and as far as I noticed my best bet is to buy from JJ tubes directly becuase most shops that sell tubes charge a lot extra.

Chek out BTB-Elektronik.

You can get V1 selected preamp tubes there and the prices are ok.
For poweramp, I'd use the JJ EL34II tubes - just like Marshall did for a few years.

 

[Purgasound]

Tubes aren't going to change the sound of the Jube too much. There's only two gain stages in V1. V2 is the buffer for the loop and V3 is the phase inverter and it never gets hit hard so the power section won't oversaturate. So basically V1 has the most overall effect on tone and in any case, whatever perceivable difference may be shadowed by the intense clipping from the diodes and LED's.

I am of the school of thought that the tone is impacted by the amp design and not the components that make it up. There's no set of tubes out there that's really going to change the way the amp sounds. I would just use what works and have quality spares on hand.