This should aggravate some of the TUBE LOVERS

I'm open to it but..... why?
pre amp tubes last a long time; I dont really see the benefit.
I really dont see how this is a better mouse trap.
In the first demo the new thingy sounded kind of sterile compared to the plain old tube.
Plain old tubes in plain old / classic circuits (older simple tube circuits is all I have experience with) create harmonics, even clean, which adds depth to the typical guitar tube amp "low-fi" sound.
As Dice Clay said, "dats what I think".

If you like it, do it.

I just had a great session with my 6G2 brown face Princeton build just pushed as boost with a TS or the Soul Food (Klon-ish) through greenback type cab with PAF-ish cheap HB pickups in the Epi G400 SG, riding the guitar volume pot. But that "classic rock" sound is where I live.
 
I'm open to trying the new stuff...

Before I started working in the studio, I believed all the hype and mysticism of the 'holy grail' amps and guitars. After a few years, I began to see that there really wasn't any of the old relics being used for these recordings. These days, Pro-Tools, Amp Farm and Cubase are the predominate tools being used. They are popular because of their versatility.

Back in 1978, when we recorded at Buck Owen's Studio in Bakersfield, we recorded on 3 inch tape. Why??? Because there wasn't anything better.

Today, we have so many choices...
 
I'm open to trying the new stuff...

Before I started working in the studio, I believed all the hype and mysticism of the 'holy grail' amps and guitars. After a few years, I began to see that there really wasn't any of the old relics being used for these recordings. These days, Pro-Tools, Amp Farm and Cubase are the predominate tools being used. They are popular because of their versatility.

Back in 1978, when we recorded at Buck Owen's Studio in Bakersfield, we recorded on 3 inch tape. Why??? Because there wasn't anything better.

Today, we have so many choices...
I agree, new stuff is worth considering; I'm not dug in on what I "know", just a moment.....
Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!

As an old dude, I cling to the security of what is familiar, but always strive to keep an open mind.
After all, John Henry finally conceded to the steam engine; or did he?
 

To put this in context:


So six JJ tubes for $150 retail or three pretend tubes for the same retail price ...
 
are you talking 3 inch diameter 1/4 inch reel to reel?
....because 3 inch width tape isn’t a thing ;)
2 inch....different story...

No, Sir, that's 3 inch width magnetic tape on a 7 inch reel...

It's a very interesting story...and keep in mind that Mom was a personal friend of Buck and we spent a lot of time down there.

When Buck renovated the old River Movie Thetare at 1213 North Chester Avenue in Oildale, California, in 1968, they used a modified Ampex 300 console, modified by Grover Harned. This was one of a handful of prototypes, converted to use 2" wide tape. These devices would evolve into the MCI JH-24. Along about 1972, the studio upgraded to an MCI JH-400 and again in 1975 a MCI JH-500 was installed.

Buck was interested in going beyond 24 tracks, but in order to do it, a wider tape head and tape would be required. The only way - at the time - to record 32 tracks was to use 3" wide tape. Only one company made that device, and that was MCI. Only one company - 3M - made the 3" wide tape fitted to 7" reels. Grover Harned installed the prototype 32 track, analog deck at Buck's studio in early 1978, and it was used up until the studio closed in 1992, although the studio 'officially' went digital sometime around 1981.

This comes from Mom's legal pad notes from the 1978 sessions. We also "borrowed" David Frizzell's drummer, the late Bobby Gallardo, for this session, who was "on loan" to Merle Haggard at the time.

So all of the songs, from Mom's 1978 summer session, were recorded on 3" wide masters. Mom has these original masters in storage at The Ranch Studio, but nobody (that we have yet found) is able to fit the rare 3" wide masters to be able to pull the tracks off of them.

Photos taken during Mom's 1978 Summer Recording Session:

Jim Shaw (1).jpg

Producer Jim Shaw listens to a playback in the control room at Buck's Studio - July 1978

Nita Jo and Jim Shaw.jpg

Mom (in red/white checkerboard) at the console flanked by Shaw

Don Lee and Terry Christopherson.jpg

Buckaroos Don Lee (Standing) and Terry Christopherson enjoying Big Macs
with a smaller reel-to-reel behind them, likely a Sony.
The big 3 inch MCI console was to Terry's left

Robert Herndon and Terry Christopherson (2).jpg

Terry and Me during the July, 1978 Summer Session.

Here is one of the few songs from that session that was later converted to a 2 inch wide master.

My oldest Son converted it to digital and uploaded it to You Tube.

The deep, baritone voice singing backup is Don Lee:

 
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To address the thread topic......nope....it doesn’t aggravate me....It keeps preamp tube prices down....not that they’re prohibitively high right now. :)

I have a lot of JJ 5751's, JJ ECC83's and TAD 7025-WA's on hand, because of the amps that I keep running for people. I have had pretty good luck with them holding up and that includes my DSL40C riding flat in the trunk of my car back and forth everyday....

I buy my tubes from Amplified Parts in Arizona because they are in the same UPS zone and I can get any tube the next day if ordered before 3pm.
 
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