Tung-Sol NN099-G Tube 12AX7/ECC803S

This tube is definitely what you need if you're looking to slightly kill the harshness in the higher frequencies and expand the dynamic range of your amp at peaking volumes. Out of my experience, most amps come with some generic tubes that will get the job done - but once you want to cross into the territory of attempting high fidelity live or studio sound, they tend to disappoint when really pushed.

This is where the NN099-G comes in. It doesn't only slightly expand the scope of each of the gain stages - it also increases the response and sensitivity of your guitar's volume knob and on top of this, it also pushes the amp in a harder but more elegant way. In all the amps I've tested it in, and it's been quite some time of experimentation by now, it seemed to kill all the buzz/fizz that the amps would have at high volumes and on top of this, the responsive feel of the amp would be even greater. Imagine putting a clean boost in front of your amp of some 7-8 dB while also having an EQ somewhere in there that slightly cuts that overbearing presence most tube amps reach when both the volume and the gain knobs are pushed really high. What do you get? A sound in which the weight of your fretting and picking makes an even bigger difference but in which it's almost impossible to get an overload of any unpleasant frequencies at high volumes.

If you gig or record regularly and you're always trying to find that tone where the gain isn't quite Death Metal high, but the sound actually responds to even the lightest touch, and it's all in the realm of 100 dB or more when being played. Couldn't recommend it more for such use really, and will definitely be buying them again.

I bought this tube to replace the stock tube in my Blackstar HT-5R which was sounding very brittle. Upon doing some research I heard many good things about this Tung-Sol gold pin tube, for the price I thought why not give it a try. I am very glad I did, this tube has helped smooth out the harshness in the gain of my Blackstar without losing any of the amp's gain. It also seems that pinch harmonics come out more with this tube although that could also be from running the amp in even longer. The tube came well packaged and arrived across the channel to the UK in two days, it was also the cheapest I could find the tube online so a double bonus!