Cathbard

What you need to do is buy a selection of 12AX7's. You'll probably find that JJ in every position but V1 will serve you well and then just experiment with different tubes in V1.

As for NOS tubes, the BEL's (Mullards made in India) I have in my Abbey are about 30 years old and they still outperform every modern tube I've tried in it. NOS tubes may cost a lot more but they do last an extraordinary length of time in the preamp.
Power amp tubes don't last as long as that and NOS power tubes are getting silly expensive. I have British Brimar 6L6's in my Abbey but I managed to score them very cheaply because the person selling them didn't know what he had.

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Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification