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Post by brad737 on Jun 18, 2008 6:07:49 GMT -7
Hi guys,
I was hoping to get some recommendations for a nice 6L6GC for my 5150. Can you all offer any help? I know that Eddie Van Halen has been using JJ's acquired through ARS Electronics. But I've also heard good reviews of Ruby Tubes, and TAD. Do any of you guys have any experience with these?
Thanks, Brad
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Post by humbuckerbrian on Jun 18, 2008 9:54:15 GMT -7
I like the Tung Sol reissues, but my favorite is the "winged C" =C=, that come out of the old Svetlana factory. I have recommended them to many people and most people really dig them.
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Post by amakitalo on Jun 18, 2008 10:52:46 GMT -7
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Post by flem on Jun 18, 2008 16:00:31 GMT -7
+1 for the Svetlana =C= 6L6GC.
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Post by brad737 on Jun 18, 2008 17:40:05 GMT -7
Thanks, guys. The Winged Cs have gotten great reviews on the Metroamp forum as well. The other tube I'm really interested in is the GT 6L6GE. Anyone have experience with that? Can you guys recommend any vendors?
Thanks, Brad
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Post by myles on Jun 23, 2008 14:32:19 GMT -7
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Post by brad737 on Jun 23, 2008 16:56:25 GMT -7
Thanks, Myles.
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Post by hdahs143 on Jun 23, 2008 21:14:18 GMT -7
The GT 6L6GE's are a very nice sounding tube, but I'm not sure you would hear it in the 5150, as even on the clean channel, it's still very gainy to my ear
The TAD 6L6WGC STR (the short bottle) is a great sounding tube in Fender amps in particular, and is similar in design to the 6L6GE. My only concern with them is that in a couple of amps with high plate volts (500+) I had a couple of them fail. But they really sound great in Fenders.
Overall my choice for tone and reliability would be the Winged C. In a 6L6, and an EL34, they're tough to beat.
Harold
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Post by tele1962 on Jun 24, 2008 14:24:25 GMT -7
What Fender is using now in it's "boutiqued" expensive amps like the '57 Narrow Panel Tweed, are matched GT Reds made at the USA GT shop. A bit pricey at @$100 a pair, but the real deal, and Clapton likes them. Just another idea. These are not offshore bargain priced clones...these are USA made and tested tubes. Some GT tubes are Sovteks, and that's good too, but these are not to be confused with anything like that.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Jun 25, 2008 16:47:36 GMT -7
What Fender is using now in it's "boutiqued" expensive amps like the '57 Narrow Panel Tweed, are matched GT Reds made at the USA GT shop. A bit pricey at @$100 a pair, but the real deal, and Clapton likes them. Just another idea. These are not offshore bargain priced clones...these are USA made and tested tubes. Some GT tubes are Sovteks, and that's good too, but these are not to be confused with anything like that. They are manufacturing tubes in the USA at Groove Tube ?? I'd like to hear that one from Myles .
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Post by T-R☼CK ♫ on Jun 25, 2008 16:53:54 GMT -7
When I bought my 2nd Galaxie from OMS, Curt was kind enuff to send a couple of Phillips 6L6WGB's with it...They tamed the output just enuff to make it "right"... Highly recommended here... I'm juss sayin'.......
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Post by brad737 on Jun 26, 2008 6:47:05 GMT -7
Thanks for all the input, gents. On the different amp forums I hang out on, the Winged C was hands down the most recommended tube. So, I'll give those a shot, and keep you all posted. Thanks, Brad
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Post by myles on Jul 1, 2008 9:15:45 GMT -7
What Fender is using now in it's "boutiqued" expensive amps like the '57 Narrow Panel Tweed, are matched GT Reds made at the USA GT shop. A bit pricey at @$100 a pair, but the real deal, and Clapton likes them. Just another idea. These are not offshore bargain priced clones...these are USA made and tested tubes. Some GT tubes are Sovteks, and that's good too, but these are not to be confused with anything like that. Actually ... a bit of correction here .... Fender uses GT 6L6GE's in their high end amps in all three of their color ratings ... red, white and blue. I personally dislike high ratings (red on the Fender scale and 8-10 on the GT scale). Also, the 6L6GE is not a tube made in the USA. There are a lot of U.S. made components in the tube ... the micas come from the original factory in the USA that made the micas for GE ... the 5 clad plate material and grid wire came from GT in the USA at times as well but the tube is not produced in the USA. It is produced in China and is a GT exclusive tube as is the 5881C and 6L6CHP black plate. The 6L6GE is my personal favorite current production 6L6 tube and the winged C is my second pick depending on the amp. In Fender BF amps it depends whether the player wants to cop the GE tone years or the Sylvania STR387 era (the winged C is a great accurate copy of the STR387).
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Post by brad737 on Jul 1, 2008 17:53:15 GMT -7
Myles, In a heavy preamp-gain amp like the 5150, would you go for the Winged C, or the 6L6GE? Thanks, Brad
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Post by myles on Jul 2, 2008 8:37:30 GMT -7
Myles, In a heavy preamp-gain amp like the 5150, would you go for the Winged C, or the 6L6GE? Thanks, Brad Drum roll please ...... IT DOES NOT MATTER!!!!!!!!!The beauty of these amps is that the ourput section has little to do with their tone. All their tone comes from their front end design. Unless you run these on the clean channel with no master volume action there is little output action going on here. And ... if you wanted some you'd have a Fender twin type amp. Folks come to my place and look at my Mesa Boogie amps and notice a few things .... 1. The output tubes are the cheapest Sovtek 5881WXT's I can find as they are reliable and work horses AND cheap. As in a 5150 type amp (by the way, look at the stock output tubes in a pricy Soldano SLO-100) .... Sovtek anyone? .... all you need is reliability. 2. My Mesa amps have fixed bias ... no adjustment even though I could install a bias pot in moments. It is not needed .... just stick in tubes in a middle range and anything from <30% ID to 60% works fine and sounds pretty much the same! You will never hear the qualities of a GE or STR387 in these amps. Grab a BF Pro Reverb, Tweed bassman, pro or super, or Z 6L6 based amp and you will hear a difference. Save your money and go to Mike at KCA and spend it on a good V1 preamp tube set to give you some options ... and those preamp tubes will make much more of a difference and last 100 times longer than output tubes.
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Post by brad737 on Jul 2, 2008 11:14:13 GMT -7
Thanks a ton, Myles. I was wondering if good power tubes would make a difference since the 5150 has so much preamp gain going on. I've heard that an adjustable bias pot makes a huge difference on these amps. I've even gone so far as to buy the pot and resistor, but I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble.
I bought a set of JJ preamp tubes from Bob at Eurotubes a couple of years ago. The amp had some of the 7th gen Chinese tubes in it before, and the JJ's were a definite improvment. I do have some NOS 12ax7s lying around, so I may try them out.
Thanks, Brad
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Post by myles on Jul 2, 2008 12:36:10 GMT -7
Thanks a ton, Myles. I was wondering if good power tubes would make a difference since the 5150 has so much preamp gain going on. I've heard that an adjustable bias pot makes a huge difference on these amps. I've even gone so far as to buy the pot and resistor, but I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble. I bought a set of JJ preamp tubes from Bob at Eurotubes a couple of years ago. The amp had some of the 7th gen Chinese tubes in it before, and the JJ's were a definite improvment. I do have some NOS 12ax7s lying around, so I may try them out. Thanks, Brad If you find a tube that works with the fixed bias just stick to tubes in that same current output rating and there is no need to adjust anything .... as was the case with the Fender Bassman, Tweed Twins, Mesa, Orange, Hiwatt and many others.
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Post by brad737 on Jul 2, 2008 18:21:49 GMT -7
I like the sound of that. Since the 5150 is a PCB amp, I'd prefer to not alter it, although the adjustable bias mod is a rather easy trick. Thanks again for the advice, Myles. I'll apply the cash I'm saving on the 6L6s towards some other cool tubes...I'm still desperately searching for some of the GT 6CA7GEs.
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Post by myles on Jul 2, 2008 18:37:36 GMT -7
I like the sound of that. Since the 5150 is a PCB amp, I'd prefer to not alter it, although the adjustable bias mod is a rather easy trick. Thanks again for the advice, Myles. I'll apply the cash I'm saving on the 6L6s towards some other cool tubes...I'm still desperately searching for some of the GT 6CA7GEs. Don't hold your breath on the 6CA7s .... the last test run looked super but with the Fender purchase of GT this might be something that goes down the toilet. Fender is not even that big on EL34 tubes let alone a 6CA7
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Post by brad737 on Jul 2, 2008 21:02:20 GMT -7
I'm not. But I've been googling like a mofo for some. I had the highest bid on a matched quad on ebay recently, but got sniped at the last minute. I've been emailing every GT dealer I can find looking for some, but it seems they're already all sold out. Do any Fender amps use 34s or 6CA7s? I'd buy at least 4 quads of the 6CA7GEs right now, if I could find them... Don't hold your breath on the 6CA7s .... the last test run looked super but with the Fender purchase of GT this might be something that goes down the toilet. Fender is not even that big on EL34 tubes let alone a 6CA7
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Post by myles on Jul 3, 2008 8:41:45 GMT -7
I'm not. But I've been googling like a mofo for some. I had the highest bid on a matched quad on ebay recently, but got sniped at the last minute. I've been emailing every GT dealer I can find looking for some, but it seems they're already all sold out. Do any Fender amps use 34s or 6CA7s? I'd buy at least 4 quads of the 6CA7GEs right now, if I could find them... Don't hold your breath on the 6CA7s .... the last test run looked super but with the Fender purchase of GT this might be something that goes down the toilet. Fender is not even that big on EL34 tubes let alone a 6CA7 I may be wrong here and overlooked something but the only Fender amp that I know of using EL34 tubes were a handfull of Custom Shop Tone-Masters in red tolex with two 4x12 cabs each that were custom order request by two very big name players.
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Post by brad737 on Jul 3, 2008 20:43:09 GMT -7
Yeah, I think you're right. And every Tone Master I've personally seen had 6L6 or 6V6s...
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Post by myles on Jul 4, 2008 10:26:15 GMT -7
Yeah, I think you're right. And every Tone Master I've personally seen had 6L6 or 6V6s... All 100+ watt monster Tone-Masters were never 6V6s. Other than the few special ones, less than a handful, they were all 6L6s and three 12AX7s.
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Post by brad737 on Jul 4, 2008 21:14:39 GMT -7
Hmmm...I would have sworn one at Guitar Center had 6V6s in it...
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Post by myles on Jul 5, 2008 14:22:13 GMT -7
Hmmm...I would have sworn one at Guitar Center had 6V6s in it... Well ... if it did somebody surely messed up. Then again, if it was a used one that is not a surprise at all ....
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Post by brad737 on Jul 5, 2008 21:26:22 GMT -7
I could easily be mistaken, but this one sticks out in my mind because the salesman was telling me how that was the rig Jimmy Page was using at the time. And certainly no GC saleskid would embellish a story to make a sale. Hmmm...I would have sworn one at Guitar Center had 6V6s in it... Well ... if it did somebody surely messed up. Then again, if it was a used one that is not a surprise at all ....
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Post by myles on Jul 6, 2008 8:54:08 GMT -7
I could easily be mistaken, but this one sticks out in my mind because the salesman was telling me how that was the rig Jimmy Page was using at the time. And certainly no GC saleskid would embellish a story to make a sale. Well ... if it did somebody surely messed up. Then again, if it was a used one that is not a surprise at all .... Unless it was a big head with 2 4x12 cabs in red tolex it was a BS story as that was Jimmy's rig and it had EL34s and was a special build.
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Post by brad737 on Jul 6, 2008 10:59:24 GMT -7
See, everyone? Even the great Jimmy Page knows the red ones sound better! ;D I could easily be mistaken, but this one sticks out in my mind because the salesman was telling me how that was the rig Jimmy Page was using at the time. And certainly no GC saleskid would embellish a story to make a sale. Unless it was a big head with 2 4x12 cabs in red tolex it was a BS story as that was Jimmy's rig and it had EL34s and was a special build.
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