6L6 recommendations??

[arcadesonfire]

Hi folks, I've been using the SED Winged C tubes in my Fender HRD for many years. Love em! In tube-to-tube comparison, they DO stand out imho.

 

But now Tubestore is selling them at $75 each! Ahh!!! They say the very limited stock is due to factory closing. On that note...

 

Anyone got a favorite 6L6 to recommendation? I've got a couple mods to make my 1x12 hot rod deluxe a little grindier, boosting around 2k. If you've compared different ones, I'd be happy to hear the results!

 

And I'll be in the same boat with my YBA-1 and EL34s after the next pair. They really count in that amp. Oy.

[WRGKMC]

Most online stores have run out of SED's and what they have are single tubes, not matched pairs. You may be able to bias an unmatched pair but you have to bias the amp to the weaker tube.

 

I just went through 4 different sets myself finding ones that sound best in my Bassman. My suggestion is try a set of Electro Harmonix. Excellent quality control and excellent sound quality. They are Black Plate designs that are clones of the old RCA tubes that sell for $200 each if you can find them. I used to buy the RCA for my Fender amps back in the day. They had the Richest tones and produce solid power at lower volumes and just the right saturation cranked.

 

I had tried Ruby - Wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy. Branded Chinese tubes, poor quality control.

 

I tried JJ's. - I must have gotten a bad set because I could hear a little popping in the background when in idle mode. Tubes take a long journey from Russia to a vendor, then to a customer and the elements get shaken allot. The tone they did produce was OK. Nothing spectacular. I had a set of JJ EL34's in my Music Man and have heard the 6L6's in other amps. They just didn't impress me in my Fender.

 

I did have Groove tubes in there before changing them. They were still going strong after 20 years too. Thay had similar tone to the RCA when new but not quite as powerful. The do come in three power ranges which can be helpful if you like early breakup super clean or middle of the road. Fender owns them now so that's what you find in their amps.

 

The EH were by far the best. They sound great in both my Music man and Fender heads so I'm happy with that choice. The price wont bankrupt you either. https://www.tubedepot.com/products/e...er-vacuum-tube

 

The Preamp tubes were going out in my amp which is why I re-tubed it. I've bought and tried most brands because I have many pieces of gear that use them. THe EH are at the top of my list for clean crispy tone and low noise. This chart is very accurate. https://tubedepot.com/tube-comparison-tool

I have tried all the Sovtec, JJ, and Chinese versions. The EH tubes are like taking a blanket off your speaker for tone and gain. Nice touch sensitivity, low noise. Cant beat the price for what you get.

 

If your amp uses a 12AT7 for the inverter I suggest you get one of these JAN military tubes. They have the best combined specs of all manufacturers, much better then Mullard. EH which would be my second choice are good on all levels except noise.

 

Military spec tubes aren't necessarily the best tubes when tone is important. They do have high durability and low tolerances so they live a long life. Inverters don't do allot for tone or gain however. They simply separate the waveform polarities to drive the push pull power tubes. They do matter if they create noise or become microphonic so a low noise tube is a good choice (which I've verified).

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[Chris Loeffler]

 

The EH were by far the best. They sound great in both my Music man and Fender heads so I'm happy with that choice. The price wont bankrupt you either. https://www.tubedepot.com/products/e...er-vacuum-tube

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Concur. They just sound right to me. I like their modern production Mullards for EL34s, but the EHX 6L6 tubes just sound right and are affordable.

[WRGKMC]

I think the Mullards are a better choice for the older Marshalls that used 6L6 tubes. They might tighten up a flabby bottom end but for double the price or an EH I'm not sure I'd spring for them.

 

Telefunken makes a 6L6 too but I've tried the new ones. Maybe they've improved. I came across the vintage in allot of Hi Fi gear back in my repair days. They sounded OK but a little thin to my ears in comparison to American made tubes. Their preamp tubes would go microphonic quickly in music amps and really didn't sound that great. They just didn't have the heavy construction other tubes did. Like I said, maybe the new ones are better but I don't plan on spending $80 a pair to find out.

[arcadesonfire]

Thanks very much Chris and WRG!! Wow, Electro Harmonix is the winner?? I assumed they were just cheapo and hadn't even looked at them, so thank you for sharing your reviews! People have recommended JJs and Tung-Sols to me. Reading reviews this morning, it looks like the JJs are super clean, and I want compressed mid-rangey. Then I was going over this chart and starting to consider whether Mullards were the way to match up to the SEDs, http://www.thetubestore.com/Resources/Product-Reviews/6L6-Tube-Reviews-Chart

 

But now, shucks, I'm just going to stop into my local shop on the way home. They said the only brand they've got in stock is EHX. They're a repair shop too, so I ought to be able to ask them to check and make sure the tubes are matched properly too, right? Wellllll, I just collected my $55 from Tunecore. Gonna put that music to work for ME now.

[arcadesonfire]

Wait, what's this business about 'soft duet,' 'medium duet' and 'hard duet'?? I could walk to Guitar Center at lunch and purchase... and have my soul marked evil forever... They list these three options for EHX tubes on their web site. Is that just a marketing scheme?

 

 

And BTW, YES!!! I already do have a 12AT7 in that position. It makes a huge difference! I made another mod or two on the amp long ago, cutting out a couple resistors IIRC (as a result, I rarely ever click on the bright button in the preamp). Also replaced the crappy speaker. The amp no longer gets super duper clean, and I don't care; if I wanted that, I'd buy a jazz chorus.

[Chris Loeffler]

Wait, what's this business about 'soft duet,' 'medium duet' and 'hard duet'?? I could walk to Guitar Center at lunch and purchase... and have my soul marked evil forever... They list these three options for EHX tubes on their web site. Is that just a marketing scheme?

 

Not really.

 

Assuming your amp's is set to plate current, the hardness shouldn't matter. I know that the theory is that those matched sets that test at a higher hardness have more headroom, but no personal experience to back it up or say how much "more" is.

 

[WRGKMC]

The only manufacturer that has a rating system I know of is Groove tubes.

 

Low = Early distortion, wide range, softer attack good for Rock and Blues solos.

 

Medium = Normal performance, great dynamic range/attack and best all around rating type for all styles of playing

 

High = Most dynamic range, most clean power/less break-up for power players, Jazz and bass amps.

 

As far as I know Electro Harmonix 6L6 tubes only has one rating. You'd simply bias the tubes to the amp and that's it.

You cant buy different sets separated in saturation ranges like the Groove Tubes as far as I know.

 

Of course a local reseller could test them but why? God only knows how accurate that might be. I wouldn't buy from a local dealer in any case. Its to easy for them to simply repackage used tubes unless you're standing there watching them open up a new case from the manufacturer. This is why I buy on line. Places like Tubes and More or Tube Depot only sell tubes so you're only likely to get tubes fresh from the manufacturer.