6L6 vs EL34 A Great Read

[MAXIFUNK]

This is a great read on what these do to your sound!

http://mesaboogie.com/news/2010/08/6l6-vs-el-34-feel-the-power-of-your-amps-power-section/

[LeadedEL84]

This is a great read on what these do to your sound!

http://mesaboogie.com/news/2010/08/6l6-vs-el-34-feel-the-power-of-your-amps-power-section/
Excellent post, Maxi! That was a good read. I think they are dead-on with all points in that artical. I always have a hard time picking a preference between these two tubes. I like them both and always think "it depends". Now if I can find an artical which includes EL84s and 6V6s

[LeadedEL84]

And I did just that. Funny I clicked on an internet link that discussed this matter of EL84s and 6V6s on another forum which refered me to an old thread here on the fret from a few years ago that some of the Fret "vets" posted on. It provided a link to the Mesa site with the artical. I searched Google and came full circle back here. I could have saved time and just done a search of this forum. LOL
http://www.mesaboogie.com/US/Smith/bad_attitude.html

[duhvoodooman]

Very interesting stuff. Thanks for that link, Max!

[kiteman]

Yea, good read. :dude

I can understand now why I liked the 6L6 better than the EL34 or even the EL84. Not to say they're bad cause my BHHD and the Windsor half stack have distinctive tones. Because of the differences I find what pups works with them like the Carvin M22T and M22V pups on the Windsor, that's made in heaven. :)

Since I don't have that amp anymore I took the pups out.

By the way I dropped the bias to 30 on the Alchemist and got the headroom at the volume I use with my pedals. I thought it sounded good before but no, THIS sounded good. :D

What surprised me is about the Mesa switching between 6L6 and EL34, that is risky for a screwup but can you have both tubes plugged in together?

[deeaa]

Yeah, a good read!

I used to have a p-t-p tube head that was designed to run ANY two tubes easily, and I do mean any from KT's to 6L6 to EL34...well not the small sockets but all else OK. And it had separate master volumes for each tube too, so you could literally not only test EL34 and 6L6 side by side and blend them any way you want.

I gave the amp to my then guitarist...but anyway, I learned I definitely like 34's infinitely better, as I don't ever want a totally clean sound, and I do need the punch...6L's are fine in many amps but that Marshall power tube crunch is where it's at for me. I like 84's the best though because they give that same sound and more versatility and at lower volumes.