6550 vs. EL34 vs. 6L6

[isburgracing]

hey guys and gals!

Just wanted to get some output on tubes and stuff. I know how to maintain my RM100. I love 6L6 tone in my amp, wasn't a big fan of the eL34s, was looking into the 6550 tubes. My question is, how does the 6550's compare to EL34s and 6L6 as far as power, tone, and saturation? Plus has anybody every run there tubes hotter than they should be?

Thanks again!

 

[Julia]

Having run all three in this amp.....

1) The EL34s will saturate the most. No Fender tone from these.
2) The 6L6GCs are a good tube that's versatile for most applications.
3) 6550s have huge headroom and saturate the least. However this is the tone I like, but my tone is all preamp. These tubes were used in Ampeg SVTs.

The bigger the glass the less the saturation.

And NO, I do not advise running any of the tubes hotter than recommended. The top number is typically 70%. Remember this is idle speed. As soon as you start playing you're going over that. Leave yourself some room for overdrive.

Also when you bias over that 70% you will shorten the tube life and who knows what else. Me? I'm not rich, so it's 6550s and medium bias.

 

[Mister Joshua]

Julia pretty much got it spot on. If you really like the transparency of 6L6 tubes then 6550 would be worth a look. I also like the 6L6 sound for my high gain stuff but when i used 6550 i was pretty pleased.

Peace, Joshua

 

[isburgracing]

Thanks for the input guys and gals! much appreciated!

 

[Ampoholic]

Don't forget you can also use combinations of the above tubes for different flavors.

 

[eyeball987]

Don't forget you can also use combinations of the above tubes for different flavors.

I am going to do some tube mixing matching over the next couple of weeks. My RM100KH has 34L's and 6L6's, RM100M all 6L6's, and RM50 combo has 6550's. I thought I was an EL34 guy until I tried the 6550's in the combo. I look forward to firing up a 34/6550 mix in the KH and maybe all 6550's in there.

I hate tweaking digital units and effects but I love swapping tubes!

 

[isburgracing]

I love doing that to! I just swapped 2 of my 6L6s in the middle for the El34s and I am getting a pretty good, Steve Steven's throaty sound, with my Modern Modern, Sounds almost exactly like the song Scream on the Devil's Playground Album! If all of ya didn't read, he basically recorded that whole album with a Bogner Uberschall. I added my Wylde overdrive pedal in for a boost and it's almost spot on. I am excited as ****! I am using a Randall 4 12 with Texas Heats, and I just dropped a Custom Custom in one of my ESPs. Sounds amazing! Just waiting on a bid from ebay to get an SL+ so I can try to nail Billy Duffy's tone from Sonic Temple. Amazing tone!!!! A little digital, but awesome!

 

[slashnstrings]

how does E34L's and 6L6's sound together? anyone know?

isburgracing how do you find the Zakk pedal for a little boost? worth it or is there better for the price?

 

[eyeball987]

how does E34L's and 6L6's sound together? anyone know?

isburgracing how do you find the Zakk pedal for a little boost? worth it or is there better for the price?

Actually I do. I just picked up the 1 of 3 RM100KH's off of here and it came with that mix. Sounded great. I swapped the PI to a 5751 and it was even better. Took some of the hair out. My own opinion of course.

Tonight I swapped the 6L6's for TS6550's and liked it even more. I put the 12AX7 back in the PI and the hair came back so I put the 5751 back in. I will leave this combo for a while. I want to swap the 34L's for the Ruby 6550STR's I have and try that but I will save that for another day.

 

[slashnstrings]

Sweet I might have to pair up the 6L6's with my E34L's. hey where the 6L6's the outside pair or the two middle ones?

 

[isburgracing]

I never have done the e34ls, but did the el34s. I don't know if there is a difference. But I just use a Zakk Wylde overdrive, I max out the level and turn the gain all the way down. for that boost, that way it doesnt over distort the signal, but gives ya some punch and tightens some of the sound up, I set the eq on the pedal at zero so there is not to much treble mash... Hope that helps! Oh and I put the El34s in the middle and the 6L6s in the outside.

 

[eyeball987]

I had the 6L6's in the middle. Now the 6550's are in that spot. 34L's on the outside.

 

[slashnstrings]

Perfect thank-you guys Im going to give combineing tubes a try.

Hey JULIA.... do you have any opinion on 6L6's with E34L's? always love you tube "breakdowns"

 

[Julia]

Perfect thank-you guys Im going to give combineing tubes a try.

Hey JULIA.... do you have any opinion on 6L6's with E34L's? always love you tube "breakdowns"

I really think any tonal change is going to be very subtle at best. You're not going to change the overall tonal character of teh amp.

A good quality rackmount graphic EQ will do a lot more for tone shaping than any power tube change. Or you can try running a graphic EQ pedal in front of the amp. Or if you prefer something more drastic... change your speakers.

I've listened to a lot of sound clips of even different modules, and I've noticed each of you tend to like certain sounds, and you'll try to dial in all your modules to sound like that. There are some differences but they're very subtle. If you were performing live, I wouldn't know which module you were using unless you told me ahead of time.

I know I do it. I was messing around with Mr. Scary and dialed it just right, then went across the board and found the Mr. Scary was dialed to give tones very close to the Brahma. I'm like WTF? It's the sound I like. So KH1 and the Brahma seem to be "my sound."

Biggest tonal differences I've heard on the higher gain modules are between the Grail and SL+, but that's all EQ.

 

[slashnstrings]

I have 3 type of speakers i like to run, not all at once of course. V30's , 7080's and some eminence speakers any yes they sure do give the most tone change out of anything.

Thanks again for your input Julia

I was thinking of getting a MXR 10-band EQ pedal to make some eq changes

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I've listened to a lot of sound clips of even different modules, and I've noticed each of you tend to like certain sounds, and you'll try to dial in all your modules to sound like that.

dead on, lol

 

[kylendm]

I've never used EL34s but I really love the combo of Svetlana 6550s on the outside and JJ6l6s on the inside. Good contrast of bottom end with versatility. All 6550s was a bit too much for me and just 6l6s wasn't enough head room. So them both together was great for me.