Do certain modules (even modded) not work well with el34's?

[p4vl]

I'm bored to death by 6l6 amps. EL34's/E34L's have much more life and harmonics to them (not fond of KT77, either). One of the things that I like about the RM50 is that you can change over to el34's.

That said, listening to Salvation and JF samples, it's hard to know which modules would sound out of place in a El34 amp, except for marshalls.

If I take the RM plunge, I'm thinking a Salvation MarkUS and Mash all+ would cover the bases, in terms clean-medium-heavy. I was thinking about one of the D-zilla or Benzin modules but I don't know if they'd agree with EL34's.

Rest of my rig is a Lopoline 2x12 w/Eminence v12's, MXR 10 band EQ, Way Huge Green Rhino, Micro Flanger and Hardwire Chorus. I'm a high gain rhythm bedroom player.

Thanks!

 

[eyeball987]

I have not had any that don't work well with 34's. There are plenty of things along the signal path that would have a bigger impact on the tone than the power tubes.

I wouldn't worry about other peoples thoughts on what may or may not work well with 34's. It's largely a personal preference. If are sick of 6L6 amps then go ahead and drop in the 34's and not worry about it.

 

[Mattfig]

Have you considered EH6CA7s? Kinda a 'tweener but closer to EL34 and work VERY well with most mods in my experience?.Not too expensive either?.

 

[p4vl]

Have you considered EH6CA7s? Kinda a 'tweener but closer to EL34 and work VERY well with most mods in my experience?.Not too expensive either?.

I'm not impressed with the KT77's that I currently have in my Peavey XXX (I previously had JJ E34L's, but I'm getting it ready to sell and people seem to fill their pants when they put KT77's in XXX/3120/JSX). I'd rather have the proper british mids than something halfway.

Even though I'm not able to crank my amps and generate power amp distortion, putting EL34/E34L's in the XXX was like night and day in comparison to 6l6's, even with the horrible stock speakers. I like old thrash and death metal and I'm a huge fan of bands/albums with marshall tones (Ride the Lightning, old Slayer, Morbid Angel, Neurosis, Dissection, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, old Mercyful Fate, Van Halen).

I appreciate the suggestion, though.

 

[Corium_AZ]

Just grab an RM100 and start swapping and combining... May be surprised what you like and what you don't. You can run quads, 2 el34's and 2 5881's, or whatever combo you can think of. I tried a bunch of different tube combos and settled on 2 Mesa Boogie 6L6's and two small bottle JAN Philips 6L6WGB's (pretty much vintage 5881's). I used to be an EL34 guy too... But only way for you to know is to try!

 

[Corium_AZ]

But, to answer your actual question, lol, I have not found any module to sound bad or out of place simply cuz of the power tube match. They pretty much all sound good, but the flavor can be changed a bit via power tubes.

 

[p4vl]

Cool.

Concerning High Gain Marshall Modules, does the JF Quick Mod GT cover old-school thrash rhythm tone rawness, or is it more for people that like to solo a lot?

 

[p4vl]

More Questions: Since I play at bedroom volume and don't care about power tube distortion, would 6550's sound good at low volume (again, this would be with high gain modules in an RM50)?

 

[Corium_AZ]

Not sure about that, but maybe you should try this:

http://mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?p=138905#138905

 

[bruce egnater]

Assume you are properly adjusting the bias when doing these tube swaps.

 

[p4vl]

Assume you are properly adjusting the bias when doing these tube swaps.

I know they would physically work. I was looking at the Salvation mod's Mashall+ and it occured to me that at least a few of it's 'voicings' were inspired/modelled on marshalls that had either EL34's or 6550's. Which would be better for that module?