Fresh power tubes en route!

[Whoopysnorp]

I have no idea how old the JJ E34Ls that are currently in my RM100 are. For all I know, they're the amp's stock tubes. I had a little windfall and decided to put it to a quartet of Ruby KT77s (which I think are the same thing as the JJ KT77s). I'm excited to hear what kind of effect this has. Anybody tried KT77s in an RM100?

I also have a mix of Ruby EL34BSTRs and TAD 6L6GCWSTRs on the way for my Boogie Mark III purple stripe. Both the Randall and the Mesa sounded dull and lifeless compared to my Rivera M100 (loaded with a pair of JJ E34Ls) last weekend. Or maybe the Rivera is just that good, and I should be spending more time playing it!

 

[SteelDragon]

Let me know how they sound. I have the 6L6s in mine, but I'm interested in trying out some different tubes.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Got the tubes in the amps today, and recorded some before-and-after clips so I could nail down the differences. In the rehearsal space it seemed like the difference between the E34Ls (of unknown age) that were in there and the brand-new KT77s was negligible. However I listened to the recordings again at home and the KT77s definitely sound fuller in the midrange than the E34Ls did. I can't say for sure whether that's because the E34Ls were worn out or because it's just a characteristic of the tube. I'm leaning towards the former though.

 

[eyeball987]

Interesting. Are the KT77's supposed to be a 34'ish type of tube? I can't remember.

The difference between 6L6's and 34's in my amp is very noticeable. Same with 6550's and 34's.

 

[ncsouthpaw]

Would anyone be able to characterize the difference between the EL34s and 6L6s? My KH is loaded with Ruby 6L6GC's and while I love the tone, I feel like I should maybe sample some other power tube options to see what I'm missing.

 

[eyeball987]

Would anyone be able to characterize the difference between the EL34s and 6L6s? My KH is loaded with Ruby 6L6GC's and while I love the tone, I feel like I should maybe sample some other power tube options to see what I'm missing.

6L6's have a bigger bottom. I have tried lots of power tubes but over the past year I went from all 34's to a mix of 6L6's and 34's. Right away I noticed a boomy low end that I didn't have with all 34's and I had to lower the bass and depth knob on my RM100KH.

I didn't like it at first but the tone grew on me. It was really punchy. Then I went to all 34's again. More crunch and less punch. I had to push the depth knob and bass controls up a bit. It's still not as punchy as the 6L6 34 mix but it works better for me.

I would suggest picking up a set of 34's and running the amp at 50 watts with the 34's only in there to get a feel for the tone. Then add the 6L6's back in to hear the mix.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Interesting. Are the KT77's supposed to be a 34'ish type of tube? I can't remember.

The difference between 6L6's and 34's in my amp is very noticeable. Same with 6550's and 34's.

Yeah KT77s are in the EL34 family but blend in some 6L6s characteristics like clearer top and more bottom.

I also found E34Ls to sound very different from 6L6s in my RM100. The particular 6L6s I was using (Groove Tubes) sounded hollow in the mids compared to the E34Ls, and had some more sizzle on top, plus more bottom, like you say. I didn't like it so much for my MK22 (i.e. Marshall tones), but the 6L6s sort of brought the brutal midrange of the Diablo (i.e. Recto) under control. The same E34Ls that had a fuller midrange in that comparison sound a little hollow in the mids compared to the KT77s I just put in. Again, not sure if this is just a characteristic of this tube or if they're worn out.

 

[JD]

Does the RM100 like the Kt77's better than the EL34's as far as not blowing fuses and such?

 

[Whoopysnorp]

The only time I ever blew a fuse in my RM100 was when I had only one pair of EL34s installed, I was having a hard time getting a reading from the bias points on my multimeter, and I gave the bias pot a big sudden turn. Popped the tube right away. Since then I've been more careful when biasing and haven't run into any of those issues.