Yellow Jacket EL84's in a Marshall Plexi

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Wed 07/07/04 10:17 am

I just finished building probably my 6 or 7th plexi, and this one was built for yours truly, so, I'm spending a little more time trying to make it suit my needs. I am wondering if anyone in here has used the Yellow Jacket tube converters to change from EL34's to EL84's and if so what you thought of the tone and volume change. My problem with the EL34's is that they put out too much power and I can't get my beloved power tube distortion without pissing off the neighbors. I love having the clean headroom when working with my VG88, but it doesn't give me a real distorted tube tone like real tubes.
Barry

guyac01 · Post by **guyac01** » Wed 07/07/04 3:16 pm

I had a Marshall 1987X reissue (if I remember the code right) a while back; way too loud & abrasive with 6551s (again, if I remember the code right) so I got it re-biased for EL34s and it sounded a lot better... but best when wound up enough to get output stage distortion.

Anyway, I tried it with a THD Hotplate and then with some EL34-to-EL84 converters, ( similar to the Yellowjackets but made in a Paris amp shop ) - the EL84 has a much 'sweeter' or 'rounded' distortion and was pretty good, but compared to an original PA 20 head, it was more of a 'one sound' amp.

Saying all that, I only got rid of the 1987X because of the volume - you need to have a pretty big gig to merit that much volume, but a Plexi or JTM-45 is a great match with most drummers' volume levels, IMHO.

Has anybody played around with a JTM-45 front-end and a 6V6-based output stage ?

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Wed 07/07/04 5:49 pm

guyac01 wrote:Has anybody played around with a JTM-45 front-end and a 6V6-based output stage ?

http://ax84.com/media/ax84_m189.gif
http://www.mhuss.com/Plexi6V6/index.html

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Thu 07/08/04 3:36 pm

I received the yellow jackets yesterday and popped them into the plexi. These EL34 versions are indeed long suckers and fit in my oversized head cab with only 3/8" clearance. That being said, they sound great! It's hard to believe the 50% to 70% power reduction claimed by THD but I know it is probably correct due to db and watt relations. These things are still loud. At least I can get the amp up to 4 on the volume knob without frying my brain and I am now getting some killer EL84 distortion tone. I think I will add two sockets to this prototype and add a switch to go back and forth between the 34's and 84's for different venue volume requirements.

myker · Post by **myker** » Fri 07/09/04 11:45 am

I'd be really interested in hearing a clip of that if you get around to it, i was thinking of running my 2204 clone the same way.
mike..

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Fri 07/09/04 1:38 pm

Mike,
I will try to get around to some clip recording this weekend. Would you like a before and after with the EL34's and then the yellow jackets with the EL84's? By the way, I am an amp builder not a player, so, my playing sucks but I'll do some chords and a little lead riffing that is not to complex.
Barry

myker · Post by **myker** » Fri 07/09/04 3:12 pm

before and after would be cool barry. i'm not gonna critique your playing thats for sure....I cant play worth a crap

I just build amps because i like to rock and hear the beautiful noise
mike..

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Fri 07/09/04 3:19 pm

Mike,
ok, I'll try to get it done that way in between taking the kids to Spiderman 2 this weekend and building another tweed deluxe. I'll post late Sunday night.
Barry

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Sun 07/11/04 7:40 pm

Mike,
I have tried numerous times to post a soundfile both yesterday and today, but, the site just locks up when I try. The file is 4.8mb so I'll have to put it on my Corona AmpWorks website.
Barry

myker · Post by **myker** » Mon 07/12/04 11:56 am

hey barry, im in the high desert but im in san bernardino a couple days a week, do you have a storefront. Id like to drop by sometime and see what your store looks like. I think that you are the closest fellow builder to me.
mike..

bnwitt · Post by **bnwitt** » Mon 07/12/04 1:00 pm

Mike,
Nope, no storefront. With the amp business as it is, I would be eating a meatless diet if I spent money on retail square footage. I have converted 1 of my 3 car garage spaces into my shop for repairs and construction. I can tell you it was a little hot in there on Sunday(97 degrees in Corona). I do all of my business by word of mouth and usely only build for local players. I have considered consignment at local music stores from time to time, (when someone backed out of paying for a custom amp) but ended up selling them on Ebay. Now that is really a shame, (because you just don't get what the amps are worth in that venue) and is why I now require down payments before beginning a build. Here is a link to a photo of my shop:
http://www.coronaampworks.com/Shop2.JPG

Maybe we can get together over a beer and compare notes sometime.
Barry

myker · Post by **myker** » Mon 07/12/04 1:10 pm

yep, its hard to break even on ebay, let alone make money.. that would be cool i'll drop you an e-mail of of these days when im gonna be in your area.
mike..

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