Which tubes? (6V6 plexi)

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » Thu 01/12/06 10:46 am

Hi all, I have me a nearly finished frankenstein homebrew 6V6 plexi that needs tubes. NOT counting fancy NOS stuff, what do you recommend? Obviously the JJ 6V6's are well respected, but what about others? And how about the 12AX7's? Thanks!!!

BBQLS1 · Post by **BBQLS1** » Thu 01/12/06 10:49 am

I haven't had a problem with sovtek(any) or electroharmonix(preamp tubes).

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » Thu 01/12/06 11:04 am

Nifty -I have all Sovteks at the moment. I thought to upgrade -I don't just want it to work, I want this amp to scream with great cleans too.

BBQLS1 · Post by **BBQLS1** » Thu 01/12/06 11:08 am

You probably want a matched set of power tubes though.

ajkimba · Post by **ajkimba** » Thu 01/12/06 11:12 am

The Electroharmonix 6V6's have gotten a "good" rap in the past. I have a set in my 5E3 that I like better then some NOS 6V6's. They can take higher current, too.

Reason · Post by **Reason** » Thu 01/12/06 11:21 am

Nathan wrote:Nifty -I have all Sovteks at the moment. I thought to upgrade -I don't just want it to work, I want this amp to scream with great cleans too.

If you want clean 6V6's I'd recommend Groove Tubes with high numbers. I use GT's in my Greer Underdog 15 (5E3 on so much crack it doesn't even resemble a 5E3.) They are all individually tested and assigned a number that translates into early or late break up. I think this is expressed on a 1-10 scale. I use 4's for fairly early break up. You might try to get a 7 or 8.

If these interest you and you don't know how to get a specific number, email me. I can refer you to a great GT dealer who know how to order based on the sonic properties you are seeking.

Hope this helps,

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » Thu 01/12/06 11:28 am

OK I got another question -does the mA rating of a tube determine how fast it breaks up? Is that what GT is testng for or something else? (I know I can set the bias hot/cold and I know the tubes need to be matched too but not sure about the mA's)
Thanks again!

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Thu 01/12/06 12:15 pm

X-R2 wrote:If you want clean 6V6's I'd recommend Groove Tubes with high numbers.

Sounds like a good reason to avoid those ones, then!

Seriously though, he did say it was meant to be some kind of a Plexi amp, so I guess clean tones aren't the primary objective.

Nathan wrote:Obviously the JJ 6V6's are well respected, but what about others?

Forget about the others. Those JJ 6V6s aren't just "well respected" - they are awesome! The closest thing you'll get to a NOS sound in a current production tube.

And for some further reading:
http://www.watfordvalves.com/cgi-bin/do ... ort_45.pdf
http://www.watfordvalves.com/cgi-bin/do ... port_2.pdf

Post by **markh** » Thu 01/12/06 1:45 pm

Nathan wrote:Hi all, I have me a nearly finished frankenstein homebrew 6V6 plexi that needs tubes. NOT counting fancy NOS stuff, what do you recommend?

The Sarge has some *excellent* NOS 6V6s that don't cost an arm and a leg. It might be worthwhile to drop him a line.

--mark h

dartanion · Post by **dartanion** » Thu 01/12/06 1:46 pm

6V6's are still plentiful, so don't rule out NOS. They are not nearly as insanely priced as NOS EL84s. Also, I don't think that you necessarily want perfectly matched tubes as this tends to be a carry over from the HiFi world. In a guitar amp a slight mismatch is desired. Maybe 10-15 mA difference. This adds some harmonic complexity to your tone.

If you are interested, I have some nice NOS and pulls that I might part with for a decent price. Shoot me an email if you are so inclined.

cloudhopper · Post by **cloudhopper** » Thu 01/12/06 2:04 pm

Do I like JJ 12AX7's?............NO
Do I like JJ EL84's?...............NO

But............Do I like JJ 6V6's..........YES, YES, YES

NOS 6V6's are fine in lower voltage amps, in fact they can be awesome, but the JJ 6V6's love higher voltage and really come alive when you push them hard. I have a little 6V6 Push Pull that I'm running fixed bias into a heyboer tweed deluxe OT (7.5K) at 420V. I have the tube plates idling at a very wild 16W each. The heyboer OT I'm using is only rated at 90ma and I know I'm exceeding that a bit at full signal and the plates of the JJ's are only rated for 14W. But I have talked to two different amp techs that claim they have run them as high at 18W idle plate dissapation! This amp sounds incredible, and not too brittle with the higher voltages either. I wouldn't recommend running on the edge quite as wildly as I am with this amp, but if you get them idling at at least 12 or 13W, they really wake up. To be honest, the JJ 6V6's are only loosely based on the original 6V6's and this is one tube that JJ not only made a suitable replacement for, but made a tube that, in many respects, leaves the other 6V6's in the dust.

Carl

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » Thu 01/12/06 2:07 pm

Well, I went ahead and grabbed these on ebay. I hope they work out. I may have even got a deal (?). For about the same price as JJ's, I got RCA blackplates. No telling how much life is left in them, but we'll see:

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-RCA-6V6GT-6V6-Tub ... dZViewItem

I also emailed the Sarge. If you have some decent tubes hanging around, try me! I'm kinda poor, but the amp does need tubes. FWIW, it's not a high voltage thing at all, the trannies are torn from a 60's Pepco (from Canada). It ran about 12 watts with the 6V6's in class A operation. Of course, now, with a MHuss 6V6 Plexi design, I don't know what to expect (Hoffman Plexi board by the way)!

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sat 01/14/06 11:18 am

[/quote]
The Sarge has some *excellent* NOS 6V6s that don't cost an arm and a leg. It might be worthwhile to drop him a line.

--mark h[/quote]

Just ordered 2 pairs 6V6's NOS from the Sarge & a few pres, got a great deal as well, they are going in my Lightning 6V6.

I think the Sarge has a deal on 6V6's at the moment? Send him an EMail!

The Sarge is the man for tubes!

bitsandvolts · Post by **bitsandvolts** » Sat 01/14/06 11:33 am

The JJ 6v6's are friggin indestructable...I use em in my club deluxe/lightning clone and I've hit em damn pretty hard before correcting the B+ with zeners....and they held up just fine!

-F

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sat 01/14/06 11:44 am

The Sarge is overflowing with NOS 6V6's check this out!

http://www.18watt.com/modules.php?name= ... pic&t=7906

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sat 01/14/06 11:44 am

The Sarge is overflowing with NOS 6V6's check this out!

http://www.18watt.com/modules.php?name= ... pic&t=7906

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » Sat 01/14/06 1:13 pm

No joke -I went for NOS with the Sarge! He had pity on me and my sorry university finances, and I think I'll be very pleased according to his recommendations. Now I have a few options between the lame-O Sovteks I got right now, the used (and maybe abused RCA's) and his Sylvania's. I can mix & match to taste, and have spares on hand. I'm super excited about this project, but I need to hit the electronics shop for some resistors and wire. Everything else is ready. Will post reports when it's up & running. Thanks to everyone for the help and support!

timc · Post by **timc** » Tue 01/17/06 9:01 pm

I have a similar question regarding 6V6's. I have a 30w Aiken Intruder that I want to lower the output by going from EL34's to 6V6's, and I'd like the 6V6's to break-up fairly early. Any recomendations?

Post by **markh** » Thu 01/19/06 8:31 pm

Don't know the Intruder circuitry, but it it has EL34s in it, you may want to use the JJ 6V6s, which are reportedly immune to high voltage abuse. Many of the NOS 6V6s don't tolerate high voltage well. Did you ask Randall A about this? I'm sure he has a knowledgable (and first hand) opinion!

--mark

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