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Hi, I'm really new to tube amps and have a question about the best tubes for a 5E3 clone. The amp I am having built is a 5E3 with a vintage 15' Jensen speaker. The amp is rated at 14 watts and will accept both 6V6's and 6L6's and the corrosponding rectifiers (5Y3 and 5U4). If you were going to buy a optinum set for it, which tubes would you use? Mike at KCA has said that if cost is not a problem then NOS RCA's accross the board would be really good. Just wanted your opinions. We play allot of jazz, standards and good old rock. I would need some headroom but love the breakup around 5. Thanks!

I run Brimar CV511/6V6 in one of my clones, the other one has Canadian Marconi 6V6G's in it.

The one with the Brimar CV511 has an all octal preamp and the other has all nine pins. Not sure of the brands I finally settled on. Both amps have otherwise similar circuitry but sound worlds apart. Both sound great.

Its really hard to find good unmicrophonic octal preamp tubes so I don't think I will go down that road again. Its also the amp I use the most.

I'm running a pair of NOS GE 6V6GTA's (with the small bases) and they sound great. I usually just mess around with various 12AX7 stuff that I have laying around. Nothing too exotic.

JJ's

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I know this is a very subjective subject. I think I'll play around with different tubes in all of the slots.

I have tried JJs (sound good, but they rattle), NOS GEs (very nice), but I found a cheapo pair of National Union (or somesuch, I can't remember the name) 6V6 that I snagged on the FleaBay that sound really great. It pays to try several sets; your ears will tell you what set is right. Along with a JAN Sylvania 5Y3GTA (DON'T use the new Russian "5Y3", it produces about 30V above 5Y3 specs), and a nice NOS 12AY7 in the pre...

I'm pretty sure you can get away with a new JJ 12AX7 in the PI. Works for me. But, I don't have access to the array of NOS 12's that some of these fellas have here. My only "good" 12's (Brimar) are in my TMB. I tried one of these in the PI and it didn't seem to make any difference.

Are the NOS RCA's really that good? I mean do they stand hand and shoulders above the rest. Some of the black plate 6V6 and 6L6's can get really pricey.

i have lots of RCA Telefunken etc. pulls from hi-fi amps purchased second hands and they all test very strong.

I use JJ's.

If you are going to stick with 6V6s, RCA Black plates and Gray plates both sound superb even compared to other NOS and they are still pretty affordable if you hunt around for them. RCA Black plate 6L6s on the other hand are extremely expensive, however they are the gold standard 6L6.

For what you are describing as your style (Lots of Jazz, plug your ears here Phil ) I would go for 6L6s as they will give you a little more head room by nature. You may also consider dropping the PI gain down by using a 5751 or 12AT7 for some extra headroom.

I have mine setup so that I get good cleans, but it is mostly used for it's overdrive. Here's my setup:

V1 RCA 7025
V2 Sovtek 5751 (selected from a batch for low noise)
V3 & V4 NOS RCA 6V6GTA Gray plates
V5 JAN Philips 5Y3

I usually just roll my volume back on the guitar for cleans, then up for overdrive. There is something about the RCAs that give it a certain sparkle not found in other tubes. I have a bunch of other NOS 6V6s and the RCAs are the best of the bunch. I also really like the Marconi/Westinghouse 6V6Gs (ST shape) that are really smooth but lack a bit of the sparkle of the RCAs but still sound great.

6L6s are generally a clean sound tube, but in the 5E3 will distort. If you have a bigger OT (Tweed Pro is a good example) and a stiffer rectifier, you can get a lot more clean headroom.

Again, use your ears as the final judge. Also play around with the volume controls as they are interactive. There are some interesting tones residing in that setup. Using a lower gain tube in the PI also helps make the volume controls a bit more linear and usable. The 12AX7 in the PI made mine break up at about 2 and just get more saturated as I turned it up, thus making it a bit of a one trick pony. The 5751 delayed break up until about 4-5 and gave a more pleasing level of saturation when cranked.

dartanion-Thank you for all of the info. I've got a feeling this new amp is going to be allot of fun.

The 5E3 is an extremely fun amp! Just like the 18watt!

You should check out the 18watt with a 5E3 preamp. It's been done and people seem to really like it.

OH! BTW- You can also jumper channels for some extra drive, although I think a clean boost pedal is the ticket for leads on a 5E3. I use my RAT RI as a clean boost and it sounds fantastic with the 5E3.

I agree with the 6L6 for alittle more clean headroom and running a 15" a 6v6 might get alittle tubby sounding . You can find some decent used tube pulls off of fleabay if your carefull, if you can try both and see what you like, RCA 7025"s would also be a real good choice for the V1 spot!
rob

dunno much about 5E3 but in my Princeton Reverb, 6V6EH's ("Electro-Harmonix") sound pretty much identical to NOS RCA black-plate tubes, and last a long time.

I should have it about two weeks and will see how it sounds with the stock tubes and then I will start the fun journey down tube lane. LOL. The builder is going to go with the normal tubes (6V6's) but will send a set of NOS 6L6 pulls to try out.

i built a 5E3 with a Hammond 272JX and a Garnet (2x6L6) 35 watts OT and i use JJ6V6 and i like it vely vely much with a Governor.

Here's another tube newbie question: What's the difference between NOS RCA Grey Plates and NOS RCA Black Plates?

The plates are made of a different material or use a different coating. Can't quite remember exactly, but the black plates are more highly sought after than the gray plate variety. They are both very good sounding tubes, just a little different. In terms of 6L6s, black plates are the gold standard, however you'll pay for it in those terms as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either variety.

Thanks for the info. I've been looking on ebay and there is a bewildering array of different tubes. In the interest of getting what I'm paying for I think I better stick with either Doug's Tubes or KCA.