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Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:56 pm
by Communarchy
I was going to name this "British vibe or American vibe" but then I thought about how the Leo Fender Music Man amps in the 70's would use EL34s in their power stage.

So which do you prefer? I tend to gravitate towards EL34 tubes (Marshalls, Oranges, Hiwatts) with the sharp glassy break up. Though I'd take a I'd take a Fender over a Vox. I can't deny the sound of a cranked tweed Bassman a'la Keith Richards. Or the sparkle of the Fender clean tone.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:35 pm
by dronemachine
6L6 ! I dig marshalls and oranges...but only for cabs. :wha?:

Just kiddin...I wouldn't be bummed if i had an EL34 powered amp too.But my vote goes to...

I can't deny the sound of a cranked tweed Bassman. Or the sparkle of the Fender clean tone.


:cool: :thumb:

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:43 pm
by smile_man
I prefer the sound of my AC 30 to my friends Blues Deville. :idk:

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:03 pm
by Gunner Recall
My amp can do both but I prefer 6l6's.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:57 am
by Communarchy
smile_man wrote:I prefer the sound of my AC 30 to my friends Blues Deville. :idk:



I take my previous statement back. I'd take some Fenders over a Vox. The Blues Deville I can't really get down with. But I'd take a Deluxe Reverb or Bassman/Bandmaster over an AC30.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:15 am
by Ghost Hip
I really have no experience, but apparently my amp has el84s. Idk as long as I have the cleans and an EQ, I should be able to figure something out.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:28 am
by ChrisDN
6L6's but I don't actually have one atm. Boo!

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:41 am
by ohsojayadeva
given the choice between just those two, i'll take 6L6 - i don't like the way that EL34s break up in the mids, it seems really... fragile by comparison. that being said, my current amp users EL84s and i'm quite happy with them.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:58 pm
by hazelwould
smile_man wrote:I prefer the sound of my AC 30 to my friends Blues Deville. :idk:

I prefer the sound of el84's which are in AC30, but I prefer the clean headroom of a good 6L6 amp. Depending on your budget get an Egnater tourmaster. I played on one, it can take 6L6 and or el34's. I think you can mix and assign them to channels also. Best of both worlds IMO.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:20 pm
by metalmariachi
for nice clean I prefer 6L6s, I don't like the sound of EL-34s run clean.

God; Imagen a Tele through a Twin reverb with Celestions and EL-34s instant head explosion.

Have to admit that an over driven Marshal has that sound though.

MM

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:18 pm
by Communarchy
hazelwould wrote:Depending on your budget get an Egnater tourmaster. I played on one, it can take 6L6 and or el34's. I think you can mix and assign them to channels also. Best of both worlds IMO.


Hmmm, I just looked up the tourmaster and WOW. The fact that you can assign wattage to each channel (100w, 50w, 25w, 10w) is simply amazing. You can potentially get massive headroom or great power tube distortion with a footswitch stomp. Though I couldn't find any info on whether it could take either EL34s or 6L6's. It comes with 5881s(6L6s).

Now the rebel and renegade heads on the other hand have a dial where you can MIX the EL34 and 6L6 tubes! Incredible. I have an Orange AD30 right now (i know el84s) and I'm having trouble bonding with it. The tube rectifier just gives me too much compression for the style I play. I might make the switch to Egnater if I can unload my Orange on ebay.

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 11:34 am
by opivy3056
KT88's :poke:

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 2:48 pm
by Dale
EL34's :cool:

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 4:30 pm
by bigchiefbc
'65 Deluxe Reverb with 6V6's :drool:

Unfortunately, my only guitar amp at the moment is a Marshall JTM with 5881s :(

Re: Which tube do you prefer? EL34s or 6L6s?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 2:48 am
by Communarchy
opivy3056 wrote:KT88's


Funny you should mention, I'm swapping out the EL34s in my JCM 800 for KT88s this week. Expensive as fuck though, for a quad.