64Firebird
New member
A friend told me yesterday that if I replace the 6L6 tubes in my Fender amp with EL34s it'll distort at a little lower volume. Is this true?
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AcidRain
New member
Umm, yes... but you'll need to have your amp re-biased.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
What he said.
64Firebird
New member
Very cool! thanks.
G
gilwe
New member
EL34 instead of 6L6 in the price of only rebiasing ?.... doesn't make sense to me, as far as I know you should change some crucial elements in the amp's circuit for this. My suggestion is just buy a Marshall, leave that Fender alone it is ment to be a clean sounding amp after all. If you still want your Fender to break up earlier I suggest looking at the direvtion of using 6V6 that are lower power than the 6L6.
64Firebird
New member
gilwe said:
If I turn this amp up to about 7 it's got the most wonderful smooth distortion I've ever heard. But, that's too loud for most of the places that I preform (this is a LOUD amp). I was thinking of getting something to put between the amp and speakers to suck out some of the juice, but this will do the same job and cost no more than retubing. Besides, I don't like the way that Marshalls sound.
Changing the tubes will not lower the value of this vintage amp, so why not go for it?
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gilwe
New member
I didn't say don't go for it, I said that EL34 doesn't fit a Fender amp unless you modify it.
M
Major Tom
New member
You can't just pop EL 34's into a 6L6 amp and adjust the bias unless is was designed to accept both types; your Fender isn't. Partway down the page below are directions to switch a Fender to EL34's.
Fender - Marshall amp mods:
They might start distorting a just a little earlier, but I doubt enough to warrant a change, if you could even notice a difference - Marshalls can be pretty frickin' loud while still clean. Also, part of that power tube-saturated tone is from the output transformer reaching its saturation point, it won't be quite there if your volume is only at 3 or 4... One other solution would be to try THD Yellow Jackets - its an adapter that you can pop right into your sockets with no mods, self-biasing, and uses EL-84 tubes. They will put out around 20 watts (I think) which is loud enough for club use (although it won't drive your output tranny into saturation). EL 84's rock, they have a great distortion character, and are way cheaper than 6L6 or EL34 tubes. The Sovteks are a price/performance champ - they sound great, and can be had as low as $7.95 per PAIR ( I just got some at that price). JJ/Tesla's version is highly rated, they are about $15-$18.00 per pair. I think the Yellow Jackets go for around $70.00 per pair without tubes.
Fender - Marshall amp mods:
They might start distorting a just a little earlier, but I doubt enough to warrant a change, if you could even notice a difference - Marshalls can be pretty frickin' loud while still clean. Also, part of that power tube-saturated tone is from the output transformer reaching its saturation point, it won't be quite there if your volume is only at 3 or 4... One other solution would be to try THD Yellow Jackets - its an adapter that you can pop right into your sockets with no mods, self-biasing, and uses EL-84 tubes. They will put out around 20 watts (I think) which is loud enough for club use (although it won't drive your output tranny into saturation). EL 84's rock, they have a great distortion character, and are way cheaper than 6L6 or EL34 tubes. The Sovteks are a price/performance champ - they sound great, and can be had as low as $7.95 per PAIR ( I just got some at that price). JJ/Tesla's version is highly rated, they are about $15-$18.00 per pair. I think the Yellow Jackets go for around $70.00 per pair without tubes.
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M.Brane
New member
Also do not put 6V6's into an amp that uses 6L6. The plate voltages are too high. You can use 6L6's in a 6V6 amp though for a cleaner tone.
And yes your Bassman can use EL34/6CA7's with some minor wiring mods. It will have a much different tone that way in addition do distoring at a lower volume. Not much lower though....
And yes your Bassman can use EL34/6CA7's with some minor wiring mods. It will have a much different tone that way in addition do distoring at a lower volume. Not much lower though....
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gilwe
New member
I think it's gonna sound more Marshally actually with the EL34, which, Firebird, you said you don't like anywany...
M
M.Brane
New member
Spot-on! A Plexi Marshall is basically just a copy of a tweed Bassman with different iron & output tubes.
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gilwe
New member
Interesting, are you sure these are basically the same amps ?
however I beleive that much of the tone that is known as Fender or Marshall tone is a result of the power tube types they use.
however I beleive that much of the tone that is known as Fender or Marshall tone is a result of the power tube types they use.
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M.Brane
New member
gilwe said:
Look at the schematics, and the control layout. They are vitrtually identical. The early Marshalls even have the 4 input jacks!
64Firebird
New member
Oh yeah, the first Marshalls were nothing but Fender copies.
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gilwe
New member
Never new that...
zer0sig
headpiece full of straw
anyone know a good place to find info on plate voltages/interchangability/etc for many, many tubes? i just picked up 100 of them for about 10 bucks, and think i want to experiment with them in some of my toys..
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gilwe
New member
What type of tubes did you get ?
zer0sig
headpiece full of straw
i got a grab bag of pulled tubes for about 10 or 20 bucks. many types in there. i was hoping to at least come up with enough to make my wonky old PA amp work (uses 5 tubes-4 different types!), and i'm pretty sure i can, but i want to know exactly what kind of leeway i have as far as experimentation. between tubes and amp, i paid about 25 bucks, so it's not like i have much to lose.
