JJ 6L6 Review

[slegros]

I recently retubed my Marshall BB reissue. As the amp was used my guess was that it had never been retubed. I decided to try a full JJ tube set from Eurotubes and have to say the customer service was excellent. (Im in Japan, but its still cheaper to order tubes from the US)

A favourite 12AX7 of mine are the Tung-sol reissues which I've used in 3 amps now, but after trying the JJs in a friends amp I also liked them. They seem to be a touch darker and creamier than the Tung-sols, whereas the Tung-sols are a bit brighter, more aggressive and seem to have a touch more gain to my ears. I swapped all the 12AX7's for JJ's and put in a JJ GZ34 recifier. Having done that I decided to compare the JJ 6L6's aginst a set of new Sovtek 5881s I had as spares. Granted the Sovteks may not have been the best to compare to, but seeing as they are the std tubes in many amps, others may be looking to do the same swap. I rebiased the amp for each tube set, and played each for about 20 min. to try to get a good feel for each tube.

I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by the JJ's. Other reviews I had read said they were dark and could be boomy on the low-end. I didn't find this to be the case at all. Compared to the Sovteks I found them to be far clearer,more articulate with a tighter crisper low-end, and more brilliant highs. They seemed to balance off the Greenbacks in the amp nicely. They also sounded far less 'mushy' for lack of a better term. Overall I found the JJ's were better than the Sovteks in almost every respect and needless to say they stayed in the amp. I was concerned that the amp may take on a far darker character running all JJ's based on what I had read. That wasn't the case at all. For anyone running stock Sovteks in an amp Id definitely recommend the JJ'S as an upgrade or replacement.

Anyone try JJ's against some of the classic 6L6's like the GE, RCA or Sylvania? How did they compare?

[phsyconoodler]

I personally prefer EL34's in bluesbreakers but JJ's sound good.I have had lots of problems with JJ's however,and can't use them anymore in my builds.I use TAD now.I like the tone better too.

[RedRock]

+1 on the TADs. Short bottle.

[Blue Strat]

I recently retubed my Marshall BB reissue. As the amp was used my guess was that it had never been retubed. I decided to try a full JJ tube set from Eurotubes and have to say the customer service was excellent. (Im in Japan, but its still cheaper to order tubes from the US)

A favourite 12AX7 of mine are the Tung-sol reissues which I've used in 3 amps now, but after trying the JJs in a friends amp I also liked them. They seem to be a touch darker and creamier than the Tung-sols, whereas the Tung-sols are a bit brighter, more aggressive and seem to have a touch more gain to my ears. I swapped all the 12AX7's for JJ's and put in a JJ GZ34 recifier. Having done that I decided to compare the JJ 6L6's aginst a set of new Sovtek 5881s I had as spares. Granted the Sovteks may not have been the best to compare to, but seeing as they are the std tubes in many amps, others may be looking to do the same swap. I rebiased the amp for each tube set, and played each for about 20 min. to try to get a good feel for each tube.

I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by the JJ's. Other reviews I had read said they were dark and could be boomy on the low-end. I didn't find this to be the case at all. Compared to the Sovteks I found them to be far clearer,more articulate with a tighter crisper low-end, and more brilliant highs. They seemed to balance off the Greenbacks in the amp nicely. They also sounded far less 'mushy' for lack of a better term. Overall I found the JJ's were better than the Sovteks in almost every respect and needless to say they stayed in the amp. I was concerned that the amp may take on a far darker character running all JJ's based on what I had read. That wasn't the case at all. For anyone running stock Sovteks in an amp Id definitely recommend the JJ'S as an upgrade or replacement.

Anyone try JJ's against some of the classic 6L6's like the GE, RCA or Sylvania? How did they compare?

Almost anything might sound better than Sovteks. SEDs are top for customer satisfaction in both tone and reliability.

Any of the NOS brands you listed are sure to outperform for reliability and many people prefer these to ANY new production tube. However, as we should all know by now, tone is subjective and there's no consensus on what sounds best.

[jbltwin1]

Like Mike(Blue Strat) says, almost ANYTHNG will sound better than sovteks. I personally think that they are the WORST sounding new production tube out there. Yeah, they come in a LOT of new amps but they stick bite. Real brittle sounding and not real pleasing. SED's are very nice tubes and have one of the best new production track records out there.

[wixedmords]

Thank you for the review slegros.

An plans on trying the SED 6L6's and adding them to your review.

How about a SED 6L6GC vs Svetlana 6L6GC review.

Much appreciated what you have done so far. :)

[AL30]

Thanks for the review. I've been using JJ's in my Fenders for several years now and I have had no problems. To my ears they are good, solid tubes. Nice breakup and not too harsh.

But, recently I just swapped out a pair of (almost) new JJ 6L6's for a pair of SED 6L6GC's. I did this in two different BF Bassman amps (AA864 and AB165). I'm now switching tubes. The SED's had a little more of everything. A little more detail, depth, warmth, smooth... all the buzz words. Really nice sounding tubes. I still like the JJ's and have a few pair around that I will not hesitate to use but I'll be picking up a few more sets of the SED's too.

AL

[slegros]

Thank you for the review slegros.

An plans on trying the SED 6L6's and adding them to your review.

How about a SED 6L6GC vs Svetlana 6L6GC review.

Much appreciated what you have done so far. :)

Thanks very much, happy to share what little knowledge I may have! Thanks to AL30 for the SED info. I've heard they are very good but never had the chance to try them or any of the highly regarded NOS tubes firsthand. I've also heard the TAD short bottles are as close to the GE's(is that right?) as any new production tube has come. Id love to A/B some of the aforementioned in the same amp, but for now the JJs are doing just fine. Oh well when they go Ill try probably the SED's or TAD's, then theres kt66's..... Lots to choose from! Nice to see there are some decent sounding new production tubes out there given the prices and rarity of some of the NOS stuff.

[Rosewood]

Pardon me but I've forgotten, are SED's winged C's ? Tads are made by/where?

[JimmyR]

SED = Winged C = original Svetlana. In Russian, Svetlana is spelt Cvetlana or similar. Svetlana means "light" and is a fairly common girl's name in eastern Europe. TAD = Tube Amp Doctor and I haven't the faintest idea where they come from, but always felt that they were a better version of Groove Tubes. IE they don't actually produce the tubes themselves but relabel others. Could be wrong though.

[Rosewood]

Thanks JimmyR.

[Fretts]

I think TAD does some grading of already-available tubes, and also has some made to his spec in China.
I tried his small-bottle 6L6 in my BFSR and it was very sweet.

[HoboMan]

OK, I don't use 6L6s but I retubed my Mesa F-30 with a complete set of JJs (EL34 power tubes, not sure on the others) and it turned a good amp into a GREAT amp.

Before the swap the gain channel had a tendency to sound flubby. After the swap it is tighter, crunchier and the clean channel is SO chimey.

Since this is a fairly high gain amp I chose the low gain tubes.
GREAT customer service. When I called they asked me a lot of questions, what type of music do I like to play, what guitar, what PUs etc. Then they made a recommendation on tubes.

[Rocketfire Guitars]

Seems like most OEM tubes are now Groove Tubes... That said I've seen lots of amps from the late 90's and 2000's with Russian or Chinese Groove Tubes in the back.

That said... JJ's will be a huge improvement.

I still believe NOS is best. Even Used Old stock. I love Telefunken for 12ax7s. To me EI sounds a little like the Tele. But that's my opinion.

G.T. has USA made versions of 12ax7 and 6L6 (GE tooling) tubes. I've heard the 12ax7 and like it. G.T. is now owned by Fender.

JJ's tubes sound very nice in my opinion. When I was building my Rocketfire Tweed based amp I used JJ's and was very happy with the sound.

[dallyd31]

I have JJ 6L6's in my Tweed Bassman clone and I find then a little harsh. Pretty bright, which seems to be the opposite of what everyone else is saying.

I put in a pair of old Sylvania's I had lying around it is was way better. Smoother, less harsh on the highs and slightly less gain.

[solitaire]

I think TAD does some grading of already-available tubes, and also has some made to his spec in China.
I tried his small-bottle 6L6 in my BFSR and it was very sweet.
This is correct. Chinese valves are notorious for their so-so reliability, but these chinese cryos I've been using lately seem to hold up nicely.

[INX]

I have JJ 6L6's in my Tweed Bassman clone and I find then a little harsh. Pretty bright, which seems to be the opposite of what everyone else is saying.

I put in a pair of old Sylvania's I had lying around it is was way better. Smoother, less harsh on the highs and slightly less gain.

Did you rebias for the JJ's? Any power tube can sound harsh, bright, and unmusical if out of balance.

:drink

[rockon1]

Almost anything might sound better than Sovteks. SEDs are top for customer satisfaction in both tone and reliability.

Any of the NOS brands you listed are sure to outperform for reliability and many people prefer these to ANY new production tube. However, as we should all know by now, tone is subjective and there's no consensus on what sounds best.


Agreed but one thing the sovtek "5881" have is durability. That bland tone will keep on going and going.... Seriously never seen one fail. Bob

[INX]

I have observed them in my Zinky Mofo, which has an OT optimized like a Soldano for that tube. They sound ok if biased HOT, but still aren't as good as anything else tone-wise.

[jzucker]

+1 on the TADs. Short bottle.

I've used the TADs too but have not been blown away by them. One thing I found odd was the registration pin broke off on 2 of them within a few weeks. I don't know that I've ever had that happen before or if so, not for years. Never happened on any of the sovtek other russian tubes. Could be coincidence, poor handling on my part, etc., but I'm pretty careful taking them out. I don't just grab the glass and twist! ;)

Been really happy with the winged C and tungsol reissue tubes.

[Mike9]

I have JJ 6L6GC's in my modded '79 Super Reverb and they sound great. It's Ultra Linear and I didn't want to risk my RCA Black Plates in it so I went with JJ's and I'm glad I did. They saturate nicely and have a great swirling chime to them - like a natural tremolo effect when pushed. I've used Winged C's and those are nice tubes as well, but I gave the JJ's a try and they don't disappoint.

[zombiwoof]

We put the NOS small bottle Philips/Sylvania JAN 6L6's in my brother's Bluesbreaker RI and they sounded great. You can still get these tubes for a decent price at many places, they have 6L6GC specs but break up a little sooner.

Al

[teleman55]

I just put JJ 6L6s in my Pro Reverb. The Sylvanias were getting a little "long in the tooth". I tried the TAD short bottles too. Nice but the JJs are more like the Sylvanias. I like the JJ ecc83s in this amp too. Don't like them in my Deluxe Reverb but they sound better than JJ ecc803, Tung Sol Reissue, Amperex, Telefunken, EI, GE, Sovtek, or JAN Phillips in this amp. That was a surprise. I like their EL84s a lot, and the ecc803 too. Not as thrilled with their 6V6s. They're a great tube but not really a 6V6. Or maybe they are a 6V6 on steroids.