Favorite 6V6s in tweed amps- Whats yours?

[59Vampire]

I recently acquired a 5e3 vicky. Right now im playing with GEs and have some syls on the way. What do you guys like and why? Thanks

[Trout]

I recently acquired a 5e3 vicky. Right now im playing with GEs and have some syls on the way. What do you guys like and why? Thanks


In all honesty, JJ's

They are just plain bigger and fatter sounding than conventional 6V6's.
That said, for NOS I just love GE 6V6GTA clear bottles. They have such a pleasant chime with single coils that I love them.

I use the JJ's 90% of the time, I only have a few sets of the GE's and I am saving them for if I ever find a vintage tweed at a garage sale.

[59Vampire]

The amp came with groove tubes I have no idea who made them because I never willingly bought groove tubes. With the exception of jjel84s I never had good luck with modern manufactured stuff. I heard a lot of nice things about the tung sols tho(russian)

[leofenderbender]

I never much cared for the sound of current production 6V6s in my tweed. The TungSols were better than JJs or EHs, but not as good as old tubes.

RCAs are bright & creamy - bright enough to tame some of the growl of a 5E3. GEs & Sylanias brighter yet. Brimars are smokier sounding and have a growl of their own, maybe too smoky for that circuit if you also use an overdrive pedal or two. Despite that, I did prefer the sound of Brimars in mine.

[phsyconoodler]

I had a set of old sylvania metal jacket 6v6's in a 5E3 and they were awesome sounding.I like JJ's and the groove tubes 6v6S version,which is likely a chinese tube.They sound good.

[Blue Strat]

Almost anything depending on how the particular amp and speaker sounds.

Usually brighter tubes like Sylvanias or RCAs since tweed amps tend to be dark.

[SLBlues]

When changing from JJ's to TungSol 6V6's in a 5E3 (Richter) is it necessary to re-bias ? TIA

[Trout]

When changing from JJ's to TungSol 6V6's in a 5E3 (Richter) is it necessary to re-bias ? TIA


nope

[Trout]

I had a set of old sylvania metal jacket 6v6's in a 5E3 and they were awesome sounding.I like JJ's and the groove tubes 6v6S version,which is likely a chinese tube.They sound good.


I have an NOS quad of those here, I never used them because of the jaw tube retainers. If I remember correctly, there is a certain shock hazard involved with using those?

[slider313]

The new Tung Sols sound real nice in tweeds until the amp starts to compress, then they sound a bit too mid forward. JJ's are cool but sound more like a 7591A to my ears. I like Sylvania or GE black plate 6V6GTA's.

[Blue Strat]

When changing from JJ's to TungSol 6V6's in a 5E3 (Richter) is it necessary to re-bias ? TIA

Not if it's cathode biased as with true 5E3 circuits.

If it's a fixed biased amp, biasing is always necessary when changing power tubes regardless of whether they're the same or different brand.

[merkaba22]

I have JJ's in my reworked Princeton Reverb II (which I think is a bit tweed like in view of the gain) and they sound very very good.

[59Vampire]

Almost anything depending on how the particular amp and speaker sounds.

Usually brighter tubes like Sylvanias or RCAs since tweed amps tend to be dark.


I have been trying to tame the bass in this amp with a variety of v2 swaps and power tube swaps. I tried the 5v4 and it worked but it took away some of the richness and feel. Right now a 12ay7 in v2 with the 5y3 works great with my GEs. But there is not enough distortion so im looking for possible a 6v6 that will either work well with the ay7 in v2 and distort a bitearlier OR find a 6v6 that will tighten up the bass and let me go back to the 5751 or dare isay ax7 with the 5y3. Darn Les Pauls!

[Trout]

I have been trying to tame the bass in this amp with a variety of v2 swaps and power tube swaps. I tried the 5v4 and it worked but it took away some of the richness and feel. Right now a 12ay7 in v2 with the 5y3 works great with my GEs. But there is not enough distortion so im looking for possible a 6v6 that will either work well with the ay7 in v2 and distort a bitearlier OR find a 6v6 that will tighten up the bass and let me go back to the 5751 or dare isay ax7 with the 5y3. Darn Les Pauls!

Swap out the .1 coupling caps to around .022 , That will tigthen it up a bunch regardless of tube choice. Part of the 5E3 charm is its simplicity.

Then you could go back and use 12AX7's in both V1 & V2 and get all kinds of grind. Use some nice creamy Mullards or even Brimars for body.

[59Vampire]

i really dont want to mod the amp nor do i have the ability to do so which is why im trying evrything else first. thanks! what are couplin g caps any way?

[Blue Strat]

I have been trying to tame the bass in this amp with a variety of v2 swaps and power tube swaps. I tried the 5v4 and it worked but it took away some of the richness and feel. Right now a 12ay7 in v2 with the 5y3 works great with my GEs. But there is not enough distortion so im looking for possible a 6v6 that will either work well with the ay7 in v2 and distort a bitearlier OR find a 6v6 that will tighten up the bass and let me go back to the 5751 or dare isay ax7 with the 5y3. Darn Les Pauls!

It's a delicate balancing act. No 6V6 other than very tired ones will break up significantly more than any others.

I think your only approach is to try a higher gain V1/V2 than you're using and figuring out which rectifier type (5Y3 or 5V4) seems best.

Note that these amps typically run the power tubes over their power limit with 5Y3s and using a 5V4 just makes matters worse unless you increase the cathode bias resistor to compensate.

I would stick with whatever power tubes you have (or get a better pair), a 5Y3, and try every conceivable combination of preamp tubes.

[Gris]

The new Tung Sols sound real nice in tweeds until the amp starts to compress, then they sound a bit too mid forward. JJ's are cool but sound more like a 7591A to my ears. I like Sylvania or GE black plate 6V6GTA's.Bingo... :-)

[jetlag]

I really like RCA blackplates in mine. Just about any old RCA 6V6 sounds great in tweed deluxes.

[teletroy]

Brimar CV511 mmmmmmm delicious. I need to pick up some more, before I can't afford them anymore :)

[epluribus]

For NOS I finally settled on Mullard's--those are for a Tweed-style 5F1-ish circuit that I like to push pretty hard. Great grind, excellent ear comfort in all kinds of voltage environments. For new stuff in a dirty Tweed, I vote JJ's. But if it's set up for cleans and light drive, I'm a warpo that likes Sovtek's for their liveliness and edge.

--Ray

[capnjuan]

... what are coupling caps any way? Hi 59V; they are capacitors that are in the audio circuit whose purpose is to block DC from appearing at the grid of the next stage and connect or 'couple' one stage to the next. J

[jpervin]

I really like RCA blackplates in mine.

Same here.

[59Vampire]

Hi 59V; they are capacitors that are in the audio circuit whose purpose is to block DC from appearing at the grid of the next stage and connect or 'couple' one stage to the next. J


Thanks!

[SkydogFan81]

NOS RCA 6v6 are still available for around $100 a matched pair and thats what came in most of the originials, right?

[epluribus]

Thanks!

Hey 59, what's new? For a great discussion of this stuff, and a pic of a basic triode gain stage that illustrates all the pieces parts, check out Randall Aiken's (http://www.aikenamps.com/) place.

--Ray

[EataPeach]

I love Brimar 6V6's ...They were incredible in a 5E3 I had,and now I have a Victoria with a Brimar 6V6,a NOS Mazda rec,and a TungSol RI Pre...
They are absolutely killer! The Celestion GreenBack in a Tweed is awesome too.

[sidehatch]

I still haven't tried JJ 6v6's because the maker of one of my 6v6 amps (steve carr) says they don't sound good at all and will make the amp sound generic.

I'd still like to hear them myself. I like sylvania,brimar and Jan phillips. Cant afford RCA's. The newer Tung Sol's sound great but its not much more to get some NOS Jan philips. I used a pair of tung sold for almost 2 years of hard gigging but switched to Jan's this last time thanks to KCA. Sound very similar to me but I expect the Jans to last for many years. I love the sylvania's but mine started rattling after 6 months. I put some tube dampers and all is well. I think they sound awesome. My least favorite 6v6 has been some GE's that are stamped Lindal tube. They were sold me as NOS but I dont have tester. I have a suspicion they are worn. They sound dead . Dont rattle or make noise but just sound non lively.

I'm probably full of it but I have this theory that slightly microphonic tubes sound better IF you can live with the noise or they aren't too bad, These GE's can be hit with a chopstick and not make a noise.

[rockindog]

I love Brimar 6V6's ...They were incredible in a 5E3 I had,and now I have a Victoria with a Brimar 6V6,a NOS Mazda rec,and a TungSol RI Pre...
They are absolutely killer! The Celestion GreenBack in a Tweed is awesome too.

Absolutely...Brimars. Nuff said.