Tubes for Allen Old Flame?

[geodr]

Picked up a very nice Allen Old Flame Head from KBR (Thanks Kenny!) that sounds GREAT but it is LOUD with 6L6's, so I want to power down to 6V6's, probably 6V6GT's and a 5U4GB rectifier tube

So my question is where is the best bang for the buck tube-wise, especially for the power tubes? Looks like a NOS GE or RCA rectifier tube can be had for $25, so that is easy. But power tubes can go anywhere from $40 for reissue Tung-Sols up to $150 for NOS RCA blackplates. What tubes do people think are a good price/quality point for this amp? Specific recommendations?

Also, do I need to change out any of the EH preamp tubes to take full advantage of the new power tubes? I've read about using 12AT7's and 12AY7's in various places...

[tcmono]

I've used JJ and Tung-Sol RI 6V6's. JJ's sound more like a 6L6, Tung-Sols are fine too. As far as preamp tubes, you need to decide what you want more/less of before you start swapping tube type (ax7's to at7's). Are you looking for less gain? Turn the "raw" to zero, run the master high and the volume low. See if that works. You don't NEED to change out the tubes, EH's are fine. I prefer Tung-Sol RI. Finally settled on GE 12AX7A's that I got on Ebay for a great price. V1 (tube farthest from the power tubes) is the most critical, put your best tube there.

Swapping to 6V6's will not radically change the volume of the amp in my experience. I went back to using the 6L6's (TAD 6l6WGC) to get a bigger, firmer bottom end.

[62Tele]

I agree with tcmono about the power tubes. You'll drop a little headroom with the 6V6's but not a lot of volume. I personally prefer David's amps with 6L6's - they just have more fidelity and a richer low end. I have Tung Sols in my Brown Sugar and Winged C's in my Accomplice. David rec's the Tung Sols in terms of value and tone - the Winged C's are a little glassier and have a touch more headroom, the Tung Sols have a nice breakup. Both are good, I'd say go for whatever directio you want to head. Small bottle Phillips 6L6's have a nice tone and earlier breakup than larger bottle 6L's. I don't think it's worth spending money for NOS rectifier tubes - doubt anyone can really hear the difference.

The Accomplice (very similar circuit) powers WAY down with the master. You can drop the gain a bit by swapping out the first preamp tube. I put a 5751 in the first position of my Brown Sugar and really like it - tamed the gain a little, made it sound a little more vintage but still keeps a fair amount of oomph when you want it. Something like this (no affiliation):

http://thetubestore.com/sylvania5751.html

It's a great amp, a true workhorse, and as well built as you could hope for. Enjoy.

[eugenedunn]

Yes, stay with the 6L6, but try dropping a 12AY7 in V1 preamp position. A very nice glassy chimey clean tone.......very complimentary with any pedal. I'm also using an Allen Old Flame head.

If you care to experiment, I really like putting a Weber WZ34 Copper Cap in for the rectifier, putting in KT66 power tubes with over-the-top spring tube retainers. (You have to use the over the top retainers because those big bottle KT66 tubes won't fit in the standard spring clip retainers).

KT66's have a fuller sound with a tiny bit more midrange, but they still retain a lot of the bass and treble airyness of 6L6GC's. Worth a try, if you have about a hundred bucks to spend.