The basic question is "why use anything but an el34 in an amp designed for el34".
There is no shortage of el34, new or NOS. So why ??
There is no shortage of el34, new or NOS. So why ??
Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
How many dozen EL34 or 6CA7 are available to easily roll through? At least 2. High probability of finding "awesome tone", low chance of things going boom. Me likey.
Replacing an EL34 (or 6L6) tube is done in guitar amplifiers to get the sweeter tone of a 6V6--gets the "crunch" that guitarists desire at a lower volume. To get this crunch from a pair of 6L6s usually requires the volume to be much higher than would be comfortable in certain live situations--coffee houses, acoustic jams, and such. Many guitar amp experts (Gerald Weber is one) believe that the 6V6 is the sweetest-sounding of all the power tubes.
Guitar 'techs' will replace anything with anything else with the same pinout, but they are not looking to reproduce an input signal at the output. They expect distortion, and expect to have to replace valves every year or two.
firstly thanks for the clear answer to cl1238, DAK808. and about petertub's question's answer is already given by gabdx halfy. Yes I have bad stock tubes and i want to change them with beters. by the way, dotneck335 is right also. I want more "crunch" melodies. watched too many videos from youtube about comparation of El34, 6L6 and 6V6. I have just an amateur idea about that 6L6 and especially 6V6 has better sounds about mid sounds.
As summary I understand, if my amplifier has rectifier tube (mine has 5C3S) it should work with 6L6GC but exact answer is it depends on amplifier design.
As summary I understand, if my amplifier has rectifier tube (mine has 5C3S) it should work with 6L6GC but exact answer is it depends on amplifier design.
Hi Peter, no offense, but to me the question on the other hand is, why not? In my SE 6550 amp which is designed to use EL34 as and can play 6v6 but I prefer the higher power tubes which are a better match for my speakers, I like the beam power tube sound over the EL34. The sound of the EL37 is surgical in its precision, and the black plate 6550 is a captivating experience. While certainly there are many brands of el34, there are many more types of 6l6. Let us not forget that the 6L6 type was one of the first "high power" multi grid tubes. As such, it has had a much longer development period than the el34, which in tube time came much later. Just look at the design of the EL37 and KT66 which are much more robust and designed for 10.000 hour life span. I am not 100% sure but I have not read any EL34 manufacturers specs that claim 10,000 hour lifespan from its factories. cheers.
To me it's absurd, it's like swapping sparkplugs from a different car just becouse you like the hill-performance of that car.
If an amp is optimized for EL34 it will be less ( or not at all) optimized for other tubes, with worse performance for tubes that are far from simular.
And what has tube longevity to do when one changes them at will ?
I have musical ears, but the rest of me is quite useless playing anything other than a hi-fi system. Your point is?dotneck335 said:
OK, you appear to want more distortion. In that case choose the valve which is least like the EL34, as that is likely to give the most distortion when substituted.tgenc said:
There is also the drive issue.
Keep in mind that the 6L6gc takes about 25% more signal than an EL34 to realize its full power potential. Seldom would see a single 6SL7 driving a 6L6 unless it was a pure pentode circuit using cathode bias.
What circuit do you have in this amp? Is there a schematic?
Keep in mind that the 6L6gc takes about 25% more signal than an EL34 to realize its full power potential. Seldom would see a single 6SL7 driving a 6L6 unless it was a pure pentode circuit using cathode bias.
What circuit do you have in this amp? Is there a schematic?
My point is that infinitesimal distortion figures are the LEAST important thing to a musician for a guitar amplifier. It's all about the tone, the sound that the tube delivers.
Your point on the guitar amp is well taken, but I think the OP is working with a hi-fi amp, where THD is of some importance, OTOH, if all he wants, is to change the tone, there is a thing called the tone control...
I am glad you agree with me, for that is precisely the point I was making. Nothing whatsoever to do with hi-fi, of course.dotneck335 said:
The OP (tgenc) also says ' I want more "crunch" melodies. " So I'm thinking it's NOT a HiFi amp. The "tone control", as any guitarist will tell you, won't give you that early break-up crunch that a 6V6 tube will.
up or less. I couldn't count it but it should have just 0,02 distorsion. So I don't have a clear answer.
here is a photo of it
Yup, it looks like a Chinese-made hi-fi amp, so unless you want to drill some holes and install more parts, it might be easier to drive it with a preamp with tone control. I don't think you want to overdrive the output stage to get more "crunch" which is a term commonly used when talking about guitar amps.
But if you are good with DIY, you can try the variable bias scheme as shown below, which allows you to set the bias for the output tubes accordingly:
But if you are good with DIY, you can try the variable bias scheme as shown below, which allows you to set the bias for the output tubes accordingly:
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