Express 6V6 vs EL34's - Pro's and Con's.

[fierce_carrot]

The last decision on my new amp is a tough one as I don't have the ability to A/B an express with 6V6's or El34's.

First, massive volume isn't important to me. I gig with an 18watter thats usually too loud to be fully cranked.

The youtube video of the express played with a strat and LP is tone to die for. Can 6V6's get me in that territory or do I have to go to the EL34's?

I play mostly blues & blues rock so a good rhythm tone is a must but so is a blistering lead one.

[funkmeblue]

I thought he had 6v6's in his express for that clip

[fierce_carrot]

I thought he had 6v6's in his express for that clip

I've never seen anything saying what he had other than its and express...I'd sure like to know if thats 6v6s or not.

[sliberty]

In my UniWreck (an Express built into a Univox chassis and cabinet), I prefer the EL334's. I tried 6v6's, and they sounded pretty good, but the volume level really wasn't SO much lower, so it wasn't worth the tone loss, even though it was small. I keep 6V6's with me as spares in case of tube trouble, but only because I am too cheap to buy another set of EL34's right now.

[DerStever]

I'm going with 6V6s as I got a significant DB loss using them vs EL34s with my Hotplate and tonewise - while I lost a little "British" tone I changed the PA and PI tubes out to Mullards and most of it came back.

I even ordered a matched set of Brimar 6V6s which I'll most likely settle with if they work as good or better than the tubes in now. The 6V6 is a great tube - and if you get the right one it can have sparkle and all of the things you want including a nice creamy overdrive.

I also ordered a set of SED EL34s also (I won't be using the "matched" JJs that hummed anymore) and I'll set the bias so either tube can work without a rebias and that should do it. Best of both worlds. But as its been said different strokes for different folks.....

[HiGain]

If you look in the archives you'll find some comments on this issue.

In my experience, you need the EL34 tubes for the fat, harmonically rich midrange, as well as for the outrageous harmonics and feedback. 6V6 tubes sound great, but they are different. They have less mids, are more hifi sounding, and are a little more civilized. Although they are less loud, they still have nice aggreesive, bratty attitude.

Jake

[fierce_carrot]

I really appreciate the responses, and even after this, I still don't know what direction to turn.

The El34's would probably be my best choice as I can use the PPIMV to throttle it down, but I just don't want to lose "that tone".

[Blues Hound]

I have KT66's in mine and I prefer them to either 6V6's or the NOS Mullard EL-34's I got off of E-bay.

There is a thread about this somewhere if you look aound.

[hairyandy]

I bought John Speck's Paul Ruby Express clone about two months ago and it came with a pair of JJ 34s. I have since put those back in because I love the sound of 34's and there seems to be more headroom with them vs. 6V6s. For a couple weeks I tried a pair of the new Russian Tung-Sol 6V6s and I really liked the sound a lot. It seemed to me to be a little "saggier" and not as harsh in the top-end with the Tung-Sols but it also lost a bit of headroom. I didn't really notice it that much until I took it out on a gig. I quickly ran out of headroom on the gig with the 6V6s. After that I put the JJ 34s back in and tried it on another gig. BIG difference in a similar-sized small club and I had all of the headroom I needed, in fact I HAD to use my Hotplate to get it as gainy as I wanted at a usable volume.

I did really like the sound of the 6V6s a lot and I could see using them in the studio a lot. I'd also like to try some other brands of 6V6s and see how different they are. I have a feeling that, as sensitive as these amps are, there's going to be a big difference between different brands and different types of tubes and you just need to keep trying out new ones until you find what you dig.

Andy

[fierce_carrot]

I did really like the sound of the 6V6s a lot and I could see using them in the studio a lot. I'd also like to try some other brands of 6V6s and see how different they are. I have a feeling that, as sensitive as these amps are, there's going to be a big difference between different brands and different types of tubes and you just need to keep trying out new ones until you find what you dig.

Andy

I don't require a tremendous amount of headroom based on that we usually play smaller venues and I can (and do) mic if need be. The 18watter I have now is really too loud for me to totally throttle up most of the time. This is really the big appeal of the 6v6's is that I can open them up wider than I can the EL34's.

I'm a big fan of NOS tubes and not afraid to spend the money to buy the tubes that will give me the sound I seek as I am running Mullards in my 18watter.

I'd kill to be able to A/B these amps before making my decision.

[unklmickey]

...The 18watter I have now is really too loud for me to totally throttle up most of the time. This is really the big appeal of the 6v6's is that I can open them up wider than I can the EL34's....

i can't imagine a 'Wreck being quieter than an 18-watt, even with 6V6's.

you'll probably need to re-design around a lower voltage PT.

[fierce_carrot]

...The 18watter I have now is really too loud for me to totally throttle up most of the time. This is really the big appeal of the 6v6's is that I can open them up wider than I can the EL34's....

i can't imagine a 'Wreck being quieter than an 18-watt, even with 6V6's.

you'll probably need to re-design around a lower voltage PT.

I'm going to have a PPIMV installed and will run a load such as a MASS in parallel, which won't adversely effect the tone, with my speaker cab.

My 18 with two celestion blues is loud, those are some killer speakers.

[DerStever]

Well - gee this crow tastes good .... I just got a set of Matched NOS Brimar 6V6s and also a set of Winged C EL34s and I gotta go with the 34 crowd. I had JJ 34s but one of them has an issue and I really didn't like them all that much. Bias seems to be unstable. Its now an ornament. I was using two mongel 6V6s to replace them and Liked a lot of what they did actually better than the JJ 34s.

SO today when the shipment came in I A/Bd the the mongrel pair (RCA/SYL ), NOS Brimar 6V6s and the C EL34s - and I like the EL34 tone better for the majority of my work - I do need a tad more headroom performing live. The Brimar 6V6s had even less room then the RCA/SYL combo I was working off before, so if you mean bratty - the Brimars rock! They have a real texas tea sound to them and would make any blues player very happy. I like more of a British tone and the 34s do that. I have the bias set so I can use either - but I may consider selling the Brimars at what my cost was if anyone's interested.

[sliberty]

Now that you have come over to the dar side, let me suggest that you bias specifically for the 34's. You'll get even more of that dripping, kick ass tone from them. And when you need more clean, turn down the guitar volume. That is one of the beutiful things about the Express - it reacts so well to the guitar volume pot.

Enjoy and may the force be with you!

[philmanatee]

Of course you could go all the way to the dark side and put a set of mullard or rft el-34's in there, believe me there's a difference. Phil