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Author
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Topic: Tubes for Steel amp
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Garry Pugh
Member From: Columbus, Indiana
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posted 28 February 2006 11:59 AM
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I need to replace the 6l6GC tubes in my Vibrosonic. The last time I did I used matched pairs of NOS tubes, which were good, but not as good, IMO, as the set of Mesa Boogie Tubes was using prior to the NOS.I know a lot of you guys use tube amps, i.e., the Fender 65 RI. Do you have any comments on tubes which you feel are particularily good for pedal steel work? |
Ricky Davis
Moderator From: Spring, Texas USA
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posted 28 February 2006 12:45 PM
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I'm a Huge Fan of the Jan Phillips Military tubes or the phillips tubes; and that's all I use after trying everything else.
They don't make them anymore> the 6L6GC that is...(I think.)but here's some on Ebay>
Phillips 6L6
Ricky |
Garry Pugh
Member From: Columbus, Indiana
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posted 28 February 2006 12:52 PM
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Ricky,Thanks for pointing that out. I should have said the power tube section of a Vibrosonic, Fender Twin, etc. gp |
Brad Sarno
Member From: St. Louis, MO USA
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posted 28 February 2006 01:11 PM
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What Ricky said! Those are hard to beat both tonally and with regards to ruggedness. If you want a more affordable modern tube, the JJ's seem to be pretty favored. I had the JJ's in my last Twin and they were quite nice. But those NOS Joint Army/Navy (JAN) Phillips 6L6's that Ricky mentioned are quite excellent. Brad |
Dave Mudgett
Member From: Central Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 28 February 2006 02:02 PM
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I've been doing some research on what's available now, since I need some. I note that the Watford Valve website has recently updated their tube reports, as of October, 2005. I have found their reports to be useful in the past, giving fairly unvarnished opinions about the sonic quality of various tubes. They have a separate report for 6L6 tubes, both the older one from 1998 and this most recent one, here's the URL:
http://www.watfordvalves.com/reports.asp Realize that much of this is a matter of personal taste, but they do a pretty good job of explaining their criteria. As they have for quite some time, they rate the NOS Philips/Sylvania 7581a/6L6GC STR tube as the best for "clean Fender applications". I always loved these to fatten up a Twin Reverb, and I guess that hasn't changed. The downside is that they are pretty expensive, around $200 for the matched quad needed for Twin Reverb family amps. For clean applications, they also liked the NOS GE 7581, the NOS Sylvania 6L6GC STR 387 (used in the 80s by Fender and Mesa), and for newly made tubes, the 6L6GC/Svetlana Winged C (I think the brand name is now SED) and the JJ/Tesla-made 6L6GC/Harma tubes. Note that the Svetlana they like is not the Sovtek version made at the Reflector factory. Myself, I've used both Philips 7581a, STR 387 tubes, and the older Svetlana Winged C in the past, and like them in clean Fender applications. I haven't used the 6L6GC/Harma, but will probably try some if they're reasonably priced, based on this review. What I'm using these days is the NOS JAN Philips/Sylvania 6L6WGB tubes from the 80s. These don't have as much clean bottom end as, let's say, the Philips 7581a. They're great in an old Fender for guitar, but perhaps not quite as good for steel, to my tastes - YMMV. The nice part about these is that they're good, solid NOS American 6L6 tubes that can be had for about $70/matched-quad. A lot of imported junk is more expensive than this. I just noticed Ricky and Brad's posts - the tubes Ricky linked to are the STR 387 tubes, which are really great tubes. For $200, I'd probably go for the 7581a myself - again, YMMV. BTW, I really do know a source for Philips JAN 6L6WGB quads for $70 and Philips 7581a quads for $200. |
James Quackenbush
Member From: Pomona, New York, USA
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posted 01 March 2006 07:59 AM
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I know we're talking 6L6 tubes here, but the Jan Phillips are not bad tubes in the 6V6 variety for your Fender Deluxe's are really nice tubes also ......Jim |
Dave Mudgett
Member From: Central Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 01 March 2006 10:43 AM
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I've used a lot of Philips JAN 6V6 tubes over the years. I think I actually prefer the NOS GE 6V6 - about the same price. Without getting into stupid money, these are probably the best things out there. One thing that is a real problem is the high plate voltages on old Fender and Musicman amps. Design center of 6L6 is about 400 volts, while the Twin family amps put 480-500 volts on the plates. Design center for 6V6 is around 350 volts, Deluxe Reverb typically puts 420-440 volts on the plates. Using a high-efficiency rectifier on smaller amps like the Deluxe - 5AR4 or solid-state plugin - accentuates this problem. This is why a many of the imported tubes over the last 10 years have been a problem. Those old mil-spec and STR tubes were overdesigned, so they handle the high voltage better. I have seen some of the junkier imported tubes short out 5 minutes after install, taking all sorts of other components like output transformers with them. | |
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