5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

[Sleeping Martyr]

or is there one?? My Mesa .50 cal is supposed to take 6L6's but could it take 5881's?? would this be an improvement in any way and would I have to change anything??? heeeeelp

 

[jeremy]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

they have the same pin out so they will work fine. do a search i did a review of the tad 6l6 and the tung sol 5881 in the same amp recently

 

[Sleeping Martyr]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

Thanks man!!

 

[gordon_39422]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

Jeremy's review of the TAD 6L6's and the TS5881 was very informative...

Just to through some laymen perspective on it... I have an HRDx driven by 6L6GC's... it came with Groove Tube 6L6GC's, but GT does not make tubes, they simply relabel, package, and market tubes.... the tubes that came with my amp were SOVTEK 5881's, and when I requested replacements, since I bought it second-hand, they gave me another set of the same tubes, but this time they were JJ's relabelled with the GT logo....

Crazy, huh!

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

So what is the tonal difference?

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

5881's usually have a slightly softer attack and slightly less clean head room. The 5881 is a military part number. The original 5881 was simply a smaller bottle, heavyduty, 6L6 for special US Navy requirements. The 5881 in usually used today was a Russian copy, but produces less power.

 

[ES350]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

a little off topic: 5881 was a ruggedized 6L6 variant, widely used in critical comm and avionics circuits that might be subject to EMP damage. So, they used them in B52's, DEW radar stations, etc etc. The story goes that there are piles of very slightly used TungSol 5881's lying around old Cold War radar sites in Greenland and Canada...Some people consider them the absolute best tweed amp power tube; early breakup, softer tone, less headroom than most 6L6GC.

 

[JLagoon]

Re: 5881 vs. 6L6. .. whats the difference??

Wow, one day someone would build an amp with a built-in sonar. Check out my Marshall, it can detect nuclear missiles and submarines! :laugh2: :laugh2: