Re: Are 6L6s Required for Surf?
I had an original Reverb -o - rocket back in the day. I loved that amp... Great cleans, but really not powerful enough for todays surf stuff. Rich I think the Showman or a Twin would do a great job. Very clean and very loud, but the guitar is almost important. A Jazzmaster, Stratocaster or a Telecaster would be my choice. The Strats with a good wang bar is essential. A Tele would have to have a Bigsby!
I don't think a Deluxe Reverb would really do it. I have one & once the volume gets to 3 or 4 it starts to break up.
Depending on the speaker, it's often the speaker falling apart (frequently referred to as "farting out"). It's the speaker rather than the amp that is most a problem. After that, probably looking at the rectifier, transformers and power supply as culprits. Not that I'd butcher a vintage model to fix it's problems. Might consider a different speaker or rectifier, particularly if the original speaker is dodgy/to preserve it for resale.
Depending on which era, some are stiffer/higher headroom than others, though it doesn't vary as much as some other lines (tweed bassman vs later models, even some passed off as reissues, etc).
Anyways, outside the Deluxe, it's really about finding an amp with enough volume and headroom for your situation. If you are micing and have monitors, you have a lot more options. I've heard plenty of surf where they used non-6L6 amps, particularly in the studio. 6V6, 7591A, KT66, even 6550 and KT88.
I'd say the guitar and reverb matter more than the amp. And in the amp, a fendery preamp and speaker more than the power section.
