E34Ls

Re: E34Ls

wixedmords said:
When you change your power tubes, you have to be willing to go back and test different preamp tubes. You have changed the equation with different power tubes, you have to be willing to buy a few different preamp tubes and try each in different positions. Same thing with a speaker change, if you change the equation, you have to be willing to fine tune it.

The easiest way to solve this is to go back to a new set of the tubes you had before. After reading plenty of your posts over the past year Dr. I question if change is your thing. You like your AOR a certain way, and you had found that. Go back to what works for you.
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Thanks Wixed, its not that I totally hate it, its just that yes, palm mutes became tighter, but something else went missing ..... I cant really say what it is ... the best way I can describe is that the tone became a bit compressed acrossed the board, not vey open .... I will get to crank up tomorrow with bass player and a drummer, I guess thats the volume that really matters. As far as what I had before ... nothing spectacular, one Sovtek and one Messa EL34s ... and they were really old and they pretty close to being dead.
 
Re: E34Ls

That Mesa EL34 Doc is likely a SED. Just keep that in your back pocket to mull over. The SED EL34 is very different from the JJ E34L. It is more open, has more mids, and has more grit (IMO).

That AOR may be one of the most tube dependent amps ever made. You can change the amps feel and tone just by changing one preamp tube. It is easy to get yourself going in the wrong direction.

I know you love that thing Doc. Everyone that has read your posts knows you love that thing. I respect your loyalty to that amp.

Hang in there Doc. Go with what you know. ;)
 
Re: E34Ls

wixedmords said:
That Mesa EL34 Doc is likely a SED. Just keep that in your back pocket to mull over. The SED EL34 is very different from the JJ E34L. It is more open, has more mids, and has more grit (IMO).

That AOR may be one of the most tube dependent amps ever made. You can change the amps feel and tone just by changing one preamp tube. It is easy to get yourself going in the wrong direction.

I know you love that thing Doc. Everyone that has read your posts knows you love that thing. I respect your loyalty to that amp.

Hang in there Doc. Go with what you know. ;)
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Yo Wixed, thanks man I love this amp to the point of being annoying, yes. Unfortunately I was **** ass, and threw that messa away as it looked pretty worn inside .... hmm ... I kept the useless sovtek though ... idiot .... what are SED going for these days? Yeah I know AORs are in a way a gift as far as what you can do with them with all the tube swapping. I am thinking of shooting an email to tube tramp for couple of pre-amp candys to mix it up with one gold pin and the high gain JJs .... what's your Laneys tubed with on both sides of the circuit?
 
Re: E34Ls

Maybe its not the tube for you

but I DO like JJ's in the PRE and rich mids, though it can be a tad dark

and I find the E34Ls cleaner and sweeter with less artifacts and attitude in the gain compared to my NOS Teslas. Regardless, I prefer the extended lows of the E34L and the headroom.

I can see it as being a tad, tad compressed, but I think they are good tubes so maybe they aren't biased right or aren't right in the amp.
 
Re: E34Ls

marvar said:
Don't forget that the EL-34Ls is a 30 watt tube.
Most other EL-34 tubes are 25 watts.
Click to expand...


Not necessarily, the EL34s can take much higher voltages and amperages than a 6L6s. That's why the Traynor Bassmasters were such high wattages with a pair of EL34s.

Luke
 
Re: E34Ls

Ok, just got back from jamming with a drummer and a bass player. The EL34s are definately tighter in the lows, and there is clearly more headroom, it makes things more articulate and open, but these things really cant do all that when attenuated. My Mass gave some different tones, I could really change things a bit by cranking the amp way up on the MV and then shaping into something else with mass, when playing with the other live intsruments that is. But these E34Ls seem to really come to live only with MV on 6(1 o'clock) at least. Hmm .... I dont know .... Gotta look into SEDs or maybe KTs ...
 
Re: E34Ls

Got a lot of my tone back while using Mass at home today .... the solution is ground breaking ..... I rolled my pulled-bass on the EQ from 3 o'clock to 11 o'clock .... MUCH BETTER! Still not happy with some of high treble stuff, like the second octave on high E and B strings but the low end is a lot closer to what I was expecting from E34L. I did not loose any bass or definition it just got more warm and stayed very tight. Who knows, may be I will find something on the EQ that and will be completely happy with these tubes. Low end is very tight, pronounced and in your face.
 
Re: E34Ls

Big +1 on the SED's. I have four of them in a custom made 100w 2x12 combo and they are really beautiful. The preamp is designed around a Bassman circuit, but with the EL34 power stage it's a rockin' hybrid. The SED's come closer to the quality of vintage tubes like Mullard and Sylvania than anything else I've heard in this amp.



Cheers...........................wahwah
 
Re: E34Ls

Rid said:
P'S I do not like when techs set the bias too hot, I dislike that sound alot...way too undefined for me, I like them at more sensible currents!
Click to expand...
Werd.

I bias the 6CA7s in my Rivera at 55% of max dissipation (a lot of techs bias at 70% which is the max to have any tube life at all). I took a tech's advice to set the bias where it sounds good and then just check to make sure that it's not too crazy. After all, you should trust your ears more than a multimeter when it comes to what sounds right.

As for JJs, the EL34L is about the only JJ tube that I like. When I want that EL34 upper mid peak, they're the tubes I'd put in my Rivera. I really don't care for their 12AX7s. In my amps I've found them to be dark and muddy. :(
 
Re: E34Ls

I am sure that RID means that tubes are not made as well as they were in the 1960's and 1970's. Mullard EL34's were very rugged compared to today's tubes.

I found that the JJ KT77's cannot handle a very hot bias at all. I would definitely recommend less than 70% max dissipation for these.
 
Re: E34Ls

Rid is talking about some of the negatives that come along with biasing hot.

As Alec said, it is really about biasing with your ear, let me add, within a safe 50-70% dissipation rate. Hotter or 70% shouldn't be a goal.
 
Re: E34Ls

Well, thats AOR for you. Completely changed my Vs, took out my Gold Pin out of V1 and put in V3, phase inverter went where its suppose to be - V4 and V1 and V2 now are JJ high gains. Fatter saturation, and bass got a lot tigher, a lot closer to the description of E34Ls. However I also got more highs, not the best thing considering I have the dubious G12T-75s.
 
Re: E34Ls

Well after two days and 4 hours of tweaking just today the EQ I've just had the best tone since I've got the E34Ls in while using MassLite .... I had to re work the EQ, with the pre-amp tubes as I've described above ... yeah the bass is tighter, and my typa gain is back, but I think JJ E34Ls are bit kinda ..... dry, not three dementional comparing to one SED and one Sovtek EL34s ??? I don't know ....
 
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