Tube Question
- Thread starter Eg303
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rhmcfarland
New member
Re: Tube Question
KT66HP's are fantastic. You'd probably want to keep them. I use them in my Soldano SLO-100, and they sound really deep and rich. They fill out the lows and mids, and take out the bright high end that these amps have with the stock Sovtek 5881's.
It was important to bias them correctly, however. At first, I had them biased hot at 42ma. It was okay, but the single notes sounded too hard and brittle. Then I took it to Tommy B's here in Memphis, and they hooked up a Weber bias meter. We adjusted them up and down until they sounded just right. Ended up at 32.5ma. It is a very cool tone. Les Paul's sound fat and detailed with bright mids and lows with the overdrive preamp turned down to just 2 or 3... lots of sustain even at those levels. A Telecaster through the clean channel sounds huge with "crunch" on.
Read about them on Groove Tubes website. They have to be the HP version. The Chinese version isn't as good. Dr. Z also uses them in some of their top amps to get the "milkshake" tone. Fat and creamy.
Hope that helps.
KT66HP's are fantastic. You'd probably want to keep them. I use them in my Soldano SLO-100, and they sound really deep and rich. They fill out the lows and mids, and take out the bright high end that these amps have with the stock Sovtek 5881's.
It was important to bias them correctly, however. At first, I had them biased hot at 42ma. It was okay, but the single notes sounded too hard and brittle. Then I took it to Tommy B's here in Memphis, and they hooked up a Weber bias meter. We adjusted them up and down until they sounded just right. Ended up at 32.5ma. It is a very cool tone. Les Paul's sound fat and detailed with bright mids and lows with the overdrive preamp turned down to just 2 or 3... lots of sustain even at those levels. A Telecaster through the clean channel sounds huge with "crunch" on.
Read about them on Groove Tubes website. They have to be the HP version. The Chinese version isn't as good. Dr. Z also uses them in some of their top amps to get the "milkshake" tone. Fat and creamy.
Hope that helps.
Last edited:
. Is there any way for me to tell if its the chinese version or not?
rhmcfarland
New member
Re: Tube Question
The good one is the KT66HP..... it should have "HP" printed on the glass bottle.
The good one is the KT66HP..... it should have "HP" printed on the glass bottle.
Stringer
New member
Re: Tube Question
RRHMCFarmland is dead-on about everything he's said about the KT-66, in my experience. I've also used them in my Soldano. They are a great tube, one of the most sought-after, and give a saturated sound like nothing else. Of course, it is subjective, and you might want to keep the following in mind:
1. They are (relatively) expensive;
2. They have what I would call a more aggressive voice than a regular 6L6/5881-type tube, which is what was originally in your amp -- certainly not a bad thing in-and-of itself, but it is not what every guitarist is looking for;
3. As the earlier post stated, it is important to get the bias correct in order to get these tubes to sound their best, and I've heard the Fender Blues Deluxe is a tricky amp to bias.
If you decide to stay with a traditional 6L6 tube, I really like the Groove Tubes 6L6GE. It's a fabulous sounding tube that will give you a glassier sound than the KT-66, with a deep bottom and burly mids. Of course, this tube is also ridiculously expensive (though I will say that I've had pretty good experience with tube life).
RRHMCFarmland is dead-on about everything he's said about the KT-66, in my experience. I've also used them in my Soldano. They are a great tube, one of the most sought-after, and give a saturated sound like nothing else. Of course, it is subjective, and you might want to keep the following in mind:
1. They are (relatively) expensive;
2. They have what I would call a more aggressive voice than a regular 6L6/5881-type tube, which is what was originally in your amp -- certainly not a bad thing in-and-of itself, but it is not what every guitarist is looking for;
3. As the earlier post stated, it is important to get the bias correct in order to get these tubes to sound their best, and I've heard the Fender Blues Deluxe is a tricky amp to bias.
If you decide to stay with a traditional 6L6 tube, I really like the Groove Tubes 6L6GE. It's a fabulous sounding tube that will give you a glassier sound than the KT-66, with a deep bottom and burly mids. Of course, this tube is also ridiculously expensive (though I will say that I've had pretty good experience with tube life).
Re: Tube Question
I talked the the man im buying the amp from, Forgot to ask if the tubes are HP or not, but he did tell me he had it biased before he decided to sell. And guess what, ended up at 32.0ma lol, looks like 32-33 is the magic number. 6 days till FedEx lets me live a little
. Nice change from my 15w yamaha practice amp..hehe..
I talked the the man im buying the amp from, Forgot to ask if the tubes are HP or not, but he did tell me he had it biased before he decided to sell. And guess what, ended up at 32.0ma lol, looks like 32-33 is the magic number. 6 days till FedEx lets me live a little
. Nice change from my 15w yamaha practice amp..hehe..