What's good in 6V6s?

[Hot _Grits]

Hi all,

after 6 months of being thrashed to within an inch of it's life three times a week, My Victoria Double Deluxe's 6V6s are showing battle fatgue. Luckily, I can keep gigging it as I happened to have a quad of Mesa branded 6V6GTA around the house, but I need to do a full replacement and was wondering what you guys like.

The stock valves in my Vic were GT 6V6S's. These are the bigger bottle and sound fantastic. The GTAs sound different, and cool in their own way, but I prefer the S for punch and clarity. So who makes good ones?

 

[Pierre]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

I like the JJs. They're pretty big too, about the size of a small 6L6s I found.

 

[Curly]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

I like JJs in my DRRI, where they can take the voltages, and they add a little bottom end which is good in that amp

those would be good if you want more headroom in the DD. I think your Mesas might be EHs, and I would probably use those or another small bottle 6V6. I think the smaller bottles are a little sweeter.

 

[wahwah]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Hi all,

after 6 months of being thrashed to within an inch of it's life three times a week, My Victoria Double Deluxe's 6V6s are showing battle fatgue. Luckily, I can keep gigging it as I happened to have a quad of Mesa branded 6V6GTA around the house, but I need to do a full replacement and was wondering what you guys like.

The stock valves in my Vic were GT 6V6S's. These are the bigger bottle and sound fantastic. The GTAs sound different, and cool in their own way, but I prefer the S for punch and clarity. So who makes good ones?

Hot_Grits, if you're prepared to do a little searching, it's really worth it to find some RCA blackplate 6V6GT's from the late 50's. There's usually a few on eBay, and they are the best 6V6 ever made. I've had to do the research because of my Super Champs, and the smoked glass blackplates are the ones by which all others are measured. I've read your posts and you obviously know your stuff, so you will really appreciate what these tubes can do for your amp. I'd rather see a guitar playing bro using them than some collector who's just gonna put them in a glass case. I've done substantial research on these and have bought up a lifetime's supply. Let me know if you need a second opinion on anything you find. There isn't a current production 6V6 that comes close.



Cheers............................wahwah

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

No Doubt that the Blackplate RCA's are the Holy grail of all NOS tubes. Brimar's are also highly rated 6V6's by NOS tube aficionados. These tubes can still be had... But I shutter think of what the market value for them might be.$$ I'd be very gun shy about buying ANY! tubes from ebay.If I'm throwing down my hard earned cash for NOS tubes? It's only gonna be from a reputable dealer. For those of us that where not wise enough to buy a life time supply while the gett'in was good... New production will have to do.
The JJ's 6V6 is a very robust tube. They sound better IMO in a rock/overdriven amp because they have a full bottom and get a bit crunchy when overdriven. I just put a pair of Tung-Sol (new production) 6V6's in my Princeton Reverb. I can tell you they blow away the NOS JAN Phillips 6V6's That I 1st installed in the amp when I got it in 1994. I paided $40 for the JAN's in 94' I'm sure they cost double now. The new Tung-sols when pushed break up just right...Nice creamy OD! I remember the JAN's being very harsh when being pushed. So my final synapses. If your wealthy,or have expendable income-Go NOS. If your a rocker go-JJ's. If you your a blues player-Go Tung-sol NP.:beerchug:

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Thanks for the advice, everybody.

I'll probably end up going for a quad of JJ 6V6S's for gigging use, as I'm really pushing this amp on a regular basis.

Geoff: I've heard your champ, and it's fantastic. I'll definitely look into snapping up some RCAs for special occasions, studio work and those times where the power section isn't heaving. But am I correct in assuming that getting a quad of matched RCA blackplates that play well together would be difficult and very expensive?

-and are there any particularly nice NOS 6V6S's I need to know about?

KMC: I'm kind of 'all of the above'. The Double Deluxe is used in both my bands. In one it's used to the point of breakup. In the other it gets hit pretty hard and I'll often end a gig with the thing cranked. But I'll definitely look into tung-sols.

 

[wahwah]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Yeah, finding matched quads can be slightly more difficult, but certainly not impossible. I think it would be a matter of using current production tubes, which you would anyway, and just keeping a search on eBay for the RCA's. I scored a set of 7 about three months ago, 3 matched pairs and an odd guy, which had been sitting in a Hammond organ in a church for the past 50 years, I presume being played once a week! They still have about 90% life left in them. The set of 7 were AUD$110. The trick is not to bother with NOS, and just go for good used. I've got about 12 pairs tucked away, all from eBay, never a problem. Dealers charge ridiculous prices and never seem to have the good stuff anyway. Stay away from all JAN tubes, they were made for the military (Joint Army & Navy) and were designed for ruggedness, certainly not for tone.

The Brimars are a reasonable British 6V6, and you can look for the French Mazda's. You can also look out for the rebranded RCA's, with names like Emerson, Delco, Crosley, Motorola, Magnavox and Admiral. They are all RCA's. Beware of those branded GM, because they were used by General Motors for car stereos, and have probably been rattling around in a car for 20 years! Good luck with it bro.

I just checked on eBay, have a look at item No. 250136459265 That's the sort of thing you'd be after. Those are a little low on juice, but it goes to show that they are out there to be had.


Cheers.......................wahwah

 

[mad dog]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

The JJs are working for me. Just put two in my late 50s Gibson GA40 amp. Had an unmatched pair in there before, an RCA blackplate and something GT, which sounded **** good. The JJs are better. At least in a single speaker amp, I find that 6v6s can be a little light on bass. JJs are not that way. Loud, big bass. Love the way this amp sounds now.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Yeah, finding matched quads can be slightly more difficult, but certainly not impossible. I think it would be a matter of using current production tubes, which you would anyway, and just keeping a search on eBay for the RCA's. I scored a set of 7 about three months ago, 3 matched pairs and an odd guy, which had been sitting in a Hammond organ in a church for the past 50 years, I presume being played once a week! They still have about 90% life left in them. The set of 7 were AUD$110. The trick is not to bother with NOS, and just go for good used. I've got about 12 pairs tucked away, all from eBay, never a problem. Dealers charge ridiculous prices and never seem to have the good stuff anyway. Stay away from all JAN tubes, they were made for the military (Joint Army & Navy) and were designed for ruggedness, certainly not for tone.

The Brimars are a reasonable British 6V6, and you can look for the French Mazda's. You can also look out for the rebranded RCA's, with names like Emerson, Delco, Crosley, Motorola, Magnavox and Admiral. They are all RCA's. Beware of those branded GM, because they were used by General Motors for car stereos, and have probably been rattling around in a car for 20 years! Good luck with it bro.

I just checked on eBay, have a look at item No. 250136459265 That's the sort of thing you'd be after. Those are a little low on juice, but it goes to show that they are out there to be had.


Cheers.......................wahwah

Ta heaps. I'll do exactly as directed.

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

 

[tubeman87]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

I just put a pair of Tung-Sol (new production) 6V6's in my Princeton Reverb. I can tell you they blow away the NOS JAN Phillips 6V6's That I 1st installed in the amp when I got it in 1994. I paided $40 for the JAN's in 94' I'm sure they cost double now. The new Tung-sols when pushed break up just right...Nice creamy OD! I remember the JAN's being very harsh when being pushed. So my final synapses. If your wealthy,or have expendable income-Go NOS. If your a rocker go-JJ's. If you your a blues player-Go Tung-sol NP.:beerchug:

+100 on the Tun-sols, I just put a 6V6GT and a 12AX7 in to my Champ 600, and man is that amp smokn' Great tubes. Really, try the Tung-sols you wont be disappointed.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Hot Grits - how does the bias adjustment work on that Victoria Double Deluxe? Is there a single adjustment for raw bias applied to both tubes, or is it a balance adjustment for bias between the tubes? The reason I ask is that it's not that big a change for an amp tech to add a balance adjustment, freeing you from the need to score a matched pair (or quad) of tubes. Also helps you keep the bias balanced as the tubes age, which they will do at different rates - especially if they're used and/or NOS.

Ooops - forget what I just wrote since it would only apply to a fixed-bias amp. I was thinking Blackface Deluxe, not Tweed! I'll leave the post here in case someone else is interested if that's ok. Also, you may find with experimentation that a "matched pair" isn't necessarily the best for that amp if it's using a cathodyne phase splitter like a Tweed Deluxe - it's not exactly a perfectly balanced phase inverter to start with and that's part of the amp's mojo.

Chip

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: What's good in 6V6s?

Fresh: a useful post nonetheless. It's fairly safe to assume cathode bias, and therefore less need for matched quads...