6V6 Tube Discussion (No NOS Please!!)

[jamisonst]

Figured the Fender Forum would be a good place to discuss 6V6's.
What are you guys using and what have you tried as far as new/current production? NOS can just get too left field for me and I don't have the $$ to invest in them so let's leave those alone.

There's not a whole lot out there I guess:
EH
JJ
Tung-Sol
Rebranded Chinese (Ruby)
TAD

My Orange Rockerverb came stock with EH's. I'de like to try some JJ or really interested in the Tung-Sols. Any opinions on these?

[dirtdog]

I liked the JJs alot when they were in my HRDv replacing the stock Fender 6L6s.

Haven't tried 'em in my DRRI yet.

[Kap'n]

If I had to buy new, I'd probably buy the JJ's.

Don't all of the other ones blow up in Fender amps?

[tugboat]

After I finally get around to finishing up the nitro finish on my parts-o-tele's body and finishing the wiring on my weber 5F1a, I can tell you how the new Tung-Sol tubes sound. I was curious. I'll probably end up comparing them to a JJ 6V6 and 12AX7, and eventually an old NOS Blackplate RCA. I'd like to compare the new tubes to the "holy grail" of 6V6 tubes. Since Champs only have one power tube, it won't be too bad on the wallet. Trying a 6K6 in the little bastard would be fun too.

I wouldn't hold your breath on the review if I were you though. School's getting crazy right now. Even crazier since I'll be defending my Thesis this semester.

BTW, some of the NOS tubes are actually very affordable. Not all of them are $100 per tube. Especially the 6V6s.

[nitroburst]

Just put a pair of Tung-Sol's in my Princeton Reverb. LUV EM' They breakup just right for natural tube OD. JJ's to my ears get a Lil' harsh when drivin hard.Ok for rock tones,But for good Blues like OD... Get Tung-Sol's.

[Don]

I found JJs to be a huge inprovement over EHs in my PR.
I'd like to try Tung-Sols next.

[chuckocaster]

i have JJ's in most of my amps, besides the NOS stuff i use. i think overall they are great tubes. great product, great price, great sound.

[jamisonst]

Just put a pair of Tung-Sol's in my Princeton Reverb. LUV EM' They breakup just right for natural tube OD. JJ's to my ears get a Lil' harsh when drivin hard.Ok for rock tones,But for good Blues like OD... Get Tung-Sol's.

The stock EH's I have in my Orange Rockerverb 50 just aren't doing it for me. It's used so I defintely am going to re-tube. The 2x12 combo I played sounded great though.

I'm just wondering if the TS's will be too smooth for the Orange or just right. Only problem with trying out JJ's vs. TS's , etc. is that I have to have this amp biased each time I change tubes or it's not gonan be running it's best. I wanna compare apples-to-apples.

[Edward]

I'm using the T-S 6V6 RI in my PRII and absolutely love it. Very round and smooth, not a hint of harshness in the least, but still plenty bright and chimey. Though I can't speak for its longevity, I have never heard (read) any issues regarding longevity with the T-S RIs. An excellent tube IMHO.

Edward

[GearHeadFred]

I installed a set of JJ 6V6s in my Blues Deville a few weeks ago. My blues deville is running at 495 volts on the plate, so this amp is pushing the 6V6 right to it's limits (note: The JJ is rated to 500V, but most 6V6s are only limited to 350-400 plate volts)

I love the sound.. It reduced the output level - it was too loud anyway!. Now I can turn the amp up to 3-4 without peeling the paint on the walls. The tone warmed up nicely.

The only downside has been that both tubes went mechanically noisy after only a few hours use. I spoke to Bob at Eurotubes about this and he stated it is fairly common in combo amps. This is DIFFERENT than microphonics. The tubes are actually physically rattling - not electronically. At gig volumes it's no problem... Recording will be a different story....

[nitroburst]

I installed a set of JJ 6V6s in my Blues Deville a few weeks ago. My blues deville is running at 495 volts on the plate, so this amp is pushing the 6V6 right to it's limits (note: The JJ is rated to 500V, but most 6V6s are only limited to 350-400 plate volts)

I love the sound.. It reduced the output level - it was too loud anyway!. Now I can turn the amp up to 3-4 without peeling the paint on the walls. The tone warmed up nicely.

The only downside has been that both tubes went mechanically noisy after only a few hours use. I spoke to Bob at Eurotubes about this and he stated it is fairly common in combo amps. This is DIFFERENT than microphonics. The tubes are actually physically rattling - not electronically. At gig volumes it's no problem... Recording will be a different story....

YUP! I spoke with Doug of Dougs Tubes. He said it's a common problem for tubes in combo amps to develop filiament rattle after awhile.

[jamisonst]

Oh yeah, My Classic 30 was all about tube rattle. One of the main reasons I'm running an Orange RV50 head/Cab these days.

[Kap'n]

I don't recall tube rattle ever being an issue with US, Western European or Japanese tubes.

[GearHeadFred]

I don't recall tube rattle ever being an issue with US, Western European or Japanese tubes.

The JJ 6L6s seem to hold up OK in the combo... I don't know why the 6V6 is more susceptible to rattle...???