Hiberna Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 Can anyone tell me the difference between certain valves, like EL34,6L6, KT66, KT88, 6550, 5881s? tryed google, they came back with nothing and guitar shops only seem to be good at selling things and don't actually know much about anything.
m-theory Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 6v6 - Smooth, a bit soft on low end but well-balanced overall, easy to push into growl. Fender small amps, including Champ and Vibro Champ, Princeton, Deluxe. A single will produce about 6 watts under ideal conditions, and a pair 18-22. 6l6 - Big lows, bright highs, smooth distortion. Big Fenders, including Bandmaster, Bassman, Tremolux, Showman, Twin, Hot rod deluxe and deville, vibrolux, Vibroverb, Super reverb, etc. A pair in class AB will produce between 35-50 watts or so. KT66 - Large bottle version of 6l6, but with a bit, throaty voice of its own. Marshall JTM45. EL34 - Classic Marshall tube, with strong lows, punchy mids, and crisp highs. Breaks up crunchier than 6l6. A pair will produce around 50 watts. EL84 - Somewhat a small bottle version of the EL34, although with noticeably less low end. Shimmery highs, very nice harmonic "swirl" when pushed. Highly popular tube in numerous different amps, including Vox ac15 and ac30, Marshall 18 watt, Blues and Pro Jr., virtually any modern amp that produces either 5 or 15 watts, countless boutique amps. A pair will produce around 15-18 watts, although one maker claims 21-22 watts with a pair. 6550 - Big tube used for big power. Bass amps used these a lot, as did Marshall for a while. Similar to 6l6, but can handle higher volts. KT88 - Huge bottle, huge tone, virtually nothing that I'm aware of made with them, although I'm sure there was SOMETHING, obviously. There really aren't any decent new production versions available these days.
Svet Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 Try some High end Audio sites to learn more about valves. M-Theory had and interesting answer for you but there are vast sound differences between various manufactured tubes of the same type let alone tubes of different types. Follow some of these links: http://thetubestore.com/tubereviews.html http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tubes/bbs.html http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tubes/messages/11942.html http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/archive/1640
fenrirlupus Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 Can anyone tell me the difference between certain valves' date=' like EL34,6L6, KT66, KT88, 6550, 5881s? tryed google, they came back with nothing and guitar shops only seem to be good at selling things and don't actually know much about anything.[/quote'] ... well i know 6L6g is shaped like kt66 but 6L6gt isn't... 5881=ruggedized 6l6... KT66=bluesbreaker tube, british made KT88 looks like KT66, not sure about important differences... 6550 is what my girlfriend did to me last night... oh wait, i don't have one :D
TWANG Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 Here's a lesson I learned as a very young man. If you put any of them in a tube tester while the boss is away.. and then set all the controls on the tester wrong.. they glow real neat! but then they don't work anymore. TWANG
Hiberna Posted February 17, 2009 Author Posted February 17, 2009 ah thanks guys just the kind of info i was lookin for but i think im still gonna research them more
m-theory Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 im still gonna research them more Unfortunately, the only way to be sure of what works and doesn't work for you is to audition them yourself. Might not be a horrible idea to see if you can find a THD dealer that's willing to let you spend some time trying different tubes out in a univalve.
Hiberna Posted February 17, 2009 Author Posted February 17, 2009 Unfortunately' date=' the only way to be sure of what works and doesn't work for you is to audition them yourself. Might not be a horrible idea to see if you can find a THD dealer that's willing to let you spend some time trying different tubes out in a univalve. [/quote'] i'll try but i dont think there are any knocking about at all near me. i will try though.
fenrirlupus Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 Here's a lesson I learned as a very young man. If you put any of them in a tube tester while the boss is away.. and then set all the controls on the tester wrong.. they glow real neat! but then they don't work anymore. TWANG what's really fun is cathode ray tube SCREENS... there's one that glows really REALLY neat at school (I'm guessing it's leaky...)
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