theshrewz Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 i wanna know if you can put el34 tubes in teh so cal 50 cause the stock tubes are the el34-b's ? I test fit them and they fit in the holes but there is one less pin on the el34's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesusOfSuburbia Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Any other info on those 7 pin EL34's? Most EL34's should have 8 pins but I think the Groove Tubes EL34R's have 7 pins. They should work fine since its an EL34 but I'm not an expert. I just put a new pair of Electro-Harmonix EL34's in my new So-Cal and they sound great. I still have the Ruby EL34B's that came with mine, great tubes, but I like the EH's a little better. Let me know how they sound if you fire them up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshrewz Posted April 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Here's some more info on my situation. I just bought the amp used and wanted to upgrade the tubes. The amp looks like new and the seller said it is one year old. The previous owner didn't mention if he had changed the power tubes, so I'm not sure if the amp has the original power tubes. Everything I've read about the SoCal said it takes EL34 tubes, so I found a new pair of JJ EL34's on Craigslist and bought them. Last night I went to change them and noticed that the existing tubes were EL34-B's. They said "made in China", "Electron Tube". I had heard the factory tubes were "Ruby Tubes", but these did not say Ruby anywhere. The EL84-B's have 8 pins, while the EL84's have 7. I googled EL84-B and found only one reference, and it said the resistance was higher on the B's. I decided to try them, and they seemed to work fine, but I want to be sure the the EL34's are completely compatible. I am going down the a local Epiphone dealer to see if they know the difference, but they don't do amp repair/mods in house, so may not get a solid answer from them. Any advice from you guys is appreciated! Thanks, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshrewz Posted April 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 update-I went to the Epiphone dealer today and checked out a new SoCal 50. It has the same tubes (EL34-:) as mine. The salesman said there shouldn't be any problem running the standard EL34's. He suggested having the amp biased for the new JJ EL34's, I would like to save the time and money if biasing is not really needed. Any advice appreciated. I will reinstall tomorrow and see how it works. On the first try, I really liked the sound of the new tubes, they made a noticable difference. Regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesusOfSuburbia Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 No probs at all with my EH EL34's so far without a biasing adjustment. They are 8 pin tubes and standard EL34 bottle size, not the bigger bottle like the Ruby EL34B's are. I get a better crunch and a little more managable volume with the EH's. I figure if they sound good, aren't noisy or crackling and there isn't smoke or a burning odor coming from the amp, then run them, LOL!!! :D/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.