tubes: 6v6 instead of 6l6

[GaryMcT]

I put the JJ 6v6's in my Randall RM50B. . wow!!! They sound pretty darn good. This apparently brings it down to about 25 watts (instead of 50). They start cooking pretty heavily at about 12 o'clock (as opposed to 3 o'clock with the 6l6's), although I may have biased a bit hotter with the 6v6's. The volume is about 8dB quieter. With the combo of 6v6 and a HotPlate at -8dB, I get a really good tone at a reasonable volume. If I need it quieter, I can drop to -12dB or even -16dB on the HotPlate, but there is definitely some tone sucking starting to occur at those levels.

At the end of the day, I'm at about the same volume for these two situations where the second case sounds much more like a cranked amp eq-wise:

1) 6l6 and hotplate at -16dB
2) 6v6 and hotplate at -8dB

In the end, I'm likely to run at -8dB or maybe -12dB on the hotplate with 6v6's. -8dB sounds perfect to my ears, but -12dB will probably make my ears happier in the long run.

I'm tempted to get a sound level meter to check that I'm not doing damage to myself.

[marsodude]

This is good info. I am about to buy a Fender Blues Deluxe and I was concerned about the volume on stage. Now I know what to do!

Thanks

[westex]

I put the JJ 6v6's in my Randall RM50B. . wow!!! They sound pretty darn good. This apparently brings it down to about 25 watts (instead of 50). They start cooking pretty heavily at about 12 o'clock (as opposed to 3 o'clock with the 6l6's), although I may have biased a bit hotter with the 6v6's. The volume is about 8dB quieter. With the combo of 6v6 and a HotPlate at -8dB, I get a really good tone at a reasonable volume. If I need it quieter, I can drop to -12dB or even -16dB on the HotPlate, but there is definitely some tone sucking starting to occur at those levels.

At the end of the day, I'm at about the same volume for these two situations where the second case sounds much more like a cranked amp eq-wise:

1) 6l6 and hotplate at -16dB
2) 6v6 and hotplate at -8dB

In the end, I'm likely to run at -8dB or maybe -12dB on the hotplate with 6v6's. -8dB sounds perfect to my ears, but -12dB will probably make my ears happier in the long run.

I'm tempted to get a sound level meter to check that I'm not doing damage to myself.

There are a few notable amps being made using 6V6's instead of 6L6's; the brand new Bogner Duende 18 watter and Divided by 13's FTR37, and some Carrs. Seems a duet or quartet em can be made to make some serious tone at reasonable volumes. :D

[tom]

gay,did you rebias? when i had my hammerhead converted he had to cut the voltage as the 6v's don't want to see as much. it's a cathode biased amp so i'm not sure how that compares if yours is fixed.

[GaryMcT]

Yes, I had to rebias. Fortunately my amp has user-level biasing. A 30mV bias for a 6l6 ended up being about a 60mV bias for 6v6, so I had to do a heavy rebias down to around 30mV (or whatever the 6v6's are rated at. . . got them from TubeDepot.com and they print the target voltage on the tubes.)

I have heard that JJ 6v6's are the only ones to use in my amps because the tolerances aren't high enough on the others.

[GaryMcT]

This is good info. I am about to buy a Fender Blues Deluxe and I was concerned about the volume on stage. Now I know what to do!

Thanks

I would definitely do some research and make sure that this is a good thing to do the 6v6 swap with that amp.

[tom]

steve carr liked the eh tung sol 6v the best, for what it's worth.

[chadmj]

How hard is it to rebias tubes? How is it done?

I would like to think that I am techinal enough to do it... but should this be left for professionals to do?

[GaryMcT]

On the Randall RM50B, it's really easy. You use a voltmeter to read a couple of test points and turn a screw until it reads what you want it to be. I get the feeling that on older amps, it's either a lot more work, or the amp has a fixed bias so that you can't change it.

In other words, I have no idea what I'm talking about except in one particular case. :)

[Janine Doubly]

6V6's are cool!! I love the new Orange amps that are coming with them. Greg Germino has used them in some of his MArshall style amps as well with great results. The new JJ's and EH 6V6's are the only ones that can be run as hot as Fender ran the old RCA's in the '60's in the Deluxe reverb. Like the old RCA's, the JJ's and EH's can be run beyond their printed specs to get the goodness Fender stumbled upon in the 50's and 60's. You'll go through tubes faster, so keep extras, but feel free to run them hot, they'll take it and sound better for it.

[chadmj]

On the Randall RM50B, it's really easy. You use a voltmeter to read a couple of test points and turn a screw until it reads what you want it to be. I get the feeling that on older amps, it's either a lot more work, or the amp has a fixed bias so that you can't change it.

In other words, I have no idea what I'm talking about except in one particular case. :)

Thanks! I'll have a look and see what lies beneath. I'm currently playing a Fender hot rod 1x12. It sounds like it is on its death bed between the input jacks shorting out or it just dying... but I'm 100% sure it is time to have the tubes rebiased.