Good sounding, affordable 6L6's for steel?

Tim Whitlock · Post by **Tim Whitlock** » 12 Oct 2009 2:12 pm

Is there such a thing? I've seen all the posts about everyone's favorite NOS 6L6, but they are usually beyond my means.

After doing some research on 6L6's I went down to see Lord Valve about investing in a set of Winged C's for my Twin Reverb. After explaining that I was after maximum clean headroom all the way to the top, he actually downsold me a set of Rubys for $65. Lord Valve has a street cred for being on the square, but I have found it can be hard to get what I want across to techs who understand guitar, but maybe not steel guitar. The Rubys are ok but nothing special. I seem to have some harsh distortion at higher volume levels, which may or may not be due to the power tunes.

Anyways, I'm looking for recommendations on a good sounding 6L6 in current production, preferably at $125 or less for a quad. Am I dreaming?

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 12 Oct 2009 3:09 pm

Hello Tim;
I will tell you about my experience with my amp tech & tube amps. I told him 5yrs ago the same as you did - I want it clean to the top. He advised me also to use Ruby tubes. He said they would do the job, were value priced, & would work as long as I did not throw or drop my amp. He did warn me that the glass on the Ruby tubes were thinner than most other brands but with reasonable care they would do what I wanted. I have had them in the amp for 5 years now with NO problems whatsoever. He checks my amp over every year & tells me the tubes are good to go & so far I have had no problems.
You said
"After explaining that I was after maximum clean headroom all the way to the top, he actually downsold me a set of Rubys for $65. Lord Valve has a street cred for being on the square, but I have found it can be hard to get what I want across to techs who understand guitar, but maybe not steel guitar. The Rubys are ok but nothing special. I seem to have some harsh distortion at higher volume levels, which may or may not be due to the power tunes."

I have found you cannot ( or at least I cannot ) expect to have a tube amp run clean to the top & also have great distorsion. You can't have it both ways - either great distorsion starting around 5 on the volume OR clean to the top.
Just my opinion on what I have found in tube Fender amps anyways.. Ron

Joe A. Camacho · Post by **Joe A. Camacho** » 12 Oct 2009 3:35 pm

I've got JJ's in my '66 Twin, no problems as at, very durable tubes.

James Morehead · Post by **James Morehead** » 12 Oct 2009 3:47 pm

Tim Whitlock wrote:
Anyways, I'm looking for recommendations on a good sounding 6L6 in current production, preferably at $125 or less for a quad. Am I dreaming?

To bad you didn't start this thread last week---I just ebayed a beautiful quad of vintage Jan Philips 6L6GC's. The brought about $98. Email me if you are interested in a quad. shobud@windsteam.net I still have some stash.

Mike Fried · Post by **Mike Fried** » 13 Oct 2009 2:26 pm

As for current production 6L6 types, JJ's and Sovtek 6L6WXT+'s (not the 5881WXT) are the most rugged, and the Sovteks are a bargain to boot. I've seen (and bought) new matched quads of them on eBay for around $50 and they sound excellent in the Twins I've put them in. The Winged C's are also great-sounding tubes but somewhat more expensive than the Sovtek's or JJ's.

Don't forget, how the tubes are biased can have a big effect on their tone and distortion character, as well as their longevity. I start at 60% of max plate dissipation and go +/- from there.

BTW, Ruby is not a tube manufacturer, they are a tester/reseller. I believe their standard 6L6 is Chinese-made (pretty reliable but nothing special tone-wise).

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 13 Oct 2009 4:57 pm

About six years ago I had a 50 percent failure rate on 3 matched quads of Sovtek 6L6WXT+ in Twin reverb amps.

Swore them off and been using JJ tubes in the shop since then. I go thru 100's of JJ tubes every year and could not be happier with the quality and sound.

Mike Fried · Post by **Mike Fried** » 13 Oct 2009 5:08 pm

Hmmm, it seems Sovtek and JJ have switched reliability factors over the years, at least for me. The only recent (2 years or so) failures I've had have been JJ's, no problems so far with the Sovteks. Maybe your sources for them are better than mine, Ken...

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 13 Oct 2009 6:00 pm

Not sure. I have had a few fail, but usually right away. It is rare and I do a lot of tubes through the shop for sure. There was an issue for a while with JJ using smaller tube pins on the 6L6GC tubes. Those were good for ceramic sockets but proved overall to be a reliability issue for other sockets. that problem was resolved.

Mike Fried · Post by **Mike Fried** » 13 Oct 2009 7:43 pm

My JJ 6L6GC failures actually happened right away as well, as did a couple of 5AR4's. I do remember the small pin problem, glad they sorted that out.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 13 Oct 2009 8:10 pm

6L6s are a real crapshoot these days, but my personal choice would be Svetlana. These are at the top end of current production 6L6s.

I'm thinking you may want to consider changing one of your 9 pin tubes to one with a little less gain. What brand of 12AX7s are you using? This makes a big difference. You can get into much more money in preamp tubes than with power tubes. You might try swapping out a 12AX7 for a 12AT7 in the phase inverter (the one right next to the power tubes) just to experiment, if it's not already a 12AT7.

Jerry Erickson · Post by **Jerry Erickson** » 14 Oct 2009 10:41 am

Mike you're talking about the real Svetlana tube,which is branded as "Winged C", not the Svetalana name that is owned by New Sensor/Electro Harmonix, correct?

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 14 Oct 2009 11:19 am

I do not see the JJ tubes as a "crapshoot". I have used around 200 this year already! I am using 66 alone in the new amps I am building. Each amp is operating fine (9 done so far). No issues and very consistent in gain

James Morehead · Post by **James Morehead** » 14 Oct 2009 11:26 am

For a modern tube, I went with Ken's advice and use the JJ 6L6's in my vibrosonic. I've been playing that vibro regular all year now, and not one hickup out of those JJ's. They sound soooo close to my vintage tubes, for what it's worth.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 14 Oct 2009 12:54 pm

Jerry Erickson wrote:Mike you're talking about the real Svetlana tube,which is branded as "Winged C", not the Svetalana name that is owned by New Sensor/Electro Harmonix, correct?

Yes, you are correct. I paid $120 for a quartet of these.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 14 Oct 2009 4:01 pm

The real Svetlana is my other favorite 6L6 tube as well. It has a great reputation for dependability

Bill Myers · Post by **Bill Myers** » 19 Oct 2009 12:56 pm

I have real Svetlana's in a 40 watt traynor combo. The sound great!

Dave McCarthy · Post by **Dave McCarthy** » 19 Oct 2009 1:08 pm

The best new production 6l6's are the AMERICAN MADE Groove tube 6L6GE which were being made in California up at least until Fender bought them out last year. I do not like the sound of JJ's. My second favourite tube is the TAD 6L6wgc str. Made in China under German quality control.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 19 Oct 2009 1:49 pm

Mesa/Boogie takes great care in getting high quality tubes for their amps. I think their price is probably in your ballpark, too. I found them at this site for $42/pair:

http://www.musicpower.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=COMBCR-6L6440

Murnel Babineaux · Post by **Murnel Babineaux** » 20 Oct 2009 10:46 pm

For maximum clean headroom, go with the Sovtek 6L6WXT+.
6L6EH, same tube, either one.

I've had a couple of these fail, but overall, they are dependable and give max headroom.

Ruby Tubes, Lots of reliability problems.

Svetlana "Winged C" Cyrillic brand. They have the sweetest sound of all current production tubes. These haven't been the most durable and reliable tube.

My experience with JJ's. If you want these to sound good, it might require bias adjustment to get them to operate at proper current levels.

With bogey tube ratings for average NOS and current level 6L6's, you should bias your Fender at around
-52 volts and level accordingly.

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Good sounding, affordable 6L6's for steel?

Good sounding, affordable 6L6's for steel?

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