Einstein with 6L6 tubes? Also what preamp tubes do you use?

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LaXu

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Anyone try the Einstein with 6L6s? I've been recently noticing that I've liked many 6L6 based amps so I thought maybe I should give 'em a go in the Einstein.

The manual says that they're great for cleans and that sounds promising, because I feel the clean could use a little bit more something. The higher gain tones sound great with EL34s but the lower gains I'm not totally sold on. So, how do the 6L6 tubes sound in the Einy?

I'm still experimenting with preamp tubes. I found that the GT 12AX7M is an excellent tube for the V2 slot used by the second channel. Made it smoother and thicker than the stock Ruby 12AX7A Select (apparently a JJ tube). I currently have another GT 12AX7M in V1 and the stock Ruby 12AX7A Select (I think) in V3. I'm going to try a Svetlana 12AX7 in V1 because it worked best with JJ ECC83S tubes in my previous amps.
 
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LaXu":a7ce5 said:
Anyone try the Einstein with 6L6s? I've been recently noticing that I've liked many 6L6 based amps so I thought maybe I should give 'em a go in the Einstein.
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I had a possibility to test EL34 and 6L6. I'm more towards american blues-rock sound so I opted for 6L6. Altough EL34 was better in crunch areas I found that 6L6 deliver more smooth overdriven tones and better, IMO, clean tones.
I have TADs in my Einstein.
 
I like a combination of 6L6 and EL34's. Thats why the Herbert and Einstein are cool! :twisted:
 
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Ampaddict":76c38 said:
I like a combination of 6L6 and EL34's. Thats why the Herbert and Einstein are cool! :twisted:
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It's impossible in my case. I have a 50W head ;)
 
Thanks for the info przemek_n! I dig smooth overdriven tones and these days tend to spend more time using lower gain settings so I thought I should give 6L6s a go.

I'll get some Svetlana/SED 6L6 tubes soon.
 
Have been using my Einstein with Svetlana/SED 6L6 tubes for a while now. Biasing was easy thanks to the external test points, too bad the trimmer itself was very touchy and requires the hands of a safe-cracker to adjust accurately.

As far as tone goes, I'm liking them. Cleans have more sparkle and the distorted tones have less sizzle, but they do not quite have the midrange fatness I like about the EL34s. Have to try the EL34s again, I found that the Svetlana/SED 12AX7 I put in V1 really helped the clean tones a lot, it is in my experience a great tube for both cleans and distorted tones.
 
Recently I've switched from strat to 'gibson' so it's very tempting to try EL34s out ;)
 
Popped the Ruby EL34s back in and rebiased. I quickly went back to the 6L6s, they just work better for me.
 
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