Are Winged C Power Tubes worth the extra $?

[thiswaythatway]

Looks like I need some new power tubes, 6L6's. Is a quad of Winged C's worth the extra money? My amp has regular Mesa power tubes which is believe are JJ's. I can buy a quad of regular JJ's for a decent price on Ebay, anywhere from $70 - $90. I see Doug's Tubes has a quad of Winged C's for $180. Worth the difference?

 

[fluff191]

I see Doug's Tubes has a quad of Winged C's for $180. Worth the difference?

I had some Winged C's in my Recto and found them to be muddy IMO. I much prefer the Mesa STR440 (Ruby 6L6GGCMSTR). Before they break in they can be a little fizzy in the highs, but give it a good 8 hours of play time and then the calm down and sound so smooth and round.

Not a huge fan of JJ power tubes. A great band-for-the-buck tube for Mesa's are the Sovtek WXT+. Amazing tone for little money.

Hope that helps.

 

[zewango]

Winged -C- El 34's always sounded good to me but when I tried the 6l6's in a few amps no big deal.
Did nothing for a SLO.

 

[70strathead]

nothng wrong with JJ's. very durable tube IMO. I have them in most of my Marshalls, Fender with 6l6's and they came stock in my new Bogner Duende with 6v6's..which kicks balls..

 

[Chris6870]

I didn't notice any difference in a Mesa DC5. I just bought some for my Mark IV. We'll see. I like the Rubys too and they are cheaper.

 

[bigangryguitar]

No would be the short answer. I had a quad when they were only like $100 a quad new and at that price I did like them a bit better than either the Ruby 6l6gc-mstr's or the JJ's. At over twice the price not a chance as it's a slight difference and in your circuit may not be a good change. Lately I have been getting the old NOS Shuguang 6l6gcr's off of Ebay and LOVE them! They were actually the Mesa str-420 at one point and are dirt cheap and really musical. Give them a whirl.

_Shane

 

[wheelman]

No

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

You know...I have been around with tubes...Tried a crapload....new production/old NOS....which I love doing. I gotta say T.A.D. has won me over on some of their tubes. I use variations for each of my amps.

 

[Anonymous]

I have found that I prefer the Ruby EL34BSTR in my amps...

Steve

 

[Ventura]

Depends on the amp, the type of tube, and your preferences. When it came to 6550s, the Winged =C= kicked ass. To each their own.

 

[glip22]

Not for 6L6. The Grovve Tubes chp is a very good 6l6.

 

[Erock]

The 6L6's didn't do much for the amps I've tried them in. I might be forced to pay more for the EL34, because I like certain amps with that specific tube, but I didn't notice the same difference in the 6L6 compared to other brands. I've liked the Ruby/TAD, JJ, and whatever Mesa is re-branding for their amps right now.

 

[Gooseman]

I see Doug's Tubes has a quad of Winged C's for $180. Worth the difference?

I had some Winged C's in my Recto and found them to be muddy IMO. I much prefer the Mesa STR440 (Ruby 6L6GGCMSTR). Before they break in they can be a little fizzy in the highs, but give it a good 8 hours of play time and then the calm down and sound so smooth and round.

Not a huge fan of JJ power tubes. A great band-for-the-buck tube for Mesa's are the Sovtek WXT+. Amazing tone for little money.

Hope that helps.

Wow, I've heard the exact opposite. Interesting. I don't see how the Winged C can really be that much of a game changer on fixed bias Mesas in the first place. The little bits of variance that you might get in signal -- could it really make or break the Mesa tone. Personally, you fall in love with an amp that you play, as it is set from the factory -- at least, this is true most of the time. I prefer to stick with Mesa branded tubes since they sound great as is.

 

[rabies]

I usually end up using JJ E34L. I swapped in a quad of those for the Mesa EL34s in my Stiletto II and then amp had better bass response and more balls in general.

I'm not so sure that the =C= are worth the extra money, I run one side of my S120 with =C= and the other with E34L.

call eurotubes and ask, they're obviously biased but they're cool and will chat with you about amps/tubes for a good 10 mins...

funny thing about tube threads is just about everybody has their own preference, there is no "right" answer...

 

[rabies]

oh, and yes, JJs have been very durable/reliable even in cranked loud (abusive) situations.

I had some E34Ls in my TSL 100 for a year, rehearsed 2 times a week for a year with masters over noon and they lasted at least one year and no shorts, fails, wierd sounds, issues, etc.

 

[rabies]

JJ E34L is the best sounding EL34 type of the newer designs. This tube has 15% more output than a standard EL34. It will handle higher plate voltages as those in Marshalls. Sound is rich, complex and harmonically balanced. Perfect for most British-style amps, etc.

http://www.vacuumtube.com/guitartubes.htm

I've learned that ultimately practicing and learning techniques and music theory are way better investments than tube experimentations. Unless you go from EL34 to KT66, for example, which is a different ball game. But going from say, JJ E34L to =C= is not going to be a huge difference, really.

 

[killertone]

For 6550s I have not found anything better, unfortunately. For EL34s and 6L6s, there are many other options.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I see Doug's Tubes has a quad of Winged C's for $180. Worth the difference?

I had some Winged C's in my Recto and found them to be muddy IMO. I much prefer the Mesa STR440 (Ruby 6L6GGCMSTR). Before they break in they can be a little fizzy in the highs, but give it a good 8 hours of play time and then the calm down and sound so smooth and round.

Not a huge fan of JJ power tubes. A great band-for-the-buck tube for Mesa's are the Sovtek WXT+. Amazing tone for little money.

Hope that helps.

Good point. I love Winged C 6L6 in my 5150, they're perfect and beyond worth the extra money. Thinking back to when I owned a Mesa, I do think that I preferred the Ruby GCMSTR over the Winged C 6L6 in that amp. Not that either sounded bad, just more fitting I guess.

 

[blackba]

I really like =C=, but I think their EL34's are better than their 6L6GC's. That said after the price increase, I am looking elsewhere. I have only had power tubes go bad on my twice, once was some Mesa branded tubes, the other was JJ 6L6GC, so I am not sold on the reliability of JJ's.

I had liked the tone of the TADs, but only tried a quad so far, so I don't know the reliability yet. I like these a lot for more modern amps. http://thetubestore.com/tad6l6gc.html

 

[Rogue]

I have a ser of mullard reissues in my amp, of unknown age. I compared them (in a 50 watt instance) to an old set of winged Cs and they were comparable. Whatever advantages the winged Cs had over them is lost in the price, IMO. And I love winged Cs. I wish they were more competitively priced.