EVH EL34 50 Watt Blue Channel - Crap or Myth? Worth C137 mod?

napalmdeath

napalmdeath

Well-known member
I came across an EL34 50 watt locally dirt cheap. I've owned the 6L6 and 50 watt Stealth, never an EL34. I'm an EL34 guy, but I've read ALOT of gripes about the blue channel being totally revoiced, and just bad.. I've also read about clipping a leg of C137, and it's back to the blue we all know.

Anybody hate the EL34, or clip C137 and found a huge improvement?
 
EL34 is cool. C137 cap on the 50 watt sounds wonky. Obviously, try it first to see if you like it, but if you don't, clip it. Note this isn't an issue on the 100w. Hell, even Howard Kaplan doesn't care for it and recommends clipping the cap if that says anything. See:
 
I clipped mine and it’s great. The designer dude said that’s the way they wanted it and everyone but Ed lined it way more like that
 
Yeah clip it. I had the EL34 50 for a while but I immediately clipped it after the first hour of owning it. The "regular" 6L6 50 is still my favorite though.
 
I did a video on just the blue channel. I kind of like it. But I'm kind of strange.
 
midnightlaundry said:
Can someone post a Schematic??
Click to expand...
They are out there if you search.

Normally this cap is similar to the 5150 II specs which cuts a lot of bass before the gain stages. In the EL34 version they parallel another cap with that small cap to allow more bass into the gain stages.
 
I have the 5150 III El34 ,did the mod and changed it back. Didn't like that at all.
Its not flabby to me but if I need it to tighten up I throw on a tube screamer.
 
The blue channel is the only channel I like on the EVH 5150s :dunno:

The clip works fine if you really, really don't want to use a boost pedal and can get closer to the sound you dig

But IME just putting a tube screamer in front does the trick
 
The brief time I spent with an EL34 5150, I treated it like a Marshall and hit it with my SD-1. It sounded fantastic, very "boosted JCM800," but I ultimately didn't vibe with the super stiff feel the amp had, it was very compressed. I found I have more fun with a greasy Marshall.
 
Guys, without it clipped the Blue is sludge. I mean if you like that, ok.

Clipped it is perfectly balanced drive and gain.
 
Not finding the EL34 version, but Caps in parallel add their values together..
What are the values??
 
If you're going to boost the 50w EL34 Blue channel, leave C137 alone. Stock Blue channel without a boost sounds like mushy garbage but with a boost in front, stock sounds awesome. If you're not going to boost it, clip one of the C137 legs to tighten the channel up.

Or you could just put C137 on a toggle switch if/when you wanted it.
 
Is Blue meant to be boosted you gain monsters??
Maybe it was meant for mid gain Single Coils.?? :dunno:
 
I played the amp for 2 years before I heard this mod that made it so much better. I tried it ,sounded too stiff and way less gain.
Like its nutz have been cut off. Maybe I just got use to it stock. If it was good enough for Ed its good enough for me (y)

Ive been using the UA Lion pedal into the EVH head in 4 cable mode. Sounds killer. Doing that for a few months.
One day 2 weeks ago I A/B the pedal (Brown Mode) and the blue channel. Not a huge difference between the two.
 
I clipped that SOB but in the end I think my
MetalHeart said:
I have the 5150 III El34 ,did the mod and changed it back. Didn't like that at all.
Its not flabby to me but if I need it to tighten up I throw on a tube screamer.
Click to expand...
I had EL34 50 watt and also performed the mod. It definitely did something to the blue channel, but also having the 6L6 amp as well, I really don't think it "turned it into the 6L6 blue channel." Perhaps I am also not the majority, I didn't mind the stock blue, it was indeed radically different but added a really different tone to an amp that has a ton of tight gain on the red channel. I ended up selling the amp rather than trying to reverse what I had done. In any event, at least in terms of the 50 watt amps, the 6L6 version is the one for me.
 
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