VH4 ~ 6L6 vs. EL34

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shampoch

shampoch

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I was running for the last year, SED 6L6's in my VH4 and just switched to SED EL34's

...mommy.

This is a EL34 amp - Holy Crap!

The cleans are very impressive with the 6L6's but channel 2 is tough to use. Not so much with EL34's Channel 2 grinds and CH3 kills, Ch4 Crazy Growl! Channel 1 seems to be the sacrafice with EL34's but you wouldn't know it unless you ran 6L6's in it first as I have done for some time.
 
Thanks for that!


Ok, so I need 3 VH4's, one each for EL34's, 6L6's and 6550's. Oh and maybe one for KT88's, I haven't tried those yet.

:D
 
yes!

plz!!!!!! tell me more...I got my VH4S with 6L6.

I know the 6L6 are great for the mids

what style do you play? and what exactly changed in your tone? (CH3)

thanks! :yes:
 
I'm glad you're happier now. I don't feel the same way. To me the VH4 with 6L6 is just FENOMENAL! and channel 2 is just jaw dropping with them. But again, I'm playing Strats and blues/pop-rock 85% of the time now adays.

This amp will stay with 6L6. I might get a set of 6550 just to see, but I love 6L6!
 
I bought the amp with a new set of 6L6's and EL34's matched to the amps Bias so I can just swap them back and forth. I play mostly 80's stuff - Van Halen, Ratt, Ozzy, AC/DC, Etc... :rock:

I have many guitars with many pickup configurtations with the exception of P90's but mostly play dual Hums - ToneZone w/ AirNorton are my absolute favorite.

The EL34's "growl" way more and the 6L6's have "impressive" cleans.
 
I love the overall tonality of EL34s in my VH-4, but the amp is a little too compressed when you get it up to gigging volumes.
I've heard great things about 6550s, though.
 
shampoch":bkskk3cg said:
The EL34's "growl" way more and the 6L6's have "impressive" cleans.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is what I found too. I started with EH EL34s and switched to SED 6L6s- channels 1/2 improved a lot, while 3/4 lost a bit of their bite. It all depends on what channels you use most and what kind of other amps you have kicking around. If I had a nice old Fender amp or a JC-120 or something kicking around, I'd put EL34s back in instantly- but I don't, so the 6L6s stay because I play a lot of clean stuff and channels 1/2 with some reverb in the loop are just sick. My two cents :rock:
 
I was thinking of trying some Winged C 6L6's but I might not after reading this. I definintely don't want to lose any growl on 3 and 4 which are the channels I'm on 90% of the time. I didn't really dig the 6550's in the VH4 either. Sounds like EL34's are where it's at for me. :rock:
 
EL 34 for sure more total harmonic distortion, more bite and grind on ch3/4,sparkly cleans.
But all depends on the guitar,pickup,eq,cab... ;)
 
Well to each it's own. I find EL34s great for that nice rock growl, but IMHO you don't loose THAT much growl, it still a freaking VH4 man! I play strats 85% of the time with vintage single coils, not hot at all btw, and it freaking barks at you!! I can seriously play metal with that setup.

So again tone is subjective and I'm sure some people feel the difference. But again TO ME, the clean channel and the blues channel as I call it (channel 2) are the two most important channels, and with 6L6s that amp just screams!
 
KT77s..the best of both worlds. I have a Quad in my VH4 and i love them!! :yes:
 
I had KT77 for a long time, untill one of them blew up, still have a pair, and will prob. buy two more just in case I wanna throw them in there. I agree they're a good tube that have a bit of both worlds. If I was a Hard Rock/Metal player I'd use KT77 all the time since they provide awesome cleans and awesome driven tones.


I wanna try 6550s
 
I love the 6550s in my latest V's (VH4 and VH4S) - louder, more potent, and overall decent color in the tone, sound and spectrum...

BUT...overall, on ANY given amp, I am an EL34 guy - totally, simply, and most certainly. I just love the sound of EL34s. Ya ya, 6L6 is great for clean, but I have a separate amp for "clean", I play what I listen to, so for the most part it's heavy crunch and super hi-gain loudness, and the 6550's do a great job of making this louder, but overall, down to the wire, I'd always go with my EL34s.

Peace,
V.
 
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