What is the best el34 to buy for a mod 50?

[blumuz123]

and..... where is the best place to purchase?

thanks for the help

 

[RockStarNick]

I'm very interested in this answer too. However, I'm gonna guess that the best EL34 for the Mod50 is NO EL34 at all... Many people claim it just sounds better with 5881s.

That being said: I got a TON of good Winged C EL34s lying around that I'm gonna try out in my Mod50 once I get it. I've had great luck with the Winged Cs in my Bogner Shiva. And because Matt uses 5881s. And we can't agree on EVERYTHING.

Great tube stores:

tubedepot
KCANOStubes
Doug's Tubes
thetubestore

I've had good luck with all of them.

 

[EWSEthan]

Apologies all, but Nick must be suffering from a serious cause of vascular demintia. He clearly has forgotten how he definitively said last year that my MOD 50 sounds WAY better with the TS 5881s than it did with the EL-34s I tried in there.

 

[broknstuff]

Mullards sound pretty good in mine, but I haven't tried any other tube with this amp. It came that way, but no complaints here.

 

[richedie]

Tungsol EL34B
Winged "C" EL34
Svetlana EL34
JJ E34L
JJ EL34

I had the TS 5881s in my MOD 50 for a while but found them too stiff and lacked something for singling, juicy leads(maybe midrange)...so I threw them back in the drawer. I like the SED Winged C EL34s and the TS EL34Bs are supposed to be sweet as well. I also loved the JJ EL34 because they were thick and had more balls than the SED Winged Cs.

I hear 6550s rip in the MOD 50.

 

[blumuz123]

I guess I m really asking how to get the best classic british sound w/ sl and vox modules.

I assume that el34's would be better than 5881's.
any input from anyone

 

[muudrock]

I guess I m really asking how to get the best classic british sound w/ sl and vox modules.

I assume that el34's would be better than 5881's.
any input from anyone

IMHO,
It's really close actually. I've run both and at the end of the day, I opted for 5881's in the Mod 50. I also have a Mod 100, but I prefer the 34's in that head.

 

[MarcoR]

I had the TS 5881s for about a year and I thought they sounded great especially at lower volumes but one failed a few weeks ago. I had a gig and needed new tubes right away and the local store only had GT E34LS 5 rating. I have to say with the Bman & EG3/4 combo they sound fantastic and a little louder too. Also punchier at higher volumes.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

It really comes down to how devout you are about your clean tones and the type of definition on the high end. In my opinion that goes soemthing like this.

6L6 = Ex Clean, Spank and punchier, grindy distortion
EL34 = Decent clean, less spank, but complex mids and serious Thwak in the distortion department
5881 = a darn good comprimise betwen the two.

Tung Sol EL34B = Also a good comprimise with decent spank, nice cleans and everything you love about EL34 tones in the distortion area. Great if you really just can't give up that sound but still want your cleans to be a notch better than typical EL34 tone.

Sounds like your situation calls for the Tung Sol EL34B because you said the word British & you are usig the Vox for your lower gain/clean sounds. So there you have it, I'm sure everyone here is now shocked becasue Tommy T has recomended yet again ...


TUNG SOL (though this time it's the EL34B)

 

[Superunknown]

Ruby EL34 STR.....

 

[Doubleneck]

I've used TS5881, Sovtek 5881, JJE34L and GT-34L and settled for the GT-E34L in my MOD100. It doesn't seem to like 5881's?
The Tung Sol EL34B sound really enticing!

 

[richedie]

I had the TS 5881s for about a year and I thought they sounded great especially at lower volumes but one failed a few weeks ago. I had a gig and needed new tubes right away and the local store only had GT E34LS 5 rating. I have to say with the Bman & EG3/4 combo they sound fantastic and a little louder too. Also punchier at higher volumes.

Yes, those are nice I hear. They are like the JJ E34Ls.

I think it was the lead tone with 5881s that bothered me the most. A few of the best EL34s that also do good cleans are the SED Winged C and the Tung Sol EL34B as mentioned above.

I want to buy the Tung Sol EL34B set next along with some 6550s because I hear they are also a nice compromise.

Reviews:
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tubes/ ... 03967.html

http://thetubestore.com/el34review.html

 

[blumuz123]

Sounds like your situation calls for the Tung Sol EL34B because you said the word British & you are usig the Vox for your lower gain/clean sounds. So there you have it, I'm sure everyone here is now shocked becasue Tommy T has recomended yet again ...


TUNG SOL (though this time it's the EL34B)

yes the Tung Sol EL34B sounds like what I need and thanks for the tube store link.

now with the Tung Sol EL34B's what is the best pre amp tube for the Vox module and the best for the SL?

thanks

 

[jmgman69]

Sounds like your situation calls for the Tung Sol EL34B because you said the word British & you are usig the Vox for your lower gain/clean sounds. So there you have it, I'm sure everyone here is now shocked becasue Tommy T has recomended yet again ...


TUNG SOL (though this time it's the EL34B)

yes the Tung Sol EL34B sounds like what I need and thanks for the tube store link.

now with the Tung Sol EL34B's what is the best pre amp tube for the Vox module and the best for the SL?

thanks

"OH SHIT"here we go again

 

[RockManiac]

Yes, Tung Sol EL34B

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Well I don't have a Vox, don't ask why. Okay I've been spending my money this year on my home studio (pics soon). But in the SL I like the good 'ol Electro Harmonix 12AX7.