# Most "6L6 like" 6V6s?



## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I have an old 6V6 amp here that I am trying to coax a bit more headroom out of and make the cleans a bit "bigger" like many 6L6 based amps.

I know I can only expect "so much" difference, but are there any 6V6s that are known for their high headroom and 6L6 like character?

New production or NOS is fine.

TG


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

JJ 6v6 are said to have a lot of 6L6 character


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I am running a stereo amp set up with two identical amps so I really won't lose" the 6V6 thing if I make changes to one of them. I want to make one more for cleans and leave the other one with 6V6s (great tone and dirt).

My amps are both extremely early and rare Traynor Bassmates. They run a 6AV6, 12AX7, 6V6s, and a 5Y3 Rectifier. I've never seen a schematic for these extremely early ones (6V6 power tubes yes, but not for my exact amp).

I did try running a 6AT6 and 12AU7 in the pre and it lowered the gain and made the volume knobs more usable (more range) but it didn't really increase clean headroom per se.


TG


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## JimiGuy7 (Jan 10, 2008)

I have an old Pine/PEPCO Riviera that uses 6V6's. I am not the biggest fan of the 6V6 tone but the tubes I stuck in it are Ruby 6V6's and they have tons of headroom. The tubes I replaced were JJ's. I have a hard time getting lots of power tube dirt out of it now as it stays clean almost all the way up the volume knob, and even the dirt that I get out of the amp is very minimal. Maybe it is the amp, but the tubes I had in it before (JJ's) broke up way earlier and when I turned the amp all the way up it was far more saturated. Food for thought.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Can you not just set it up to run 6L6's?


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I don`t know if the amp will take 6L6s. As far as I know, they are not directly swappable.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

In some amps you can get away with swapping 6L6 & 6V6 I think. Black/Silver Fender Deluxe circuits sometimes. The 6L6's won't be running in their "sweet spot" though (unless your amp is pushing the envelope with plate voltage for the 6V6), and it can do a number on the output transformer. If the OT can handle it & you can get it to bias it'll work OK. I don't know if you'll get a whole lot of extra headroom, but it'll sound a bit thicker & rounder overall.

I have JJ 6V6's in a couple of my amps and I agree they lose some of the typical 6V6 charm. But they also compress quite a bit more when pushed - almost in an EL34-ish way. If you want more of a "rock" vibe from a 6V6 amp they'll do the trick. They can also handle more plate voltage than a typical 6V6. I had JJ's in my BFDR clone for a while & it would cop a pretty cool Brit vibe when wound out...especially on the normal channel.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Emohawk said:


> In some amps you can get away with swapping 6L6 & 6V6 I think. Black/Silver Fender Deluxe circuits sometimes. The 6L6's won't be running in their "sweet spot" though (unless your amp is pushing the envelope with plate voltage for the 6V6), and it can do a number on the output transformer. If the OT can handle it & you can get it to bias it'll work OK. I don't know if you'll get a whole lot of extra headroom, but it'll sound a bit thicker & rounder overall.
> 
> I have JJ 6V6's in a couple of my amps and I agree they lose some of the typical 6V6 charm. But they also compress quite a bit more when pushed - almost in an EL34-ish way. If you want more of a "rock" vibe from a 6V6 amp they'll do the trick. They can also handle more plate voltage than a typical 6V6. I had JJ's in my BFDR clone for a while & it would cop a pretty cool Brit vibe when wound out...especially on the normal channel.


I know there are lots of people who run 6L6's in Deluxe reverbs with just a re-bias (ie tube sockets and pin outs are the same). DR's have plenty of plate voltage, so maybe it wouldn't work in just any amp. I'm not a techie so maybe someone else can jump in.


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

JJ's would be your best bet. Next best, 5881's, NOS or new Tung Sols.


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## TeleZee (Nov 10, 2008)

I had a '67 Traynor Bassmate (sorry I sold it too) and I had GT's in it and didn't like them. I used the JJ 6v6's and Ecc's 81 and an 83 as I recall and it was a great improvement. I also swapped out some Russian 6v6's from a hand made Luker Tiger for a set of JJ's and it really fattened up the sound.


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