# Traynor YCS50H - EL34 vs 6L6



## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

so...

I've had the head for about 6 months now, running EL34's my synopsis is such:
with the master volume at about 930...15W setting
Channel 1: i run the gain almost maxed with the boost on and at around 3 o'clock and the volue around noon...real good crunchy hard rock tone, very marshall-esque...i find i can get a excellent alice in chains or buckcherry kind of tone...love it
Channel 2: USA: gain around 10-11 and volume around 1...a very clean clear tone...i use this for my main clean tone...lots of head room and clarity
Channel 2: Brit: gain around 11 and volume around 1...a great old school crunch a la led zep or james gang...i love to use the rhythm pickup with the volume rolled down to get a nice decently clean sound, and the set the lead pickup to dirt...and then rip on Ten Years Gone...

so today i put 6L6's in it...
with the exact same settings...
Channel 1: WAY more gain now...in fact i had to turn it down...there is more chug there, a little more clarity...the tone i could compare it to is easily Enter Sandman...no doubt about it...very decent metal tone
Channel 2: USA: pretty much the same, however it sounds a little clearer, brighter
Channel 2: Brit: here is the brutal point...can't find it...now like i said, i just put the tubes in today, so i haven't messed a lot with it, but i couldn't find something i was happy with

so...tomorrow i'm going to rip on it some more, test it out a little more...

one thing i did notice was, the EL34's seemed under biased...Traynor says to set the bias at 75mV +/- 10mV, but it was actually at 57mV...so...if they were biased a little hotter, closer to where they should've been it may have been better...but...i broke one taking them out, so it'll have to wait until i get another set...which...with the way its going, may be soon


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

It's a fun experiment to do.

I like my distortion more creamy and sorta compressed (why I usually like EL84s best), but in these types of amps we get it from the E34s.

It is nice to have the low end thump and chug of the 6L6s, but for me it's not worth the trade-off of how EL34s break up.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

i'm tending to agree with you...i like the thump...but its not really my thing...soon as i can get some cash...i'm gonna get some more 34's


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

has anyone tried 6CA7's in this amp? I've read that they are a cross between the EL34's and 6L6's...I've been thinking about going back to EL34's, thought i may try this...but wondered if others had tried it first...


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

I had very similar results with my YCS100 when I switched to 6L6's. I don't know about more gain, but certainly less compressed, more open & detailed, and more "thump". More Mesa recto-ish (which is what I was looking for) but a bit less "messy" than the Mesa. Not that I don't like the Mesa - love it in fact. I will have one eventually.

It might be interesting to try KT-77's in these amps as they're somewhere in the middle. I have them in my 2204 clone and that's basically my impression.


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