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 Post subject: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:44 am 
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The bands I play with live are quite loud in rehearsals so I've been afraid that 6V6s ODS wouldn't be loud enough. (Sigh!)

Because of that I've been running some testing with 6L6 tubes. I can't say that they are 100% approved for use yet as I still need to take some measurements of plate voltage and cathode current to confirm that all is well with the PT and bias supply but so far so good. I've run both tall and short bottle 6L6s in the amp and it is certainly louder and cleaner than it is with the 6V6s with the same settings. Truthfully it was MORE than loud enough and there were no tell tale smells or signs of excess heat dissipation. :thumbsup:

I hope to have the plate voltage measuments done today to ensure we're in spec. I will be aiming for a 32-35 ma. bias with (hopefully) a plate voltage close to 406v giving about 70% plate dissipation at idle. (I think that's the right term).

Early Observations are:
The amp is louder
The amp is cleaner
The amp is a little stiffer

I've been using the following tubes during my early testing:

Jan Phillips EGC 6L6WGB (good tube!!)
Svetlana Winged C's (In the amp now)
RCA 6L6
TungSOL 6L6WGB
TAD 6L6WGC STR

I haven't tried these yet but will

Mesa STR 415
Philips EGC 7581A

I'll keep you posted as testing wraps up.

Cheers
LB

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:19 pm 
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The ODS tone comes from the preamp so you want a high headroom, stiff output section. This is why ODS' generally use 6L6/EL34 output tubes and are usually 100W. I think the 6L6 route is the way to go imo.

I've used Winged =C=, TAD, JAN Phillips and Tung Sol. I really liked the Winged =C=, very expensive these days though. Nice full tight bottom end with a clear smooth top end.

The ODS' tend to like bias on the cooler side, 60%-70% is what most guys like.

Most ODS run the plate voltage around 440V but the Trinity ODS might be different, not sure. What did you find?

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 1:21 pm 
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Normally (for 6v6s) the plates are at 406vdc with 21 ma flowing. With the Winged C 6L6s the amp runs at:

373vdc at 30 ma
366vdc at 40 ma

I'm currently running at 40 ma bias current as this is just about 50% plate dissipation.
The tone is good into the EVM-12s.

clips to follow.

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:26 pm 
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Some rough power calculations for those settings:

For 6v6s with the plates at 406vdc at 21 ma flowing = 17 W approx

With the Winged C 6L6s the amp runs at:
373vdc at 30 ma = 22 W approx
366vdc at 40 ma = 29 W approx

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:38 pm 
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coco wrote:
Some rough power calculations for those settings:

For 6v6s with the plates at 406vdc at 21 ma flowing = 17 W approx

With the Winged C 6L6s the amp runs at:
373vdc at 30 ma = 22 W approx
366vdc at 40 ma = 29 W approx


Are we cool at these levels brother? (pun intended).

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:33 am 
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i think so. Feel the PT after a few hours and see how hot it gets. Should be fine even at 40

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 11:00 pm 
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lbethune wrote:
The bands I play with live are quite loud in rehearsals so I've been afraid that 6V6s ODS wouldn't be loud enough. (Sigh!)


Hi Larry, congrats on the new amp, I saw a pic of it, sure looks great, I would love to hear one of these little ODS beasts. Regarding the volume issue, I had pretty much the same issue, given that my main amp for the last 2 1/2 years has been a Trinity Tramp Head into a fairly large cab. I mean I have literally been using it for everything from very quiet to very loud. I started off by running a ton of clean boost into the front end and that got me by with fairly good results for some time, but I now have another piece of kit called an "Unleash" (It's made by "Badcat" - I hope that is not a swearword around here :nono ), which I found lets me use my Tramp and any of my other amps literally anywhere. I don't know if you are familiar with it but the Unleash is basically a 100 Watt Class D re-amp device, I was at first concerned it might mess with the Tramp's tone (It's the reason I love the Tramp, the breakup and feel under the strings is so sweet) but no I can't tell at all, I can set the Tramp at it's sweet spot in Tweed/Clean mode, which is not really that loud at all, and it just makes it a S#$% load louder, like Fender Twin loud if the situation demands it (of course need to make sure the speaker can handle the watts, like a 150W Texas Heat). Another plus for me is it adds an effects loop to the Tramp so my Reverb pedal sounds WAY nicer than it did in front of a dirtied-up amp, and also a foot switchable/adjustable level boost.

Anyway just thought I'd throw that suggestion out there as something maybe worth investigating, as it's a tool that allows a working muso to use whichever of his favorite amps he desires anywhere, (eg, if you actually preferred the 6V6 tone with your ODS) from a big amp at it's sweet spot in a small bar, to a small amp at it's sweet spot on an outdoor festival stage, without fear of being under/over amp'd, ever and adds some nice extras like the loop and foot-switched levels to those amps that don't have those options.

With all that said I would love to build a Trinity Triwatt, my thinking is it would make a great pedal platform but our crazy exchange rates ($1AUD = US $0.80 cents) have killed that plan just for the moment.

Have fun with that new amp, and please keep us posted on the testing.


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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:40 pm 
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Hello Snowy!

That' a cool box, that Unleash. Seen something like that before called the Ultimate Attenuator. I think Larry may still have one.

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 1:01 am 
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Yeah but my UA has a 15 watt limit on input power. I'll check it out see if it's got the stuff still.

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 10:48 pm 
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Anyone tried 5881's in the OSD? I think I will pop a set of Tung Sol's in, try it around 60% or so and see how it sounds but would love to hear if anyone else has tried it.


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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2018 9:01 am 
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The 6L6GC tube is a 30W tube. The 5881 is 23W.

The 6L6GC would give you more power and more clean headroom. The 5881 should break up earlier.

The 5881 should be ok with the plate voltages.

Give it a try and let us know how it sounds.

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:48 am 
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Hallo,
I want to experience how the amp works with diffrent output tubes. 6L6 should be straight forward as the amp is already prepared for this, just need to rebias.
What about EL34 ? Should they be ruled out with the specification of this kit ? I am aware EL34 has a higher heating current. Can the transformer manage this ? Are there other reasons that rule out EL34, or some big changes that would be needed (pin 1 is already grounded, at least to the 1 ohm bias measurement resistors) ?

I am very happy if someone can comment on this.

Thank you.

Viktor


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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 8:22 am 
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The OT impedance is not ideal but the power transformer has the capacity to handle the heater current.
You will need to adjust the bias circuit to get the bias voltage right.

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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:52 pm 
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Thank you for the response about EL34. The reason for my question was simply that I had two EL34 available.
I bought two 6L6 and decided to test them first. The change from 6V6 was easy and it sounds great. I will keep it like that.


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 Post subject: Re: 6L6 Tube Experiments
PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:15 am 
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I currently run TungSol reissue 5881's. A great sounding tube and "in between" the 6V6 and 6L6 as far as headroom goes. I have become a big fan of these tubes in general and use them in a couple of builds.


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