el-34s and rectifiers

[alex1fly]

For those of you that have used el-34s in rectifiers, did it make the amp seem "brighter and thinner" as the Roadster manual says? I am thinking of trying some in my Roadster; I love the tone I'm getting with aps-2's in a strat on the Fat channel with max gain and I want to make sure that I won't lose it with the swap. Thanks!

 

[wildrat666]

"thinner"??????? no it sure sounds very good. it is tighter with the el-34 s.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I have JJ E34L's in my DR and it doesn't sound thinner or brighter. It sounds tighter and more articulate to me, and adds crunch to the growl. I was actually messing around with it for a couple hours today, scratching all my settings and starting over with it and I got it into marshall territory with raw and vintage settings and cranking the master output to 7. Don't be afraid of the manual saying that about the el34's, they sound really good IMO.

 

[alex1fly]

Okay, that makes me feel better I am definitely looking to add crunch and articulation to the growl. The tone I get on the Fat channel is glorious; what can I expect to lose/gain in this tone with the switch? More upper mids, tighter bass?

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I think the tonal layout changes a tad, a little less bass, a little more upper mids, but I think it works well with the controls and allows you to dial in (and out) more freq.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I don't know if EL34's made mine sound thinner, but it did lack something to me. I ended up going with KT77's, they feel like a nice middle ground to El34 and 6L6 tubes, and will be my tube of choice for my recto.

 

[fretmeister]

I like the el34, it feels like the tone is a bit more rounded now. Took away some harshness it had with 6l6. Ch2 brit is much more usuable now. Haven't got around to trying tweed mode with el34 yet though. And the cleans aren't quite as good as with 6l6.

I actually liked the Roadster with 6v6 best, tonewise I think. Only problem with the 6v6 was, for the cleans, it lost too much headroom, and that the tubes didn't last very long(7-8months).

 

[alex1fly]

When you say that cleans weren't as good, do you mean it was hard to get good, loud cleans? I like my to OD my clean channel and use the volume knob and soft picking to lower the distortion.

Admins, this should be in the tubes forum, I'm sorry!

 

[fretmeister]

I don't quite know how to describe it words.. with 6l6's it had that fendery clean, with a tight pronouned bass that is bouncy(?) sorry, words fail me.

 

[alex1fly]

Okay, I think I know what you're saying. Thanks.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I would agree the cleans are a bit different, there's a bit of bite to them (which I love). I use the clean channel and neck pickup for a great blues/on the edge of breaking up solo/melodic riffing, then use splitting on the pickups for the nice clean rhythm playing.

 

[clutch71]

I just put a matched quad of Groove Tube EL34 LS in my DR. I really like them and they are easy to come by. You can pick them up in most music stores. No waiting after ordering online, no worries about damage during shipping.

Definately a different flavor.

 

[alex1fly]

I have been playing with the brit setting on the Roadster lately and I do enjoy the extra bite/punch it has... I'm looking forward to the swap! Regarding the cleans, can you still get a good warm tone for strummed jazz chords?