EL34's in a Mark IV

[jman7272]

Has anyone here tried this and if so, please describe your tone.

I have a Mark IV that I love and my new Stiletto Ace is a really great amp. I bought it to give the whole "Marshall Boogie" thing a go. For the most part, I really like it but tend to gravitate towards my Mark IV as my go-to amp.

Has anyone here thrown EL34's in the outer sockets and what did you think? Did it change the voicing of the Mk IV drastically, slightly or barely?

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[srf399]

I thought it added a but more clarity but the difference was very minimal. I traded the MKIV in for the Stiletto... which I prefer over the MKIV.

 

[jman7272]

I thought it added a but more clarity but the difference was very minimal. I traded the MKIV in for the Stiletto... which I prefer over the MKIV.

Hehehe. I actually own both. I am curious how Marshally the Mark can get with 34's in it.

 

[srf399]

The MKIV has a fender style voicing.... sounds nothing like a Marshall. With the EL34's it still sounded like a Fender on steroids to me.

 

[jman7272]

The MKIV has a fender style voicing.... sounds nothing like a Marshall. With the EL34's it still sounded like a Fender on steroids to me.

Interesting. Me thinks that I will get some EL34 and try it out. I am really curious to hear about all of the tone holy water folks with this config describe...

 

[JOEY B.]

The MKIV has a fender style voicing.... sounds nothing like a Marshall. With the EL34's it still sounded like a Fender on steroids to me.

Interesting. Me thinks that I will get some EL34 and try it out. I am really curious to hear about all of the tone holy water folks with this config describe...

EL-34's in the Class-A sockets of a Mark series will not sound like a Marshall, but tend to warm up the mirange as compared to 6L6's. You can also switch to the Class-A setting on the R2 channel to get a cool vintage EL-34 vibe. If I were you, I would look for some STR-442 or Winged =C= EL-34's. They will not lose as much bass and the cleans will not suffer as much as some of the Sovtek, EH, etc...

 

[EirikBrandal]

I tried the JJ E34L's in my class A sockets and didn't like it. It just just iced up the high mids for me. Switched back the 6l6 some days after.

but el34 certainly let you experiment with new EQ settings

 

[HalfDeaf]

I had Winged =C= EL34s in my mkiv and really liked it. I found the tone to be very different from all 4 6L6s. Much more mid-focused with tighter compression. You lose a little on the cleans, but if you run the R1 gain at between 2-3 pulled and get volume from the channel master, it still sounds pretty good. With EL34s, R2 is much better. Lead isn't necessarily better, just different. More "tool" and less "metallica".

 

[EirikBrandal]

I don't think the 34's were so middy. Like Halfdeaf says, it's more tool, but it's still like metallica, just more buzzing. At least in my opinion

 

[ouch_]

in my humble opinion, with el34 is more dinamic and warm sound

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I quite liked the EL-34s in the Mark...made it clearer and sharper IMO, in a very good way! Pairly great with passive pickups.