EL34's in a Mark V Anyone tried it?

[skracus]

Hi Folks,

First post here for me. Wanted to say hello first and for most so Hello!

I was curious if anyone out there is running there Mark V with EL34's and if so how that sound differs from the 6L6 tubes in this case. I'm going to try it this evening with a matched quad of Mullards that I have as spares for my VHT 2/50/2 but I thought I'd ask here first for opinions. I play rock to metal btw.

Thanks,

Steve

New Mark V Head

 

[lesterpaul]

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=38013
check out this thread...towards end, if memory serves correctly

 

[MesaGod666]

Currently running EL34's in my Mark V Combo and it sounds FANTASTIC!

6L6's give it a bit more modern MESA sound (i.e. MKIV or even the Roadster) where the EL34's, IMO, give it more pure Mark TONE. I'm actually buying another Mark V to have stock 6L6's in so I can blend the two together.

 

[skracus]

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=38013
check out this thread...towards end, if memory serves correctly

Ya I found this just a few minutes ago. Thanks for the help. I'm looking forward to trying this out tonight.

MesaGod,

That's what I wanna hear!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks,

Steve

 

[guitardom]

running kt77's (variation of an el34) in mine and LOVING it. the mids are a lil more present but more than anything the highs are rolled off A LOT and not so harsh sounding. this is huge if your using a boogie cab or v30's. i had been using a marshall 1960 cause the high end was SO much more pleasant than it was in a boogie cab. switching to kt's really rectified the situation (sorry bad pun)

 

[littleguitar]

I've tried Mesa's EL 34's on the outside sockets with 6L6's biais and it's not as "magic" as on my MK IV (haven't have any trouble and the amp run perfectly on 90 W setting only....) Better sound with the stock's 6L6's.

Got to try with 4 EL 34's with the right biais and report that later !

 

[JOEY B.]

I've tried Mesa's EL 34's on the outside sockets with 6L6's biais and it's not as "magic" as on my MK IV (haven't have any trouble and the amp run perfectly on 90 W setting only....) Better sound with the stock's 6L6's.

That would be because the EL-34's should go in the INNER PAIR on the MarkV. :shock: The manual stated that the inner pair are the ones with the hotter bias on the Mark V. By running the EL-34's in the outer pair with the 6L6 bias, you were running the EL-34's VERY cold.

 

[littleguitar]

thanks for the advert, I'll try in the inner pair later.

 

[scott from _actual time_]

running kt77's (variation of an el34) in mine and LOVING it. the mids are a lil more present but more than anything the highs are rolled off A LOT and not so harsh sounding.

i've been running Russian 5881s (the heavy-duty 5881 that is a substitude for a 6L6) for that same purpose. for some reason, with my pickups and speakers (CL80, not V30s) i'm getting lots of shrill high-end -- ice-pick-in-the-ear treble. my quad of 5881s have some miles on them already, so they may sound mellower than new ones would, but they've reduced that high end a good bit.

i've read up on KT77s and KT66s (which apparently are a variation of a 6L6). i wonder if either of those would be even less high end than the Russian 5881s.

 

[guitardom]

running kt77's (variation of an el34) in mine and LOVING it. the mids are a lil more present but more than anything the highs are rolled off A LOT and not so harsh sounding.

i've been running Russian 5881s (the heavy-duty 5881 that is a substitude for a 6L6) for that same purpose. for some reason, with my pickups and speakers (CL80, not V30s) i'm getting lots of shrill high-end -- ice-pick-in-the-ear treble. my quad of 5881s have some miles on them already, so they may sound mellower than new ones would, but they've reduced that high end a good bit.

i've read up on KT77s and KT66s (which apparently are a variation of a 6L6). i wonder if either of those would be even less high end than the Russian 5881s.

sorry i cant help there, i have not used the 5881's. i just sold a dual rec head w 6v6's which i liked a lot to get rid of a lot of the nasty bite of the rec's and also had kt88's in it. 88's were just to much, needed to much volume, where the 6v6's are the opposite, breakup sooner, less headroom, but still more than enough. i had kt 77's in my road king and LOVED them so decided to go for them in my mkV. i originally replaced the el34's in the rk with eurotubes jj el 34's and also bought kt 77's. ran them both for awhile and prefered the kt 77's tonally. was not a huge difference but enough for me i guess. all the tube replacements were through eurotubes.

the bite of thte mark V with a boogie cab w v30's was just to much, got a buddy's marshall 1960 lead cab and tried it, sounded KILLER. so decided right then and there the amp just had to much brittle top end to it w the 6l6's. so i got the cab from him and used it only until i got some new tubes for it and been swapping and tyring combos since. but i still am prefering the marshall cab. need to spend some time dialing in the boogie cab to get some more comparative results between the 2 now.

 

[JlMMY]

I have tried 2 different sets of EL34's. The hotter EL's sounded better. There is less high's but in a good way. So far, I prefer the El34's to the 6L6's that shipped with the Mark V. The clean channel with 6L6's rival the EL34's but channel 2 and 3 are much nicer with EL's, IMO.

 

[4406cuda]

I have not tried EL34s yet, but after reading this topic I am looking forward to trying them out.

Most of you mentioned the improved tonal quality in the high register, but how does the low end sound with EL34s?

 

[MesaGod666]

I have not tried EL34s yet, but after reading this topic I am looking forward to trying them out.

Most of you mentioned the improved tonal quality in the high register, but how does the low end sound with EL34s?

EL34's sound fantastic with the MARK V. However, it caused my combo to go kaput (and yes I did switch the fixed bias from 6L6 to EL34).

 

[Supreeth]

I just bought a quad of the Mesa EL34 (STR-447) and I definitely prefer the EL34s on channels 2 and 3. The high end is much more defined and pleasing to my ear. On the clean channel however the 6L6 kicks the EL34 to the street (at least at lower volumes. I haven't cranked the amp in a while) IMHO! I will be trying out pairing the EL34 in the inner sockets with the 6L6 pair in the outer sockets and see how that sounds. I'm also planning on trying out some JJ tubes (for both preamp and power amp tubes)and see how that sounds!

cheers,
Supreeth