EL34's in a Roadster?

[pesocaster]

Anyone try it ? Results?

Cheers!

 

[Bill11]

Anyone try it ? Results?

Cheers!

HI pesocaster,

I only use Mesa EL34's in my Roadster and like them. To me, they sound tighter than the 6L6's and I prefer their clarity as well as thier distortion. In another amp the EL34 might be too harsh at times, but the Roadster has some much EQ control that EL34 tubes work well.

 

[pesocaster]

So the amp still retains enough "Boogie" without getting to far into Marshall land? Any loss of bottom end in the drive, and does the clean still stay as rich?

Thanks!

 

[Bill11]

So the amp still retains enough "Boogie" without getting to far into Marshall land? Any loss of bottom end in the drive, and does the clean still stay as rich?

Thanks!

Hi pesocaster,

Sound is alway subjective, but for my ear, yes, yes, and yes. My yes answer to the loss of bottom end means the loss of the flabby bottom end, but I have a Roadster 2x12 combo, so the speakers and the speaker cab design have a lot to do with the sound of my Roadster. Boogie tech folks have reminded me that 40 percent or more of a Mesa's sound comes from the speakers and the speaker cab, so if these are changed, so to is the sound. Thats why I try to buy the Mesa speaker cabinets or the combos; Mesa has already optimized them to sound the best for the amplifier they were designed for. Not that this is the only solution, pesocaster, but it is an important component.

Good luck.

 

[pesocaster]

Cool... thanks.... I'm running a recto 4x12 so the bottom shouldn't be a real issue from what you are saying... thanks!

 

[Nitrobattery]

I swear by Tung-Sol EL3b's in my Roadster. It sounds absolutely incredible.

 

[JW123]

It gives mine a little more top end and takes out some of the boomy mids. On the clean channel it lowers the headroom some to my ears. It might be a cool change of pace. I have both sets and change them around all the time.

I put the EL 34s in my Triple Rec for a gig and loved them in there more so than the Roadster for some reason.

It will still sound like a Mesa, it doesnt magically turn into a Marshall if that is your question.

 

[155]

I tried them in mine and while it sounds good its not as good to me as the 6l6 definatley alot more mids, with decent crunch

 

[jdurso]

its worth mentioning the JJ KT77s as well. They're sort of a EL34/6L6 hybrid... retains the botoom, girth and headroom of the 6L6 while giving you the tightness and bite of the EL34. I find those tubes to be very agressive for the heavier stuff while still retaining the nice cleans you get from the 6L6.

 

[wolverine]

Hey All !
Just wanted to dial in here and throw in my 2 cents worth , for what ever reason ive always choosen to stay with what would be considered the popular thing to do when it came to tubes and such ,, ive been at this thing for almost 30 years and it has always served me very well ,, anyways ,, have recently become very interested in changing up ,, just getting "old" ??? decided to pull the ol standard Mesa 6L6's and replace with a set of JJ E34L's ,, the sonic quality of the amp IMO went through the roof !! along with the tube change decided to commit to using the amp in "hard bypass" mode ,, this is what i have spent the last 30 years looking for !! i should mention that all these changes took place in my Roadster head that i play exclusively through a Mesa 2X12 Recto Cab ,, of all the cabs and amps i own this has become truly my "holy grail" of tone ,, the lows are much tighter ,, the mids more focussed and the highs clearer ,, the overdriven tones and sustain have also dramatically increased ,, sound and tone are so subjective and when i look to put together a live rig ,, i find that i always try to emulate the type of sounds that i can create in the studio ,, have never been able to quite get there ,, now I can ,, the tone is huge ,, cuts through without being harsh ,, mixes far better with 34's vs the 6L6's ,, and at the end of the day makes it far more enjoyable to play !! that elusive intangible quality that we all search for ,,
My current live rig consists of the Roadster and Recto cab mic'd by 57 and through the board ,, in addition i run ( of all things ) a Line 6 100HD via a XLR cable direct to the board ,, the Line 6 piece has been an incredible addition to my "sound" and to be honest ,, totally unexpected ,, the "Bogner" factor in creating an all tube "modeling" amp is very apparent ,, the overdriven sounds are absolutely incredible ( i run them simutainously ) and the cleans are pristene ,, anyways ,, im rambling
Putting 34's into my Roaster is the best thing that could ever have happened to my "sound" and as i said before ,, makes me want to play all the time ,, so what the downside ???

Cheers !!

 

[joe web]

a friend of mine put EL34 in his dual recto (3-channel) a few weeks ago.
yesterday i had the chance to test his amp. is was blown away!
there are more low-mids, less ultra-lows but more than enough punch in the sound.
now i´m thinking about putting in EL34s as well into my recto and maybe in my roadster as well.
but the roadster has a slightly different sound compared to the recto. the roadster is not so much "metal-sounding" as the recto.
overall i loved the sound i was hearing yesterday and i think, i´ll test some EL34s in my amps as well.

and NO the EL34s don´t turns your mesa into a marshall, it is still a mesa!
the sound is more like a diezel herbert, but still mesa.

 

[pesocaster]

thanks for the responses.... sounds like the way to go....


Cheers!