GT6L6GE

[axwielding1]

Thinking of a quad of these for my mark III... What rating should I get ???
I'd like to pick 'em up tomorrow, but want to be sure of the rating...
Thanks...
ax. 8)

 

[JDGuitaristT]

I like these a lot! ... 5 is what Mesa recommends.

 

[Boogiebabies]

A 5 will draw around 22ma in the 6L6 sockets and around 33ma in the outer. I use these and the 6CA7GE in the simul sockets of my MK IV and one of my IIC's. They are superb tubes.

 

[axwielding1]

I picked them up today... Had to drive 45 minutes to find they didn't have them, so I drove an additional 45 minutes to another place...
I got pre-amp tubes as well..
V1 = SPAX7.... Not sure of the make, but not like the old Sovteks I used to get from Mesa... Maybe chinese?
V2 & V3 GT12AX7M
V4= GT12AT7 big halo getter
V5 = GTECC83 big halo getter, short plates, balanced for PI

The GT6L6GE's are rated at 4....I let 'em warm up for awhile, and played it at low volume for about 15 minutes, clean..Simulclass. Really quiet. Nice, well rounded tone.. Good balance...More sparkle than the STR454's, but not quite the bottom....Really nice tone with this mix of tubes, clean anyway..
I'll rev it up later, and go through the channels, then step up the volume...
Hopefully it won't get mushy when loud.Then, if all is well, I'll drop it into class A to see how it is.. What do you think??Will they take the plate voltage??Guess I'm nervous with non-Mesa tubes. I just hated the thought of the Mesa re-branded Chinese str440 and 447 (sovtek?)
I'll post later...
ax. 8)
BTW, It's cool to see clear tops in the Boog..

 

[fatboy135]

ohhh the mysterious case of the spax7, the last spax7 I bought was about a year ago and it was a eh with the logo bad deleted and with tipically black tshirt to the tube to not to get flu :lol:
About once month ago a friend of mine bring me a spax7 new that seems to be a perfect sino ( from china ) :roll:
I´m looking for a tube tester to select my own tubes...

 

[axwielding1]

I'll bet you're right. The new SPAX7 is probably chinese.. I may pull it and move the GT12AX7M's to V1 and V2, and put the older SPAX7 or a GT12AX7M in V3...
I just brought up the volume on the clean channel, R2 and lead...
The first thing I notice is the presence needs to be set higher than before, I would keep it low, maybe 2 or 3, now it's at 5 or 6... Also, at high volume, it doesn't get brittle when the 6L6's start to distort. It gets warm and round... I like 'em so far.
ax. 8)

 

[fatboy135]

In my point of view there is only one substitute of the spax7 features, and these is of course the eh.
Today I had order some eh and some lps. These are my favourites tubes. Also I like so much the svetlana, but in this order... I only want eh and lps

 

[zeppman]

How do GT's compare to the JJ 6l6s? I'm in need of some new 6l6s (now that I realized that the 6V6 is not for me). 6l6's just seem to mix better with a strat...

 

[axwielding1]

Haven't used the JJ's... I've only used the sylvannias, and the Svetlana's. The Svets (str454) are great tubes INHO, and close to the character of the Sylvannia.. These GT tubes are great sounding, but very different as far as attack.. Much better when overdriven then the svets. For everything except for maybe really high gain chugging, I now think they're better than the Svets..Actually, I find that when in high gain applications, they give a warm glow to the whole tone...They work well with my, sometimes stringent mark III.
I do think that I will order another set in a higher rating, maybe a 7, so it will have a little more attack at high volumes....
Great tubes...
ax. 8)

 

[axwielding1]

OK.. So, I decided to pull the (chinese) SPAX7, which I just plain didn't like the tone of, and installed another GT12AX7M... Ahhh, much better..
I then pulled the GT12AT7 from the reverb driver, and put the SPAX7 there. The GT12AT7 will go in my Gibson amp...
So now I have GT12AX7M in V1,2 &3...Very nice...
I've been pushing the GT6L6GE's pretty hard, and they sound great, especially for the music we're doing in my band.. Blues/rock etc.
ax. 8)

 

[axwielding1]

Well, I've been toying with the settings with these tubes, and haver found a setting that is a succession of gain that, for me is footswitchable and useable in my band...
Vol1- 7.5
treb-7.5 pulled
bass-4
middle-3.5 ( also pulled when in lead mode )
master-3
lead drive-just over 7
lead master - to balance
presence-5
reverb-10
EQ-"in"
80-covering top line
240-sitting on top of middle line
750-halfway between bottom and middle line
2200-covering top line
6600-1/8" above middle line
simulclass
With this, I get a full clean, crunch and lead.
Settings with a Les Paul...
ax. 8)

 

[axwielding1]

Really singing now... With the previous setting.. Band practice tomorrow night, should be a stand out.... The GT tubes sound really good when cooking...
The lettering is turning brown already! :wink:
Lovin' them.....
Also, glad I took the SPAX7 out of V1, the GT12AX7M is way smoother and less noisy....
ax. 8)
BTW, Overdriving the GT6L6GE's in a R2 cleanish setting, in class A smokes with my strat!!!! :wink:

 

[Boogiebabies]

I do believe that Mesa is now using the Ruby/Shuguang 12AX7.
I use the GT M in the V1 and V5 of every amp. The Mesa's seem to like to eat the M's, but if they get noisy I use them in the PI. I have been more impressed with the Chinese in the lead channels. For Simul-Class I used the GT 6CA7 GE and it is amazing how fat this combination is. They dont have the harsh high end of a true EL-34. I use these in the MK IV and one IIC+ head. The GT 6CA7 is now off production for a while so get them while you can.

If you ever have the chance, I was goofing around with tubes on one of the IIC+'s and loaded it with NOS STR 415's, NOS Siemens EL34's and NOS RFT 12AX7's in all 5 sockets. It was such a fat creamy tonal bliss I almost wizzed myself.

 

[axwielding1]

I too like the GT6CA7GE's.. I got a quad for my son's TSL100 and it made a world of difference in the tone...
The Svetlana EL34's were fizzy and thin, and the Ei pre's didn't help any..
So, in went the GT12AX7M's in v1,2 &3, balanced GT12AT7 in PI, and the quad of big bottles, and man, does this thing thump! Plus, the pushed clean channel was so full sounding when cranked, I nearly lost my breath..
I've heard that the EH big bottle 6CA7's have a similar effect on a Marshall amp, and at +- $45 a quad, are much easier to swallow that the $150 I spent on the GT's not knowing what the results would be...
Too bad they pulled the production on the GT's.
Mesa still has the Siemens EL34's available I see, I'm surprised they haven't sold 'em all...
As far as the STR415's, I guess I'm saving them for something, maybe for when I'm too old to play loud anymore..When the hell will that be? :roll:
ax. 8)