I may have figured out my tone problem.

[Vogelsong]

I just played an amp with my guitar that is running 6l6's and el34's. I gotta say, my Comanche never sounded better.

I think the el84's in the LSS just don't suite my ears. I can get my LSS to a tone I like but not love. Looking back I wish I would've just said F it and cranked it up in the shop when I was shopping the first time. I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

Tomorrow I'm gonna see a new friend and try out his LSC.

 

[J.J]

I have learnt the lesson the hard way too. I bought and Express 5:25 with El84 tubes and tried for 18 months to get the tones I wanted and had a Fender Blues junior before that. In the end I have found that I just don't like El84 tubes. To me they still sound great at low to moderate volume, but at gig volume I could never get the tone as they seem to fur up and loose clarity.

I ended up with an Electra dyne, but the LSC was close behind for me. I still have the Express and every time I turn it on it comfirms why I needed to slide into a non EL84 tube amp.

Perhaps new production El84s are not as good, I don't know, but I am done with El84s.

If you hear things like I do, I bet you will like the LSC better after you have had a go.

 

[Vogelsong]

I have learnt the lesson the hard way too. I bought and Express 5:25 with El84 tubes and tried for 18 months to get the tones I wanted and had a Fender Blues junior before that. In the end I have found that I just don't like El84 tubes. To me they still sound great at low to moderate volume, but at gig volume I could never get the tone as they seem to fur up and loose clarity.

I ended up with an Electra dyne, but the LSC was close behind for me. I still have the Express and every time I turn it on it comfirms why I needed to slide into a non EL84 tube amp.

Perhaps new production El84s are not as good, I don't know, but I am done with El84s.

If you hear things like I do, I bet you will like the LSC better after you have had a go.

My friend with the LSC I think nailed it. He said, "the el84's in the LSS to him just sound thin at volume". When he said the word thin a light bulb went off in my head. That is the exact word I have been looking for to describe my tonal deficiancies and I couldn't come up with it.

 

[J.J]

That is a good description And no amount of EQ can fix the problem, not even an EQ pedal in the loop.

I don't mean to bag El84 amps, it's just not the sound I want.

I would have suggested trying some other EL84 tube types, but have not heard anything really good about any of them. The JJ El84 tubes were a good upgrade for the Blues Junior over the Sovteks. Are Mesa using JJ now or still the Rusian ones ?

 

[BobR]

Maybe. However my DC3 is one fat sounding EL84 amp. Way louder than I'll ever need for my cover band gigs too. Bob

 

[screamingdaisy]

I love EL84s, but they're a ***** to use at times. They really excel at early breakup and when cranked up produce a perfect "amp ready to explode" tone, but not everyone wants that particular tone all the time... which is the drawback because they don't have the headroom to create any other tone.

 

[Vogelsong]

I love EL84s, but they're a ***** to use at times. They really excel at early breakup and when cranked up produce a perfect "amp ready to explode" tone, but not everyone wants that particular tone all the time... which is the drawback because they don't have the headroom to create any other tone.

And headroom has been the exact issue for me.