djw
Well-known member
Dudes. Some of you may have done this already, and I should have. But I just did and I wanna share.
After a recent recording session in which it became obvious to me that I couldn't quite get the oomph going at an appropriate volume level, I realized I needed to go back to the 6V6/YellowJacket config and see what I could get out of it. With 2 Reeder mods, a Weber Blue Dog, all new tubes... my LSC is so un-stock that I was actually starting to wonder if I should start over, at least just for a reference. But I started just by re-installing the C90 -- which seems to work better with the lower-wattage tubes, the Weber really prefers 6L6s -- and threw in a pair of JJ 6V6s and a pair of YJs. Good, fine, familiar... but not quite as spankin' as I had gotten used to with the 6L6s.
Then I remembered a post by Charles Reeder about using JJ 6V6s, with the EL34 setting on the LSC. I hadn't really given it too much thought at the time, since I think I'd just swapped my speaker and was sort of done with 6V6s for the time being. But now I'm thinking, hmmm...
I can't find a post in which he mentions this bit -- we'd chatted about it, so maybe that's where I got it -- but Charles told me that TubeDepot.com's #20-rated JJ 6V6s match up with the EL34 setting really well, especially in combination with YJs. So I ordered some #20s, and I stuck them in there, flicked the EL34 switch... and... wow.
Really, really nice. Clear, complex... juicy, chimey cleans and smooth, dynamic driven tones... saturated, but not fuzzed at all... and at a really manageable level. This is good for me, because I am not in a real loud band situation right now and have to control my level quite a bit.
Here are the configs that Charles outlined for me and how they bias up, hope he doesn't mind para-quoting him... you really only have to be careful with one or two of them but they all work.
With 2 6V6s & 2 YJs
At 100 WATTS:
6V6s in either the inner or outer sockets (with YJs in the other sockets)
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 19-21mv on the full power setting. PERFECT.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 15-16mv. Quite ACCEPTABLE.
At 50 WATTS:
6v6s in outer sockets
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 20mv. PERFECT.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 15mv. ACCEPTABLE.
With 4 6v6s:
At 100 WATTS:
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 22-24mv. This is HOT...BUT ACCEPTABLE...very saturated sound.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 16-18mv. MEDIUM QUITE ACCEPTABLE.
At 50 WATTS:
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 24-25mv. VERY HOT! BUT STILL USABLE.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 18mv. VERY NEARLY PERFECT. (This is my favorite... -djw)
I'll try to post some clips at some point, if I can ever stop playing long enough to set it up.
After a recent recording session in which it became obvious to me that I couldn't quite get the oomph going at an appropriate volume level, I realized I needed to go back to the 6V6/YellowJacket config and see what I could get out of it. With 2 Reeder mods, a Weber Blue Dog, all new tubes... my LSC is so un-stock that I was actually starting to wonder if I should start over, at least just for a reference. But I started just by re-installing the C90 -- which seems to work better with the lower-wattage tubes, the Weber really prefers 6L6s -- and threw in a pair of JJ 6V6s and a pair of YJs. Good, fine, familiar... but not quite as spankin' as I had gotten used to with the 6L6s.
Then I remembered a post by Charles Reeder about using JJ 6V6s, with the EL34 setting on the LSC. I hadn't really given it too much thought at the time, since I think I'd just swapped my speaker and was sort of done with 6V6s for the time being. But now I'm thinking, hmmm...
I can't find a post in which he mentions this bit -- we'd chatted about it, so maybe that's where I got it -- but Charles told me that TubeDepot.com's #20-rated JJ 6V6s match up with the EL34 setting really well, especially in combination with YJs. So I ordered some #20s, and I stuck them in there, flicked the EL34 switch... and... wow.
Really, really nice. Clear, complex... juicy, chimey cleans and smooth, dynamic driven tones... saturated, but not fuzzed at all... and at a really manageable level. This is good for me, because I am not in a real loud band situation right now and have to control my level quite a bit.
Here are the configs that Charles outlined for me and how they bias up, hope he doesn't mind para-quoting him... you really only have to be careful with one or two of them but they all work.
With 2 6V6s & 2 YJs
At 100 WATTS:
6V6s in either the inner or outer sockets (with YJs in the other sockets)
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 19-21mv on the full power setting. PERFECT.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 15-16mv. Quite ACCEPTABLE.
At 50 WATTS:
6v6s in outer sockets
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 20mv. PERFECT.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 15mv. ACCEPTABLE.
With 4 6v6s:
At 100 WATTS:
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 22-24mv. This is HOT...BUT ACCEPTABLE...very saturated sound.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 16-18mv. MEDIUM QUITE ACCEPTABLE.
At 50 WATTS:
On 'FULL POWER' they bias at 24-25mv. VERY HOT! BUT STILL USABLE.
On 'TWEED POWER' they bias at 18mv. VERY NEARLY PERFECT. (This is my favorite... -djw)
I'll try to post some clips at some point, if I can ever stop playing long enough to set it up.
