Mesa brand EL34, Chinese? Russian?
- Thread starter skoora
- Start date
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I believe the Mesa EL34 are the same as Electro Harmonix EL34, same applies to the 5U4G if you have them. Nothing else on the web seems to be a closer match. I have both Mesa and EH EL34. Not much difference in character. That would be Russian tube.
Brad737
Well-known member
Generally, I'm not a big fan of JJs, with the exception of their EL-84. In my Bruno, I find the JJ offering to be the best of any new production 84s.
I may be incorrect on trade name, the Mesa tube may be Sovtek versions. Made by same company as EH but the internals may be slightly different but not by much.
Depending on the amp you intend to use the EL34 in, some of the simul-class amps in 10W mode are not compatible with EL34B (based on the JJ website which may be due to different impedance of the tube, if this is true, that may also rule out use of Tung Sol EL34B). Nothing wrong with the Mesa branded EL34's. In general, I have found that the small bottle EL34 are mechanically noisy. Some of the medium sized bottle EL34 types (GL KT77, Mullard EL34, and SED EL34) do not rattle as much (the gold lion and mullards are almost noise free, the Tung Sol EL34B no rattle either). It may be hit or miss on the mechanical noise issue, that of which I have found with 6L6 tubes too, brand name is irrelevant as I have had noisy tubes with different brand names including Mesa.
Depending on the amp you intend to use the EL34 in, some of the simul-class amps in 10W mode are not compatible with EL34B (based on the JJ website which may be due to different impedance of the tube, if this is true, that may also rule out use of Tung Sol EL34B). Nothing wrong with the Mesa branded EL34's. In general, I have found that the small bottle EL34 are mechanically noisy. Some of the medium sized bottle EL34 types (GL KT77, Mullard EL34, and SED EL34) do not rattle as much (the gold lion and mullards are almost noise free, the Tung Sol EL34B no rattle either). It may be hit or miss on the mechanical noise issue, that of which I have found with 6L6 tubes too, brand name is irrelevant as I have had noisy tubes with different brand names including Mesa.
screamingdaisy
Well-known member
skoora said:
Electro-Harmonix
I would say you are correct screamingdaisy. I looked at the NewSensor website and Sovtek does not have any EL34 tubes any more since they adopted a few other trade names like EH, Svetlana, Tung Sol and Mullard. (prior to that and to the Sovtek trade name, company is called Refektor but did not sell in US market under that brand name.) As I remember, the Sovtek tube did not have a large plastic base which made the metal tube clips useless. I had some from the mid 90's that were replacements for the Mesa tubes since the local dealer no longer had the EL34 versions available. At that point I went to full 6L6 for the Mark III and did not use the sovtek tubes until 2012 when I sold the Mark III.
I do have both EH and Mesa EL34's. They do look identical but I believe there are some differences between the two in terms of sound characteristics. I found the EH to be a bit more bold on the low end with a tad more bite in the mids. I am sure there would be differences between many sets of Mesa tubes as there would be with the EH tubes. Of course the screening process between the two is different. In addition, the Mesa version is a STR (special tube request) so there may be some internal differences. Same can be said about the Ruby 6L6GCMSTR and the Mesa 6L6GC STR440. Same tube (Chinese) but do not sound exactly the same. I prefer the Ruby in the Mark V and the Mesa STR440 in the Roadster. Now you got me in the mood to do an A/B test on the EH and Mesa EL34 again. Now that I have 3 amps to choose from, may be fun. Too bad Mesa does not offer the coke bottle 6L6GC that had the dual getter halo's near the pins, I thought those sounded the best, comparable to the SED6L6GC in some respects. Forgot what STR number was used but it does not matter anyway, they reuse STR numbers. In the early 90's or late 80's, the STR440 was an EL34/6CA7 large bottle tube from RCA.
I do have both EH and Mesa EL34's. They do look identical but I believe there are some differences between the two in terms of sound characteristics. I found the EH to be a bit more bold on the low end with a tad more bite in the mids. I am sure there would be differences between many sets of Mesa tubes as there would be with the EH tubes. Of course the screening process between the two is different. In addition, the Mesa version is a STR (special tube request) so there may be some internal differences. Same can be said about the Ruby 6L6GCMSTR and the Mesa 6L6GC STR440. Same tube (Chinese) but do not sound exactly the same. I prefer the Ruby in the Mark V and the Mesa STR440 in the Roadster. Now you got me in the mood to do an A/B test on the EH and Mesa EL34 again. Now that I have 3 amps to choose from, may be fun. Too bad Mesa does not offer the coke bottle 6L6GC that had the dual getter halo's near the pins, I thought those sounded the best, comparable to the SED6L6GC in some respects. Forgot what STR number was used but it does not matter anyway, they reuse STR numbers. In the early 90's or late 80's, the STR440 was an EL34/6CA7 large bottle tube from RCA.
