mesa mark iv- 6l6's or el34's??

[dwsabianguy]

I had a pair of Winged C EL34s in my Mark IV for a while, and though they sounded great, I gravitate toward the sound of 6L6s. They're a bit punchier than EL34s, and help to tame the wild midrange inherent of the Mark IV.

 

[cliffdove]

Are Ruby EL34's the same as Sed Winged C's EL34's?

 

[deftone82]

Thankx for the info...

But what about an other speaker? Or will two changes make a to big of a difference...
and can I put a speaker in myself...or do I let pro's handle this?

Next to that, which is a good cab to hook up the Mesa (by the way, do I need a cab for Home practising or will it just sound louder?)

ps: have you got a bigger picture of those settings? I can hardly tell from here...If you have got any other nice tone settings, please let me know! I'm still figeting alot with the pots at the moment...

thanks alot!

 

[petejt]

could someone give me an example (song or artist)of a el34 type of tone.when you hear it,you think el34.

Anything AC/DC.

Anything Scorpions.

Anything old Mercyful Fate.

 

[Scrapinger]

Currently I have the 34/6L6 combo of Tung Sol tubes and I really like the tone. I have tried 4 6L6's, but they were the Mesa labeled chinese junk and it sounded horrible. I would like to try all 6L6's of the nice Russian tubes. Maybe when I ship my Mark IIb back to Boogie for some TLC, I'll keep my Rusky tubes from it and pop 'em in there and see what it'll do. They are labeled 5881, but the guy at the Tube Store says and I quote:

"The other Russian 5881's you have are not *real* 5881 tubes but some crazy cold-war beast the Russians made. It's tough as nails and much more like a 6L6GC in that regard."

So who knows. It's all taste, what guitar you have and how you play too.

 

[fretout]

I prefer to run all 6L6GCs in my Mark IV. For some reason, the EL34s just sounded to harsh for my liking. I also found that the Mark IV seems to be easier to dial in when using 6L6GCs.

 

[fretout]

Thankx for the info...

But what about an other speaker? Or will two changes make a to big of a difference...
and can I put a speaker in myself...or do I let pro's handle this?

Next to that, which is a good cab to hook up the Mesa (by the way, do I need a cab for Home practising or will it just sound louder?)

ps: have you got a bigger picture of those settings? I can hardly tell from here...If you have got any other nice tone settings, please let me know! I'm still figeting alot with the pots at the moment...

thanks alot!

I like the way my Mark IV sounds through my Recto Standard 4 X 12 Cab loaded with V30s compared to the C90s.

 

[fretout]

could someone give me an example (song or artist)of a el34 type of tone.when you hear it,you think el34.

Any of the leads from Angus Young (AC/DC) or Ozzy (Zakk Wylde and Randy Rhodes).

 

[Scrapinger]

I run the EL34/6L6 option and always have. I did try all 6L6's, but went back. The difference to me was subtle, but I truly like playing Class A with the EL34's. I can get Marshall type sounds and the gain is very nice. Using the Pull shift in R2 really brightens up the normally darkness inherent to that channel.

 

[miqueas92]

i have tried the 34's twice in my MKIV and just didn't do anything for me, so, only 6L6's from here on.
By tweaking all the there is to tweak on a MKIV, I think most any tone is there.

Mick

 

[kmanick]

I ran my Mark III like this and loved it.
I don't have any KT-77's on hand right now, but I did try some El34's in my mark IV and did not like it at all.
It added a "boxy" sound to the tone, so I switched back to all 6L6's.
I need to get a pair of Kt-77's and give them a try, I really liked them in my Mark III and in my Rectoverb.

Another good combination to try is the 6L6 in the inners and KT77 in the outers. I use JJ tubes that I get from Bob at Eurotubes and have always been very happy with them. The JJ KT77 is a little tighter than an EL34. The 77's have even a bit more low end extension and they have a nice sizzle in the top end that is not brittle. The clean tone is very fat and full and the crunch has more of a chunk to it. A great tube for rhythm and solo work.