Using 6L6 and EL34 in a Dual

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chevy2169

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Has anyone on here ever thought of or been able to mix tubes in their dual rectifier? I know you can in the road king, I'm just wondering what rewiring I would have to perform if any to run two 6L6 tubes along with 2 EL34 tubes in my recto.
 
It is fairly safe to run 6L6s in the EL34 bias switch position in the Spongy modes, especially Spongy/Tube which is much too cold normally. The problem is that the 6L6s will then run hot and the EL34s will run cold, which is the wrong way round for what the conventional thinking is, for getting the best from each.

It would be difficult to find two pairs of both 6L6s and EL34s that bias correctly at the same bias voltage, for all the plate voltages that the Dual Rectifier can have - which are different for the Bold, Spongy, Tube and Diode modes. 6L6s need about 10V more bias voltage than EL34s, but it changes with the plate voltage.

To modify the amp so it would work well, you would need to separate the final bias supplies and add another pair of phase inverter coupling caps so the two pairs were running independently - not that difficult, but you'll need to add a piece of tag strip or similar, as the existing board layout won't support it. The Road King must have this extra circuitry on the board as stock.
 
Triple Cheeseburger said:
i think eurotubes (could be wrong) actually sell a mixed set like that, so you dont have to mod anything.

I couldn't find them on their website. I may give em a call and see what they say.
 
Whats the difference between the two tubes? If you're going for an Adam Jones "tool" sound which would you recommend?
 
6L6s have more emphasis on the lows and lower mid range, and EL34s have less lows and more on the higher midrange. They also have more bite and a more aggressive high end. I've found that JJ E34Ls retain the low end like 6L6s, but have that snarling top end like regular EL34s.

I prefer the sound of EL34s in a Recto. I switched to KT77s a while back, and I'm probably going to go back to EL34s when it's time to retube.

If you're going to an AJ type tone, I'd recommend EL34s. His tone is more upper midrange.
 

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