Yellow Jackets in an Express 5:50?

[badjohnny]

I have an Express 5:50. Has anyone tried Yellow Jackets w/ EL-84's in this amp? Successful, a disaster?

 

[Uncle Rocker]

I've not tried it but would also be intrested in hearing from someone who has. I wonder if you could run it with one yellow jacket and one 6L6 to get a blended tone of both tubes.

 

[THE TUBENATOR]

I'm wondering if anyone knows the overall lenght of the yellow jacket with EL84 tube? I know the 6L6GC tube is 4-1/4" long overall and the Yellow Jacket looks quite a bit longer from the photos I've seen. I have an Express 5:50 Head and there isn't much room in there for a longer tube due to a bottom brace that spans the width of the Head. I can only imagin that tube lenght is not an issue with the combos. If it does fit I might try it just for kicks.

 

[YellowJacket]

I'm wondering if anyone knows the overall lenght of the yellow jacket with EL84 tube? I know the 6L6GC tube is 4-1/4" long overall and the Yellow Jacket looks quite a bit longer from the photos I've seen. I have an Express 5:50 Head and there isn't much room in there for a longer tube due to a bottom brace that spans the width of the Head. I can only imagin that tube lenght is not an issue with the combos. If it does fit I might try it just for kicks.

Aww geez, I was just going to measure my Yellow Jackets for you but somehow my tape measure is not in my tool box =-/

They are a good bit taller than your typical 6L6. They do fit in the Dual but any less room in the Chassis and things might get cramped. http://www.thdelectronics.com/pdf/yj.pdf
I took a good look at the Yellow Jacket and it looks to be about 6 inches from the bottom of the contacts to the top of the EL-84 tube. Not sure though.

As for sonic quality, it really has an awesome warm crunch, so much so that I really preference my current setup over working with 6L6s.

 

[THE TUBENATOR]

I'm wondering if anyone knows the overall lenght of the yellow jacket with EL84 tube? I know the 6L6GC tube is 4-1/4" long overall and the Yellow Jacket looks quite a bit longer from the photos I've seen. I have an Express 5:50 Head and there isn't much room in there for a longer tube due to a bottom brace that spans the width of the Head. I can only imagin that tube lenght is not an issue with the combos. If it does fit I might try it just for kicks.

Aww geez, I was just going to measure my Yellow Jackets for you but somehow my tape measure is not in my tool box =-/

They are a good bit taller than your typical 6L6. They do fit in the Dual but any less room in the Chassis and things might get cramped. http://www.thdelectronics.com/pdf/yj.pdf
I took a good look at the Yellow Jacket and it looks to be about 6 inches from the bottom of the contacts to the top of the EL-84 tube. Not sure though.

As for sonic quality, it really has an awesome warm crunch, so much so that I really preference my current setup over working with 6L6s.

Thank you for the link. I called the THD number and was given another number to tech support. As it turns out the standard yellow jacket will not fit, it's about 5-1/2" inches long overall. There's a short version that is about 4-11/16" long overall and that might work. The tech guy said I might be able to get it in by putting the base in first and then squeeze in the tube. I have to see if I can get the angle right without bending or breaking anything. This issue seems to only affect the Mesa Express 5:50 Long Head which is what I own. I may not bother now since I was thinking of buying the YJ's only to experiment with them and having them as a tone option. I chose the 5:50 over the 5:25 because I prefer the tone of the 6L6 over the EL's of the 5:25 so the ability of having the best of both worlds by using the YJ's just does not exist for me.

 

[THE TUBENATOR]

About a month ago I was asked to post a pic of the back of a 5:50 Head with a tape measure next to the tubes to clarify the issue regarding Yellow Jackets fitting into this amp. It took me about a month but here it is......... The tape is bent behind the rear protector bar but the actual measurement is five inches. The tube base protrudes down about an 1/8 of an inch therefore the space to get a Yellow Jacket into the socket is 4-7/8" (12.4 cm).

 

[vbf]

I talked to Doug about this and he wasn't so subtle in his thoughts that yellow jackets may not be so smart for the 5:50.

 

[Anonymous]

Why exactly, vbf?

There's plenty of room in the 5:50 cab, that's for sure.

 

[vbf]

I can't honestly remember his exact words but what I took away from the conversation is that they don't do the amp justice. Sorry, I must be getting old and can't remember more. What he said made total sense....I just don't recall it well enough to pass it along. You may want to give him a call. Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I guess I'll just grab a TransAtlantic for Voxy sounds