Wing C EL34s a big deal?

cardinal

cardinal

Well-known member
I picked up an amp to use as my "daily driver" and it sounds great. I notice that it has Wing C EL34s.

I know nothing about tubes. For an amp that I just use around the house to ten minutes here, 30 minutes there to goof around with, should I pull these for something cheaper?
 
cardinal said:
I picked up an amp to use as my "daily driver" and it sounds great. I notice that it has Wing C EL34s.

I know nothing about tubes. For an amp that I just use around the house to ten minutes here, 30 minutes there to goof around with, should I pull these for something cheaper?
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No
 
Do they sound good in that amp? If so, why pull them? There pricey to obtain as NOS these days if that's what you're wondering. Special...totally subjective and amp dependent. I bought a NOS quad for a Wizard and yanked them and sold them after a week in that amp. Weren't bad by any stretch, but not worth anywhere near the cost for me. Went back to the stock JJE34L and liked those more than the =C= in that particular amp.

Edit: I am referring to the original St. Petersburg factory =C= not the new ones.
 
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Nah, I tried a quad way back around 2009 in my Marshall Superlead & the JJ 6CA7s ( I think they just came out around then) sounded MUCH better.
 
I put Siemens, vintage Mullard, Winged C 34s in my first tier preference for my vintage Marshalls. My second tier are the GT EL34LS…the original version that aren’t made anymore. After that I’d go with new production Tung Sol. This list is vintage Marshall related only.
If you don’t hear much of a tonal change using a different tube set, I’d pull them and save them as they are going up in price. Or, put them in your 800 and crank it…my bet is you’ll hear a difference for the better.
 
matttornado said:
Nah, I tried a quad way back around 2009 in my Marshall Superlead & the JJ 6CA7s ( I think they just came out around then) sounded MUCH better.
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The JJ 6ca7 is the only JJ I can stand in a vintage Marshall. But my Winged Cs SMOKED them.
Now, I should ask, are we talking about the REAL Winged Cs that aren’t made anymore?
Because the reissues are shit…to my ear anyway.
The original REAL Winged C 34s have smaller upside down ‘flying saucer’ getters on top; not the O getters of the reissues or newer Svetlana 34s. Originally these were known as Svetlana but new sensor bought the name; so they became Winged Cs.
No flying saucer getters, no real Svetlana/Winged C.
 
They're very sturdy tubes, high quality

I personally don't notice a huge difference in quality of sound compared to other NOS stuff though.

They're far better than off the shelf new stuff IMO, not quite as much "wow" factor as like a Tungsram or nos RCA 6CA7 though

If it sounds good in the amp you have now, why mess with it?


Edit: I just realized I don't know if you're talking about real =c=s or the new ones, disregard my musings
 
Thanks guys. Didn't know there were different types. I'll have to take a look. I figured if these were expensive I should put them aside and run a cheaper tube since I'm not exactly going for total tonal nirvana here.
 
I have a quad that I picked up from Laura as she was closing them out because they could no longer be obtained. Ran them in a RM100 for a little bit and then pulled them before I sold it. They are sitting in their boxes waiting for my 2203X to need a retube.
 
I've only had a couple pairs of the EL34, and one of the 6L6. All were hot on the bias right out of the gate, so had to turn the bias knob way down compared to pretty much every other power tube I've gone through over the years.

That aside, I've always liked how they've sounded in Marshall type amps, and my Peavey XXX. Noticeable amount of sizzle. Other than that, not much to write about.
 
Always thought the original mid 90’s run of Svetlana EL34s were good but never great. Somewhat overhyped. These have a softer response with tons of sizzle but relatively light on the low end, even for an EL34. They don’t have the harder, firmer punch of late production Tesla or GT-EL34LS. Svetlana 6L6s were a better 6L6 than the Svetlana EL34 was an EL34 IMO.
 
What amp are you using these Winged C’s with. In most of my tighter or more compressed high gain amps I find the Winged C’s to be my clear favorites for EL34’s, but in some of my other amps, particular my more vintage-y or NMV ones there are others I much prefer to C’s. For those my absolute favorites are usually either the Bugle Boy (very rare), Mullard or German Telefunken’s as top tier for me and 2nd tier that still has their place imo are Valvo (sort like a better sounding Siemens to me) and JAN Philips ECG 6CA7’s, 3rd Tier that can still be great I’d say the discontinued GT E34L’s, and everything I’ve tried not as good imo haha

If you’re not looking for the best tone you can get then I’d agree you may as well put some current production tubes in it and save the Winged C’s for when you wanna use them. Others can recommend much better than I can what are the best newer tubes to go with
 
thegame said:
Always thought the original mid 90’s run of Svetlana EL34s were good but never great. Somewhat overhyped. These have a softer response with tons of sizzle but relatively light on the low end, even for an EL34. They don’t have the harder, firmer punch of late production Tesla or GT-EL34LS. Svetlana 6L6s were a better 6L6 than the Svetlana EL34 was an EL34 IMO.
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Hm I’ve not tried the Svetlana pre-Winged C versions, but I don’t find my Winged C EL34’s to be like that. They do have sizzle and brightness, but imo mine are actually very firm, tight, punchy, aggressive (more than my old GT E34L’s), not soft or lacking low end to me. My complaint with my C’s is that their tone lacks complexity, warmth, detail or prettiness for lack of a better word compared to say my vintage Mullards, Siemens, Bugle Boys, Telefunken, etc, in a non-high gain context they sound kinda cold, hard and bland to me, but in a tight, compressed, modern high gain amp they still sound much better to than those other tubes despite that because of their tightness, punch and aggression that exceeds those others IME, at least in most most of my higher gain amps. YMMV

Surprisingly I fed the complete opposite about my Winged C 6L6’s. I don’t like them as much as my other go-to 6L6’s for high gain, but for sparkly cleans are my absolute favorites along with GE 5881’s and RCA Blackplates 6L6GC’s. Really great for cleans they are
 
thegame said:
Always thought the original mid 90’s run of Svetlana EL34s were good but never great. Somewhat overhyped. These have a softer response with tons of sizzle but relatively light on the low end, even for an EL34. They don’t have the harder, firmer punch of late production Tesla or GT-EL34LS. Svetlana 6L6s were a better 6L6 than the Svetlana EL34 was an EL34 IMO.
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Are these different than the late 90s/early 2000s version? I think I have a Svetlana from 95 but it doesn’t have that upside down ‘flying saucer’ getter that the later 90s/early 2K Cs have; it seems to be the common denominator for the good versions of them
 
Racerxrated said:
Are these different than the late 90s/early 2000s version? I think I have a Svetlana from 95 but it doesn’t have that upside down ‘flying saucer’ getter that the later 90s/early 2K Cs have; it seems to be the common denominator for the good versions of them
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To be fair, I’ve only tried Svetlanas from that mid 90’s period in a variety of Mesa and Wizard amps. Stopped using them well before the Svetlana name changed hands and the Winged C renaming aspect came into being. Never tried a newer Svetlana or Winged C anything. I stand by my comments as they apply to mid 90s Svetlanas only. If you noted a difference in getter construction I can’t imagine there NOT being a difference in tone as well.
 
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