Hairy Brown eye or Cali

[Gainfreak]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks

To my ears they don't. Im not a big fan of 6550's but I have heard amps that sounded good using them but the whole preamp section was revamped. The 6550's have a different midrange then the 6l6's
With that said, can you put 6l6's in your Marsha or would they be going into a different amp? I didn't think you could ?

 

[tonmazz]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks

To my ears they don't. Im not a big fan of 6550's but I have heard amps that sounded good using them but the whole preamp section was revamped. The 6550's have a different midrange then the 6l6's
With that said, can you put 6l6's in your Marsha or would they be going into a different amp? I didn't think you could ?

Mine is the KS modded Marshall so anything is possible! I wish it was a Marsha, heck I'd even settle for a Jan or Cindy!

 

[Gainfreak]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks

To my ears they don't. Im not a big fan of 6550's but I have heard amps that sounded good using them but the whole preamp section was revamped. The 6550's have a different midrange then the 6l6's
With that said, can you put 6l6's in your Marsha or would they be going into a different amp? I didn't think you could ?

Mine is the KS modded Marshall so anything is possible! I wish it was a Marsha, heck I'd even settle for a Jan or Cindy!

Marsha Marsha Marsha

 

[Gainfreak]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks

To my ears they don't. Im not a big fan of 6550's but I have heard amps that sounded good using them but the whole preamp section was revamped. The 6550's have a different midrange then the 6l6's
With that said, can you put 6l6's in your Marsha or would they be going into a different amp? I didn't think you could ?

Mine is the KS modded Marshall so anything is possible! I wish it was a Marsha, heck I'd even settle for a Jan or Cindy!

Marsha Marsha Marsha

Mike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, Sam the Butcher or Mr. Phillips's hairy brown eye

 

[tonmazz]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks

To my ears they don't. Im not a big fan of 6550's but I have heard amps that sounded good using them but the whole preamp section was revamped. The 6550's have a different midrange then the 6l6's
With that said, can you put 6l6's in your Marsha or would they be going into a different amp? I didn't think you could ?

Mine is the KS modded Marshall so anything is possible! I wish it was a Marsha, heck I'd even settle for a Jan or Cindy!

Marsha Marsha Marsha

Mike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, Sam the Butcher or Mr. Phillips's hairy brown eye

I knew when I said it how it would end...but Mr. Phillips's hairy brown eye is just not right even for you donbarzini! At least you didn't disparrage cousin Oliver...nice to know there are some limits.

 

[glassjaw7]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

 

[tonmazz]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

Nothing tame about HBE mode. Have Sat and HBE on mine, both are great and more than enough gain for anything. I agree, clip wise the Fortin to me always sounds a tad bit more modern and aggresive in the voicing. I do also agree that the Friedman is definately classic Marshall in its voicing.

 

[Gainfreak]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

I'll speak for the Fortin's since I haven't had the pleasure of trying the HBE yet!

The Fortin Cali is what you make of it. In other words if you want the 80's vibe, you got it in spades if you pipe it through a greenback or h30 cab and you play 80's licks lol. If you want it to be more modern, pump up the resonance on the back , use the highest gain setting and use a v30 loaded cab.

No matter what, it still has that Marshall vibe IMHO.

I was able to get VH type tones, Modern tones and even vintage type tones using it. It's pretty versatile.

 

[tonmazz]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

I'll speak for the Fortin's since I haven't had the pleasure of trying the HBE yet!

The Fortin Cali is what you make of it. In other words if you want the 80's vibe, you got it in spades if you pipe it through a greenback or h30 cab and you play 80's licks lol. If you want it to be more modern, pump up the resonance on the back , use the highest gain setting and use a v30 loaded cab.

No matter what, it still has that Marshall vibe IMHO.

I was able to get VH type tones, Modern tones and even vintage type tones using it. It's pretty versatile.

That avatar is priceless!

 

[Gainfreak]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

I'll speak for the Fortin's since I haven't had the pleasure of trying the HBE yet!

The Fortin Cali is what you make of it. In other words if you want the 80's vibe, you got it in spades if you pipe it through a greenback or h30 cab and you play 80's licks lol. If you want it to be more modern, pump up the resonance on the back , use the highest gain setting and use a v30 loaded cab.

No matter what, it still has that Marshall vibe IMHO.

I was able to get VH type tones, Modern tones and even vintage type tones using it. It's pretty versatile.

That avatar is priceless!

It's so close to that the hear no evil,speak no evil, see no evil picture

 

[tonmazz]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

I'll speak for the Fortin's since I haven't had the pleasure of trying the HBE yet!

The Fortin Cali is what you make of it. In other words if you want the 80's vibe, you got it in spades if you pipe it through a greenback or h30 cab and you play 80's licks lol. If you want it to be more modern, pump up the resonance on the back , use the highest gain setting and use a v30 loaded cab.

No matter what, it still has that Marshall vibe IMHO.

I was able to get VH type tones, Modern tones and even vintage type tones using it. It's pretty versatile.

That avatar is priceless!

It's so close to that the hear no evil,speak no evil, see no evil picture

It is! See what happens when you let NATAS into your life!

 

[gibson5413]

I will work on a more rock oriented tone clip this week. I'll try and show its versatility for you guys without the over the top gain. I just happen to like the aggressive gain tones so that's how I play it. Here is a cleaner, more traditional tone: http://www.netmusicians.org/files/53-Te ... ali%29.mp3

 

[War Admiral]

So general consensus is that Friedman's mods retain the Marshall character a bit more and are more tame in the gain department,(although noone has posted or seems to have heard a played one with HBE and saturation or modern switch engaged ) while Fortin's are more saturated and aggressively voiced? Aside from a couple clean clips and some Bones clips in Plexi mode, every time I hear a Fortin it has "that" sound. Know what I mean? It's a great sound, but it always seems so aggressive and "80's metal-ish".
The Friedman seems like it would fit sonically into more styles of playing. Am I way off here? I haven't played either and am just going off of clips and videos I've seen/heard. I really want to try both.

I'll speak for the Fortin's since I haven't had the pleasure of trying the HBE yet!

The Fortin Cali is what you make of it. In other words if you want the 80's vibe, you got it in spades if you pipe it through a greenback or h30 cab and you play 80's licks lol. If you want it to be more modern, pump up the resonance on the back , use the highest gain setting and use a v30 loaded cab.

No matter what, it still has that Marshall vibe IMHO.

I was able to get VH type tones, Modern tones and even vintage type tones using it. It's pretty versatile.

This is what I'm talking about... its what I was looking for in my original post. If this amp can do this I will be happier than a pig in shit!
I heard that the Friedman mod can be overly noisy...any truth to this I can not confirm since I never played one so...

 

[MrDan666]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

I don't think it has too much bass, but definitely more of a darker sound compared to the JJ and SED for sure. I hear more low mids in the Ruby EL34B-STR compared to the other two i mentioned, so i could see how some would prefer the JJ and SED if you want more bite and upper mid

In my amps, I still like the SED's the most out of those 3 different tube brands but i don't think any of the 3 sound bad!

 

[MrDan666]

Dan, I'm with you. I just found it gave the amp some more girth and less sizzle in the mids than the winged Cs. Didn't darken it up. By the way your Super Cali looks awesome! Might have to discuss shipping across the pond.

Yeah the JJ's do sound great, i noticed they didn't seem to have as much mids as the SED's, so that could help if the amp already has lots of mids. Thanks for the kind words on the Super Cali If you need any info, shoot me a PM!

 

[tonmazz]

I knew when I said it how it would end...but Mr. Phillips's hairy brown eye is just not right even for you donbarzini! At least you didn't disparrage cousin Oliver...nice to know there are some limits.

cousin Oliver's wouldn't be that bad now

Another pic from the barzini archive! I think you have him in a well in your basement.