JJ 6L6?

  • Thread starter Thread starter saxxamafone
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saxxamafone

saxxamafone

Well-known member
How are these tubes these days?
i haven't retubed in 2+ yrs
Last i heard they were making different tubes with a different pin size?

If not JJs, can you recommend a 6L6 that would suit a bright amp...

(engl blackmore)

I play rock/metal


Cheers!
 
I haven't bought any in a few years but if they are still the same I would say that they suit a brighter amp pretty well. Any tube dealer that knows his stuff should be able to tell you if they have the slimmer pins or not, if they can't I would suggest shopping elsewhere. Mine sound much better biased on the hot side. I really like kt66's in a brighter amp because they have a broader and fuller sound, they're a little softer but I would think that your Engl could keep things tight enough. The shuguang manufactured chinese kt66 are a good choice, they're sold under several brands such as valve art, penta labs, and others. If you want to try them I would suggest getting some from Lord Valve, he screens his tubes thoroughly, I get mine from him and I've never had a hiccup. Doug's tube's sells them under a couple of brands too, both of them are good guys and they would be a good source for JJ's too. KT66 tubes do draw a bit more heater current though so if you want to try them in a 6l6 amp make sure that the power transformer can handle it, I'm sure a quick email to engl could clarify it for you.
 
A buddy of mine just bought some for his 5150II. The pins were OK on those particular tubes he picked up. They were fairly decent sounding in his amp once I adjusted the bias, which is still too low in that amp. I haven't heard much buzz about this tube here of late. I know people weren't happy with the pins in the KT77's there for a little while, but I haven't seen anyone speaking about that here lately either.

If you happen to go with KT66's, make sure you have enough space between your tube sockets, as they are housed in much larger bottles.

Good Luck!
 
thanks for the feedback guys... i haven't read much about KT66's
i'll do some research :D
 
I like the JJ 6l6s....Not a big fan of their EL34 types though. Their 6L6s sound deep compared to Rubys or Svets.
 
Dale B":1pslqwnw said:
A buddy of mine just bought some for his 5150II. The pins were OK on those particular tubes he picked up. They were fairly decent sounding in his amp once I adjusted the bias, which is still too low in that amp. I haven't heard much buzz about this tube here of late. I know people weren't happy with the pins in the KT77's there for a little while, but I haven't seen anyone speaking about that here lately either.

If you happen to go with KT66's, make sure you have enough space between your tube sockets, as they are housed in much larger bottles.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Good call on the size man, I forgot to mention that. They are pretty damned huge and it would be well advised to measure both width and height before ordering.
 
JJ is a good solid 6l6gc. Personally I like the SED's the best in my JSX and the JJ's sounded good. The JJ's were fairly dark and aggressive but not as sweet or complex sounding. I haven't tried the JJ's in my fireball yet but might one of these days soon. I tried some Ruby 6l6gcmstr's in there (supposedly the same tube as the tad's) and it gave it more low end but I lost the clarity the Engl tubes had. So after all of that the JJ's are a good solid tube and especially if you are doing metal stuff you should be happy with them.
 
I really like JJ 6l6's. Had em in my Soldano which opened the sound right up and made it a bit more sparkly. Went with JJ KT88's in my VHT and they did the same thing, made the amp sound more 3D and shimmery.
 
Got em in my DC-5 and they sound great. I do want to try out the TAD 6L6's though.
 
While I generally prefer SED =C= 6L6GC's, I do like the JJ 6L6GC's. They are very rich and deep sounding and I think would work well in a bright amp. I had a set in my mesa Mark IV and liked them. Two have died, but the other 2 are still going strong, they are pretty old so I think they were before the pin size change.

I do have some TAD 6L6's (both types) but I have not tried them yet.
 
I've tried them and I reckon they sound really good- nice and dark.

I use one of them with a Mesa/Boogie STR 440 (re-branded Ruby 6L6), and two Svetlana E.D. EL34 valves, in my MarkIV running Simul-Class. I really like the combination.
 
JJ tubes are known for being darker, so a good match for bright amps like my 5150 II. :cheers2:
 
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