Time for a Re-tube (VH4)

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Ultradeaf

Ultradeaf

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Time to replace the power tubes in my VH4. It came with the EL34BHT, which I love. But Diezel has moved away from (due to reliability and likely obsolescence/capacity concerns) them to a few other tubes over the last 14 years since I bought my amp.

What is the current EL34 tube of choice in the VH4 that sounds closest to the BHT?
 
With my last power tube change I got the TAD EL34 STR REDBASE... I love it...

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My EL34 STR Red Base arrived today and I just put them in. They sound a lot like the BHT, but I think these Red Base have less high-highs, and have a little more lows compared to the BHT. That is something dialed in/out easily. They have extremely similar tones, so I am happy.

The alternative was KT77 Gold Lions, which I may still get and try out in a few months just for fun. With all of the suplly chain nonsense, I think it's good to have some backups.

Now to leave the amp on and do my own burn-in check.
 

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Ultradeaf said:
My EL34 STR Red Base arrived today and I just put them in. They sound a lot like the BHT, but I think these Red Base have less high-highs, and have a little more lows compared to the BHT. That is something dialed in/out easily. They have extremely similar tones, so I am happy.

The alternative was KT77 Gold Lions, which I may still get and try out in a few months just for fun. With all of the suplly chain nonsense, I think it's good to have some backups.

Now to leave the amp on and do my own burn-in check.
Click to expand...
I had KT77 before, I found the EL34 more "open" for my ears.
 
After some playing around, I am finding that I prefer the sound of this old quad of JJs I have over the sound of the Redbase. The Redbase naturally run with a higher current than the JJs, whereas the JJs are pretty close to the BHTs that came stock in the amp. So maybe there is a correlation?
I had my BHTs biased at a little over 70% dissipation at first, but I cranked it down to 60% for the JJs and it sounds great. I should not that I had the Redbase and JJs at 70% initially, but I ended up liking dropping it. I use really high output pickups for rhythm work, so I don't have the gain up real high. Just feels like making the guitar do the work- and less gain on the amp- that leaves space in between the notes.There is a pick attack and midrange in the JJs that I like. Just my two cents.
 
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6l6s sound better imo in vh4 . Have you tried ?
 
I put 6L6 in immediately when I got my amp 14 years ago assuming that those slightly higher-power tubes were the ones in all of the recordings of VH4 I had heard and wanted to emulate. They were superb for cleans- a lot of low end. But I did not like how they sounded and "felt" on the high gain channels. Something about the pick attack/articulation that does not work for me.
 
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