Peavey JSX - EL34 vs. 6L6

napalmdeath

Well-known member
FINALLY got a JSX. It's an '04, in near mint condition, with original EH EL34's in it. The thing sounds DAMN good. Only reiterates why I wanted one so bad, I LOVE IT!

However, one can only wonder what a power tube upgrade would do for it. The last one I had, I went JJ EL34's in it. Can't help but wonder what 6L6's would sound like? I like the EL34 growl, for sure, but who knows? I liked the aggressive 6L6's in the 6505+, as well. But, the JSX smokes it!

Discuss....
 
i had one at one time, and went from the factory el34's to 6l6's and it totally changed the tone in my opinion .... the sound got a lot beefier, and the low end response was insane. the cleans on the amp seemed to get a bit darker than they were with the el34's but i actually found out i liked it better that way anyways .... for the cost of tubes i would try the 6l6's out ... you can always go back if you dont like em

edt:: it was a set of JJ 6l6's that were swapped in ...
 
El34 > 6L6 (in all and every amps, except SLO-100 maybe?)

but..... in da JSX, bring in the jj KT77 !! you get the mid grind from El34 and awesome, beefier low-end. and more range in the higher spectrum too.

Sometimes I miss that amp :doh: The lead tone on the ultra channel was SICK :rock:
 
stefvorcide":1tfpo93k said:
in da JSX, bring in the jj KT77 !! you get the mid grind from El34 and awesome, beefier low-end. and more range in the higher spectrum too.

Yeah, been pondering that..Do they run in EL34, or 6L6 mode?
 
I played hard rock...I liked the 6L6's better. I just added more mids to help compensate with what I lost in the change...
 
napalmdeath":1cr9ktzr said:
stefvorcide":1cr9ktzr said:
in da JSX, bring in the jj KT77 !! you get the mid grind from El34 and awesome, beefier low-end. and more range in the higher spectrum too.

Yeah, been pondering that..Do they run in EL34, or 6L6 mode?

if I remember correctly, EL34 switch. Btw the bias reading in the back are supposed to be wrong, you have to go inside. I never did that myself, I trusted my ear and the multimeter reading with the pins.
 
stefvorcide":2woa5rp7 said:
if I remember correctly, EL34 switch. Btw the bias reading in the back are supposed to be wrong, you have to go inside. I never did that myself, I trusted my ear and the multimeter reading with the pins.

I'll use a bias probe.
 
The_Kid":20s5l8ba said:
I played hard rock...I liked the 6L6's better. I just added more mids to help compensate with what I lost in the change...

Was it overall warmer, more bass? - I assume so.. I don't want to get into "modern" territory. I may just stick to EL34's, and get some better than the stock EH's..
 
to me it was easier to dial out the extra bass with the 6L6's rather than add it with the 34s
 
From my experience, I used to swap back and forth between 6L6/5881's & El34's with the same 2 heads all of the time...

The El34's had a smoother dist and less bottom end..
The 6l6/5881's were not as smooth, a little bit grittier and had more bottom end...


If you are searching for a sound anything like Overkill they used solid state Carvin power amps live and in the studio.. :thumbsup:
 
OldSkoolNJ":1bqxd7bx said:
If you are searching for a sound anything like Overkill they used solid state Carvin power amps live and in the studio.. :thumbsup:

Yeah, depending on what era. I believe the 2 guitar players they had from Horrorscope to WFO (Gant/Cannavino), used Carvin Power amps, and ADA MP-1's...I think, even Linsk used the ADA's at one time, as well as Marshalls. I'm pretty sure he went to 5150/6505's..

I've got their tone, and then some on the JSX's crunch channel. I'm really after *my* tone, not anyone else's...Well, I'd settle for J. Schaffer's tone, on "Something Wicked"... :rock:
 
I have tried just about everything in mine includings kt77's and to me the SED 6l6gc's (winged C's) are by far the best. Much fuller and warmer on the clean channel, smoother and chunkier on the two lead channels. My favorite sound is a tube screamer boosting the crunch channel on this amp. My only thing I would say though is the Gflex cab is the only one I really love this head with (thankfully that is what I have) I think with V30's it makes it way too honky in the midrange and kind of harsh. Good luck I still really dig mine after a few years of use and it's never failed me.
 
bigangryguitar":28zdk6p3 said:
I have tried just about everything in mine includings kt77's and to me the SED 6l6gc's (winged C's) are by far the best. Much fuller and warmer on the clean channel, smoother and chunkier on the two lead channels. My favorite sound is a tube screamer boosting the crunch channel on this amp. My only thing I would say though is the Gflex cab is the only one I really love this head with (thankfully that is what I have) I think with V30's it makes it way too honky in the midrange and kind of harsh. Good luck I still really dig mine after a few years of use and it's never failed me.
I have a G-Flex 2x12 myself. I know SED's are top notch, I'm trying not to spend that kind of money..They're nearly $120 a quad.. :confused:
 
I ran mine, 6l6'S mind you, through a avatar 2x12, geared towards mids, and a genz benz gflex as well. stacked usually...

I also ran my 'bias knob' 3/4 towards the hotter side...I liked having the hotter power section even though, peavey's tend to stay pretty clean anyway...it just made the amp a little more forgiving. I tried putting the el34's back in at some point...and returning the bias knob...and didnt care for it.
 
napalmdeath":21sim33e said:
bigangryguitar":21sim33e said:
I have tried just about everything in mine includings kt77's and to me the SED 6l6gc's (winged C's) are by far the best. Much fuller and warmer on the clean channel, smoother and chunkier on the two lead channels. My favorite sound is a tube screamer boosting the crunch channel on this amp. My only thing I would say though is the Gflex cab is the only one I really love this head with (thankfully that is what I have) I think with V30's it makes it way too honky in the midrange and kind of harsh. Good luck I still really dig mine after a few years of use and it's never failed me.
I have a G-Flex 2x12 myself. I know SED's are top notch, I'm trying not to spend that kind of money..They're nearly $120 a quad.. :confused:

i really liked the ruby 6l6gcmstr's in it as well and they are half the price of the SED's. Really only about a 5% difference in the two.
 
Ive tried a shit ton of 6L6's and a few EL34's but the JJ KT77's blew them all out of the water by FAR but then Im playing through a XXX, but from what I understand they arent worlds apart.
 
deadweight":353m3ysp said:
Ive tried a shit ton of 6L6's and a few EL34's but the JJ KT77's blew them all out of the water by FAR but then Im playing through a XXX, but from what I understand they arent worlds apart.

That's a true story in the XXX, I much preferred any el34 variant in that amp including the kt77's. The JSX for whatever reason is a 6l6gc amp to my ears.
 
I prefer the grind and punch of EL34's in my JSX.
Another thing I like is put a tame sounding 12AX7 in the V3 spot which is for the acive eq. It helps smooth the eq out a bit and makes the mids and highs more pleasant.
 
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