Toobs

[machina]

Hey guys,

After going through a phase of using rack gear and using my JCM800 (2203) as a power amp only, I'm wanting to simplify things by ditching the rack gear (ADA MP-1 and Alesis Quadraverb - up for sale soon. Watch this space) and go back to having a 'proper' JCM800 with only a couple of pedals in front. The 800 currently has 6L6's in it and I'm pretty sure I want to go back to EL34's. Before I commit to a purchase though I'm wanting to whack the old EL34's that were in there previously back in just to make sure that it is the sound I'm wanting. My question is, am I able to simply swap the tubes over for a quick test without having to worry about biasing and all that?

[zdali]

Short answer, no.

Long answer, talk to Clarry

6L6 and EL34s are very different beasts (different pinout for a start). You could also try KT77 which is a drop in replacement for EL34 (not that that helps you ATM)

[Bg]

borrow one of the Falcon's, he has plenty

[machina]

dali, cheers for that. Was probably going to take it to Clarry anyway since he did the original work on it with the preamp bypass I got going on.

[The Scarecrow]

Hey guys,

After going through a phase of using rack gear and using my JCM800 (2203) as a power amp only, I'm wanting to simplify things by ditching the rack gear (ADA MP-1 and Alesis Quadraverb - up for sale soon. Watch this space) and go back to having a 'proper' JCM800 with only a couple of pedals in front. The 800 currently has 6L6's in it and I'm pretty sure I want to go back to EL34's. Before I commit to a purchase though I'm wanting to whack the old EL34's that were in there previously back in just to make sure that it is the sound I'm wanting. My question is, am I able to simply swap the tubes over for a quick test without having to worry about biasing and all that?

Nah man, you'll need to rebias. You should look at at KT77's if you want a bit more of a punchy EL34 sound, as Zdali said, they're practically drop-in replacements.

Ryan / CAB should be able to sort it for you pretty easy. He put a combo of 2x EL34's and 2 x KT77's in my DSL 100 and it's never sounded better.

[the_haunted]

Yeah, you want to rebias. You might need to change the Bias splitter, and screen resistors too.

[machina]

Nah man, you'll need to rebias. You should look at at KT77's if you want a bit more of a punchy EL34 sound, as Zdali said, they're practically drop-in replacements.

Ryan / CAB should be able to sort it for you pretty easy. He put a combo of 2x EL34's and 2 x KT77's in my DSL 100 and it's never sounded better.

Cheers dude, I'll look into that. A punchier take on the more organic EL34 tone sounds like what I'm after.

[ant]

Despite what the other guys say..

Im assuming you have ran el34's in the past in this amp?

Then, Yes you can put el34's in place of the 6l6's, but they will only be operating at low power.. (although you couldnt go from el34's -> 6l6's without a rebias)

So to get them up to full power(and probably sounding good) as stated you will need to get them biased.

But for a quick trial sure it will work, but wont sound optimal, but it definately won't do any damage.

You dont need to swap screen resistors,
So go for it

[The Scarecrow]

Nah man, you'll need to rebias. You should look at at KT77's if you want a bit more of a punchy EL34 sound, as Zdali said, they're practically drop-in replacements.

Ryan / CAB should be able to sort it for you pretty easy. He put a combo of 2x EL34's and 2 x KT77's in my DSL 100 and it's never sounded better.

Cheers dude, I'll look into that. A punchier take on the more organic EL34 tone sounds like what I'm after.

Hey, if you want to and have an afternoon free sometime, I can bring the DSL into the Manor for you to have a blast. It's got a good JCM800 sound on the clean channel with 'crunch' engaged and the gain at about halfway. Might give you a better idea of the tone.

[machina]

Hey, if you want to and have an afternoon free sometime, I can bring the DSL into the Manor for you to have a blast. It's got a good JCM800 sound on the clean channel with 'crunch' engaged and the gain at about halfway. Might give you a better idea of the tone.

That'd be sweet man, cheers for that. When are you usually free?

[The Scarecrow]

Hey, if you want to and have an afternoon free sometime, I can bring the DSL into the Manor for you to have a blast. It's got a good JCM800 sound on the clean channel with 'crunch' engaged and the gain at about halfway. Might give you a better idea of the tone.

That'd be sweet man, cheers for that. When are you usually free?

Bit up and down at the momento, but will be there Sunday arvo from about 3.

[machina]

Sweet, I'll be there then. We'll have a chat.

[Basket Case]

6l6s in a JCM800 just seems wrong.

I will be keen on the ADA if the price is right. Any mods been done on it?

[machina]

6l6s in a JCM800 just seems wrong.

I will be keen on the ADA if the price is right. Any mods been done on it?

Sorry dude just saw your post. No mods have been done to the ADA however it has been converted to NZ power. This was done by Clarry about 2 years ago, along with the tubes being replaced with 12AX7's (I think, I'd need to double check). If you're still keen then flick me a PM and we'll go from there.

Had the 6L6's replaced with KT77's (and biased!) today and gave the beast a blast - sounds awesome. Gives a nice full organic tone. I'm very happy with it, it's nice to have it working more like a proper 800 again.