EL34 vs KT88-Z Tubes !

[@timp.9582]

Boy, I’m sure glad I watched this video. Was searching on el34vs6AC7 tube comparisons. Your playing and tone are marvelous

[@Anandmahangoe]

Hey Tim ! Thanks a lounger your kind comments and glad you liked it !! Appreciated !

[@artysanmobile]

EL34 IS 6CA7. Don’t expect to hear a thing.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thanks for watching and please feel free to SUBSCRIBE & help me get those 1000 subscribers :) APPRECIATED !

[@БояровАндрей]

EL34 больше для красивых и весёлых жанров, а KT88 для грустных печальных , для рока в общем

[@Anandmahangoe]

Nice words man !! Thanks 🤟🏻

[@Robylazarus]

Class playing !!!!!

[@Anandmahangoe]

Oh that is so kind of you my friend !! Thanks a lot !!

[@Robylazarus]

@@Anandmahangoe , Better still if you could describe your gear in detail, since this is a Guitar channel, I am sure you would get a lot more views. My 2 pence please.

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@Robylazarus thanks for your advice and actually I have linked all my gear details and setup within the video to save time and talking for people who don’t like to hear too much talking and I have quite often described my gear setup in previous videos….. All are the same….. but I will try to remember doing this every video in short ! Thanks man, appreciated !

[@ChristopherFreedom]

Damn I am so glad I stumbled across your channel Anand. Excellent comparison, fantastic playing and your video composition is pro! I have a ton of questions for you... what kind of pickups are you using? and what is your signal chain? Mics you used to record..? speakers in your cab? and your Daw? also is that a vintage Strat? reissue? Custom build? and last but not least what kind of strings and gauge are you using? Oh and what kind of camera and lens are you using. Your presentation is so great that you might consider listing all of your gear you used in your creation..and take the necessary steps to become an amazon affiliate marketer and make a profit off of everything that people buy thru your links. Thanks for such a great post. Subscribed!!!

[@Anandmahangoe]

Hey Christopher ! Thank you soooo much for your very kind words man, really appreciated a lots ! My Strat is a vintage 1965 with original pickups. My LP has Antiquities in it. Guitar goes through my Peterson Tuner - Kool Amp - Suhr Load Box- Fractal Audio FM3 for the Ownhammer Speaker Impulse Greenbacks and then to my RME fireface 800 - Logic X. No real cabs ;) I am using on all my guitars Elixir 0.11-0.49 ! Just love them no matter what famous KZbinrs say about using thinner strings :) My camera is a Canon M50 with Sigma 32mm lens…..awesome quality for little money. If I had more viewers , subscribers , perhaps I might consider that Amazon thing but for now I just enjoy making videos to help out others….thanks again mate, really appreciated your kind words and input !!

[@artysanmobile]

Thank you for this. There’s some surgery in the near future for my 45 year old 50W plexi.

[@Anandmahangoe]

AWESOME , enjoy it mate !!

[@jeffreymorreale7223]

I'm a little surprised by the fact that i liked the EL34 better for your playing.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much mate ! I totally understand what you mean and my new ‘68 Marshall Plexiglass clone was back on EL34 tubes and just yesterday replaced by KT77……only because this new EL34 distributor were not stable…..and the amp builder only had a set of KT77 laying around….they all are fine ;)

[@jeffreymorreale7223]

@@Anandmahangoe great to hear. I'm glad mine wasn't too unpopular of an opinion. I put KT77s in a JCM 2000 i used to own. Worlds better to my ears. Thanks for the content. I'll look for more in the future.

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@jeffreymorreale7223 thanks for the heads up on the KT77 Jeffrey ! Looking forward firing up the amp tomorrow :)

[@phantasmagora6542]

Nice tone and playing! EL34s seem to be a little raunchier/mid-forward - that classic Marshall sound. I actually thought the KT88s sounded a bit more reserved with tamer highs and perhaps a little more flubbiness on the low notes. A really good example of KT88s (which is why I'm here, haha) is Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins - the main amp used on that record was a KT88-loaded JCM800 2203 that had more clean headroom than your standard Marshall, which was great as the band was running insane amounts of Big Muff distortion for their tones.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much for your kind comment and experience my friend ! And yes, I agree with you how you described the tone characters between these 2 tubes. I went back to EL34 in my ‘68 Plexi clone. The KT88 gave it a warmer, less agressive tone and a Marshall needs them aggressive mids :)

[@adamwatson6916]

Jimmy Page used KT88s in his Marshall superleads from 1973 to 1980 for live work .. Basically everything on Disk 2 from the Led Zep DVD is KT88s

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@adamwatson6916nice info my friend and I really can’t decide which one is ‘better’…..does not matter of course, as long as we are happy with our great amps / tools !

[@mandyoberle]

very nice playing Anand ! Great Video ! Thx a lot ! very helpful ... Greetings from Austria ! Mandy 😎👌👌

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much Mandy, glad to hear you liked it and helpful ! Enjoy 💫

[@Georgechristan]

Mooie video! Die Kt88 buizen klinken erg mooi! Iets meer jtm sound qua gruizigheid misschien, maar mooi vol van sound! Het is lastig te zien in de video, maar die handwired amp die je af en toe langs ziet komen met die rode turredboard constructie, dat is niet deze Kool Marvell lijkt het, wat voor amp is dat? De Marvell heeft de groene pcb constructie lijkt het? Groet, George

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thanks George !! Ja de KT88 zijn echt super en dynamisch ! Er komt 1x een oude marshall amp langs die Aryan aan het reviseren in rond 3:42.....alle andere keren is het mijn Marvell met de witte Tolex.

[@jaybaumler6348]

Interesting the different opinions here. After a number of back and forths, I believe the EL34s have a cleaner and truer tone. The KT88s seem a bit muddled maybe a bit better bass but my preference is the EL34.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much my friend ! I agree fully with you and your preferred choice ! I too went back to EL34’s……appreciated your time to comment !

[@tinkercitymusic]

Nice comparison. You can actually hear what's happening between the two tube sets. I greatly prefer the KT88's. Still very British but more open and less compression in the middle. I feel the same way about 6550's vs El34's in my Marshall 50w JMP. More air, less squelch.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thanks a lot man for your comments ! Fully agree with you....I will also have a Marshall '68 50w cloned by Kool Amps...we will start with EL34 tubes and see where we end ;)

[@rexmap]

Nice video, it helps a lot, thank you

[@Anandmahangoe]

Good to hear it helped my friend !! Thank you too for your kind comment !

[@artysanmobile]

I find no problem listening through the identical delay and verb, which are very natural sounds.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much man, really appreciated .....Glad you can hear it with the FX and to me they also sound very natural and very happy to use them....But I do understand the other side too...they want to hear the dry sounds to compare while I like to compare even with the FX as I did enough dry comparison before I recorded this video :)

[@SuperSkoundrel]

Hey Anand, Great video and great playing!!! I've been all over KZbin in the last couple of days looking for a comparison in 6L6's, EL34's and KT88's. Your video was exactly what I was looking for so thank you! I have 6L6's in an Engl Ritchie Blackmore signature head which I find a bit too harsh. I was on the fence with either the EL34's or the KT88's and thanks to you it's the KT88's! So it looks like I'll need some mods done before installing them....correct??

[@Anandmahangoe]

Hey David !! Thanks a lot man for your very kind words and very glad it helps you out !! Yes, KT88 sound great and has more headroom, low end and stuff than your tubes…. Mods you will have to make and bias it of course too….:) good luck and let me know the results ! Thanks , appreciated !!

[@playonkorg]

In the mix, the 88's are finer. The 34's has more lower end (100/80hz),beautifull, but it disturb the frequence of the essential basedrum and bas and that mixes the sounbalance restless and muddy.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much man for your detailed comment and yes, I also prefer the EL34 now in my new amp and in the mix I should have perhaps made more place for the bass drum/ bass guitar…. I have always a lowcut on my guitars of 100hz to avoid these kind of things…. , thanks again appreciated !!

[@playonkorg]

@@Anandmahangoe welcome, that low-cut button is very essential then, it gives you more energy in the mid-range, that energy that you put in the busy lows without button.

[@infinity-1834]

Great playing!

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you very much for listening and commenting ! Appreciated !

[@MojoMedicineMan]

What brand, etc? I must have missed it..

[@Anandmahangoe]

No problem mate. Tung Sol EL34 vs Shuguang KT88

[@MojoMedicineMan]

@@Anandmahangoe Thanks Aren't those Chinese tubes supposed to be difficult to get right now? Can you recommend a distributor?

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@MojoMedicineMan check out Tube Amp Doctor , they have them all and other great tubes :)

[@MojoMedicineMan]

@@Anandmahangoe Thanks!

[@davidnguyen5028]

Would have been nice if you had slow down the part when the tech was working on the amp and explain.

[@Anandmahangoe]

I would have loved to do that but there are ‘secrets’ which he did not want to reveal. Actually he just swapped the tubes and biased them :)

[@jonathanray4598]

KT 88 is the clear winner!!

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thank you man and glad you can hear the differences even with all the FX :)

[@artysanmobile]

Pun intended?

[@artysanmobile]

The way high and low frequencies obey their own rules rather than mess with each other is very attractive to me. The EL34 sound is, by comparison, one dimensional, take it or leave it. The KTs would suit my playing, giving much more touch control and a better chording experience, particularly with complex harmonies.

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@artysanmobile it is all good my friend , in the right hands they all sound amazing. The KTs do have the more dimensional thing for sure, no argument about that ;)

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@artysanmobile I am sorry my friend but don't understand where to put your comment in the video...English is not my native tongue...if I wrote that ok...;)

[@pietrochianese9308]

El 34❤

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thanks my friend ! Enjoy !

[@mattmcdevitt3758]

For bass guitar EL 34

[@Anandmahangoe]

Awesome when a bassplayer uses tubes !! Enjoy man 💪🏼

[@mattmcdevitt3758]

@@Anandmahangoe thanks I use a 2000 S Sunn Amp

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@mattmcdevitt3758killer amp man, looked it up, really nice !

[@Bognerman14]

What type of amp?

[@Anandmahangoe]

The amp used is the Marvell Amp from Kool Amplification. There is a full detailed video about this amp on my Channel if you’d like to hear more details. Like a modern Marshall with the Jose mod in it ;)

[@svenzia]

@@Anandmahangoe Beautiful sounding amp and playing is so clean. Enjoyed. I just bought a single ended amp with a KT88. Thanks! Subbed :)

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@svenziagreat to hear mate, those tubes are really nice and with a single channel amp you will have lots of tones in your fingers and guitar volume knob to play with ! Enjoy !!

[@rocker8692]

Marble amp,never heard of them.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Kool Amps , the Marvell…… Dutch build …..

[@user-scienceislove]

same sound

[@Anandmahangoe]

Thanks !

[@geraldtucker1690]

Turn off all of those horrible overly processed effects and it might actually be possible to hear what the amp sounds like.

[@Anandmahangoe]

Sorry that you can’t hear it….. I like the FX and can hear the difference good enough…..

[@JInfinity7]

Effects are great usually, but when doing a power tube test, best leave them off to hear the differentiation.

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@JInfinity7 thank you very much and will do for sure next time !!

[@frankrenner5889]

@@Anandmahangoethe effects ruined your video, we need to hear the difference without your signal chain.

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@frankrenner5889Will do next time man , thanks !

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

Sorry I prefer the EL34....

[@Anandmahangoe]

It is all good my friend , I also went back to EL34 tubes ....;)

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

@@Anandmahangoe The US made 6CA7 GE ( fat boy ) sounds very musical too.... Have a nice day

[@Anandmahangoe]

@@frankgeeraerts6243 thanks mate and yes, I know about this tube and will use it next time for sure ! I really like them in my fractal audio Plexi model so with my real tube amp this will be the next tube !