Tube Talk -part 6 - The 6V6

A video talking about the 6V6 tube, the USA, Chinese, and Russian versions.

[@EUC_Senior]

You are very, very knowledgeable! I grew up with tubes and just love the sound of them. They are more linear than a transistor due to the high voltage of a tube vs the low voltage of a transistor. Thank you for explaining the 6V6GT tube to an old man like me. I am almost 60 yrs old (Retinol helps me stay young!)

[@gluteusmaximus1657]

Tube matching was already used in Hi Fi equipment much earlier. The grading of them was Groove Tubes achievement. Musicians usually prefer a different grade than Hi Fi users. Think about gain, mids or clarity for musicians and clear all over frequencies for Hi Fi. Greetings from Germany

[@richardlecomte4874]

How am I getting 22 watts from my fender supersonic 22 with 2 6v6 tubes?

[@silviopimentel7247]

Thanks brother

[@walleviolencia]

Thank you for this vid. I just swapped out a bad tube in a brand New 68 Vibro Champ. It came with a bad GrooveTube, and I bought a RSD 4,4ma. ;-) Do I need to do anything else (Bias,,? ) Thx!

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

these amps have a fixed bias, so you should be fine. If it's brand new, it might have been a defective tube.

[@jasoneugenides5770]

A 6V6 has a bit more of a "mid hump" which sounds great overdriven compared to 6L6 or EL34 tubes. Compine that with the lower wattage being able to be pushed into overdrive and you can see why amps using them are more popular these days. Higher wattages with more headroom isn't sought after as much these days since PA technology is better and smaller venues, recording, portability and home use has become more of a goal.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

I love that "chewy mid hump" in my little princeton. I get tempted to pull them and try them in a 6L6 40watt Fender amp but don't want to damage them.

[@macendy1]

Hi Gary. I would like to ask you to compare to compare the real power output of 6V6 and EL84. You say that pair of 6V6 are making 12W on a good day, how about the EL84? There are amps that claim 15-20W from pair of EL84. Is this a lie too? I am wondering since the max. plate dissipation of EL84 is 12W and 14W for 6V6. Thank you.

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

A pair of EL84s are widely evaluated at 15 watts. There is a very big tonal difference between the 6V6 and the EL84. The 6V6 or more mid-range heavy, and distort naturally at a lower volume. The EL84s are often used in hi-fi because of their wide tonal range.

[@macendy1]

@@GarysGuitarsUSA I am confused now. Based on what you say, EL84 can put out more Watts to the speaker, despite the lower maximum dissipation and 6V6 breaks up sooner. Therefore 6V6 has got less headroom. If this is correct, how would you explain the fact that Fender Deluxe Reverb is considered to have a good clean headroom for gigging while claiming 22W RMS and Marshall style 18 watters are considered not to have enought clean headroom for gigging. This is what I have researched from multiple forums. Might still be wrong. I intend to build an amp with pair of 6V6/EL84, still undecided and open to suggestions if this would not give enough clean headroom for rehearsals.

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

Marshalls are designed to be overdriven earlier. To our sound that's comparable to their EL34 cousins

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

For more accurate comparison, consider comparing a Fender Deluxe and a Vox AC15.

[@petekilburn8441]

did photon make a 6v6 tube?

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

That's a good question, I assume they did, but I haven't seen them.

[@troybrown976]

Your videos are amzing but very quiet. If a commercial comes boyy is that loud

[@chadwickwright2833]

Groove tubes are shit is what they are.

[@GarysGuitarsUSA]

Groove Tubes is now owned by Fender, and uses tubes manufactured by Electro Harmonix. Very different from the Chinese maid Groove Tubes of years ago