The Jemsite guide to amps

[red5]

Wasn't Passion and Warfare recorded with a modded 1971 Marshall not a modded JCM 800?

[Safe Keeping]

The greatest sounding Amps are the very old pre 67 Marshall JTM45's. the sweetest sounding and flexible amp ever. very clean and Bluesy one minute and then drive it up to become an untameable beast, unless your name ends in Hendrix!

[guitarshredder7]

this help me alot with pretty much every amp question i had, especcially with the tubes you described and im glad you mentioned the preamp tubes.

[led_head1]

OFF SUBJECT BUT WHICH BRIDGE PICKUP SHOULD I PUT IN MY GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have a air zone jb tb and d activater but i dont like air zone or tb

[Mr Orange]

Originally Posted by Drew

I always thought the reverse was true, and that 6l6's were a "cleaner" tube...?

-D

Yup, it's "cleaner" & smoother because it's not as midrangey, that's why it doesn't have the EL34 "bark", and that's why they dig it in Fenderish applications. It has slightly less power than EL34 so it breaks up a bit earlier.

http://scobro.150m.com/Rivera/PowerTubeGuide.htm#6L6

6L6 Tube:
When Fender began producing guitar amplifiers, they based them on an RCA hi-fi design. RCA gave free use of these designs to promote the use of their tubes, in this case, the 6L6 power tube. The beam tetrode 6L6 has a round scooped voiced uncolored "white" tone that is crystal clear in clean and a Bluesy overdriven style of distortion when pushed. The American 6L6 makes up a large part of the signature Fender sound. In comparison to the EL34, 6L6 tubes have slightly less output.
6L6 tubes are best suited for those using mostly or only guitars with single pickups, like a Fender guitar through Fender amp sound. 6L6 tubes and single pickups are both scooped voiced which compliment each other's sweet spots. Humbucker / P-90 pickups will retain the full-bodied tone in distortion, a common combination for traditional electric Blues like BB King and Buddy Guy. In clean, Jazz through a Fender style tone, muddiness can be a problem. One solution for this is higher wattage speakers.
"British" amps will lose much of the signature Marshall grind but it wasn't unusual to use 6L6 or similar tubes in Marshall amps. A notable example is Jimi Hendrix. Jimi switch out the stock British made Mullard EL34's in his Marshall Plexi with American made Tung Sol 6550's. 6550's sound like 6L6's except much louder and they tend not to distort when pushed. Jimi did this to have his Marshall better fit the tone of his Fender Stratocaster.
6L6 tubes are also known for high gain distortion. Though the 6L6 is mostly associated with Fender powered American Blues, Country, R&B, etc, it was also used in the original high gain amps (Mesa Boogie "Mark I" & Soldano "SOL 100"). To solve the problem of extreme muddiness in high gain distortion, the mids were dropped out. The 6L6 naturally distorts in a scooped voiced fashion.

5881 / 6L6WGB Tube:
The 5881 / 6L6WGB has slightly less output then a 6L6 with an earlier break up. These tubes are a favorite in Fender style amps to distort at a lower volume. 5881 is the military designation and 6L6WGB is the commercial designation.

EL34 Tube:
Marshall originally had American 6L6 tubes in their guitar amplifiers back when the JTM45 was essentially a Fender Tweed Bassman clone. After deciding that importing American tubes were too expensive and that close was good enough, Marshall switched to the domestic 6L6 British equivalent, the GEC KT-66. After finding this too expensive as well and desiring something with more output, they moved over to the British made Mullard EL34 for their "Plexi" amps in the late 1960's. It is the EL34 that has defined the sound of British Rock.
The pentode EL34 has a midsy crisp sound with a grind crunch distortion when pushed. The EL34 does not have the crystal clean sound or the headroom of the 6L6. However, because of the higher output, you can run an EL34 clean at a higher volume then a 6L6.
The EL34 is best suited for guitars with humbucking / P-90 pickups, like a Gibson through a Marshall sound. EL34 tubes and humbucking / P-90 pickups both have a midsy tone that compliments each other's sweet spots. EL34 tubes work also well for those using single pickups, though it will have a less full-bodied tone then with 6L6 tubes. A notable example of the typical "Les Paul Gibson through an EL34 equipped Marshall" setup is Angus Young from AC/DC.
The modern EL34 is a more versatile tube then the 6L6, easily usable with single pickups and humbucking / P-90 pickups in clean and distortion. EL34 tubes are not known for their clean tone but it can remove some the muddiness in humbucking / P-90 clean tones. Though most Jazz guitarists using a tube amp will use a 6L6 equipped Fender style amp, EL34 tubes can offer more "spacing" between the chords, making it easier to EQ.

6550 & KT-88 Tube (high wattage):
The beam tetrode 6550 tubes are tonally similar to the 6L6 with a scooped voiced crystal clean sound. The beam tetrode KT-88 is tonally similar to a KT-66 with a warmer, less crystal clear, sound then a 6550. In a Rivera, four 6550 or KT-88 tubes will produce about 150 to 160 watts. Two 6550 or KT-88 tubes will produce about 75 to 80 watts.
The most common use of 6550 and KT-88 tubes in amps is for guitarists that need a louder clean tone and do not require a full-bodied distortion tone. When pushed, these tubes do not produce the harmonically rich distortion like lower wattage tubes but tend to stay clean and just get louder. With any increase in wattage, the tone will become brighter, deeper lows, and have a lesser emphasis on the mids. The brightness can easily be compensated for by the use of darker preamp tubes.
Two other reasons guitarists use high wattage tubes:
First, guitarists seeking to get a Jimi Hendrix sound out of their Marshall amp use 6550 tubes. Jimi switched out the British made Mullard EL34 tubes for American made Tung Sol 6550 tubes. He wanted the tone of a 6L6 to better fit his Fender Stratocaster yet as loud as possible. Jimi did turn up his Marshall amps to 10, but much of the distortion was derived from the preamp section or a fuzz pedal. For those not performing in stadium sized venues, a 6L6 is a better alternative.
Second, shredders like to use 6550 tubes in their high gain amps for the tight exactness to play a billion notes a second.

This thread is becoming loaded with info... good! Keep up the discussion!

[Jamie]

Don't forget Ampeg too, and of course Vox! Wish I knew enough about them to write the profile/..

[CrossingStar]

In regards to the first post, Marshall : "their sound is saturated and not so mid-heavy". This is not right. Marshall's are all about the mids.

[Al M]

Originally Posted by CrossingStar

In regards to the first post, Marshall : "their sound is saturated and not so mid-heavy". This is not right. Marshall's are all about the mids.

Actually i think that was right about marshall.

[Mr Orange]

Originally Posted by Al M

Actually i think that was right about marshall.

I think so too . Just compare a Marshall to a Mesa or a VHT and you get the picture... Of course in a way it's about mids, having EL34 tubes and playing with a Les Paul (humbucking pups), which both emphasize mids, but I wouldn't say Marshalls are particularly mid-emphasized amps as such. Not so sure about the '60s-'70s ones, though.

[amp up and amplify]

My super cool dad has bought for me (without the mothers permission of course) the 7vwh, which is my dream guitar since i started playing. Being 15 and having tht kinda money spent on me kinda lowers the chances of having £k's worth of amp.
Value for money i was thinking of the Line6 spider 212, just under the £300 mark. Any suggestions on this or any other amp. Cheers guys

[janegil]

I have a TraceElliott H10 Supertwin, and I`m alittle surprised that this amp didnt hit home with more people. It has chrunch for metal, and clean for fender and jazz sounds... the higain lead is alittle fuzzy, but all over this a good amp!:-)

[strat110]

Originally Posted by janegil

I have a TraceElliott H10 Supertwin, and I`m alittle surprised that this amp didnt hit home with more people. It has chrunch for metal, and clean for fender and jazz sounds... the higain lead is alittle fuzzy, but all over this a good amp!:-)

They sound good but have a tendency to catch fire rather easily!

[jestersrace]

Do not forget the Diezel Herbert with 120 Watts and a 4x12 Diezel cab

Combined with a universe - this is ultimative!

[Pablo]

The trouble is everyone has their own take on how a guitar should sound.

I also think that you shouldn't have just 1 amp as you get bored with the tone. For that I have a few. I'll keep it to the amp heads I have and write what I think of them

Laney GH100L:- PG inspired buy, has great tone but is a little upper mid - trebly and enough distortion If the tone is good enough for PG and Andy Timmons wel need I say more. It's an amp that's tight if you into fast picking although it's a bit basic but still worth checking out.

Legacy :- Stick a MXR Microamp in front of it and this thing is great. Very mid rangy and the clean channel is amazing. A very nice sounding amp. I took a while to get to like mine, the usual complaint of not enough gain was fixed by the microamp which is transparent enough to fix the lack of gain.

Engl Powerball: - What an amp. As someone said earlier these are better than boogies. Tones of features, super tight response for fast picking and heavy chording and a bass response to worry bassists. < Basically I'd bought the Legacy then tried this and had to buy it.

P

A mate has a company which makes pretty fine amps in the boutique Marshall vein which can be tailored to your own tone. http://www.tipton-amps.co.uk/
It's not really me but you get that EVH 1 sound.

[Reaper of Doom]

PEAVEY 5150

It has to be said that this is an awesome amp. I think a lot of people who don't know much about this bad boy think it will make them sound like King Ed. NOT TRUE!

Only EVH sounds LIKE EVH!

Someone mentioned earlier about people want to sound like what they hear on a CD and it's almost insane to think like that. As far as the 5150 goes and this only through my experience, i've had every Marshall head you can think of and the 5150 is basically a hot rodded Marshall. It has endless amounts of gain and thats why it's preferred by the Metal guys. The sound is very raw and is perfect for an in your face live sound. It's never gonna be Nu-metal. Sounds like 80's Heavy Metal on roids! I love this amp and once you get to grips with the resonance control and how it affects the bottom end then it'll give you some serious tone.

The best part, you can pick them up for next to nothing cuz people are scared they're gonna sound like later VH so they dont give the 5150 a look. I bought a 5150II for £350 which in the UK is cheaper than a 2nd hand Marshall. You know why it was so cheap? Cuz the kid I got it from said it had too much gain and didn't know haw to use it! What do you think the gain control does.

His loss and definatley my GAIN. No pun intended.

Bottom line, check these out. Not for everybody but will give you a unique tone. I plug my 7vsbl straight in through a couple of Boss pedals and a noise gate cuz the only downside is, these things can be a little noisy.
Tone Heaven!