SL-X EL34 conversion

[dashizzler]

So I finally gave in had my SL-X converted to EL34's. I bought the 5881 version intentionally as to have the rounder warmer tone of the 6l6's I would put in it. However, it seemed like it lacked in the tone department, for what I was doing anyway. It was a tad mushy and almost zero usable mid range. I put in some nice pre amp tubes courtesy of Marty Strat which sound great and tried winged =C= 6l6gc's. The winged =C='s improved the sound, but didn't get it were I wanted. For what I spent on the tubes, I should've just had it modded right then and there, for half the price. I put JJ KT77's in there, as I liked what they did for my DSL. I was afraid I would lose the low end the 6l6's gave the head, but it was negligible. As a matter of fact, there is room to spare. I was thinking about getting some JJ 6CA7's to put in there. I also liked the what they did for my DSL, and the reviews look good. Not that I don't like the KT77's, just curious how it'll affect the tone. Also while my tech was in there he modded it a touch, reducing some of the fuzziness the amp gets and tighting up the pre amp gain setting. I felt it got a little muddy as I turned it up and he was able to tame the mud some. Now I can open up the pre amp some more and get some body out of that first gain stage. I welcome any comments/feedback, especially about the JJ 6CA7's. Thanks.

 

[Marshall Mann]

Glad you are happy with the set up!

I like the JJ KT-77's and the 6CA7'a quite a bit and I have had a really good success rate with both. As for which is better its a bit subjective. In most cases I prefer the 6CA7's by a slight margin as they seem to have a bit more going on in the upper mids. But again, it depends on the amp and the user.

 

[dashizzler]

Glad you are happy with the set up!

I like the JJ KT-77's and the 6CA7'a quite a bit and I have had a really good success rate with both. As for which is better its a bit subjective. In most cases I prefer the 6CA7's by a slight margin as they seem to have a bit more going on in the upper mids. But again, it depends on the amp and the user.

Thanks for the response. What kind of music do you play? Like I said, I could spare some low end. I've read the lows are tighter with the 6CA7's, but I'm afraid of "thinness" I guess. I don't want to lose the thump I'm getting from the amp. I also got a touch more headroom with the 6l6's. I was getting 108 watts and I'm getting close to that now, with the KT77's. I know that's insignificant, but I don't want the amp to sound harsh at rehearsal volumes. I play high-ish gain stuff. Not crazy drop tuning or anything. Just hard rock/metal sound. I'm looking for note clarity and nice mids and treble, not picky but with some presence. My real question I guess would be, how do the two(KT77's vs 6CA7's) compare in terms of breakup and low bottom end response? And as far as clarity is concerned, how do they compare?

 

[jensbrix]

You should mod all the mud out of it Mine is heavily modified, but it can go from a really fat crunch to uber tight hi gain metal very easy

 

[dashizzler]

You should mod all the mud out of it Mine is heavily modified, but it can go from a really fat crunch to uber tight hi gain metal very easy

So you know what I'm talking about in the pre amp volume control... The dude I took it to changed a capacitor right by the input, I'm guessing before anything gets to the first gain stage. what did you do to yours?

 

[jensbrix]

I have no idea what your tech did, but i completely rebuild the preamp of mine