ninjavampire

Hey guys, just traded a TSL122 for a Vintage Modern combo which I was chatting about in a recent thread.

So the guy told me he just replaced the valves in it before I bought it, which was cool I thought, but when I received it today, I looked inside to see there were 6L6s in it, instead of the KT66s that should be in it. Now I turned the amp on and I thought it sounded great. Very vintage sounding and miles better than the TSL I had, but I'm unsure about the 6L6s.

What kind of differences can I expect with the 6L6s in this amp when it clearly states it is a KT66 amp and more importantly, is it safe? If it's not, I'll be getting it changed asap.

Thanks guys.

Dan.

Marshall Amps

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nuke

6L6 tubes will fit and can be used, however the amp will need to be rebiased. The 6L6 will be a darker tube with perhaps more bottom end but IMO they are not doing you any favors. The KT66 is a great tube and the correct tube for a VM. If you like the tubes then thats all that matters, I think you should at least try the KT66 tubes, I think you would be even more impressed.

ninjavampire

Hey thanks for the reply!

Ya I definitely want to put KT66s in the amp, but at the minute I have no money to do it As long as these work for the time being I am happy. I was just afraid that it may have had a bad effect on the amp, thank you very much for reassuring me!

So more bottom end with the 6L6s, what kind of tone would I be getting from the KT66s? At the minute I can actually get a great tone, like early Zeppelin, so I'd be excited to see how much of an improvement the KT66s would be.

RiverRatt

It's probably not even something you'd notice without doing a comparison between the 6L6GC's and the KT66's. IMO the 6L6GC's sounded less aggressive and smoother than the KT66's I've tried, definitely leaning toward Fender. Like Nuke said, make sure you bias them, don't just plug 'em in and start playing.

The VM combo is 50 watts, right? You can get a pair of Shuguang KT66's for $40 - $50 or even less on eBay. I've got a pair of Shuguangs that came in my Marshall that I keep for a backup pair. They aren't bad at all. I know a guy who has a used pair for sale but I don't make it to his shop very often. I started to buy them last weekend but didn't because one of them had a cracked base. I can probably get them really cheap. If I do, I'll test them and make sure they are good and let you know.

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Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.

ninjavampire

Hey man, thanks for the comment! I'm glad there isn't a huge difference between the two, I was mainly excited for this amp though because I already have an amp running 6L6s so I wanted to compare, but the amp sounds so different (being a single channel with body, detail and presence) that it doesn't matter too much. Cheers for the advice with the tubes, I probably will pick up them on ebay when I get a bit of cash!

Salsg

Part of the charm of the VM is the KT66.
I would swap those in ASAP.
I liked Valve Arts and Gold Lion for a smoother tone.
Check out the VM forum for some more info, there are some brands you don't want to use because of grounding issues, or something like that.
Definitely good with shuguang and gold lions

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RiverRatt

The grounding issue is with the Tung-Sol KT66's. They have a metal base and will ground to the chassis if you use the beartrap tube retainers. Just take 'em off. If something happens to my amp that's bad enough to knock the tubes out of their sockets, tube retainers probably aren't going to matter anyway.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.