What is a 6v6 valve type.

Hi, i'm thinking about building a DIY Marshall type Amp with a HF PCB, but the valve type is a 6v6 not an EL34 & i have no idea about the 6v6, i don't think i've ever used a 6v6 in an Amp, so thought i'd ask what Valve group is it in EL/34 etc.
I still don't know what type of valve it's comparable to :) .
Thanks for replying.
 
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T-Rex said:
A 6V6 with the proper plate voltages is a "small brother" to an EL34, only with more headroom. The sweet spot for the plates is 360V to no more than 380V in a Marshall style amp. In a Fender based you can go much higher on the plates. Lower than 360V and you start to get dull.
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Thanks T-Rex, One of the main reasons the DIY PCB/Amp build i'm considering is the 25W output, 25W is about the ideal output for the smallish pub gigs i do, the PCB also gives a few options for switching to cover the range of stuff we play, thanks for the info :) .

Thanks T-Rex,
Yargnad said:
I know a few boutique builders that make those sort of amps. I don't remember the models, but I know that Dr Z has at least one and so does Ceriatone and that other brand that starts with G or something. From what I remember about them is that they are mostly like a EL34 and don't really sound much different in a Plexi type. As far as the feel, I wouldn't know about that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Yargnad, & thanks for posting the clips, i'll listen this morning :).
 
T-Rex said:
A 6V6 with the proper plate voltages is a "small brother" to an EL34, only with more headroom. The sweet spot for the plates is 360V to no more than 380V in a Marshall style amp. In a Fender based you can go much higher on the plates. Lower than 360V and you start to get dull.
Click to expand...
Not quite. An EL34 is a pentode type valve. The defining factor of a pentode is that it contains (as well as a cathode, control grid, screen grid & anode) a "suppressor" grid, which is placed between the screen grid & anode (aka plate).
The 6V6 is a 12 or 14 watt "beam tetrode" type valve, which means that it contains "beam forming plates" instead of the suppressor grid. These beam tetrode type valves were designed so as to not have to pay Philips royalties, as Philips had patented the pentode.
Other beam tetrode type valves include the 6L6, 6550, 5881, KT66, KT77, KT88, USA fat bottle 6CA7 etc.
The 6V6's design maximum plate voltage is 350V, but they're a rugged little tube & handle exceeding their voltage & dissipation rating to some extent quite well. For example, my 5F1clone biases the 6V6 at about 120% (of 14 watts) with no problem.
If you want to safely run 6V6's in a Marshall designed to use EL34's, I suggest using JJ 6V6's, reason being is that they are an Eastern Block beam tetrode type tube & not a "real" 6V6, but they can handle higher voltages than a real 6V6. Cheers
Edit:
The "small brother" of the EL34 pentode would be the EL84 pentode. Cheers
 
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ivan H said:
Not quite. An EL34 is a pentode type valve. The defining factor of a pentode is that it contains (as well as a cathode, control grid, screen grid & anode) a "suppressor" grid, which is placed between the screen grid & anode (aka plate).
The 6V6 is a 12 or 14 watt "beam tetrode" type valve, which means that it contains "beam forming plates" instead of the suppressor grid. These beam tetrode type valves were designed so as to not have to pay Philips royalties, as Philips had patented the pentode.
Other beam tetrode type valves include the 6L6, 6550, 5881, KT66, KT77, KT88, USA fat bottle 6CA7 etc.
The 6V6's design maximum plate voltage is 350V, but they're a rugged little tube & handle exceeding their voltage & dissipation rating to some extent quite well. For example, my 5F1clone biases the 6V6 at about 120% (of 14 watts) with no problem.
If you want to safely run 6V6's in a Marshall designed to use EL34's, I suggest using JJ 6V6's, reason being is that they are an Eastern Block beam tetrode type tube & not a "real" 6V6, but they can handle higher voltages than a real 6V6. Cheers
Edit:
The "small brother" of the EL34 pentode would be the EL84 pentode. Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks, ivan H, i don't understand the technical description of the construction of the valve in your reply, but i get the point of what your saying, just to clarify what i'm considering building is a "HeadFirst" DIY project which is basically a PCB & BOM & includes a Layout Schematic & a Circuit Diagram, the type i'm looking at is designed to run 2 x 6v6 valves & the circuit is Marshall based & the BOM provides specs of the relevant components to match the 6v6 valves.
From reading the description & Videos of the Amp, it says it is a "clone" of another Amp(Marshall Based) built in Australia.
I'm only considering this DIY project because i've done the HF mods on my ORI50 & i really enjoyed doing it & i think it sounds great, so i'm going to attempt my 1st ever Valve Amp build, really just for the sake of doing it & the spec of this 25W project would be perfect fo:)r my gigs(assuming i get it done & it works) :rolleyes: :) .
Thanks for replying & your information.
Cheers, graham.
 
ivan H said:
Not quite. An EL34 is a pentode type valve. The defining factor of a pentode is that it contains (as well as a cathode, control grid, screen grid & anode) a "suppressor" grid, which is placed between the screen grid & anode (aka plate).
The 6V6 is a 12 or 14 watt "beam tetrode" type valve, which means that it contains "beam forming plates" instead of the suppressor grid. These beam tetrode type valves were designed so as to not have to pay Philips royalties, as Philips had patented the pentode.
Other beam tetrode type valves include the 6L6, 6550, 5881, KT66, KT77, KT88, USA fat bottle 6CA7 etc.
The 6V6's design maximum plate voltage is 350V, but they're a rugged little tube & handle exceeding their voltage & dissipation rating to some extent quite well. For example, my 5F1clone biases the 6V6 at about 120% (of 14 watts) with no problem.
If you want to safely run 6V6's in a Marshall designed to use EL34's, I suggest using JJ 6V6's, reason being is that they are an Eastern Block beam tetrode type tube & not a "real" 6V6, but they can handle higher voltages than a real 6V6. Cheers
Edit:
The "small brother" of the EL34 pentode would be the EL84 pentode. Cheers
Click to expand...


Oh I agree, but what I meant and should have clarified, was the "little brother" in regards to the tone produced.
 
Yargnad said:
I feel that same way in general about amps. 18-25W is the perfect range for almost any amp in my book. I have only once ever needed more in my gigging experience. I used to play smallish shows with my 59 Deluxe (with EVM12) which is only about 15 watts and it was more than loud enough for every gig we had. I wasn't even allowed to turn up loud enough for the amp to breakup in most places, so I used a Vox overdrive to give me a little bit of bite.

I can't believe I would also just walk around and have beers, hang out behind the bar and left my amp unattended on the stage the entire time and probably never once thought about it getting swiped. Tattered tweeds weren't as desirable to the hipsters back in that day.

If I were looking for another amp it would be right in this range...like a Fender Supersonic 22.
Click to expand...
I've had the same gigging experience, for most of my gigging days(when we played several nights a week sometimes 8 :) ) i used An AC30 & very rarely had the volume past 1 o clock, over the years i've tried quite a few bigger wattage Amps but just found them a bit useless, i haven't done many stadiums where i could have cranked one :D,
Was your Vox overdrive on of those that had a Jack on the end to plug into the Amp input & then the Guitar was plugged into the Body of the Overdrive ?, i had about 4 of those but got fed up with the jacks snapping off & bought one of the "new" top boost AC30's instead, i
 
My 18 watt Cameron/Jose high gain Plexi type amp uses 6V6 and it sounds great. It did have EL84s until I sent it to T-Rex to change it over to 6v6. It sounds sooooo much better now than it did with the el84s. I haven't ever had a el34 amp so I can't say how it compares. All I know is my little 6v6 amp sounds awesome!
 
old rocker said:
Thanks, ivan H, i don't understand the technical description of the construction of the valve in your reply, but i get the point of what your saying, just to clarify what i'm considering building is a "HeadFirst" DIY project which is basically a PCB & BOM & includes a Layout Schematic & a Circuit Diagram, the type i'm looking at is designed to run 2 x 6v6 valves & the circuit is Marshall based & the BOM provides specs of the relevant components to match the 6v6 valves.
From reading the description & Videos of the Amp, it says it is a "clone" of another Amp(Marshall Based) built in Australia.
I'm only considering this DIY project because i've done the HF mods on my ORI50 & i really enjoyed doing it & i think it sounds great, so i'm going to attempt my 1st ever Valve Amp build, really just for the sake of doing it & the spec of this 25W project would be perfect fo:)r my gigs(assuming i get it done & it works) :rolleyes: :) .
Thanks for replying & your information.
Cheers, graham.
Click to expand...
6V6's do sound good in a Marshall-esque type amp. Hopefully this might be of help to you.

JCM800 Micro

RR2104 Master Volume Micro Guitar Tube Amplifier
robrobinette.com
These are very popular builds & an amp built from this basic layout can easily be configured as anything from a superlead, 2203/4 (as is), or a fully hot-rodded firebreather. Cheers
 
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