6V6s - why are they unpopular in modern amp designs?

[mtw63]

Suhr is making a 6v6 brown deluxe reissue.

Suhr Hombre ( Brown face style ) and PT15 have 6V6's...

 

[GreatDaneRock]

Monoprice 5 watter uses a single 6v6 bottle, sounds stellar!

 

[GVDub]

25+ years ago, I had a conversation with one of the designers of the black-panel Deluxe (unfortunately, it's been long enough that his name is not springing to mind), and he was telling me that they purposely designed the circuit to run at higher than specified voltages for the 6V6, relying on the sag in the tube rectifier to essentially act as a limiter on those voltages. This is one of the factors that gave that circuit design such a distinctive tonality when cranked, and also why people who swapped in solid-state rectifiers with the idea that it would improve the amp's performance, ended up going through power tubes.

That being said, I wish there were a reissue of the old Jim Kelley amps that were based on the Deluxe circuit. Loved those things.

 

[black_doug]

My Dr. Z Z-28 is a dual 6V6 design. It’s been my main gigging amp for over ten years.

 

[Fuelish]

Am pretty sure my Tweaker has 6v6s (6v6 GTAs? , possibly, can't check them atm, my in laws are temporarily staying with us, and my father in law is currently asleep in my "guitar room")

 

[teleMc]

There always a Twilighter. A bit pricey though. BK makes this one sound pretty tasty.

 

[teleMc]

Iirc, the 6AQ5 is the small bottle equivalent of a 6V6….7 pin socket. That would have made more sense in a car radio, wouldn’t it? I have a Gibson GA17RVT Scout here that runs 2 x 6AQ5s. Nice amp. 6005 is the same tube. Surprisingly, I have gathered a fair number of these as they were used in TVs and radios. I got a bag full of them in a small military stash.

I have a couple of amps that run 6AQ5 in the output. They are tone monsters. One Univox U-70 (1x12) and the other is an FTB120 (2x8)

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hello Che_Guitarra,
My lasy little Amp for home:
> an Egnater Twealer 15W
with 3x12Ax7 & 2x6V6
= my Best little Amp.!
& You can Place 2xEL34
= sockets are the Same..
> I'll try it soon..
If Too Big Sound, it's better to put
a Reductor between Amp & HP
for a Good Sound with tubes cranked up,
& Volume down with the Reductor.
(like for Neck Pickup,
it's not with Less 0hms than you Get a Goog Neck PU,
> but with a Thread with a Lower Gauge.. for Less Presence.
I know, I Wind since 9y..)
Many things to know,
with playing, & Time..
(I'm 67yo..)
- Lets play R&R forever..
- Bye, Ziggy (17h05 in France)
(a french guitarist living in France)

 

[Dadzmad]

I don't know about unpopular. A few years back I wanted a tube amp and got a shopworn Excelsior Pro (twin 6v6) for a good price. Recently I got the urge for a smaller 5 watt amp and got a new Supro DK 10 (single power tube a 6V6). I did not seek out the 6v6 tube setups - they found me in both of the recent production tube amps that I have stumbled across. I like the sound I get and thought it was kinda nice that both amps use the same spec tubes.

 

[Strebs]

My 65 Amps Tupelo is a 6v6 amp. They came out around 2010 I think.

 

[timbraun]

Revv 7-40 - current production with 4 x 6v6's!

Egnator Rebel 20 - has both EL84's and 6v6's, with a blend control. If I'm not pushing the power section (loud!) I can't tell the difference.

I put a JJ 6v6s pair into my Bandmaster and I like it. So some of us like the 6v6

 

[Wayne Alexander]

The Matchless Laurel Canyon, which is new and may be one of their best amps yet (I really like mine) has 6V6 output tubes.

 

[Galen1960]

The problem with many modern 6V6s is not the limit on plate voltage but the screen grid. That EH6V6 with a Pv limit of 450vdc, which is 100vdc beyond a vintage true 6V6 fwiw, has a screen grid limit of 350vdc. The JJ6V6, which many consider to be a 6L6???, has a Pv limit of 450vdc and a screen grid limit that is also 450vdc.
As for differences, it would seem that @Jakedog has found the true difference…..circuitry. Fwiw, Jake, that 68CDR or any vintage BF/SF Reverb Fender amp, can be further modded to lean farther into what you like to hear. fender did not go very far in that direction. Techs have been modifying these two channel Fenders for decades to have two VERY different channels…great versatility.
I would be curious, @Jakedog, if you have ever played an AB165 Basman or it’s descendants…through the Bassman 50. Hot guitar amps due to NOT having the signal killing effects but having the 1+2 preamp. Then….one can take the bass channel, pull that preamp out, and build true fire-breather of an amp. There is an unused triode in these amps. One can build a very hot amp if one wants.

Quidnam tu dicis in verbis laici?

 

[Wally]

Quidnam tu dicis in verbis laici?

imho, what I wrote is in layman’s terms. That really is the only level of language that I can use.
Some modern production 6V6s have screen grid limits which are challenged by the voltages at which they have to operate.
As for the mods to the amps, techs have been making simple and reversible mods for decades to BF/SF circuits which yield much more dramatic Sonic change than do the limited changes that Fender has made to these ‘68 SF Custom circuits.

 

[Les Paul lover]

The Orange Rockerverb MK I 50 watt amps used 6v6s (the 100 watters used EL34s, though).

And what an amp!!!!
I love my RV50 MKI!!! It's literally 2 amps in one.

The clean channel is an old school non master amp. Crank it for pure old school fuzzy valve overdrive, and sounds superb totally clean.
The dirty channel is amazing too, perfect from blues to metal!

 

[Les Paul lover]

 

[sammy123]

I guess I can't answer your question, but I can tell you that I love my 6V6 amps, which are the VHT12/20RT head and the Gibson GA-20RVT (2000s model).

 

[Wally]

….