Fender Deluxe Reverb with Stock 6l6GC ??

[KCman]

I have a silverface Deluxe Reverb that came in with 6L6 tubes. I was telling the customer that wasn't a good idea with the excessive heater current. Anyway, I showed him the tube chart inside and it had 6l6GC on it! I attached the photo of the tube chart.

I haven't dug into the amp yet to get more details. I've heard of Fender using old tube charts to use them up, but not with the wrong tubes in it. Anyone come across this?

[Justin Thomas]

I'm not surprised, perhaps they just ran out of DR labels & stuck one for a Super Reverb in it. Since there's no model on the sticker, maybe somebody just didn't have their glasses on at the time.

Personally, I'd definitely be checking the heater voltage under load; if it's sagging I'd definitely be editing that tube chart & explaining that to the customer. If it's been working like that for years, lucky them, but maybe they only play it for short periods & don't get anything hot enough to toast. Maybe if they do a three hour gig it'll toast... Hard to tell.

Given today's higher wall voltages, if the heater winding sagged much below 6.5V I'd be putting 6V6s in for sure... But, it's a Fender - anything can happen!

Jusrin

[nosaj]

I've modded a few like that. 6l6's an a solid state rectifier. I think Linda Ronstadt's was like that and maybe Stevie Ray?
nosaj

[KCman]

The 6l6 are RCA. I wonder if it has correct tubes from Fender but somewhere along the way when tubes were replaced they actually followed the directions! Ha.

the guy had it given to him and it hasn’t been played in many years. He’s a friend of mine. I had him bring it to me before trying it out. He’s all about making it correct, so no problem there. Made me look bad though when I told him the wrong tubes were in it and tried to prove it by the chart!

I’m still gonna look into the other parts in the amp and see, who knows, maybe it’s the partscaster of amplifiers. Must of had a blown speaker at some point, at least I hope, there’s a Pyle speaker in it.

[drewl]

I've modded a few like that. 6l6's an a solid state rectifier. I think Linda Ronstadt's was like that and maybe Stevie Ray?
nosaj

The problem with 6L6's in these is they draw too much heater current, right?
Does a SS rectifier alleviate that problem since you don't need heater current for the rectifier?

[glebert]

The problem with 6L6's in these is they draw too much heater current, right?
Does a SS rectifier alleviate that problem since you don't need heater current for the rectifier?

The rectifier heater is separate from the other tube heaters since it is a different voltage (and has high voltage DC on it.)

I had also thought "Super Reverb chart" but then thought it couldn't be because of the 5u4gb rectifier but I guess there was a SR variant with that.at some point.

I would look at the PT and OT part numbers and see if they match DR or something else (like an SR).

[Tom Phillips]

...I had also thought "Super Reverb chart" but then thought it couldn't be because of the 5u4gb rectifier but I guess there was a SR variant with that.at some point...

Yes. Attached is a photo of a 1974 Super Reverb tube chart. One of many such examples.

[Justin Thomas]

I had also thought "Super Reverb chart" but then thought it couldn't be because of the 5u4gb rectifier but I guess there was a SR variant with that.at some point.

Pretty much all tube-rectified Fenders had switched to 5U4s by the early 70s except for the Champ & Vibro-Champ. I believe the PTs had higher 2ndary voltage windings & the 5U4 was an attempt to knock them back down a little bit; or, just as likely imho, they got a really great deal on a billion 5U4s & it was cheaper to just re-spec the 5V windings with the tranny manufacturers ...

Jusrin

[The Dude]

What is the part nuimber on the PT? Possibly, it's capable of running 6L6's just fine.

[g1]

6L6 in a Deluxe used to be a fairly common mod, with no bad side effects that I've ever seen. Not saying that means it is ok, but Fender PT's from that era are pretty robust.
How many amps out there like this with the wrong sticker that have had 6L6 in there since the first time the power tubes were changed and somebody bought what the sticker said.

[Chuck H]

Greg is right. For years players wanted "just a little more" from their DR's for stage use and the common mod was to use 6l6's and a diode rectifier (The real world difference is negligible. The placebo difference is more real ). I'v been reading the forum for almost thirty years and there's no common reports of these amps blowing up PT's with 6L6's installed. As Justin mentioned, if you go with 6L6's check for voltage sag on the filament winding.

[KCman]

Yes. Attached is a photo of a 1974 Super Reverb tube chart. One of many such examples.

Nice! That is the exact chart. I looked for it.

[KCman]

What is the part nuimber on the PT? Possibly, it's capable of running 6L6's just fine.

The PT is K 025130. Looks like that also crosses to 125P23B.

I'm sure he will just want to put the tubes that are supposed to be in there back in.