6L6 in Champ/Princeton

[stephenhartley]

I'd like to build a Princeton with a 6L6 instead of a 6V6. Can anyone tell me the spec of the transformers needed to do this?

What wattage would the amp with 6L6 be compared to the Princeton?

Would I need to change anything else besides Txs ?

Thanks

Stephen

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Yes, you need to change a lot of stuff.
With really good transformers it might make as much as 12-14 watts output.
You'd need at least a solid 20 watt class A output transformer and probably something like a 275vac@150ma-200ma power tranny.
You could build a cheaper amp with a generic 15 watt class A OT from Hammond and get it to the 9 -10 watt area.

[Rhodesplyr]

I'd like to build a Princeton with a 6L6 instead of a 6V6.

How about building a Super Reverb--unless you're talking about an earlier non-reverb Princeton, in which case, you could try the Bassman, etc...? I may be confused, here, since there are quite a few different Fender amps with "Princeton" in the name. Some have single-ended outputs, and some use push-pull.

6L6s and 6V6s have fairly different drive and grid circuit requirements, and they like different output transformer primary impedances. I've seen a few disasters (dead power transformers, etc...) from people trying to drop 6L6s into a circuit designed around 6V6s.

[ron vogel]

I had a Princeton with 6L6's in it...if you do it, build it into a head.

Princeton is a great amp...small cab/10-12" speaker makes it a little boxy already. Even with 6V6's mine rattled a fair bit...crazy rattling with the 6L6's...had to re-engineer a lot about the cab to get it quiet. Liked it much better with the 6V6's anyway.

[stephenhartley]

6L6 in Princeton

I had a Princeton with 6L6's in it...if you do it, build it into a head.

Princeton is a great amp...small cab/10-12" speaker makes it a little boxy already. Even with 6V6's mine rattled a fair bit...crazy rattling with the 6L6's...had to re-engineer a lot about the cab to get it quiet. Liked it much better with the 6V6's anyway.

Thanks for the replies - I should have been more specific. What I mean is how straightforward is it to adapt a SE Princeton circuit (5F2-A) from a 6V6 to a 6L6 in a similar way to upgrading a 5E3 circuit to 6L6s by upgrading the trannies and the cathode resistor to 10W? Can I use the same circuit or do I need to change anything else - I just want to try and build a simple SE amp with a bit more wattage than a Champ/Princeton. I want to stick with Fender tweed type circuit.