Anybody try the TAD short bottle 6L6's?

[Regis]

I have. I put them in my Bassman heads, and frankly I don't like them at all. They sound thin, wirey, no crunch or meatiness at all.

I'm a little surprised because I put the tall TAD 6L6's in my Bassman 100 rebuild and they sound pretty good. So, I thought I'd try the short ones and was filled with disappointment.

Yes, they are biased correctly.

[TungstenAmp]

I like the tone of the short bottle TAD 6L6 in tweed amps but have found most of the ones I have purchased (~20) had mechanical rattling. I have not tried the big bottle version.

[Daver]

I've used them both and have been very happy with them. The short bottle type was/is the stock power tube in my Fuchs.
Daver

[Rob S]

I remember having a cylindrical, probably steel 6L6. It was painted black..
Also a seemingly huge 6L6G.

Funny how life slips you by

[Regis]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority. If anyone wants to buy them I'll sell them for $60 plus shipping. They don't have an hours use on them.

[SlidePicker]

I remember having a cylindrical, probably steel 6L6. It was painted black..

The metal 6L6 is the original type, introduced in 1936. It was still listed in the RCA RC-30 handbook as a current type. (1973, I think.) There are still a lot of them around. The important thing to remember about that is that the metal shell is grounded through Pin 1. When the glass 6L6 types came along, nothing was connected to Pin 1. Lots of bozos (including some major amp companies) have stupidly used Pin 1 as a tie point for screen resistors, which puts full B+ on the exposed metal shell of a metal 6L6. That will then bite the unsuspecting user who, not unreasonably, decides to try metal 6L6s in his amp to see how they sound. It's bad practice to build an amp wired this way, and the RDH4 specifically warned never to do this 50 years ago.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

I like the tone of the short bottle TAD 6L6 in tweed amps but have found most of the ones I have purchased (~20) had mechanical rattling. I have not tried the big bottle version.

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Yes me too.. I'm really getting sick and tired of nearly every power tube made these days having a buzz/rattle or eventually a sound like a little BB rolling around inside after very few hours.

[Regis]

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Yes me too.. I'm really getting sick and tired of nearly every power tube made these days having a buzz/rattle or eventually a sound like a little BB rolling around inside after very few hours.

Hmm... That Kay 720 I refurbished has a rattling tube, I thought it was the preamp tube but now I'll have to double check. Thanks, bruce.

[Carl / Zwengel Amps]

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Yes me too.. I'm really getting sick and tired of nearly every power tube made these days having a buzz/rattle or eventually a sound like a little BB rolling around inside after very few hours.

I seem to remember bitchin' about the same thing a while ago on the old Ampage. While it doesnt seem to affect the performance of the tube it sure does get irritating awfully fast! A lot of them dont seem to want to take a bias properly either. So I dont know what the hell is going on.

With regard to the TAD short bottle 6L6, I've never tried them. Are they supposed to be a knock-off of the JAN 6L6GB's? The GB's by the way are amazing sounding tubes, but damn they got expensive in the past few years!

-Carl

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

The TAD short bottle tubes are pretty good/average for a custom made Chinese power tube.
They don't sound as good as any real 5881 or 6L6GB.
I bought 100 of them from MOJO very early last year to use in those 6L6 tweed amps I do and I'm just about done with them now, ... maybe 5 or 6 pairs left.
I think I have about a +5% failure rate with them and a LARGE handfull back within a couple weeks of back in service... with that classic "cheap as shitt" buzz rattle.

[Amp Kat]

That's the only thing I really don't like about those tubes and othere cheap ones is the bases come loose and rattle or the innards are shaking around. The El-84's are really bad about it but they seem to last awhile if you can get around that. I've been meaning to ask you about Majik Part's and keep forgetting. They seem to be down on their stock and backorders out the ass. Ever since Paul left I haven't been to pleased and it seems that Antique is always out of stock. Is there any explanation or is everyone like that ?

[Bob-I]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority. If anyone wants to buy them I'll sell them for $60 plus shipping. They don't have an hours use on them.

I'm with you on the short bottles. I fond that they sould compressed and thin, and not in a good way. I feel a funny attack on them when they're pushed hard.

[Steve B]

So, what is the current 6L6 of choice for a 66 Bassman?

Someone advised getting the TAD 6L6WGC, & I was planning to, but not if I'm going to get the bee bee rattle thing happening.

Winged "C"? JJ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve

[Amp Kat]

I like the Wing C Bob. It's my favarite of current production. The bases are strong and they last a pretty long time. The JJ's are ok and I like the Ruby Chinese 6L6GCMSTR for a best bang for the buck tube. I'm not real happening on the EH 6L6 IMO they don't last very long and are prong to red plating much earlier than the above. Any tube however can have it's woes as I had to replace a Wing C yesterday for a G.T.C. short which is rare for that tube. Most end users plug and play and the factory tubes installed are usually the cheapest around, a lower wattage than the GC's and they bias them up colder than they should to keep MTBF numbers lower so crossover distortion is a concern with these so I would bias them up a tad from the 23 watters. I'm not real familiar with the Tesla but I hear they are OK.

KB

[Regis]

Someone advised getting the TAD 6L6WGC, & I was planning to, but not if I'm going to get the bee bee rattle thing happening.

Winged "C"? JJ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve

If you're talking about the tall bottle TAD's, I have a quad of those in my rebuilt Bassman 100. They sound pretty good there which is why I tried the short bottle ones. Go figure.

If I were to choose I would say the Winged C 6L6's sound the best. I had them in my 50 watt Bassman tops where they sounded terrific. If I can get rid of these short bottle TAD's that's what I'll replace them with.