EVH 5150 III TUBE SWAP

[deacon]

Has anyone changed out those crappy 6l6's on a evh 5150III for EL34's? Thinking about buying the 2-12 combo and just wondering if that could done or is it not necessary?

[dirtycooter]

I thought about it.
I think it might be cool but thought about hiw 6C's are constructed and 6L's.
They are very related.
With 34's being nothing at all like either of the above construction wise.
I was leaning more toward and wondering how 6C's would sound in there-as that IS what Ed used to use. Not 34's.
Kinda puts a spin on the whole thing when you think about it.
Also considered what 34's might do to change up that midrange some as these tubes are different mostly in the mids. Many complain about the 5153's mids and at times it is kinda a little snarky in there around this area.
But without solid mids there isn't much EVH tone is there? His tone wasn't the scooped metal big bottom boogie thing of the 90's-it was opposite of that.

[dirty dog]

EL34's need more filament current than a 6L6 so the existing power transformer may need to be changed if its not rated for the extra current draw also there are a few component changes to be done as well.

[deacon]

Thanks guys, I was wondering about 6ca7's also.I think after $900-$1000 for a used evh 5153 combo plus tranny work and other its not worth it.I'm better off building a 50 watter combo with 2-12's.Next question is jtm or jmp combo and I would build the combo like the evh"s with a closed speaker compartment and how would I get the chassis to face forward with the tubes and trannys hanging down?

[GilmourD]

Another problem is that the output impedance of 6L6 set up to run Class AB is significantly higher than that of the EL34 (6L6 is 5600ohm for a pair vs EL34 at 3400ohm for a pair, so changing nothing else half that for a quad, then that's what the primary side of the OT sees), so that would affect your speaker impedance output, so you'd have trouble running a single 16ohm cabinet without being significantly mismatched (an 8ohm cab plugged in at the 16ohm setting would be CLOSER to ideal).

6CA7s are set up to be the electrical equivalent of an EL34.

[deacon]

Thanks Gilmour D that's what I wanted to know.