Metropoulos Forum

Ok so, I never really knew much about KT88's before. Apparently they're like a 6550 but with a bit more midrange?

Those of you who are supporters of the 6550 for the BOG era tone, have you tried KT88's? What are your thoughts?

By the way, would any changes be needed to install KT88's? Would it change the output at all?

The kt-88,although directly swappable with a 6550, imo, is better for guy's trying to keep a bit more of the el-34 tone going on, although they are closer to the 6550 thing. To me, part of Hendrix's 69-70 tones (I know some (69-70) tones are better than others) was the sorta 'pristine' tight quality that the 6550's lent. Like how Zakk Wylde's 6550 equiped 800's sound with heavy distortion and hb'ers. I hate his tone, but it is apparent how the 6550 makes the sound harder and clearer. That aspect, applied to running the amp cleaner along with single coils, is where the 6550 tubes apply to Hendrix's later sounds. The kt-88's arent what Hendrix used, but experimentation is the best way to go.

http://www.youtube.com/user/conjering" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tough for me to say based off that clip - its way heavier than I play. I just play clean slightly overdriven.

I'd like to replace the tubes in my amp but I dont want to make the lower volume tone be too stiff and sterile sounding. The EL34 has good sag or pump to it when at moderate volume like 3-5ish, but when you get up there it starts to fall apart. I still want something with sag to it but just a little tighter at higher volume.

Try KT-77 or 6ca7.

kt88s sounds cleaner, bigger and darker than el34. try decreasing the nft a tad (e.g. move it from the 8ohms tap to the 4 ohms tap), reduce the bias splitter resistors to 150k and increase the pi coupling caps to .033uf if you are using .022uf