Tung Sol 6V6 for TC50

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patolv

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Dear forum members, sorry for my ignorance but I just bought a brand new tc50 combo. I am very happy so I want to try my fav tunes; tung sol 6v6GT. They also have a few numbers lp:29 Gm: 3.600.
Can I just put that kind of tubes instead of the EL34 or I need a special kind of 6v6 tubes?
The tubes are also brand new, I installed them and powered the amp, but it smelled like something was burning, so i powered the amp off. Maybe is normal to smell that on new tubes too.
Thanks!
 
I used Mesa's 6V6 tubes mainly because using another brand voids the 5 year warranty. Preamp tubes are a different story, but the power tubes have to be Mesa brand if you want to keep your warranty in tact.
 
Mesa offers the JJ version of 6V6s which can handle the 420V plate voltage (based on what others have measured the plate voltage to be for an EL34 tube in the circuit and since it is the same bias setting, I would assume the plate voltage to be about the same but could be different with the 6V6 tube depending on how far the voltage drops with the different tube in use). The alternate is the 6V6-GTA tube which is the electro harmonix 6V6-gt tube and that can also take the 420V applied plate voltage. Tung Sol on the other hand has a cap on its maximum plate voltage of 315Vdc. Places like the tube store do have data sheets on most of the tubes they sell. If you have the specifics of the amp you intend to use them in you can look for max plate voltage spec of the tube you want. Unfortunately, You may have over burdened the tubes or loaded the OT too much. Hope that you did not kill the screen resistors but if you did there is usually a good amount of smoke. There is generally a good reason to stick with mesa branded tubes even if they are supplied by other tube manufacturers. Mesa branded tubes are tested at the rated voltages and such to meet the design requirements of the amps that use the tubes. Also since not all tubes of the same variety are equivalent you may get something that will kill your amp if it is not tested to the specifications required for the amp in question.
 

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