software

so today i swapped out the 6L6 tubes in my single rectifier for EL34 tubes, and all i could say was OH MAN.

first the lead tones...the first thing i noticed was how much crunchier the tone is, in a good way. the EL34's definitely break up sooner, which give you TONS of gain on tap when you crank it (now i have my gain at about 1 o'clock as opposed to like 3 or 4 o'clock). and the best part is, the tone is all still there even when the gain is maxed out, unlike the 6L6's. the bottom end doesn't get all flabby, and even when doing palm mutes in D with the gain maxed out, the tone is still very tight.

the low end is still absolutely MASSIVE. after hearing that the EL34's don't put out as much bass, i was a little bit sketchy. but the low end is actually a LOT tighter and the overall sound had more body. the highs could be a little harsh but after a bit of tweaking it sounded very pleasent to my ears. i was pleased to hear the the OD channel now sounds very rich and crunchy.

as for the cleans, i've never heard better from this amp. the loss of any low end was noticable on the clean channel, but after tweaking the EQ the bass still isn't even near maxed out and it sounds very full. the cleans sound just right to me, it isn't too boomy or too harsh on the high end and it sounds very very full.

for anyone who has a recto that hasn't used EL34's in it, i definitely recommend it. now i know i don't have to worry about GC's return policy with tubes

Aw crap...Now I REALLY need to go get a set of EL34's for my XXX.

I think that B2D will concur with your review. I know that he likes EL-34's in his. I have yet to try it, but it's something that's on my list of quot;things to doquot;. I'll do it in the near future, and thanks for reminding me of it.

one time I plugged a cat into my tube sockets by accident. The amp sounded pretty cool.

EL 34's are in all my amps, they rock. Love 'em