Old tube question

[gibsonguitar1988]

My dad came across a box full of tubes for old equipment at work that were going to be pitched, and he of course asked if he could take them. I have 6V6s and 6L6s and tons of old octal tubes and whatnot out the rear. Mainly power tubes and octal preamp tubes.

I found these tubes in the pile, they are 6V6GT's and look identical to the tubes in this photo. My question is, would they work/sound good in my '55 5E3 Deluxe? I know the tubes that are in there now are GT's and I was curious as to if these would work.

Provided that I get them tested (I'll take them to my amp repair guy) and they test ok, I'd like to know if I could put them in my 5E3.

 

[maaadtrip]

I'll let someone more knowledgeable about old (valuable) amps give you an answer - but I will say good score!

Really, as long as they get tested and you're tech biases the amp properly they will work. Thinking about it, an old USA tube in an old USA amp makes more sense than a new, chinese/russian tube.

 

[Jeramy James]

My dad came across a box full of tubes for old equipment at work that were going to be pitched, and he of course asked if he could take them. I have 6V6s and 6L6s and tons of old octal tubes and whatnot out the rear. Mainly power tubes and octal preamp tubes.

I found these tubes in the pile, they are 6V6GT's and look identical to the tubes in this photo. My question is, would they work/sound good in my '55 5E3 Deluxe? I know the tubes that are in there now are GT's and I was curious as to if these would work.

Provided that I get them tested (I'll take them to my amp repair guy) and they test ok, I'd like to know if I could put them in my 5E3.

If you got any extras that you want to get rid of shoot me a PM. I might be interested in purchasing a few.

 

[Steve Mavronis]

What are the codes and writing on the tubes? From that you can tell the date they were made to see how vintage they are. I recently got a '58 GE 6V6GT from my father-in-law that I'm using, and a '53 RCA 6V6GT a week later but haven't tried that yet because there is a ridge around the base that I'm told means the tube ran hot when it was last used.

 

[PapaSquash]

Any 6SF5's? 6SL7GT? I can use oddball octal preamp tubes...

Those ought to be fine in an old Deluxe.

Edit. I'm envious. A similar Sylvania shorted out and took down my Champ. I loved the sound of that tube pushed.

 

[fett]

Boy. Did you score. I just love vintage tubes. You need a tube tester. A real one.

 

[LPCollector]

Any 6SF5's? 6SL7GT? I can use oddball octal preamp tubes...

I also have, 1952 GE 6SN7GTA and 6W4GT........

 

[PapaSquash]

dang...

How'd they test?

 

[gibsonguitar1988]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll try to get a pic of them all tonight.

I don't remember those specific ones PapaSquash but 6SJ7 I know I have at least one of.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

My old Bassman had Sylvania glass in it, and I'm a big fan.

 

[69chargerse]

Sweet. I have a 1963 Magnavox tube stereo console with four Sylvania 6V6GT tubes, it screams. Great tubes.

 

[Splattle101]

If they test up OK, they should be good in your Deluxe.

But I wouldn't put them in without testing. If they have a short, for example, you could end up damaging the amp before the fuse blows. Test first, cry less.

 

[Splattle101]

...but 6SJ7 I know I have at least one of.

6Sj7 is a signal pentode. It's a great big fat sounding preamp valve. I've heard them in a Dual Professional replica and they're very nice.

 

[Greg's Guitars]

No, all those tubes will kill your amp.......send them to me fr proper disposal.

 

[Splattle101]

Common octal preamps include:

6SJ7 - pentode
6SN7 - twin triode
6SL7 - twin triode
6SC7 - twin triode, common cathode

What kind of 6L6s have you scored?

 

[gibsonguitar1988]

I tried to take pics tonight. I have such a shitty camera I can't get it to focus for nothing so the pics are useless.

4 Sylvania "Made In USA 926HW" 6V6GTs (probably the best looking of the bunch)
3 GE 6SC7s
1 RCA 6SQ7
1 RCA 6SN7
2 RCA 5881s
2 unidentified 6AV6
2 RCA "metal can" 6L6s
1 RCA "metal can" 6V6
1 RCA 5693
1 Westinghouse 12DF7
1 RCA 5Y3GT
1 RCA 6Y6
1 RCA 5V4gt

See a pattern? LOL they are almost ALL RCAs. A lot of the writing on them has faded out so it made identifying them a bitch.

 

[Splattle101]

Nice!

The metal 6L6s can't be used in any Fender amp made since the late 1940s. They won't handle the voltages. However, they are good valves if you can find an amp to take 'em.

Regarding the RCA 5881s, I would bet dollars to cents that they're made by Tung-Sol and rebranded for RCA. I have a small stash of them like that. Do they look like this?:

If so, it's made by Tung-Sol. The tell-tales are the big, grey plates, the short fat bottle (that's quite heavy), the top getter and - most of all - the lozenge shaped mica supports around the edges of the top and bottom spacers.

If they test as good, they're good to go in any tweed Fender 6L6 amp. They might be a pushed a bit hard in a blackface amp, though. Fantastic sounding valves. My favourite 6L6.

 

[gibsonguitar1988]

Yup that's them. Except with a brown ring at the bottom. Unfortunately I only have a Super Reverb and Twin Reverb (BF circuits) at the moment so I'll probably hold off on those for awhile.

 

[Greg's Guitars]

Get rid of any let me know ....

 

[fett]

I kinda know tubes. All those numbers are perplexing. Before you do anything rash, Google 5881.