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Theres variouse types of tubes. Consumer grade, commercial, and military grade. The difference is how heavy duty the tube is built.
Take the 6L6 power tube. 6L6 is a consumer grade tube that was popular in America and GE, Sylvania, Tung-Sol made tons of them because they were used in a lot of consumer grade amplifiers.
The 5881 is the commercial variant of the 6L6 which means the components inside the little bottle are beefed up with heavier wire and plates. They have a different sound than the 6L6 as well.
The military version of the 5881 come in a metal case instead of glass. These tubes are made to take a beating and still work.
You can use all of these tubes in the same amp but the sound will differ.
The EL-34 was a European consumer grade tube that was made to be inexpensive. It uses control grids instead of plates like the 6L6. Marshall started using them because they were a lot cheaper than the 5881 tubes that were in the early Marshalls. The EL-34 was just a cheap and highly available tube in Britian. It's sounds wonderful when it's pushed. For some reason this is the case with tubes. The flimbsy ones sound the best when you abuse them. The military ones that can take more of the punishing sound cold.
Take the 6L6 power tube. 6L6 is a consumer grade tube that was popular in America and GE, Sylvania, Tung-Sol made tons of them because they were used in a lot of consumer grade amplifiers.
The 5881 is the commercial variant of the 6L6 which means the components inside the little bottle are beefed up with heavier wire and plates. They have a different sound than the 6L6 as well.
The military version of the 5881 come in a metal case instead of glass. These tubes are made to take a beating and still work.
You can use all of these tubes in the same amp but the sound will differ.
The EL-34 was a European consumer grade tube that was made to be inexpensive. It uses control grids instead of plates like the 6L6. Marshall started using them because they were a lot cheaper than the 5881 tubes that were in the early Marshalls. The EL-34 was just a cheap and highly available tube in Britian. It's sounds wonderful when it's pushed. For some reason this is the case with tubes. The flimbsy ones sound the best when you abuse them. The military ones that can take more of the punishing sound cold.
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