TAD 6L6GC-STR

[Structo]

TAD 6L6GC-STR
Moss was kind enough to include these tubes in my D'Lite 44 kit.
The kit info said they came with the Winged C's 6L6's but Moss told me he has been leaning towards these for the 6L6 apps.

Anybody have much experience with these?
This is my first 6L6 amp so I am drawing on zero exposure to this or any brand of 6L6 tubes.

John Templeton compares these to the old Sylvania's while others compare them to RCA blackplates....
I'm not really into NOS tubes as I want something that I can recreate when the time comes to replace them.

I can't really find much info on these tubes from the Tube Amp Doctor site.
The box they came in says designed and handcrafted in Germany.
But I also read where someone said these came from China.

I notice on www.DougsTubeStore.com that he rates these on breakup specs., ie, early, average, late distortion.

Opinions on these and other 6L6GC types welcome.


Is the 6L6WGC simply a shorter bottle version of these?


Is there a definitive site that does unbiased (non-opinionated)comparisons of different brands and types?

Thanks so much for your opinions.

[CaseyJones]

TAD 6L6GC-STR

I'm not really into NOS tubes as I want something that I can recreate when the time comes to replace them.

Do you dig the tone you get with the TADs? Then buy a couple sets of them RIGHT NOW. Put them away for when the time comes. Even if you gig steadily you should be able to get away with re-tubing every couple years. I've got amps I've had for decades, I've never touched the tubes in some of them.

Is the 6L6WGC simply a shorter bottle version of these?

Sovtek came up with the "WGC" designation for their 6L6 variant.

Is there a definitive site that does unbiased (non-opinionated)comparisons of different brands and types?

No.

Most of the vendors push whatever they have in stock at the moment. My opinion is that NOS is generally better than new tubes although there are vendors popping up all over peddling used tubes as "NOS" or recent production as "NOS". There's no such thing as an "NOS Sovtek" IMHO although vendors hype them as such. That's one of those stupid buzzwords that's taken on a life of its own like "Class A". Everyone layers on the B.S. about "magic" tubes that will give your amp "smooth overdrive" and "creamy distortion".

The consensus is that RCA "black plates" are the creme of the crop. Buy a set from High-Test, no hype there, they are what they say they are. They'll cost $250 for the pair. If you want to do it on the cheap get a set of NOS GE grey plates for around $125. The compare every new tube you can find to your NOS reference tubes. At around $30 per pair for new 6L6s you can buy a lot of them for what one pair of NOS 6L6s cost.

If I had to choose 6L6s among the new tubes I'd buy winged "C's.

[sebastian]

I tried TAD 6L6WGC tubes.
All these tubes seems made in China under TAD specs....
The power of these tubes is a bit low,early breakup and some compression.The tone is good but not in direct relation with the costs....
After 2 month 2 of them failed.The 6L6GC STR version should be another type of tube,more close to the RCA black plate 6L6 design,with more bass (WGC has more low mid and a creamy sound) and more highs,and more power rating (I think 30 watt VS 20-25 watt of wgc)

Svetlana Winged C 6L6GC is much better,great power ,great tone and great reliability.Also the Sovtek 6L6WXT+ is good,less harmonics than wingedC but more strong bass and a bit darker top end,very reliable!

JJ 6L6GC ,great tone,tons of low-mids,good top end,very dynamic and "heavy".A bit low in reliability as all the JJ that I used in this 4 or 5 years...

[brownnote]

In my experience the TAD's area a great sounding tube, but it's true that they're not as robust (construction) as the Winged C.

Another tube I'm really liking a lot in the d'lite is the new tung sol 5881 reissue, another low headroom tube but the tone is very nice, warm and round with a smooth breakup.

I tried the chinese 6l6's that mesa uses and didn't care for them, same with the JJ 6L6's

BTW...Dougs tubes is a great source, they do a pretty good job at weeding out the junk tubes.

You probably already know there's always been a failure rate for out-of-the-box tubes even in the good old days, now it seems that it's comensurate with the general quality of tubes these days; cheaper product/more failure.