What's a good, small 6L6 amp for <$1k?

[Stringrazor]

Head or 1x12 combo, preferrably ~20W. Open to any features or lack thereof. I'm basically looking to add a 6L6 voice to the 6V6 & EL84 amps I have.

[melondaoust]

Reverend Hellhound.

No longer made, so you might want to look on eBay. Well worth the cash. (If you can find a Drivetrain II to go with it, double bonus!)

[Taller]

Fender Hot Rods.

[Spudboy]

There's always the Traynor YCV40; twin 6L6s, one 12" speaker, 40 watts with spring reverb and two channels. Punchy and good sound for about $750 Cdn.

[tedm]

I like doing amp deals in person these days, but if you get to the bay area I'll show you a dual 6L6 5E3 head I've got, and would love to have you try it out.

Ted

Head or 1x12 combo, preferrably ~20W. Open to any features or lack thereof. I'm basically looking to add a 6L6 voice to the 6V6 & EL84 amps I have.

[BadJaxx]

Fender Blues Deluxe....either original or the reissue..

[Jimmydeez]

Try to find a used Rivera Quiana Studio 1x12. I had one for awhile and it is a great amp.

[BrianBaker]

swap 6V6 for 6L6 tubes in a Deluxe Reverb.

[Stringrazor]

swap 6V6 for 6L6 tubes in a Deluxe Reverb.You can't do a straight swap. 6L6 draw more from the tranny. I have a '69/'70 SFDR and would love to be able to simply swap 6V6's for 6L6 occasionally but I don't want to mod it.

[homerayvaughan]

Fender Hot Rods.+1 Especially if you just need the cleans.

[BrianBaker]

You can't do a straight swap. 6L6 draw more from the tranny. I have a '69/'70 SFDR and would love to be able to simply swap 6V6's for 6L6 occasionally but I don't want to mod it.
May want to bounce this off a seasoned tech; which excludes me instantly. I play several DRs. one 65, and two 68s. I normally have 6v6s, but have used 6L6s also. The volume is significantly louder, and the tone different. There is some type of internal adjustment that is made, but not a "modification". My tech for years was Red Rhodes (Groove Tube engineer and pedal steel guy). He swaped back and forth as the mood fit him. Since Red passed, I have been using Mike Franceschini, and seems to me that he has put 6L6s in there too.

[da-boogieman]

May want to bounce this off a seasoned tech; which excludes me instantly. I play several DRs. one 65, and two 68s. I normally have 6v6s, but have used 6L6s also. The volume is significantly louder, and the tone different. There is some type of internal adjustment that is made, but not a "modification". My tech for years was Red Rhodes (Groove Tube engineer and pedal steel guy). He swaped back and forth as the mood fit him. Since Red passed, I have been using Mike Franceschini, and seems to me that he has put 6L6s in there too.
Stringrazor has the right inclination. The 6V6 heaters draw 450mA each while the 6L6 heaters draw about 900mA each. So a swap would put an extra 450mA x 2 = 900mA load on the power tranformer (PT) heater windings. I know the DR uses a 125P23B PT, but I don't have the specs on the heater winding current rating. I know Heyboer advertises an aftermarket replacement that they claim has enough headroom for 6L6s; it is rated at 5A on the heater winding.

So rather than just relying on anecdote that may or may not have been based on how hard they are stressing your pride and joy, you just need to verify that the PT can handle the extra 900mA (say an amp) and still enjoy a reasonable operating margin. When I make an amp I put in a 2X operating margin.

regards,
boogie

[Stringrazor]

Thanks for the details, Boogie. I knew them last year but forgot the specifics. I've read a solid-state rectifier helps by removing the rectifier tube heater draw from the tranny.

[Daddyo]

Howabout an Allen HotFudge head? They get great reviews and are available with 6L6s or 6V6s.

[cbpickin]

Yeah, I also wondered about the Allen Accomplice cause Dave Allen says it can run 6v6 or 6l6 with just a rebias. I just talked to him last week and said you could do the swap on a set break even.

[Stringrazor]

What do people think of the production Hot Rod Deluxe? This seems to be a respected, fairly inexpensive amp than has great mod potential.