THD Yellowjackets 6L6

Tube adaptors that allows you to swap out 6L6's for EL84's. No real "features" except for easy install.

I've read people saying they bought these to decrease volume. I don't think they're particularly useful for that, those people should buy a power attenuator first. These are mainly to get that EL84 distortion out of your amp...by putting EL84's in it. Makes sense!

I put these in a Fender Blues Deluxe as a last ditch effort to get some use out of the gain channel. For a long time I blamed how loud the amp was for not being able to get any good gain, but after I bought an attenuator, I was disappointed to find that even fully cranked the dirty channel was pretty useless.

So I was just committed to using a boost->distortion pedal solution on the clean channel, which I wasn't thrilled about. Then I read about these in an online forum and decided to give them a try.

They're pretty damn good! My main concerns were 1.) Will this screw up my clean tone (which I like) and 2.) Will it give me good drive.

1.)Clean tone is still there, completely unchanged, except that you do lose clean headroom. This was never really a concern for me, I don't mind the clean tone breaking up some when cranked, for me that's a bonus. It may not be for you.

2.) I like the drive. It's nice and organic sounding, and good for most any rock n roll. On its own: Derek & The Dominos, with an attenuator or a boost pedal kicked in: I can keep up with an AC/DC song's grit pretty easily without the police showing up.

So, problem solved as far as I'm concerned. Distortion pedals are out of my life, cause I've got nice natural-sounding power-tube distortion without clipping my input signal.

They seem reliable. They're really just adaptors, so I can't imagine what would go wrong. The only thing people should be aware of is that they're gonna make the tubes stick out much further, so you should take measurements before ordering.

Haven't had the pleasure.

I don't gig, I just jam with friends now and then. I've been chasing tone for awhile now though, and think I have decent taste IMHO. I've been playing for 8 years. I've been through a good amount of gear, and am learning that you really can't get too much done with pedals. You gotta have a guitar and amp that you can get something decent out of to begin with or you're just chasing your tail.

This review is based on:

Clean: Am Stand Strat w/ Lindy Fralin "Real 54's"-> BOSS CS-3 -> Blues Deluxe

Gain: Strat-> TS-9 Tubescreamer (just for boost)-> Blues Deluxe

The price is right, easy install, and while they're probably not right for everyone, they're worth a shot before chucking a whole amp that you're only partially dissatisfied with. Really: if you like your clean channel already, you're halfway there. All you gotta do is find a way to get those power tubes distorting before you blow your speaker out and you should be happy. This could be the answer for you.

I have one thing to say: FENDER HOTROD DELUXE + YJS YELLOWJACKETS/JJ tubes = ****HEAVEN**** Fukk robbing some bloke to buy a Vox. Pick up a used HRDx, replace preamp tubes with NOS 12ax/at/au7's, swap out the speaker for one of your liking, and have a glorious creamy 15 watt Fender Hotrod Vox AC30 and not a 40 watt block of ice!!! The HRDx stock sucks, but for $250 in mods it's the best amp I have ever heard.

converts 6L6s to EL-84s. Drops power 50 to 70%. Simple to switch out: unplug amp, remove 6L6s, put EL-84s into the YJs, pop 'em in. Did the conversion on a mid '80s "The Twin" (red knob, 100w, super clean channel, super crappy dirt channel, louder than anything else I've come across).

I already had 2 of the 4 6L6s out of the amp, so putting in the YJs and EL-84s in their place, I think (at low power) the amp gets all the way down to 15 watts. The clean channel has some nice warm distortion now (NEVER did at any volume prior to this) and you can actually turn it up to 4 or 5 in the garage. The dirt channel has potential for some serious distortion now, with nice feedback and a really warm breakup. The Fender reverb sounds different too- only a teeny bit sounds good; too much and it mushes out. Overall, the amp is finally capable of good distortion on it's own, and with volume levels that can be managed on the guitar itself. I love it! The amp almost got sold a hundred times, to cover the cost of another tube amp that had more versatile/useful sounds. Not getting rid of it now!

Can't speak about reliability without more time invested.

NA, see above

Been playing for 27 years; love my amp now. play mostly acoustic and some electric (more now that I've got an amp I like). Well worth the cost, hope they last a long time.

The yellow-jackets came with a pair of JJ Tesla EL84's. There was no drama or skill required to swap them over for the Groove Tubes 6L6's in my Roland Bolt 60 Amp. The supplied instructions are perfectly adequate. The only caveat is that you must not use them on an amp of too high a plate voltage. (Common examples are given.)

The difference was immediate and marked. It was not that I am unhappy with the sound of the amp in its original configuration but the best sound came at too high a volume for general use. The qualities are pretty much as described by others and with the virtues generally attributed to Class A Amps. I have tested the amp with a variety of guitars and the observations are common to all.
The tone controls appear to work better and more predictably. The overdrive channel is much more versatile and smoother in operation. There is still ample headroom for the type of music I play -Jazz/Blues and I have far less need to use an overdrive pedal.
You can happily control the volume from the guitar which was far less precise with the 6L6's. It is, as the ad says like having a new amp with the benefit of class A operation without paying todays prices for it.

I see no reason to suppose that they will not be reliable either in their own right or as a component of the amp. it is said that the valves wear faster in Class A and I intend to get a spare set of EL84's which are small enough to carry in my guitar case.
I am happy to gig with the amp without a backup.

I have not dealt with THD but anecdotally, the company seems to be well regarded

If I went back to playing straight ahead rock with the need for the full volume potential my amp has I would pop the 6L6's back in but for the refinement that the yellow jackets bring to the sound they are a winner as far as my needs are concerned.

I tried them in a traynor ycv 40 tube amp, and Allen Old Flame and a silverfaced super reverb. They did cut the power and allowed easier break up. i like the el 84 tube but guess I prefer the 6l6 stock. I like these amps at the edge of breakup , and with a clean tone. These do the break up but the lack of headroom on clean is a problem. Lose some bass too. Probably due to the tube characteristics of the el 84. Heck I'm not an electronics guy, i play guitar. They are a fascinating product though and I use them sometimes for a change. Now I keep them as backup tubes

How brutal is the distrotion? Brutal. How clean is the clean, not so clean.
They add an intersting variety to your tone, and easy to change in or out and can serve as decent backups if you don;t like them that much.

So far so good they sit in the back of the amp I'm using in a padded case.

Nice responsive folks

Well they do vut the power. They do sound like el84.s In short they do what they are advertised to do. I just didn't need them cause I don't need brutal overdrive..

A very easy plug in modification. Cut my power some, as advertised, that was what I was after. My 68 super was too loud when I got it breathing, according to the guys. I went from giging at volume 3-4 to about 6 now, perfect.

I play a LP Deluxe with a minibucker in the neck, full shred Dimarzio in the bridge, also a Ibenez w 2 stock singles and an X2N bridge. All styles, Beck is my hero. Clean sounds are still clean, an oddly enough, overdrive is still cleaner using my favorite setting but with smoking tone and all the sustain I need. In overdrive for example with "Cause we've ended as Lovers", I can have infinite sustain-harmonics ringing out standing ~ 3 feet away from my amp, then end the sustain by moving 1 more foot away. I could do this before the yellowjacket, but no one could hear the rest of the band!

I have had them 3 months, no problems yet.

I phoned the company once before I bought just for info, was impressed.

Started playing in 4th grade, Im 45 now (still in 4th grade). I have a sovtek 50w 1/2 stack that I like real well also, put the groove tube adapters in it, didnt quite have the headroom at a gig, may go back to the 6l6s with it. Ilove the tone the 68 super is giving me too much now to gig with sovtek currently. The super smokes now, the other guitar player is considering trying the yellow jackets in his reissue 410 bassman or his 112 musicman. I tryed lots of expensive amps ie Orange, Dr Z, Matchless, Bogner, etc. etc. I always liked my super but couldnt be happier with it now!

There really aren't any features....They are plug and play!

The sound: I am defnitely not an electronic genius, but after reading several reviews, I decided it was worth a shot to change the tonality of my Hot Rod Deluxe. I love the amp overall, but like someone else mentioned, that something special was lacking. Hard to describe, but I've put up with it because the clean channel was very good and I predominantly use pedals for drive, so it was working. After putting these in, I immediately heard the "chime" or grease that I was after...AMAZING....There was no noticeable drop in volume, however, which I wanted, but whatever was lacking before is now there. I gigged this weekend and just had this goofy smile on!

should be good..not much to go wrong...

Support was excellent. Ed helped me through the installation when Musician's Friend actually sent me the YJCD instead of YJSD...told me no worries with my amp, just don't hook up the ground. Very knowledgeable folks with a great product. By the way, the JJ's they ship with are good in their own right!

yellowjackets in mesa boogie rectoverb: good cleans, made gain channel harsh and un-usable, still very loud--don't expect low

volume breakup, just loss of headroom. would like to try these in a fender (or similar) combo. WILL NOT FIT IN MOST

HEADS...REQUIRES A HAIR OVER 5 INCHES OF CLEARANCE for the regular model (short model is only about half an inch shorter)

********** If you want some serious volume reduction and low volume power tube distortion, I highly suggest some TADs by

www.smicz-amplification.com ... these are 1-2 watt tube adapters (6AK6, sounds similar to a 6V6) and at only 4 inches tall,

will fit in heads too. ************

fine

I have a custom Fender '65 reissue deluxe reverb. It's in a custom cabinet by Marsh Amps that has a 12" Celestion G12 "Blue" alnico, AND a Fender blue alnico 10" speaker. 5751's in 2 and 4 slots to tame the extra highs in the main channel. .47 bright cap, and a .82 slope resistor. Added the Yellowjackets and two EL-84's to try the class A sound. Absolutely fantastic sound! Been at the Blues since 1959, and this rig is tone Viagra. Could not be better. I couldn't believe it...

I play a Heritage 555 with twin Schaller humbuckers. Great guitar, and the sounds I can get out of this amp with the Yellowjackets are perfect no matter where I set the pickup selector. What's amazing is the tone from the bridge pickup which I never liked. Now I play it alot for leads. B. B. King city. The sound is really wide ranging with the combination of the 12 inch and 10 inch speakers, but it's the slight breakup, tiny dirt, subtle overdrive nuances of the tone that just can't be described. Tremendous is all I can say.

Don't know yet as I just got them. I'm hoping for the best. I'll let them know if they die on me!!

I spoke with Steve Lam, and he could not have been more helpful. So far, all is good...haven't needed any customer service.

Like I said, been at the Blues since 1959. Not many amps or guitars I haven't owned or tried, especially Fender amps. You just can't get the old sound out of modern products, but the Yellowjackets can sure bring it on!! Try them!!!!

simple... i'm using these in a blues deville.

they sound great! very voxy.

i actually have had to send one of the yellowjackets back to the company after about 2 months- and it looks like just recently the other one is going bad... it gets very hot!. i know its not the EL84's cuz i swapped them out to check.

the company was very friendly and sent me a new one free... hope they will send another one.

i havent had these for more then a year, i was hoping they would hold up longer for $100. i love the sound. i would reccomend others to take backups just in case one go's bad... or 2.