Great Information! I think I am just going to have to play it more to decide on the gain. I have read alot of information on 6L6 tubes. Their seem to be a wide array to choose from. The JJ's I got from Nik sound good-just not sure if there is something better? Some people seem to think that the preamp tubes make the most difference and that the power tubes are only noticable at higher volumes. What are your thoughts?
I have a THD Bivalve 30. It allows me to quickly change tubes without biasing and hence allows me to A/B tubes of all kinds.
My favorite 6L6s on a consistent basis are the JJ's. An extremely close second would be the Svetlana Winged C's (not SED). The Winged C's just are not as consistent as the JJ's. My main gigging amp for many years has been a '66 Super Reverb and I usually run the JJ's in it. I buy them and my JJ pre-amp tubes from Bob at Eurotubes. I highly recommended BOB at Eurotubes. I have also used TAD 6L6's in my Super Reverb. They sound very, very, good, but they only last 3-6 months, for some reason. I also have a Fender Bassman clone that only sounds good to me when I am running the JJ 6L6s.
The effect of pre-amp tubes is far more noticeable. That said, you will notice a tone improvement with the right output tubes. Moreover if you have crappy output tubes, you are wasting your money on upgraded pre-amp tubes.
Bottom Line: I recommend the JJ's but do try a couple other and see what you think.