Say Hello To The 6BM8

capnjuan

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Triode/Pentode in the same bottle, Listen to this! The technical data here. Brought back by EH; excellent used Euro versions out there. Used in:

Gibson GA1RT
Gibson GA8T (tweed)
Guild RC20 remote reverb amp ... functional equivalent of the GA1RT
Guild T1 RVT reverb
Guild Thunderbird reverb
Univox U45B sometimes J. Page recording amp
Known U45B variants: Lafayette, Meteor (Hilgen?)
 

capnjuan

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Hi Michael; yes, a sweet-sounding tube. They never caught on in the late 50s/early 60s for student amps; the 6V6 and the EL84 were favored partly because when paired, they generate more power; 15 watts/6V6 to 18 watts/EL84 as opposed to 12 watts/6BM8 even though the 6BM8 has another section that can be used as driver or for tremolo - it is two tubes of two different types in the same bottle.

This 2-for-1 characteristic saves a socket for another tube and is also true of the 6GW8 chosen by Guild for use in its Thunder 1 / Thunder 1RVTs. In my limited experience with them, I do not believe the 6GW8 to be as warm as the 6BM8 and the 6GW8 circuits were designed to suppress that distortion that you hear from the 6BM8 and that distortion is the reason for the enduring interest in the Univox U45B; a technical - if not necessarily commerical - success.
 

capnjuan

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No Michael; I'm sorry I do not.
 

BluesDan

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Great sound clip Cap. I am having a hard time accepting that there's no tube driver or similar overdrive at work there, be interested in what was plugged in.
 

capnjuan

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Yeah; could be Dan ... I just lifted the link, the context didn't really say, the thread was generically discussing the 6BM8; very much over-looked though.
 

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My buddy Dave does an amateur album every year in February. This year, he wants me to sing and play on a couple of tracks. I will (and I know I don't seem to deliver) but they'll be posted on his sound click page. I'm going to be using the GA-1rvt and the Estey/Magnatone ( and probably the Maverick too!)
I don't know what yet, as it's one of those "challenge" things where you have to write and record an entire album and upload it before March first.
 

BluesDan

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Default said:
My buddy Dave does an amateur album every year in February. This year, he wants me to sing and play on a couple of tracks. I will (and I know I don't seem to deliver) but they'll be posted on his sound click page. I'm going to be using the GA-1rvt and the Estey/Magnatone ( and probably the Maverick too!)
I don't know what yet, as it's one of those "challenge" things where you have to write and record an entire album and upload it before March first.

Very cool.....looking foward to hearing the clips! :mrgreen:
 

capnjuan

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coastie99 said:
... Now I need a Gibson GA8T !
I probably shouldn't do this but .... take a quick peek here. Just about museum-grade cosmetics; push/pull 6BM8s w/ one of the triode halves used as the trem oscillator and the other triode half of the other 6BM8 as driver/phase inverter. The next version of the GA8T has 'crest' cosmetics, forward-facing control panel, an additional 12AX7 for trem/PI, and was fitted with 6BQ5s/EL84s. Not a Marshall plexi but a dirt-cheap twin EL84 amp.
 
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