Genalex - Gold Lion 6V6GT / CV511

I purchased a Genalex 6V6GT tube on 07/03/2012. It failed about seven months later. This was used in a reproduction '59 Princeton built by me. The audio problem mimicked an intermittent failure. I won't buy Genalex tubes again.

I've been using a pair of these in a Rivera Venus 3 for more than two years without a single problem. The amp is "Class A" so it runs full-out the whole time and, so far, these tubes have been wonderful! These tubes exhibit exactly what 6V6's are known for - harmonics, chime, clarity, and warmth. Highly recommended!

This seems to work very well in my boutique low wattage class A amp. Impressive complex tones with added warm bass compared to stock Electro-Harmonics 6V6GT tube. With all knobs on full, there is no background hiss/noise. However, there is a mild 60hz hum. I may have not noticed the hum before because this power tube is so quiet, or I need to now try a few premium preamp tubes. This is for someone that works the guitar lightly, plucks hard for leads and works the sound from their fingers.

I've had a pair of the Gold Lion 6V6GT tubes in my Deluxe Reverb for about four years and they have never given me a problem. They have a nice complexity to their sound and are very warm. I run them clean and use pedals for overdriven sounds. Worth the few extra bucks.

I've been searching for the magic tube combo to run in a '58 Champ clone that I built about a year ago. This is a class A single ended amp, meaning one power tube has to do the work of two. The kit came with a JJ 6V6 which is a good sounding, long lasting tube but I always like to experiment. Without going through all the details about trying different AX7s in the pre-amp (tested quite a few) The best combination I've found is a TAD 5E3 rectifier, a JJ 12AX7 short plate plain pin, and the Genalex 6V6 output. No info on lifespan of this tube but is was compared to a TAD 6v6(junk with the bottle attached to the base crooked and the bottle snapped off in my hand the third time I was installing it) and the JJ6V6S. Although the JJ is a fine tube(and I used a brand new one for test) the Genalex beats it in detail, clarity, tone, and extremely low noise. Harmonics are out of this world. I have 6 other amps, all of which are A/B and have 12" expensive speakers. Celestion Alnico Blues, Jensen Alnico, etc. The Champ has a little 8"Weber Alnico vintage in it and for quality sound and tone it can stand it's own against any of these other amps when armed with the Genalex output and JJ pre-amp. This combined with being small and light has now moved the Champ to my favorite go-to amp. Have ordered a matched set to go into my Princeton Reverb Ltd. Edition that has a 12" Jensen Alnico. Expecting pure bliss. If these tubes even last half as long in the Champ as the JJ did, then these will be what goes in it from now on even though they cost more than twice as much. I've never been able to get warmer, creamier overdrive out of anything else like this. Blues is my flavor and Genalex I favor.