EF86

[abstamaria]

Pardon my ignorance, but was the EF86 valve in any of the amps that Hank used?

Many thanks,

Andy

[dave robinson]

Only a few, The Vox AC15 - Vox AC30-6 - Matchless DC30 - KCP - Pinnacle 30 .

[rogera]

It was the AC30-4 Dave. (The first AC30)

[Brian H]

I have an original AC30/4, and yes it has an EF86.

Brian H.

[dave robinson]

It was the AC30-4 Dave. (The first AC30)

I beg your pardon Roger, that's what I was supposed to have written as I have one - it's an age thing

[abstamaria]

Many thanks, Dave, all. The valve featured in the early pieces, including " Apache," I assume then.

Best,

Andy

[dave robinson]

Yes the early stuff is prominently influenced by the timbre of the EF86 valve. It gives a great tone at the high end when slightly 'distressed', without the horrible 'ice pick' treble.
You can get a very similar sound using a Vox AC30 Top Boost using the Brilliant channel with no treble or bass added, using the CUT to tame the highs. It isn't quite the same as the AC30/4 sound, but close enough.

That said, I have ben using my Mesa Boogies' lately, a DC-50 and a Mark 3, each of which give a quality Shadows tone, as well as Roy's latest acquisition, a Fender Twin which I tried last night at our gig with great success. My old Twin Reverb had JBL speakers and I struggled to get the Shads tone with that, but Roy's is fitted with Eminence speakers which are not as 'cutting' and I got a pretty close sound to what I was looking for. I used it on the 25 watt setting.

[Didier]

I rember attending a listening test with an AC30 which only had ECC83s in the preamp section, but also had an add-on EF86 preamp. Proper switching was used so that immediate comparison could be made with ECC83 or EF86 sound. There was no noticeable difference in sound between both...

Didier

[abstamaria]

Very interesting, Dave, Didier. My only experience with the valve is either the Heritage Vox as.

Andy

[ecca]

We have an AC15 ( with the EF86) that belongs to an old pal of mine, in fact I went with him to buy it in 1963 and when I play through this amp at the Hankies the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.