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[FuzzyAce]

I attributed that to the little bottles in the back.

Being cathode biased added to the compressed feel at high volumes too. It could happen with cathode biased EL34s even.
My YGM-3 with EL84s behaves differently at higher volumes because it's fixed bias, so it feels a bit more punchy. Speakers matter of course, and some breakup quicker than others.

 

[laxu]

The biggest issue with the Vox was the effects loop. It overloaded everything.

I guess a line level fx loop on it then? I've tried the amp a few times at stores but never the fx loop, just to try pedals up front.

But concerning the EL84s, at the time it was the only EL84 amp I’d ever owned and I’m pretty sure it was the lack of negative feedback but the power section just collapsed in on itself when you got it cooking. Like hyper compression but muddy. Some may like that but I do not. It was like one amp at low volume and a different amp at high volume. And i just never got it anywhere that i liked. I attributed that to the little bottles in the back.

That's just what they do, and it is all about that circuit rather than EL84s.

Being cathode biased added to the compressed feel at high volumes too. It could happen with cathode biased EL34s even.
My YGM-3 with EL84s behaves differently at higher volumes because it's fixed bias, so it feels a bit more punchy. Speakers matter of course, and some breakup quicker than others.

I agree. The Victory VC35 I had allowed you to basically switch between fixed bias 35W and cathode bias 11W using the power scaling switch. The 11W was definitely looser feeling, but I kinda liked that for clean and lower gain stuff.

 

[HomespunEffects]

Being cathode biased added to the compressed feel at high volumes too. It could happen with cathode biased EL34s even.
My YGM-3 with EL84s behaves differently at higher volumes because it's fixed bias, so it feels a bit more punchy. Speakers matter of course, and some breakup quicker than others.

I was just generally displeased with that amp all around. Plus it weighs a ton.

Strangely, I traded that Vox for the Mesa Mark Five:35, another EL84 amp. I definitely understood after that that what I hated about the Vox wasn't the power tubes themselves.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I agree. The Victory VC35 I had allowed you to basically switch between fixed bias 35W and cathode bias 11W using the power scaling switch. The 11W was definitely looser feeling, but I kinda liked that for clean and lower gain stuff.

I like cathode bias too, especially for clean and eob tones. Definitely has a certain feel when you dig in. I've built a few amps that way and some with EL34s as well.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I was just generally displeased with that amp all around. Plus it weighs a ton.

Strangely, I traded that Vox for the Mesa Mark Five:35, another EL84 amp. I definitely understood after that that what I hated about the Vox wasn't the power tubes themselves.

Yep, definitely more to them than just the tube type. I had a borrowed AC15 for a bit, but I never got it up to ear piecing volumes. The cleans were nice though.

 

[GreatGreen]

I haven't tried the Cali Tweed or Fillmore, but my beef with the real Lonestar Classic is that it has so much low end you tend to have to turn the bass knob pretty low, which leaves you less adjustment range. I've only played the 1x12 and 2x12 combos, the blue models with only a half power switch. The Lonestar Special is a bit leaner in the low end so I liked it less for cleans but more for overdrive compared to the LSC.

Based on your description I might like the Cali Tweed though. I've never been looking for tons of low end in an amp, and to me Fender Blackface based amps benefit from some mid boost, so the Tweed sounds like it's already doing those things.

The Cali Tweed is a great amp. It's like a mix of a great Blackface and Tweed amp, with a lot of the pros of both. It does the big bell/piano type clean tones as well as the tweed overdrive tones without getting harsh. I love it, it's one of my favorite Mesa amps ever.

 

[AutomationBias]

All this EL84 talk reminded me of when everybody was going crazy over THD Yellowjackets.