Myles:

I'm having a mild case of note distortion in the low end of one of my open back combos even when clean.

It has resided in a friend's basement for the last 4 weeks and I can be pretty sure that it is not the amp itself. My gut instinct tells me the speaker may have absorbed some moisture. Are there any household techniques that can help me remedy this?

There are many de-humidification products on the market.

Just to cover all my bases, can a stressed tube cause this?

I don't know what you mean by stressed. Tubes are good or bad as in weak, microphonic, out of match etc. when it comes to bad ones.

Preferred speaker combo..

Myles I hope to try diff configs and figured out that I can do with various speaker hook up combos.

Using 4 8-ohms speakers one can do series first then parallel or vice versus.

Which config is preferred as per the amp?

thanks

Blueraven ...

I generally try to have the speaker load set to the highest choice so the entire output winding in the output transformer is used.

Well the Marshall heads can go to 16 but the Mesa only ouputs to 8-ohms. However, it seems to play just fine into the 1960AX 4x12 16-ohm cab.

thanks

Using a 16 ohm cab in an 8 ohm tap is fine safety wise but you never want to go the other way around.

Myles,

I recently did a mode for pins 1-8 connection on the Mesa Boogie amp. I then used DeOxit on all the switches etc.

Do I need to use some other sort of "moving contact lubricant" after using the DeOxit?

thanks

Deoxit works great and has a lubricant in it already that works quite nicely.

Thanks Myles your the man.. :}=

You are quite welcome

Hey again, Myles!

Someone gave me an old Silvertone 1482 that had been crudely converted to being a "head", minus the rest of the cab and the speaker. It's seen better days, for sure.

How concerned should I be about some surface-rust on the Power-Transformer?

Once I get around to replacing tubes and caps and all, should I fire it up and hope that the Power-Transformer isn't shorted? Or, should I test the transformer somehow and/or replace it?

Am I correct in thinking that trying to clean the surface-rust off with a brush would be a bad idea? Is there a safe 'n' smart way to clean off surface rust from transformers?


"I could make the TRANSFORMation as a rock 'n' roll sta-a-a-a-a-a-a-aaarrr... "

Just take the dive and plug it in and see what happens. Leave the rust there ... no problems with rust and rust is actually the best rust stopper to more rust.

Hey Myles,

I'm looking for a set of GT 6L6s for my Victoria Regal. I normally run one 5881, but want to increase power and clean headroom for rhythm playing, as I plan to use my Zendrive for primary overdrive. Which 6L6 duet would you recommend, and I'm assuming I'd choose a high rating for more headroom?

Thanks Myles.

Do not use high ratings as they run hot. Use a spec rating, a midrange tube. Talk to Mike at www.kcanostubes.com or Doug at www.dougstubes.com. The 6L6GEs by GT used to be great but since GT was taken over by Fender all bets are off. Mike or Doug may have old sets and have other ideas as well.


Another great 6L6 is this one - http://thetubestore.com/tad-6l6wgc.html and if you click on the link it will also take you to the folks that sell it.

Hehhehh, kinda like the "browning" finish sometimes seen on antique firearms, from before "blueing", huh?

Yes

I pulled out my old (hardly used in years) Champ -- the basic 5W, three knob. When I power it up there is a hiss that gets louder when I turn up the volume. When I plug in a guitar, it all cleans up, except for a little hum that starts at around 8 on the volume. Any suggestions?

If the amp sat for a long time without being turned on the power supply filter caps may be shot. There are also some cathode bias caps that may also need replacement. I will assume you already installed fresh tubes.

Myles,

I've been searching for some tubes . I noticed some of the black plates are 2-mica and some are 3-mica..What's the real diff between those?

thanks

Just a design change, not really much difference as the variables in any tube design are wider than the tooling and design differences.

Hey Myles,

It turns out 6L6s in my Victoria won't provide the headroom I'm looking for, probably due to the plate voltage/design of the amp. It's obviously a great amp, extremely dynamic and touch sensitive, but I also would like something with more headroom for rhythm work.

On that note, I have an opportunity to get a Fender Bassman reissue at a great price. While I've not played thorugh a Bassman before, I'm guessing it will have the headroom and Fender tone I'm looking for. Any thoughts on these and are there specific mods you'd recommend?

If I may be so bold, you can increase headroom in the same amp in much cheaper ways:

1) Getting a 6L6 set that is rated for maximum headroom
2) Using cleaner pre-amp tubes (12AY7 vs. 12AX7)
3) Get speaker(s) that have higher power ratings (100w vs. 50w)
4) Combine one or all of them

Personally I find the Fender 4x10 Bassman reissue a very nice amp, a lot of bang for the buck and all I'd really do is put some great tubes in the front end and check the bias. The winged C 6L6s work great in the amp as do the GT 6L6GE.

The amps have nice headroom but not as much as say a VibroKing.

Thanks Myles. And what would you recommend for front end tubes?

And thanks Zephyr, I've tried those things except for the higher rated 6L6s -- I think the plate voltage on the Victoria is too low to be able to provide a lot of headroom (or so I was told).

The plate voltage has nothing to do with headroom for the most part ... it is design that does those things.

On front end tubes it is really mostly personal taste and preference but for the best performance and the most headroom assure your preamp tubes meet design spec which few today actually do. That is one reason for a great tube vendor that can test more than the simple one parameter that the most common tube testers can do.

Myles:

Speaker question: I have a Cetec Gauss 12" speaker (3281) and cabinet I bought in '87 and never put to use. Are you familiar with this brand or model? It says 8 ohms, but no other info. Is it worth finding a head for? How many watts? Thank you.

I do not have any info on this speaker or cab.

Myles;

Whelp I got these tubes. Not sure how I know if one is better then another tho.

2-RCA 3-Mica Black plate 5751/ECC83

2-Matched RCA 5751 tubes (lo mu 12AX7 ECC83)

2- Matched Pair premium plate 12AX7

2 NOS Mullard 12AT7WA CV4024(12AT7 ECC81)

Most gave some readings for the tubes but not sure what that means. I think the numbers mean the plate voltage but some of the numbers are large and some are small..Must be in millampearage or millvoltages and some must give the whole number..

Kinda confusing..I'm assuming the higher the numbers the better the tube?

Also, depending on the amp, I'm assuming I want to check the tubes and see if they are within the operating range for each particular amp..

Can you clarify the meaning of the numbers they provide using there test equipment?

thanks