uhh o!

[youDEVILyou]

there is a small blue ozze light emenating from the visible base of two of my tubes.. and a lot of abnormal feedback
this is jsut like my other problem i had right before it WENT KABLUEY!

the tubes are only five months old at the most, and im gettign frustrated

i jsut want to be fricking loud and obnoxious to all around me and i always have to keep an eye on my amp I.E keep it relatively low.


any thoughts
help?
sugestions?

oh yeah in case you forgot its a new model t


i also am contemplating putting a different type of tube in?
any suggestoins or advice?

[JoeArthur]

The 6L6GC/5881 power tubes in this amp are operating at around 490 volts on the plates.  The 5881 version, being more heavy duty than a standard 6L6... is still only safely rated for a maximum of 400 volts on the plate.  This exceeding the rating is somewhat normal... as most guitar amps operate tubes above their ratings.  As an example, the Deluxe Reverb and Super Champ are really difficult to find suitable 6V6 tubes for...

The concept is a simple one... you must be willing to trade tube life for "the sound".  If "the sound" is what you want, then you pays the dues by buying the tubes.  Otherwise, you get another amp.

[youDEVILyou]

soo
my tubes are running hot??

is this what you are saying?

i am a bit slow

[youDEVILyou]

annd

that five months is normal for tubes to be burrning out at this votage.?


i dont mid having to change teh tubes relatively often. i jsut want to knwo if its normal and something isnt horribly wrong with my precious precious amp

[JoeArthur]

Well... yes and no.  Don't you love definite answers!!

Hot would normally imply too low a bias setting... which would cause the tubes to conduct a higher current... which could exceed the plate dissapation rating.  This could burn them out faster than usual.

With a higher plate voltage... what happens is that the tube wears out faster than usual - over time, the voltage will "strip" the cathode to a point where it is no longer able to effectively emit electrons.

A hot tube... could be changed by changing the bias setting... increasing the voltage applied to the grids to reduce the current.  The higher plate voltage is not something that can be changed by changing the bias... nor doing anything else less than major surgery to the amp.

In other words... the amp will eat tubes.  Since you are paying for them anyway, "babying" the amp is not what I will do.  In an over voltage situation, the tubes will last until they are gone.  

Play it loud and enjoy it until the tubes give up.  Then do it all over again.

[youDEVILyou]

how will i knwo when the amp is goan kaputz..

id blast teh mother effer if i knew it wasnt goign to damage it completely when the tubes decided to quit.

[youDEVILyou]

p.s

will a set of 6550's work in my amp and if so

where might i aquire some NoS ones?