HI All,
I have a Peavey Classic 100 Watt Head; 3 x 12AX7 Preamp Tubes and 8 x 6BQ5 Power Tubes
Love the amp, bought brand new, great clean sound and I use it predominantly as a pedal platform amp.
Trouble I am having is; the amp is bloody loud and now I am not playing in a band so much, mainly at home, I'd like to be able to reduce the overall volume capacity of the amp by hopefully removing a few power tubes.
So my questions are:
- Can I do actually this?
- Is the removal of tubes a cumulative effect?
- I have 8 power tubes (6BQ5), do they represent 12.5 watts each?
- Which (power) tubes would i remove in which order to achieve this?
If anyone has any experience with this, I would love to hear from you, also is this likely to adversely affect my amp in some way?
I should add I am running the amp @ 16 Ohms output into an Orange PCC112 Single Celestion Vintage 30 also and it's impedance is also 16 Ohms. Will changing the tubes have any impact on this?
Thanks All!
Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
You can pull half the power tubes, but that only reduces sound levels by 3 decibels For reference, the difference between the typical Fender high and low gain jacks is 6 decibels, so this is less difference. You do lose some headroom.
Acoustically, 1/10th power is half as loud, so a 10 watt amp is half as loud as a 100 watt amp. Really, if just turning it down won't work for you, consider getting a very small amp for home use.
Acoustically, 1/10th power is half as loud, so a 10 watt amp is half as loud as a 100 watt amp. Really, if just turning it down won't work for you, consider getting a very small amp for home use.
- JamesPaul
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Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
If you like the Classic's tones, consider the Classic 20 Mini Head as that very small amp. The C20 MH has the tones, is switchable between 20/5/1 Watts and adds many new features.
James Paul's PeaveysEnzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
Decade, Classics, Ecoustic, Windsors, VYPYR, Triple XXX, XXL, VKs, Bandit, JSXs, VIP, Piranha and a Penta.
Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
or look for an attenuator. and yes the C20MH sounds killer!
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Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
thanks for the replies, sounds like a power soak is my best option then. I'll look into that.
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Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
Pulling power tubes is a great way to go. sure it's a 3db difference. But you'd have to turn the amp to 6 just to get it as loud as say 2. This is what headroom is. I do this with my amps all the time.
Can I get it to be as loud as with all tubes in,sure I can. I just have to turn it way way up to do that. Also consider posing in a 12ay or au7 in pi slot with half power tunes in. your amp will be a true bedroom amp at that point.
I have a 5150 pull 2 tubes & a 12 au7 in pi. it's now a 26watt or less amp. you can't tell when recording that there's any difference in tone.
much cheaper to test this than to spend big $$ on a power soak that eats tone
Can I get it to be as loud as with all tubes in,sure I can. I just have to turn it way way up to do that. Also consider posing in a 12ay or au7 in pi slot with half power tunes in. your amp will be a true bedroom amp at that point.
I have a 5150 pull 2 tubes & a 12 au7 in pi. it's now a 26watt or less amp. you can't tell when recording that there's any difference in tone.
much cheaper to test this than to spend big $$ on a power soak that eats tone
"I sold my Fender evh 100 for getting mad at my
Peavey 5150 50 watt head" The peavey 5150 100 sits quietly..it knows better
Peavey 5150 50 watt head" The peavey 5150 100 sits quietly..it knows better
- tele twister
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Re: Classic 100 Watt Head - Reduce Power?
Hmm, I thought headroom was the usable sound pressure level above your current volume, but below clipping