Greg_L wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2019 4:13 pm
It's not going to be a drastic difference. It's subtle. There are differences though. I actually recorded these clips for my own research because you can't tell anything in the room because it's so fucking ungodly loud.
Yeah, I can hear a subtle difference dude, but I really had to listen...
I've been playing/recording a lot for the last week or two...I'm sure the levels I track at are nothing compared to yours though...Sometimes I walk around the house while re-amping just to see, & while you can hear it, it's not that loud really...I probably ain't got nothin' to worry over though, nobody can really do anything about it unless it's past 9 pm, but I just don't wanna make any waves...
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ocnor wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2019 5:44 pm
The main difference that I hear is that the tone gets a little fatter as the bias gets hotter. They sound similar to Sovtek 5881 tubes.
That's pretty much the jist of it. It gets a little fatter and grittier as the bias goes up.
I'm gonna check this thing with a variac and see what the bias does as plate voltage goes down.
The cold track doesn't play at present, (well won't play with me), but the other two did and for the difference between safe & edgy bias tones I can hear there's nothing wrong the safe option.
Your Greg tone is 20% guitar, 30% amp and 50% hands. I reckon your could pull top tone from a Teisco solid state 10" combo.
rayc wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2019 8:25 pm
The cold track doesn't play at present, (well won't play with me), but the other two did and for the difference between safe & edgy bias tones I can hear there's nothing wrong the safe option.
Your Greg tone is 20% guitar, 30% amp and 50% hands. I reckon your could pull top tone from a Teisco solid state 10" combo.
Ha I don't know about all that. My hands are pretty much garbage. I need the help of good gear.
I got my monitors on and output is set pretty loud for now. Only place i hear any difference at all is on any thing percussive. Single picked notes, palm muted accents or whatever. Only thing i can safely say i hear is it just a bit hotter. marginally hotter at that. Kind of fatter. Again, gradually fatter. Like if i weren't sitting here trying to autopsy the differences between the three I'd day they are damn near the same.
Well maybe not actually. I just listened to them in reverse order and the cold bias one does lack a bit of detail that the hot one has.
Cool exercise man! not sure that is anywhere near as deep into tone i would want to go i don't think but still cool to hear that all that biasing shit does !!!
WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2019 10:59 pm
Cool tone testing.
I got my monitors on and output is set pretty loud for now. Only place i hear any difference at all is on any thing percussive. Single picked notes, palm muted accents or whatever. Only thing i can safely say i hear is it just a bit hotter. marginally hotter at that. Kind of fatter. Again, gradually fatter. Like if i weren't sitting here trying to autopsy the differences between the three I'd day they are damn near the same.
Well maybe not actually. I just listened to them in reverse order and the cold bias one does lack a bit of detail that the hot one has.
Cool exercise man! not sure that is anywhere near as deep into tone i would want to go i don't think but still cool to hear that all that biasing shit does !!!
Yeah really I'm just trying to explore these 6550s in their safe ranges. I know pretty much nothing about them so I wanna find where I think they sound the best.
So far, I'm liking the medium bias...maybe erring a little on the cooler side. Like I might split the difference between cold and medium bias and see how that goes. The hot bias is a little too fat and sizzly for my tastes. Also, there is so much weird and conflicting info about 6550s in Marshalls, and different types of 6550s, I'm just gonna go with the math. Hot bias is a little close to the edge, so I'm gonna back off of that anyway.
I'll do a shootout with the EL34 powered 100w Plexi reissue and see how these two similar amps sound with different power tubes.
You can never go wrong with middle of the road man. A little less or more is probably a big fat whatever at that loudness.
Should i know the significance of a 6550? I mean, i am pretty in the dark on any tube really and after my last thread about tubes i am just not going to head down that rabbit hole. But what is the story of the 6550 ?
WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:09 am
You can never go wrong with middle of the road man. A little less or more is probably a big fat whatever at that loudness.
Should i know the significance of a 6550? I mean, i am pretty in the dark on any tube really and after my last thread about tubes i am just not going to head down that rabbit hole. But what is the story of the 6550 ?
This is the general story...I'm paraphrasing...Some time around the late 60s/early 70s, Marshall's deal with EL34 suppliers in the UK expired. At the same time, business in the US started expanding. Marshall was shipping amps to the US with EL34s installed, but they kept breaking in transit and/or US dealers were constantly having to do warranty repairs due to the new shoddy EL34s. So, US dealers demanded a different type of tube, or have the amps shipped empty and the dealers would install their own tubes on arrival. Here in the US 6550s were fairly new and grew on trees, so that's what they went with. People didn't obsess over tubes back then like we do now. Anyway, Marshall obliged and reworked their amps slated for the US market with slightly different bias specs so they could run 6550s in the USA. This lasted into the 80s. UK Marshalls stuck with EL34s. Everyone thinks of EL34s as being the most popular power tube for Marshalls, but probably a huge chunk of classic Marshall tones we know was done with 6550s or KT66s or something like that. I think the badass of all bass amps - the Ampeg SVT - runs 6550 tubes. Two of my Marshalls are "USA" models originally designed to use 6550s. Both of them were converted to EL34s, I converted this one back to 6550s.
The sound difference between 6550s and EL34s is not that significant, but there is some difference. Generally speaking 6550s have a little bigger bottom end and brighter top end, milder mids. Sort of like a super powerful 6L6. EL34s rage in the mids and have pretty clean top and bottom ends.
Greg_L wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:27 am
The sound difference between 6550s and EL34s is not that significant, but there is some difference. Generally speaking 6550s have a little bigger bottom end and brighter top end, milder mids. Sort of like a super powerful 6L6. EL34s rage in the mids and have pretty clean top and bottom ends.
That's a pretty spot on description.
Another toy that helped destroy the elder race of man..forget about your silly whim it doesn't fit the plan.
Yeah and in theory 6550s should be about perfect for old school Marshalls. The tube's characteristics and the amp's circuit design should fit together like puzzle pieces.
Ok, here's a test mix with a scratch guitar on one side (ampsim)...The other side is the Mini 800...I'll post the raw guitar later with the settings...
Lemme know what you guys think of this...
TEST MIX 10-26-2019.mp3
Holy fuck I love this little amp...
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Wow - now we're getting into really detailed territory! I agree with what you said already, that they're slightly fatter as they get hotter, but... its really subtle - I was listening to a few seconds of each clips and cycling between them back to back on my reference cans!
[mention]Minerman[/mention] Miner - I think that sounds great!
I'll take a guess, mini-800 on the left?
The mix as a whole sounds good though. Is there a subtle modulation on the bass?
Last edited by JD01 on Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JD01 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:53 pm
@Minerman Miner - I think that sounds great!
I'll take a guess, mini-800 on the left?
The mix as a whole sounds good though. Is there a subtle modulation on the bass?
Thanks Jdude...Yes, the Mini 800 is on the left, that's an ampsim on the right...I swear I love this new amp almost as much as the Chupacabra, to me, it's really that good...
Yeah, chorus on the bass...The original has something similar & I was trying to get in the ballpark...
JD01 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:53 pmBeen messing about with a new bass tone this evening. Its up way loud so you can here it in the first clip - what do you think?
Bass tone is good dude, I'd use that all day every day...Nothing wrong with what you have here at all Jdude...
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This clip was recorded with the volume at 2.5, & I honestly believe I could play a gig with it at this volume...This is a loud little amp...The more I play through the Lil' 800, the more I wanna play...I know I'm still jizzin' in my panties over it, but it's a killer little amp...
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TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha
My music @ Reverbnation
Minerman wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:46 pm
Ok, here's a test mix with a scratch guitar on one side (ampsim)...The other side is the Mini 800...I'll post the raw guitar later with the settings...
Lemme know what you guys think of this...
TEST MIX 10-26-2019.mp3
Holy fuck I love this little amp...
I can hear the hiss so I'm gonna say real amp on the left.
Sounds pretty good to me.
JD01 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:56 pm
Been messing about with a new bass tone this evening. Its up way loud so you can here it in the first clip - what do you think?
This clip was recorded with the volume at 2.5, & I honestly believe I could play a gig with it at this volume...This is a loud little amp...The more I play through the Lil' 800, the more I wanna play...I know I'm still jizzin' in my panties over it, but it's a killer little amp...
Sounds good. I'm surprised that it isn't more distorted driving the front end like that. Back in the 70s I had Paranoid, Master Of Reality, and Sabotage on vinyl.
Another toy that helped destroy the elder race of man..forget about your silly whim it doesn't fit the plan.
Minerman wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:46 pm
Ok, here's a test mix with a scratch guitar on one side (ampsim)...The other side is the Mini 800...I'll post the raw guitar later with the settings...
