[QUOTE=Prophet of Page]Eddie Van Halen's solo on Beat It was played through a solid state Hartley Thompson amplifier, which was borrowed from Allan Holdsworth.
That same amplifer was used on Allan Holdsworth's album Metal Fatigue.
[url]http://youtu.be/zLukR6J-06o[/url]
I think that the clean tone on the chordal passages and the lead tone are both utterly stunning.[/QUOTE]
gumbi - I was thinking maybe we could create a thread similar to GBnC - The Ask Your Own Questions That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread, Thread. (maybe that would keep it more active)
Hello interested party! (by gumbilicious)
I will take a brief moment to try and explain why this is here before plunging head first into the mundane complexities of guitar amplifiers. I have been playing guitar since '96, my intense interest in the subject matter of guitars over a number of years has actually netted me quite a bit of knowledge about amplifiers. recently i have been asked to share some of this knowledge to provide content for an 'honest-debate' thread.
i plan on splitting the information into segments, starting with fundamental concepts of electronics. i also plan on making the content as accessible to the 'guitar-noob' as much as it is to the 'guitar-collecter'
subjects: -introduction to amplifiers -history of amplifiers -explanation of voltage, current, and impedance -explanation of tubes -explanation of transistors -other amplifier components (diodes, pots, speakers, transformers, etc) -speakers -cabinets
Introduction to Amplifiers (by gumbilicious)
an amplifier is an electrical circuit that takes an alternating current (AC) as input signal and usually increases the amplitude of the AC signal. amplifiers are used for MANY applications, but the type of amplifier we will be focusing on is a guitar amplifier. this is important to note mainly because
-there are many principles of amplifiers that are important for an electrical engineering student to understand but will be beyond what the average guitarist will need to know.
-narrowing the application of the amplifier will allow the talk to be more specific.
a guitar amplifier has to be able to accept a very weak passive AC signal that is produced by a guitar pickup and needs to be able amplify that signal many times to an AC signal powerful enough to drive a loudspeaker cabinet. a guitar amplifier does this by dividing the amplification process into 2 main sections: the preamp and the power amp (aka power section).
Harmonics (by mmolteratx and CECamps)
Harmonic overtones are extremely easy to hear. Why do you think instruments sound different? It's all about the harmonic series. That and their attack. Synthesizers work by imitating both of those.
Even order harmonics are octaves of the fundamental note. Odd order harmonics are notes out of tune with the fundamental note. Both are present in tube amplification with those created in the preamp primarily being even order and those created in push-pull output sections being almost completely odd order. Single ended output sections produce a more balanced harmonic series.
Harmonic overtones are notes (overtones) that become audible in the guitar tone which are not the fundamental note. For instance, the open A string on guitar is A4 with a fundamental frequency of 440Hz. However, when played, what you hear is not only the fundamental frequency. That would make for a pretty boring and sterile tone.
Appearing with that fundamental note are harmonic overtones like the octave for instance, which is A5 at 880Hz. The presence of these harmonic overtones makes the sound seem richer to the human ear without it being blatantly obvious that there are other notes intermingled with the fundamental.
Now, the guitar already produces harmonic overtones before it even hits the amp. When you strike a note, you don't just hear the fundamental in other words. Some guitars produce more than others based on the design.
An amplifier produces even more harmonic overtones on top of those found in the raw guitar signal by distorting the electronic waveform produced by the guitar or changes the shape of the waveform even if it doesn't clip it. This is called harmonic distortion. As the guitar signal travels through an amp, the way it is changed and manipulated produces harmonic overtones.
Some amps add more harmonic content to the guitar tone than others. It is dependent on so many factors, but it is quite noticeable to a person who knows what to listen for. This is the very reason why some amps are coveted and some are forgettable.
Clean tones have more even order harmonic content which creates more of a warm and lush sound with very little perceptible dissonance. Distortion tones are heavy on odd order harmonics, which have a discordant/dissonant character. The mix of odd and even order harmonics is the foundation of any guitar tone.
-the preamplifier section specializes in amplifying low-level passive signals that are generated by pickups or microphones.
-preamps are usually run in a 'class a' operation with 'dual triode' tubes like 12AX7's or 12AT7's or transistors performing the amplification.
-the signal is actually sent through a series of amplifying stages to amplify the signal in small sequential steps, this allows for particular tubes/transistors to perform particular roles in processing the input signal (for example, the second preamp tube is often used as a 'driver' tube as well as amplification).
[QUOTE=gumbilicious]as far as i know 12ax7's have a gain factor of ~100. i have heard them shipping within tolerance of ~95 to ~107 (you can buy hotter JJ's cuz eurotubes tests them and separates higher and lower values for special purchase, as i am sure more companies who perform a QA inspection do as well). a 12ax7 is also the highest gain dual triode i know of (of course i don't know them all, but i know quite a few), so i don't know what 'higher gain tubes' would be unless its a hot 12ax7 and i wouldn't worry about running a bunch of 107 gain 12ax7's in my preamp.
as far as i know, you can replace higher gain tubes with lower gain tubes in amplifiers, but it is not advisable to run them vise versa. so if your preamp has 2x12ax7's and 1x12at7 then you wouldn't just wanna replace them all with 12ax7's. from what i have heard the problem is not 'too much gain man', it's more to do with current draw. i have heard 12ax7's don't last as long with the current draw a 12at7 requires and has a shorter life because of it, evidently i have heard you can change a resistor value on one of the pins in order to keep the 12ax7 from getting burned out.
as far as i know, a power tube's designation implies it meets a particular spec (socket design, output pins, nominal specs) and as long as these tube meet specs of what you run, then they can be used. like, if you run a class A/B pushpull amp with a sylvania 6CA7 (it's an american EL34) and a mullard EL34, then as long as they are a 'matched set' (their outputs are close enough so they can be biased in push/pull) then you are good. in my class A, singled ended THD i son't worry about tolerances at all, i can run any 2 EL34-style power tubes together regardless on how the 'match' as a set (i can actually run any 2 type of tube together with the bivalve, i run a sylvania 6L6GC and a mullard EL34 now).
as far as i know, big amp makers tend to ship with one brand of vacuum tube (with the trend going toward 'rebranded' 3rd party tubes with the amp maker's company's logo on the tube). the reason for doing this is consistency, they want to know their product will be stocked when needed and going through 1 supplier is easier and more efficient for a number of reasons (supply chain, ordering, availability, cost for bulk buying).
thats just what i heard though[/QUOTE]
-the 'volume' or 'gain' knob is most often wired in after the first gain stage of an amplifier (this is why it sounds different when running you amp at low volume with the volume knob on the guitar all the way up; as compared to turning up the amp and turning the volume knob on your guitar down).
-preamps also have to prepare the input signal for the power section, so at times a preamp tube must be used as a phase inverter (PI) for class A/B push/pull amps.
an important section in the preamp is known as the 'Tone Stack'; you may recognize the interface for the tone stack as the EQ knobs (bass, mids, treble). the job of the tone stack is easy: to rid the signal of unwanted frequencies while being able to adjust frequency response in a pertinent ranges. the reason a tone stack is desirable or needed is quite a bit more complicated, but it has much to do with undesirable frequencies/noise being amplified with the input signal and how your ear/brain hears sounds differently at low volumes and high volumes. the actual implementation of a tone stack consists of a series of RC (resistor/capacitor) and CR circuits and potentiometers.
************************************************** ******* POWER AMP -the roll of a power amp is to take a line level signal (usually provided by a preamplifier) and to amplify that signal to a level that can be sent to a loudspeaker for conversion to an audio signal
-power amplifiers in guitar amps can come in many different modes of operation, but the most common is some type of class A/B push/pull configuration. when an amp is called 'class a' or 'class A/B', then this is the part of the circuit they are referring to.
-depending on the mode of operation, the power section may amplify the signal many different ways; but power sections will generally provide amplification in 'one stage' as opposed to the multiple stages you see in preamps. in tubes amps, much more powerful beam pentodes and kinkless tetrodes are commonly used for power amplification.
-the 'master volume' is normally wired into the circuit after the preamp and before the power amp. this is why you can't get power tube saturation with the master down.
after the power section the signal is usually sent to a transformer to convert the final signal from the amplification into something appropriate to drive a loudspeaker. most guitar amplifiers have certain impedance requirements from the speaker attached to the amplifier (aka: The Load).
-tube amplifiers usually require a 'matching impedance', meaning the outputs of the amplifier are label and a speaker cabinet with corresponding impedance must be matched to the output.
-solid state (SS) amplifiers use impedance bridging instead of impedance matching, so usually they require a minimum impedance from a speaker cabinet, so any speaker cabinet above the minimum setting may be used. solid state amplifier output is usually dependent upon the impedance of the cabinet (example: 100 watts @ 16 ohm, 200 watts @ 8 ohm).
sometimes speakers are included with a guitar amplifier (a combo) and sometimes the speaker and head components are separated (piggy back or stack). the benefits and merits of these setups will be covered in the 'speakers and cabinets' section.
Explanation of voltage, current, and impedance (by gumbilicious)
I am gonna take the easy way out on this one, simply because there is already really good content about this concept all over the web. i thought wikipedia did a pretty good job.
The important thing to keep in mind is how a fundamental idea like 'resistance in a DC circuit' can turn quite complicated just by taking the same principle in AC circuits (impedance has a bit more baggage). a guitar amplifier uses both direct current (to run plate voltages in tubes for one) and alternating current (in the signal path).
It is important to be able to understand basic mathematics concerning calculating values in a circuit. you should be able to
-Calculate values using V=IR (introducing inductance is optional if you're up to it) and total resistance run in parallel or series
-Know what a capacitor, resistor, diode, potentiometer, and transistor/triode is
-Understand the hydraulic analogy and fundamentals of both direct current flow and alternating current flow.
100dB sensitivity: 1 speaker rated at 100dB driven at 1 watt = 100dB volume at 1 meter 1 speaker rated at 100dB driven at 10 watts = 110dB volume at 1 meter 1 speaker rated at 100dB driven at 100 watts = 120dB volume at 1 meter
4 speakers rated at 100dB driven at 1 watt = 106dB volume at 1 meter 4 speakers rated at 100dB driven at 10 watts = 116dB volume at 1 meter 4 speakers rated at 100dB driven at 100 watts = 126dB volume at 1 meter
95dB sensitivity: 1 speaker rated at 95dB driven at 1 watt = 95dB volume at 1 meter 1 speaker rated at 95dB driven at 10 watts = 105dB volume at 1 meter 1 speaker rated at 95dB driven at 100 watts = 115dB volume at 1 meter
4 speakers rated at 95dB driven at 1 watt = 101dB volume at 1 meter 4 speakers rated at 95dB driven at 10 watts = 111dB volume at 1 meter 4 speakers rated at 95dB driven at 100 watts = 121dB volume at 1 meter
So you can see that ONE 100dB speaker driven at 10 watts is just as loud as FOUR 95dB speakers driven at 10 watts.
This is for my amp using EL34s, a single tube bias probe, a standard digital multimeter, and a bias range recommended by the manufacturer - your amp MAY BE DIFFERENT. My amp is a Splawn Quick Rod amp head running at half power into a 212 cabinet. My amp is a Fixed Bias amp and does not have external bias pots or testing points. It runs in Class A/B push-pull operation. I will walk through some safety guidelines, things needed, how to get started, what to look for, and how much time you need. A pictorial is posted below the Safety Guidelines. See footnotes for additional contributions.
SAFETY Guidelines
Here are some things to reduce shocking yourself. Filter Capacitors can store deadly voltages for days on end even after the amp is turned off. In order to bias an amp where the bias trim pot is inside the chassis and accessible from only the underneath you need to be working inside the amp WHILE THE AMP IS TURNED ON. Very Dangerous. If you do not feel comfortable then do yourself a favor and take it in to a qualified amp technician.
-Determine work area in advance and notify others around you to stay away. -Find a wooden desk, tables, platform as your work space that will more than clear the tubes and transformers while the amp is upside down. I actually recommend measuring the length of the chassis and to get a feel for how much space you'll have on each end and also to clear the tubes and transformers while providing a safe platform. Remember, you'll be pulling tubes upside down with the amp's electronics exposed and facing up. I happened to find the perfect solution by using my 212 cab and another amp as two 'tables'. This provided a nice snug working top to where the amp would not slide off by accident. Brace it right up next to the power transformer. There is not much space between the power transformer and the edge of the amp so you don't want it to slip off. Remember the chassis is fairly heavy. If your amp falls while you are working on it the only thing you should do is step back and safely unplug it. Don't reach for it in these types of situations. It is usually the unexpected things that get people into trouble so having a safe work space is very important. Also make sure you can reach the power, standby, and volume knobs. You will be turning the amp on and off a fair bit. -Wear rubber gloves, but only if they do not impede your work. I actually do not but it is certainly not a bad idea. -Have good thick regular gloves for pulling tubes and such. -Wear rubber soled shoes with no steel toe. -If you have rubber floor mats or the like you can lay those down on the floor as well, especially if you are not on a carpeted area. -Do not work near other major appliances or old pipes that conduct electricity. -I also suggest to not drag your feet on the carpet and walk up and touch the amp. Discharge any static electricity on something else first. Anti-static wrist bands are good to if you have them. -Find, in advance, the smallest flat head screwdriver you can find (1/8") that has a rubber or plastic insulated handle. The type you would use for eyeglasses will work. You will also need a standard phillips too remove the chassis. -Know in advance what the filter capacitors look like and where they are located. -Never touch a filter capacitor on the inside of the chassis. There are also traces to these filter capacitors that can be dangerous as well so it is best to keep your hand out. -You can touch tubes, transformers, etc outside of the chassis. You can even touch the outside of the capacitors on the outside of the chassis but never the insides. There are 4 good sized cylinders behind the the power tubes on my amp. They are a bit shorter and fatter than a roll of quarters. These are the filter capacitors. Mine are black, they are often blue. Be aware of where they are when you first flip the chassis upside down. Mine has bleeding resistors on them to bleed off deadly voltages but you never know. You can see these resistors attached to the bottom of the capacitor from the underside. When I read mine with a multimeter they showed .01 basically but I do not suggest checking yours unless of course you know what you are doing. Just stay away from them. If for example your screwdriver falls over onto the caps or into the amp while the amp is on, DON'T REACH FOR THEM instinctively. Very important to remember. Turn off the amp and remove the screwdriver with wooden tongs and rubber gloves. -Never disconnect bias probe leads from a multimeter while the amp is on. -Never put two hands inside an amp at the same time unless you have to. -One hand on screwdriver One hand in back pocket. -Don't leave your amp unattended while it is opened up as kids, pets, employees, etc may not know how dangerous this is and want to touch the amp out of curiosity. Put a cardboard box over it and lock the door if you need to leave. Or drain the caps. -Never play a guitar and touch the inside of the amp at the same time. Set your guitar down to adjust bias. This can be hard to remember as it is easy to want to play guitar and fiddle with bias at the same time without following the steps. Your guitar can make you the middle of a full circuit.
*If you follow these basic safety procedures you can bias your amp safely and save yourself some money while gaining knowledge and satisfaction.
The following 15 steps can probably be broken down into 5 but for those that are new to this I feel it is important to be methodical. If one person learns one simple thing that avoids getting shocked then I've accomplished my goal. Again, these steps are an example ONLY using MY AMP. Different amps may have different characteristics/procedures. Fenders for example are completely different. This tutorial is based on a Splawn Quick Rod (Marshall based amp).
Refer to your owners manual or contact the manufacturer if you are not sure. ALSO, I AM NOT AN AMP TECH - so utilize other resources and combine that with what you learn here.
Here are some pics I took that can be used as an aid. I will put the rest at the end of the 2nd (Continued) Blog:
I've number the tube positions in the order I do them in TOOLS NEEDED: 18" flat head screwdriver with rubber or insulated handle, standard phillips screwdriver, multimeter, bias probe, rubber gloves, regular gloves, deoxit contact cleaner, chopsticks or wooden tongs, and extra fuses and battery for multimeter
TIME NEEDED: 2 hours minimum
STEPS:
1.) Unplug the power from your amp and turn the Standby Switch to on (play) position. This can help drain any deadly voltages. Take off the back plate of the amp with a screwdriver. Your amp should be right side up, we'll flip it upside down later. We will now check the tube plate voltage in milliVolts. The inner two and outer two power tubes work in pairs. Start with the inner 2 pair. The tube closest to the power transformer in any given pair is the one we focus on (the one on the right if you are facing the back of the amp). Remove the tube retainer by gently lifting the springed top up and off to the side of the tube. It is best to hold it there so it doesn't scratch the tube when you pull the tube. Gently rock the power tube back and forth while pulling strait up and out being careful not to bend a pin. If you have contact cleaner like DeOxit it is good to use it once on each socket or the tube pins to clean and lubricate. The socket is the white base with 8 holes in it. (You may not see all of this in my pictorial because I removed all of the tube retainers and pulled the outer two tubes as I run at half power).
2.) Find the 'key' on the bottom center of the black tube post of the tube you just pulled. Align that key to match the bias probe that you have. In this example we will assume a single bias probe. Other probes out there can eliminate some of the steps in this tutorial. Push tube into probe and then probe into amp following the same key alignment. Make sure it is nice and snug (seated). You can let the retainer rest against the tube.
3.) Connect the red and black leads from the bias probe into the corresponding connection points on the multimeter. Black is Communication. Do not use the red 10a unfused option, use the other one labeled Amp/Volt. Turn multimeter on and set to milliVolts (mV). Always set a multimeter to the parameter above what you expect. You will be expecting roughly 500 millivolts for this amp so set to 2000 mV. Now plug your amp power back in and turn on the amp after turning Standby back off. Inspect power tubes for consistent or normal brightness. If one or both tubes looks overly bright or not lit at all turn the amp off and investigate and take meter off and put back to starting point if you need to. No sense going further if something is amiss. (NOTE: Similarly, if you are putting in new tubes and have issues, remember you always put the old tubes back in to troubleshoot)
4.) Let the amp warm up. Write down the milliVolt reading after 2 or 3 minutes roughly. Mine was 475 mV. It may climb slowly so just let it sit there a bit until it stabilizes. Once you've done this you can move on to the other power tubes (this may not be necessary as it should be the same). Reverse the process and move on to the second half of the pair. You should get a similar reading here but the first one is really the one we will focus on. It is also normal if the outer pair are different than the inner pair but not by too much. Maybe 10 mV. Remember, to turn the amp off, then multimeter, then let the tubes cool down, and use gloves if needed when moving on to next power tube. If you have new power tubes to install, then obviously follow manufacture spec and match pairs as closely as you can.
5.) It is also a good idea to write down the current cathode bias on your main power tube so you know what you will be dealing with and out of curiosity but you will find out soon enough anyway. It is sometimes recommended to turn the amp off while changing the multimeter. Set the multimeter to milliAmps (mA) or .000 amps and again set it to highest level above what you expect. Because in my example I am expecting something between 20 and 40 milliAmps set multimeter to 200mA.
*You've accomplished the first phase of biasing an amp by determining its plate voltage and its cathode current.
6.) Make sure all power tubes are back in there original places and seated well with the amp turned off. With amp power off and Standby ON (play position) you will help amp drain lethal voltages more quickly. Turn off multimeter and disconnect it.
(Review safety procedures)
7.) Make sure amp power and standby switches are off. Unplug power, guitar lead, footswitch cables, FX loop cables, attenuators, speaker cabinet, etc and set amp head down on the floor or work surface. Set the amp face down with feet pointing toward you. Carpet or Towels is highly recommended as to not scratch anything. Remove the 4 screws underneath that hold the amp to the wooden headshell. Slide the amp head up and out. I find it easier to just grab the power and output transformer and get a good hold. You will want your work surface ready to go because the chassis is a bit heavy and you need a place to put it quickly. Some people just set their amp down on the transformers themselves but I don't recommend that. You'll have a fair amount of surface area to work with on the preamp tube side (4") but not on the power transformer side (1.5") so be prepared. As mentioned earlier, I recommend measuring the chassis and having a safe, secure, place to set amp chassis upside down once you get it out. Also make sure your surface is secure so the amp won't slide off.
*Again, be aware of where the filter caps are and keep the amp clear from yourself as you spin amp upside down. You wouldn't want your belt bucket, for example, to brush up against a filter cap or other internals.
8.) Flip the amp upside down and set the amp down on your work surface lining up the chassis to your predetermined platform and make sure the amp is secure. Repeat the process above of attaching your bias probe to your first power tube (starting with the inner pair) in the same order as before. Your power tube closest to the power transformer (in each pair set) will be the tube you focus on. Make sure everything is seated. Connect leads to multimeter. Turn multimeter on and set meter to milliAmps as above (200mA). Plug in the amp power source, guitar lead and speaker cabinet. Don't run your amp without a speaker cabinet plugged in. Power amp on as normal. Again, inspect tubes for normal brightness. Power off if not normal. Strum guitar and check that things sound normal. Power off if not normal. Fix problem if there is one.
9.) At this point you should get a similar reading in milliAmps as you did before. This is your Cathode bias which is variable by adjusting a variable resistor that you'll find soon enough. Let the amp warm up as it may take a bit to climb and settle in. Here is where we introduce a simple formula to determine a 'rough' bias measurement that is healthy on paper. In my amp, I've found it sounds better on the 'cool' side of the bias range (60%). Many people do. We will learn in a minute how to bias to tone, but it is always good to start with a safe range and general idea of where you think you want to be. Here is where plate dissipation comes into play. Tube amp power tubes dissipate a certain amount of electrons during operation. Generally, anywhere from 60% to 75% is an acceptable range. If you like things on the 'hot' side you may want to use 70%. If you like things on the 'cool' side you may want to use 60%. Running tubes 'hot' should not be confused with better or 'hot-rodded' or anything like that. Running tubes too hot will create a muddy and 'warbly' sound. It will also cause you to burn through tubes more quickly. Many amps are run on the cool side out of the factory. Peavey for example is notorious for having a cold bias. Splawn HQ also recommends a cooler setting. The numbers we will be focusing on is our plate voltage, cathode bias in milliAmps, plate dissipation %, and the wattage of the tube in question.
MilliVolts is a constant that we captured earlier. (475) Cathode bias is a variable that we will be adjusting. Plate dissipation % we decide on up front but only as a guide. (60%) Tube wattage is a constant. EL34s are 25 watts each. (25w)
If you take your tube watts and divide it by your plate voltage you will get your cathode reading in milliAmps. You then take this number and multiply it by your desired plate dissipation %. This will give you your cathode bias 'ball park' starting point. We will adjust the variable resistor up or down from this number but more importantly - we will adjust it to the best tone.
Here is the formula with my readings:
------------ 25 watts per tube / 475 plate voltage = .052 amps so 52 mA x .60 plate dissipation = .031 or 31 mA
bias amp to 31 mA to start -----------
So, as you can see - I want to shoot somewhere in the 30 - 34 mA range. My first power tube is reading 23. So, we want to adjust that upwards. Roughly in the center of the green PCB board is 2 small blue boxes. They are roughly close to the Gear or Gain knob
Make sure to see the 'Continued' blog where I continue this and show more pictures.
10.) Now, pick up your guitar and play through the amp normally. Use the Standby switch if you forget to plug in guitar etc. Watch the bias jump. Play rather earnestly for 15 minutes or so. Take mental notes of how the tone has changed. Do you like it or do you dislike it? Does it sound more full and alive without being muddy or warbly? If it is too hot and warbly then you'll know you want to back down. If it sounds good, then we take it up a bit more next time to get closer to desired measurement. Basically at this point we will be turning the bias pot (VR2) up or down until we find the tone we like the best. Because an amp's bias will drift over time, we want to let it settle in and play through the amp as much as possible time permitting. 15 - 60 minutes maybe. This will make sure your bias is settled in and therefore should be the same the following day. You don't want to bias and adjust once and close it up and walk away without playing it. If you did, you run the risk of all of work, math and numbers being inaccurate and therefore cause tone degradation later. For example from the time I biased the amp 6 months ago until recently my amp drifted from 27 to 23 mA and this is when following this procedure.
11.)
When you are done, leave the amp on and set the guitar off to the
side. Let the bias settle back down. Leave the meter on. Take a 30
minute break. Seriously. Go do something else for a bit while the amp
is on. If you have kids or pets in the area keep them away obviously.
Remember, bleeding resistors and such do not protect you from anything
while the amp is turned on.
Note: It is generally not good for a multimeter to be turned on and off while connected like this. True for lots of things in addition to amps. My multimeter is a digital mulitmeter (DMM) and takes some of the guess work out taking measurements. It has a button you can press in the event the multimeter turns itself on hold. Read the manual of your mulitmeter and follow those instructions. You could blow a fuse in the meter at best. Most meters have a spare fuse inside and I recommend getting a few extra fuses before hand. It sucks to go through all of this effort only to have a non-working meter and have to run to the store. Same for the battery. If you get weird readings on the meter there is a good chance the battery is dying.
12.) Here is where some of the magic or mojo comes in when biasing an amp. Because you ideally want to bias the amp to where it sounds the best from here on out you will biasing by your ear. EVERY AMP IS DIFFERENT, and EVERY GUITARIST IS DIFFERENT. It can be distracting and frustrating to focus too much on the numbers. An amp in my opinion sounds best right before it reaches cross-over distortion. I can't explain what that is technically but that is what will cause the muddiness or warblyness described before. (I realize 'Warbly' is not a not the greatest term but I don't know what else to call it.) Also, you have an opportunity to swap some of the power tubes around so they match up better as pairs. For example, when first biased my amp I had readings of say 23, 28, 22 and 32 across all 4 tubes so I paired up the 22-23 and the 28-32 as pairs. If you are installing new tubes, then again just match up your pairs based on manufacturer spec.
13.) Check the cathode bias on the amp and take note. Again, you can now turn the screw (following safety procedures above) either higher or lower and repeat the process of playing through the amp. Because you are on the primary tube for checking bias this is the number you want to focus on. Once you get your bias to a comfortable place on this tube you can turn off the amp as normal and then turn off the multimeter. Unplug the power from the amp. Put the amp in Standby if you like. You will now move onto the second tube of the pair by disconnecting and reconnecting the probe accordingly. At this point we are still only focused on the inner two pair. We will do the outer pair last.
14.) Put your bias probe on next tube with lead connectors in multimeter and turn the multimeter on. Turn Standby off so both power and standby are in off position. Plug the amps power back in. Power amp on as normal. Check amperage of your next tube and follow the exact same procedure as above by following safety procedures, playing your amp (NEVER play guitar and bias amp at the same time), and write down your findings, etc. Remember, the first tube's reading is the most important and it is often the case that the second tube will not have the exact same bias reading as the first. This is normal. As a matter of fact most amps can deal with a mismatch here of to say 4 or 5 milliAmps. Just don't go overboard on adjusting the second of the pair as that could affect the bias of the first if that makes sense.
15.) You can now repeat steps 13 and 14 on the outer pair of tubes. Again, the power tube closest to the power transformer (the one originally on the right when right-side up) is the tube bias you want to focus on. Repeat, check bias, play guitar, adjust up or down AFTER you set guitar down, let it settle in, take a break, come back and make some adjustments up or down. Repeat.
*I actually did this over the course of 2 days on a weekend, but please keep your surroundings and those possibly in it under consideration. It's bad enough to kill yourself, but to kill someone else because of carelessness is worse.
16.) Turn off amp. Unplug the power. Turn off the meter. Unplug the meter. Unplug the probe. Unplug the speaker cabinet and guitar lead. Make sure all the tubes are seated properly. Get your headbox ready. Pick up the chassis and flip it around being careful not to tough the capacitors or the insides of the chassis. Grab the power transformer and slowly and delicately slide the chassis back into the headbox following the guides. Screw the 4 screws back in. Put amp back on speaker cabinet and plug speaker cab back into amp as well as power and guitar lead, etc. Make sure all the tubes are seated all he way down. Power on and inspect tubes for normal brightness. Play your guitar through the amp to make sure it sounds like what you heard before.
17. Enjoy.
Footnotes:
The bias probe mentioned in this tutorial is basically just a resistor with built in leads to connect to a multimeter. There are other ways to accomplish the same goal if you have the right tools and knowledge. I find the bias probe to one of the safest. I'm not an electrical engineer or an amp tech. If for some reason your amp has no bias trip pot (variable resistor) you
can also do it without one but it requires some soldering. You remove
the wire from the cathode (pin 8) and add a 1 ohm resistor (a 2W one is
easiest) in line with it (ie. solder one end of the resistor to pin 8
and the other end to the wire you removed). Now you can measure the
voltage across the resistor and the voltage in millivolts is the same
as the current in milliamps. The plate voltage can be measured directly
off pin 3. Also, bleeding resistors on filter capacitors do not guarantee a safe discharge of volts. If you want to take safety to the next step and are already comfortable working with amps and electronics you can use a 'discharge 'tool' (10w 33k resistor with (insulated!) crocodile clamps) between a plate resistor and ground. It's important to always connect the ground side of the resistor first, in case you accidentally touch the other clip. Wait for about a minute, and then remove the resistor, and measure the DC voltage at the same point, usually. If it's less than 5v, I consider it discharged.
*Footnote and Tutorial contributions from Roc8995, Cathbard, Mr Hankey, CECamps
Dean Dime D100 head /Matching cab Dr. Z Maz 18w combo Egnater Rebel 20 head /matching cab Egnater Tourmaster 212 combo Egnater Renegade head /Tourmaster cab Egnater Tweaker on my cab
Egnater Vengeance head /Tourmaster cab Epiphone So Cal 50 head /matching cab Epiphone Valve Jr /matching cab Engl Thunder 60 /Marshall cab EVH 5150 III /matching cab Fender Vibro Champ XD Fender SuperChamp XD Fender Champ 600 Fender Blues Jr Fender HRD, HRD III Fender Supersonic Fender Deluxe Reverb Fender Twin Reverb Fender FM212DSP Fender GDEC 15w
Fuchs ODS 100
Hughes & Kettner Duotone head
Jet City JCA20 and JCA22 heads
Line 6 Spider Valve 112 combo Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 head/Line 6 4x12 cab Line 6 Spider III 150w Line 6 Spider III 50w Mesa Express 50 Mesa Boogie Dual Rec Mesa Boogie Lonestar Mesa Boogie Road King
Mesa Boogie TransAtlantic
Mesa Boogie ElectraDyne
Marshall DSL15H / Mesa 112 cab Marshall JCM 900 Marshall JVM 410H /1960 Lead 4x12 Marshall JVM 210H /1960 Lead Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602 Marshall JCM 2000 DSL head/MC412 Marshall JCM 2000 DSL201 combo Marshall 2555 SJ Slash Sig head/1960 lead Marshall 1975 MKII 50 Super Lead Marshall JMP ('72-'74) 100w/JCM800 cab Marshall 1987 XL Vintage Reissue MKII head Marshall MG100DFX combo Marshall MG250CDFX combo Marshall MG4 102FW 100w 212 combo Marshall Haze 40 combo Marshall MA100H and MA412
Marshall Class 5 Orange Rockerverb 100 /Orange cab Orange Thunderverb 50 /Marshall 1960 Orange AD5 combo Orange Tiny Terror head /Orange cab
Orange AD30 /Marshall 1960 cab Peavey Windsor 100 head/Peavey 4x12 Peavey Windsor Studio 20w combo Peavey 6505+ head/cab and 212 combo and 112 combo Peavey XXX head/cab Peavey XXL 212 combo Peavey JSX head/cab Peavey JSX combo Peavey Classic 30 Peavey Vypyr 15,30,75, 60 (own) Raven 50w combo Rivera Clubster Rivera Venice 6 combo Rivera Venice 5 combo Splawn Quick Rod my Avatar cab and Splawn cab (own) Soldano Hot Rod 50 combo Soldano SLO 100 head Top Hat Club Deluxe 25w combo Traynor YCV40 112 combo Traynor YCV50 Blue Traynor YCS90 212 combo Vox AC30CC2 212 combo Vox Valvetronix AD50VT Vox Valvetronix AD100VT-XL Vox VT30 Vox Night Train NT15H Vox AC4TV
....... freaks!
