Are my SED Winged =C='s running too cold/hot?

RocknRory · Jan 6, 2011

I got some SED Winged =C='s 6L6s and EL34s from dougstubes.com about a month ago and made sure to tell him to make them good for Mesa fixed specs. Just a few minutes ago I noticed a large volume drop in channel 3 when I was playing and immediately checked the tubes, none were glowing brighter than normal so I switched to standby and changed to channel 1 and started playing some clean, it was all normal, and when I went back to channel 3 it was normal. The 6L6s I got are a matched Quad and the tubes are labeled with a Plate Currency (ma) of 22.5, 22.6, 22.7, and 22.9 with a transconductance of 2240, 2320, 2380, 2380. Is this okay to run? Just double checking. It sounds fine now, and I've noticed I like the tubes a lot more compared to the stock Mesa red 6L6s.

Thanks guys.

JOEY B. · Jan 6, 2011

Stock MESA preamp tubes in this amp?

RocknRory · Jan 7, 2011

Nope, a mix from dougstube.com with a Tunsol in V1, high gain JJ in v2, some penta-labs, etc. 6 replaced preamps.

Nomad100 · Jan 7, 2011

RocknRory said:
Nope, a mix from dougstube.com with a Tunsol in V1, high gain JJ in v2, some penta-labs, etc. 6 replaced preamps.

I was thinking of getting that same "Kit" from Doug's. How do you like the sound of the various preamp tubes he's put together?

JOEY B. · Jan 7, 2011

RocknRory said:
Nope, a mix from dougstube.com with a Tunsol in V1, high gain JJ in v2, some penta-labs, etc. 6 replaced preamps.

A "channel specific" volume loss sounds like a preamp tube to me. If it happens again, switch channels without going to standby, after you have confirmed that none of the power tubes are "redplating". Those numbers on the tubes are in a safe range for a MESA amplifier. I have a quad of =C= 6L6's with a rating of 28-ish that I bought from Doug. They have been in Mark series, Lonestar, and Electradyne amps with no issues. A Weber Bias-Rite is fairly cheap for the peace of mind that it delivers when running tubes other than MESA-branded, in these amps. 8)