Dual Rec Trem-O-Verb question

[jglover51]

Been around the world and I have found my baby: Mesa Dual Rectifier Trem-O-Verb. I owned a Stiletto Ace, but decided to move on to an Orange Rockerverb 50. It was cool, but it has nothing on this amp, imho.


I don't know what it is about this amp, but it sounds amazing. I traded a Taylor 414CE acoustic for the TOV head and a Mesa 4x12 cab together and I feel like I stole it from the guy . I should have figured from the cigarette burns on the top of the head that the amp wasn't taken care of the best. I got it home and it buzzed, hummed, and the reverb was horribly noisy- I was beginning to think I wasn't so lucky. However, it is amazing what you can do with compressed air and contact cleaner!! I cleaned it up, including the connections and sockets, then reseated the tubes and PRESTO!!! It sounded like a whole new amp!!

Question: Can I effectively decrease the output by pulling two of the power tubes without damaging the amp? As you guys know, it is extremely LOUD. I don't mind; my neighbors do. Would there be a noticeable change, if so?

HEY STOOPID!!

 

[jamme61]

you can pull two power tubes (either the two middle tubes or the two outside power tubes) if you pull them, you should half your impedance setting, meaning if your at 8 ohms now and you pull two tubes plug your cab into the 4 ohm input on the back of your head. The volume change will be small if any but, you can try it. For lower volume at home, I put it on the tube rec, with sag power, that lowers it a lot but, will change the tone and feel of the amp a lot. after that, for lower volume, your up to attenuators or even THD Yellow Jacket (replaces your 6l6's or el34's with el84's). hope this helps good luck great amp!

 

[jglover51]

Thanks, Jammer! I suspected that it wouldn't make a huge difference in volume.

Another thing, I am partial to the sound of the diodes (?) compared to the tube rec. I just find it more articulate. Either way, I am more than happy with this amp.

 

[domct203]

I actually cried when I saw this.

Start saving your money for a new head shell. I know I would.

Congrats on your new amp. Best of luck with it.

Dom

 

[jglover51]

I actually cried when I saw this.

Start saving your money for a new head shell. I know I would.

Congrats on your new amp. Best of luck with it.

Dom

I know... it is heart wrenching. A friend and I have explored this ignorance and came up with a couple theories:

His: Spoiled, rich college student whose parents bought it for him and he obviously didn't appreciate the value of such a great amp.

Mine: He accidentally let one cigarette burn on the amp, causing it to mark. The one burn mark became such an eyesore that he believed it would be better to spread the marks like a pattern of Marlboro art.

Either way, this guy is in my All Time Douche Hall of Fame.

 

[stephen sawall]

I would not recommend pulling tubes.
The way the tubes interact with the transformer well change.

Some people like it, I did not feel it improved the sound ..... just the opposite was my experience with the few amps I tried it with.

I have some THD Yellow Jackets .... they are great, they change the the harmonics and tone shape. You well get less bass in the tone balance, this can be good or bad. They do bring down the volume .... but it is not a huge difference. It is more about point of break up than volume.

My Tremoverb does not look much better ..... I did gigs with it a lot the first ten years (first run original owner) I had it. I was good to it ..... but things happen when your amp is around a lot of people (some were drinking).

As far as getting the best sound at low volumes with this amp I feel using the effects loop set the "send level control" "loop active master" "master" as low as you can and get a sound you like. The tone controls well be set very different than when louder to get a good tone balance.

I also have a THD Hot Plate and feel it works great with the Tremoverb. The Hot Plate can really help control the sound of some amps and the Tremoverb is one.

 

[flyingvee]

you could try putting in a set of 6V6s - I think that would work, as long as you stayed in Sag mode. Please correct me if I'm wrong - I've done it in my Heartbreaker, no worries - takes it down to a very manageable level.

If you decide to recab the head, please lemme know - I'd love to turn my combo into a head. 106 pounds is just too heavy to manhandle.

(or - if anyone has an empty trem head cab - I don't have enough posts to post in the classifieds, yet.)

 

[94Tremoverb]

Amazingly enough (especially as I'm not a smoker) I don't mind the cig burns, I think it just looks well-used... as long as it sounds great I wouldn't bother fixing it.

I agree with stephen that the Hot Plate works very well with the Tremoverb. Most attenuators work better with some amps than others, and most amps work better with some attenuators than others... this mix just seems to be one of the good ones. I haven't tried Yellowjackets with mine yet but I probably will. I also agree that pulling two tubes doesn't sound as good - it seems to thin out the sound and make it less complex. But, it's by far the cheapest method, and about the easiest apart from just turning down the master a hair .

You can use 6V6s, as long as you use Tube Rectifier/Spongy and set the bias to EL34. You should also run the speakers at half their impedance from the amp, as you should when running on two tubes, or using Yellowjackets (all for the same reason, which is that the impedance of two 6L6/EL34s, four 6V6s, or four EL84s is roughly double that of four 6L6/EL34s) - ie the 4 ohm jack, for an 8-ohm cab.

I know THD say to not change the impedance - but this is one of the reasons you lose a little bass, because of the mismatch. They also say you should crank the master volume full up when using the Hot Plate, which is not the best way to use it...

 

[lookslikemeband]

You CAN just get that re-tolexed.

But yes, the TOV is my favorite amp as well.