EL34's in Heartbreaker: "Tweed" or "Hi" Voltage Setting

[Tommy_G]

Tried er out for 5 minutes and blew a.....

Guitar string. That's the third "B" in a week. Gotta file down the burr if I can find it.

Anyways. Things are running a little hotter I smell, but no rectifier burnout at about 25% higher draw than gig levels. I think I'm safe, but need to play for about 10 hours to be sure. Wife will like that, I'm sure.

The Love Channel on this thing is going to be blackfaced, and the Lust Channel converted to Bassman specs. Period. Wayy too much punch, still.

The EL34's on Hi mostly help the high gain side of the Lust Channel. The 6L6's are clearly better suited to the Love side. Welcome to the joys of a hybrid amp. Jack of one, Master of none.

At the back of my mind, I think that the new Tungsol EL34B may be the answer to help this amp get up to potential, along with changing a bunch of input impedances and cathode bypass capacitors, as well as getting the power amp snub capacitors at least half the difference to a Bassman. Also think a AY7 may be better suited in the first valve of lust channel to make it more Bassman, and less JTM.

 

[jpdennis]

I talked to boogie ... no, they are having problems with the Rectifiers when EL's are used. Just a tad bit of bait and switch misinfo there I think ... it smells to me this EL34 vs. Rectifier issues is an exercise in confusion for a small error in design.

I called my tech and told him the same thing that it seems like this is a known issue that should have some "fix" from boogie, which I would be willing to pay for, since I actually based my decision to keep the amp AND upgrade to MM transformers upon using EL34. Also, I bought the Tung-Sol 6L6GC-STD based upon what I read on the Tung-Sol EL34B tubes. But I don't have the expendable resources right now to buy both sets. :roll: I did notice in another post a picture of a HB using 60 watt setting with 2 EL34 tubes with the diode setting instead of the rectifier tube settings. Also, Monsta swore by the copper weber (I think that is the company) rectifier drop ins.

Tried er out for 5 minutes and blew a.....

Guitar string. That's the third "B" in a week. Gotta file down the burr if I can find it.

Anyways. Things are running a little hotter I smell, but no rectifier burnout at about 25% higher draw than gig levels

Hot amps with hot players = broken strings :lol:
I just received the fan I am going to put in the Heartbreaker when it gets back. I was wondering about this since I use fans with my other two boogies.

Dennis

 

[Tommy_G]

If you study the amount of power it takes to produce low frequencies vs. high frequencies, you'll know exactly why the rectifier isn't staying alive.

There is a f..up somewhere else....whatever's giving this amp all the low-mids and bass is forcing everything to draw more power than it 'should'. The high-end rectifiers are keeping up, as indicated by other poster's here, probably because they have design margin that far exceeds the newpro stuff coming out of russia and the like.

I don't really see a big issue with using the SS rectifier with 2xEL34. The SSR gets the bias voltage up (down?) to -39V or something, which biases it a little hot, which should keep the tubes cooler...haha...that's the way it apparently works. But guys bias off spec for shits and giggles anyways, so if it can't hold that, then there's component selection issues.

This amp has the potential to be cleaned up, although now that Monsta-mod is selling/or has sold his, and admit I'm reading between the line....I have to wonder - if he couldn't do it, can I?.

The huge girth of the tone from this thing is definately something to behold, though, even if I don't exactly think it sounds pretty. Its the funniest thing that something can be toneful and solid down to the core, and simply fall on the side of being dismembering. Its an amp for the god of war. With 6L6's and a PI that holds everything together, it actually does a good job staying crisp and stiff right down to the first acceleration of the string when you pick it....WHAM! I get whiplash playing this thing. And I'll have to build a new house soon because its ripping everything apart.

"Heartbreaker"....I rechristen thee as the H-Bomb.

 

[Tommy_G]

Just some comments on the EL34's I bought. They are both labelled as 447's.

The store actually pulled them out of a brand new stilletto for me, because they didn't have anything in stock in yellow or green.

I was looking at them closer today, and although they are both branded 447's, one of them has a halo getter about 1/2" in diameter, and the other has a is smaller in diameter, say 3/8" but has a solid cap of some kind on the top of the halo.

Wow....how do I know I'm getting the right tone if I have 2 different EL34's from different manufacturers? Hell, maybe its a better tone...but this just doesn't seem right. Maybe thegearpage guys will have a comment.