I need help making my 3 channel DR 50 watts

[mattyk182]

Hey guys. I am a proud owner of the 3 channel dual rectifier which is obviously 100 watts. I am in a new band now where my other guitarist plays an Orange rockerverb 50 and i want to see how my mesa would sound blended with the orange at 50 watts. I've read up on it a lot but i want to make sure i get the right answer so i dont blow my amp up! From what i hear, you have to pull one of the big rectifier tubes AS WELL AS the 2 inner or outer 6L6 tubes to achieve 50 watts. Can someone please confirm that this is the correct way? If i dont like the way it sounds at 50 watts, ill put it back to 100 but i hear it will break up much better at 50 watts so i would like to experiment with it. Thanks for any answers you have for me!

 

[blazer986]

You've got it. Also remember to run the cab at half the impedance. run 8ohm cab from the 4 ohm speaker out, 16ohm cab from the 8 ohm out.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I personally would leave the DR at 100 watts...you'll get different tonal characteristics with two amps of different wattage, which I believe would add to the point of 'blending' amps.

Just adjust the masters to level them out...

Just my opinion...I feel like bringing the DR down to 50 watts would kill the point.

Eric

 

[YellowJacket]

You've got it. Also remember to run the cab at half the impedance. run 8ohm cab from the 4 ohm speaker out, 16ohm cab from the 8 ohm out.

What he said.

Oh, I started running the amp at 50watts and it hasn't gone back to 100 yet and it has been years now. A great trick for bedroom practicing: run on tube rectifier and switch the variac to spongy. This gives good tone at almost bedroom volumes but you lose a bit of the low end thump. One complaint you might encounter is that with 50watts, you don't have quite the same horsepower. With a 240 - 300 watt cab you really lose that percussive low end thump. The amp can sound more constipated, like there isn't enough oomph to adequately move the speakers. My general rule is that I run less speaker wattage (handling) when running less watts from a head. This allows the amplifier to sound open and huge at lower volumes rather than sounding like the tone is stuck inside the unit. My suggestion for 50 watt operation is to either run a 100watt 4 x 12 or a 120 watt 2 x 12. The recto 2 x 12 sounds great but it is fairly midrange heavy and really dark. I custom built a thiele 2 x 12 that has more emphasized lows and highs and sounds really great for its size. You'll have to experiment to see what you think works best.