Making my dual rec. into a 50 Watter

[Jacko123]

Page 14 of he dual rec. manual gives instructions on how to make my 100W run at 50% power: Remove centre power tubes, and remove one rectifier tube.

Here's my situation. I'm a basement guitarist so I don't need the full 100W of love. I jam with a drummer buddy at his house but that's about it. I'm actually getting a THD Hot Plate as well.

Does this 50W way of running things impact the tone alot?

Here is why I ask: I think it would be cool to get 3-4 matched pairs (instead of quads) of 6L6 or L34's. It would be cheaper to experiment with and I know I'll never gig in a place needing the full 100W. An even if I ever do, I'd have the quad I have now.

Does this make any sense, or have I been smoking too much crack?

 

[Elpelotero]

You could certainly do this and it's a great cheap way to experiment with tubes.

When you run at 50 watts, you lose some headroom and tightness. Give it a try and find out for yourself. It takes 10 seconds to do it. Just be sure to run out of the 4ohm jack instead of the regular 8ohm jack since you are now cutting the power down by half.

Also know that from 100w to 50w is only a 3 decibel difference, which is almost nothing. It will still be insanely loud!

 

[Jacko123]

Great, I suspected I would have to play with the output. I realize that it will still be lack as all heck, but this way I could try different tube settings for fun.

Thanks a lot for the help.

Will I still be good running out of the 4ohm output to my Hot Plate (8 ohm) to my 8ohm cab?

 

[Elpelotero]

i don't use a hotplate but i don't see why not...call mesa tomorrow to verify

 

[njsurf]

I run my dual rec at 50 watts and I love it. Little eariler breakup of powertubes, plus cheaper when buy new tubes. I play with a full band and don't even come close to maxing out volume, never even up to 50%. Some people don't like it, but you will just have to try for yourself.

Good luck