new to tube amps and i have a ? about my dual rectifier

[tober]

i was told that i can remove some tubes to make it a 50 watt head. is that true? will it cause any damage to the head? which tubes do i have to remove. i play in the basement in my house and dont need all that power but i would still like to use the head. also what ohm speaker would i need.

 

[boxcarmonument]

Yes you can remove tubes to make it 50 watts. Your tubes are set up in a YXXY pattern. So you can either remove the 2-Y's or the 2-X's. Remember to remove a Rectifier tube if your using Recto tracking on the head also. You also need to halve your Impedance. In other words your 8 Ohm cab will need to go into the 4 Ohm plug in the head. If you have a 4 Ohm cab your screwed.

Now for the nitty gritty. Remove them and listen. 50 watts is not half the power just half the headroom. So Ultimately even at 50 watts it is still going to be ALMOST as loud as 100. There is very little difference between 50 and 100 watts volume wise. So keep that in mind.

 

[b0nkersx]

Now for the nitty gritty. Remove them and listen. 50 watts is not half the power just half the headroom. So Ultimately even at 50 watts it is still going to be ALMOST as loud as 100. There is very little difference between 50 and 100 watts volume wise. So keep that in mind.

Well.. do keep in mind that the difference between 50W and 100W in decibel level is only 3dB. However, a difference in 3dB will double the sound intensity (this is NOT the same as volume). This means that for every square foot, your sound will be twice as "powerful" as a 50W amp. It won't make the amplifier any less deafening or more basement friendly, however, so you may find it advantageous to simply leave all four of your tubes in.

 

[94Tremoverb]

Exactly. Actually turning down your master volume or output level control just a hair will make the same difference to the volume in the room as pulling the tubes - but it will leave the amp with the bigger tone of a 100W power section so it will probably sound better. Pulling tubes is useful if you're trying to overdrive the power section and it's just a little too loud - ie the difference between deafening and DEAFENING - but not otherwise.

To get a really useful reduction in volume so you can drive the amp harder at home-friendly levels, you need an attenuator. The very first click of reduction on most attenuators is the same as halving the power, or a little more.