Pulling Tubes on a 100 Watt Nomad

[lhrocker]

Is it possible to run a 100 watt Nomad with 2 power tubes rather than use the 50 watt toggle? This way, I can use just 2 tubes rather than 4. Also, would I use the inside or outside pair, if this is possible?

 

[94Tremoverb]

Yes. The 50W mode just turns off two power tubes - I think the inside pair, but I may be wrong on this (if you pull these two and get silence, I am!). You can remove these tubes with no problem at all, in fact if you're only going to run the amp at 50W it's better to, because it avoids 'cathode poisoning' which occurs if tubes are run for long periods with the filaments on but no current flowing. It's also better to set the impedance to half that of the speaker, ie use the 4 ohm jack for an 8-ohm speaker.

 

[the recluse]

Would running the amp for extended periods of time in the silent recording mode also damage the tubes in this fashion?

 

[shytfayse]

No. The output tubes are actually conducting at idle when the silent mode is on. They just don't have a guitar signal coming at them. Crazy. - Pat.

 

[boogietone]

Yes. The 50W mode just turns off two power tubes - I think the inside pair, but I may be wrong on this (if you pull these two and get silence, I am!). You can remove these tubes with no problem at all, in fact if you're only going to run the amp at 50W it's better to, because it avoids 'cathode poisoning' which occurs if tubes are run for long periods with the filaments on but no current flowing. It's also better to set the impedance to half that of the speaker, ie use the 4 ohm jack for an 8-ohm speaker.

Would this also apply to a DC-10?
Thanks in advance!