Spongy with Tube Rectifier!

[Chewbacca]

Does anyone use this setting on their Tremoverb? It's sounding better and better every day. I use 6L6's with GZ-34's. On the red channel with the gain at about 2:00 and generous mids it's downright ugly with a little sag! I do lose some headroom but...

Any opinions?

Also thinking about trying some EL-34's in the future just for grins.

 

[RR]

Yup, I do like the setting => Spongy and tube rectifiers.

Exactly what you said. You get even more sag when using 5U4s, but in your case you are using 5AR4s (GZ-34) which give less sag and its like between using the 5U4s and silicon rectifier.

It's a matter of preference but the Trem-o-Verb got me to re-discover vintage amps just because of the "Sponge" setting and rectifier tubes.

 

[PolishSasquatch]

i like the sound but i prefer using tube rectifier(im never going back to the diode rectifier-i may just as well rip that switch off) but i just like the bold cuz it has that "cut" and punch it has. my palmuted tremolo riffs soudn more br00tish with bold than spongy.
i dont have a tremoverb. but DR and tremoverb are similar..kinda

 

[RR]

i dont have a tremoverb. but DR and tremoverb are similar..kinda

They're similiar but one of a few major difference is the red channel bold mode, say you on the trem-o-Verb you put the preamp all the way say "10" setting, (not sure if you ever need that much gain) the DR are seems like has two notches above that say "12" setting. That what I notice.

 

[boogieslide]

i dont have a tremoverb. but DR and tremoverb are similar..kinda

They're similiar but one of a few major difference is the red channel bold mode, say you on the trem-o-Verb you put the preamp all the way say "10" setting, (not sure if you ever need that much gain) the DR are seems like has two notches above that say "12" setting. That what I notice.

Perhaps Mesa was inspired by Spinal Tap?

Sorry....just watched it the other day.

 

[RR]

They're similiar but one of a few major difference is the red channel bold mode, say you on the trem-o-Verb you put the preamp all the way say "10" setting, (not sure if you ever need that much gain) the DR are seems like has two notches above that say "12" setting. That what I notice.

Perhaps Mesa was inspired by Spinal Tap?

Sorry....just watched it the other day.

uh, I was afraid someone was going to bring up that :? Nevertheless pretty funny movie.
But you get what I mean, DR preamp gain on red channel modern high gain mode is slightly higher than the Trem-oVerb. e.g. You put the gain say 12 o'clock on Trem-o-Verb, its like 10 o'clock on the DR.

 

[boogieslide]

I would agree with that. I had a T-verb and now have a 3ch Dual. The Dual has more gain on tap, but to be honest I liked the Vintage mode on the T-verb better than any channel and gain mode on the 3ch Dual.
The Dual brings a lot more to the table in terms of versatility and features for live use though.
I am having my DR modded right now. It will have a MMOT, bias mod, and some other tweaks. I am hoping I will bring the Vintage modes to life on it as in the stock mode I find them kind of dull compared to the T-verb.

 

[oyster]

Let us know how the mod goes.
How hard is it to adjust the bias once that mod is in? And how do you know what to set it at given the tubes you are using?

 

[boogieslide]

Let us know how the mod goes.
How hard is it to adjust the bias once that mod is in? And how do you know what to set it at given the tubes you are using?

The amp is done....I go to pick it up on Friday.

I am not 100% on this, but I believe the way Jerry does it is to put a trim pot in that is accessible in the rear of the chassis to adjust the bias (increase/decrease resistance). I have a weber bias-rite, so using that and a multimeter I can see how many mA are across the tubes. Then using that trim pot I can adjust up or down as needed.
There is a science to it that I am not technically versed enough in to speak to. It comes down to how much your cooking the tubes and what you are hearing so there is some personal taste as well as acceptance of pushing the tubes that you have to decide on. With a colder bias like Mesa sets it from the factory the tubes will live much longer. The sound isn't 'bad', but raising the bias can make it noticeably better (or maybe just different depending on your taste). One guy may say that 55mA is the best bias, while you may push it higher and like the results better. The trade off is the tube life. I would think there is a point where it is too high to be safe. Me personally....I will ask Jerry what he thinks is a good range for this amp with my 6L6s....try it and maybe experiment a little from there.
Hope this helps....maybe somebody with more technical knowledge can add or set my butchering straight

 

[tele_jas]

My favorite setting, not only on the T-verb but on most of my past and future Rectifiers.

 

[Platypus]

This is always my favorite combo on Mesa amps, I spend most of my time there