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Big Bad Bob Big Bad Bob is offline
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Default Which Mesa guitar amp has 12 power output tubes

On 02/21/17 05:16, Peter Wieck so wittily quipped:
http://www.mesaboogie.com/support/ou.../bass-400.html


This one.

Keep in mind that guitar amps are not audio amps - any more so than a Hummers are Ferraris.


ack - they're designed specifically for guitar or bass, including
capacitor values and transformer characteristics, and often add their
own "color" to the sound that's unique. You might call that a form of
'distortion'.

Additionally, guitar amps are typically designed to overload with
predictable characteristics. The phase splitter of a guitar amplifier
will often be designed so that it clips a certain way in the output
stage long before the splitter overloads, and has reasonably even
distortion pattern across a wide band of overload conditions. there may
also be too little negative feedback for an audiofile's ear to be pleased.

In short, the amplifier becomes "part of the instrument" in determing
the sound and quality.

but hey, us guitar players knew that, heh. It's why so many prefer
tubes, because they have "that sound" as opposed to a transistorized
amplifier that overloads, well, like a transistorized amplifier.


There's a certain behavior you get when a "Cathodyne" phase splitter
overloads, which differs from a 'long tail pair'. It's almost a
frequency doubling effect in the Cathodyne when it goes into overload.
You can prevent this (somewhat) with a series resistor of sufficiently
high value in series with the grid, since it's apparently due to grid
volts cathode (causing grid current).

Or you can use the 'long tail pair' which seems to be the preferred
method in a lot of guitar amps.

http://www.300guitars.com/articles/a...hase-inverter/

Older hifi circuits seem to use the 'cathodyne' because a) they're not
expected to overload, b) it uses one less triode than 'long tail pair',
and c) it's well suited to using a 12AU7 for preamp + phase inverter to
drive a pair of 6L6's (or similar) directly, coupled with NFB, and fed
directly by the volume control knob.

(pre-amps leading up to that would use 12AX7's as needed for tone
controls, phonograph, etc.).

In any case, the guitar amp's phase inverter circuit makes a difference
in how it overloads, at what point it overloads, and how it recovers
from transient overloading. All of that changes the sound considerably.

So yeah. I expect a lot of people already know this, but I'm saying
anyway, just because.


--
your story is so touching, but it sounds just like a lie
"Straighten up and fly right"