Simon Says
Cathode Follower
I want to tuberoll. :iamconfused:
I am familiar with tube-rolling from high-fi tube amps, but my understanding with PRS guitar amps is that in order to swap something else in, one has to bias it to 30 (mV?), correct? So if one tube is working at 75% of its capacity (when biased at 30) and another is working at 90%, is it correct that the first one will give me more headroom (I.E. I can turn up the gain higher before I get distortion)? Or is that all in the preamp tubes?
I'm more of an EL84 guy, I should probably just get a Vox (or a Vox clone), neh? None of these will "sound" like an EL84, will they?
I believe I said that here somewhere recently but just FYI proper biasing involves more than just recommended mA adjustment. You need to take the plate voltage and calculate it with aimed plate dissipation range. Recommended 70% plate dissipation is only a guideline, high gain amps likes cold bias while vintage voiced talks with hotter bias better. Same time my Boogie Fillmore (vintage voiced) is set to 55% dissipation at the factory and it sounds awesome... i believe that PRS advised mA settings are rather on the cold side too, just a guess but I would expect that for the sake of safety / valve lifespan.
Get yourself a Eurotubes Bias meter which measures both mA range and the plate voltage and use online calculator with your choice of vaccum valve type and bias it the proper way. Then use your ear from there keeping the range in safe brackets. I would disrecommand going hotter than 70-75% plate dissipation personally