In honor of Mr. Ed -
For those curious about using a variac with their tube amp (Marshall):
I modded my amp (JTM45RI modded to somewhat plexi specs) back in 2013 to run a variac at about 100v (90v was too mushy for 50 watter) by changing the bias resistor.
I biased the amp after I had dropped the voltage, so the 6CA7s were idling around 40mAs.
It definitely does something to the tone... slightly squishier with a slight change in the "crunch".
Here's a quick n dirty clip I did back then with 1 SM57 on speaker, Flanger added in DAW (no EQ or other polish).
Guitars are me, backing track is Al & Mike:
For those curious about using a variac with their tube amp (Marshall):
I modded my amp (JTM45RI modded to somewhat plexi specs) back in 2013 to run a variac at about 100v (90v was too mushy for 50 watter) by changing the bias resistor.
I biased the amp after I had dropped the voltage, so the 6CA7s were idling around 40mAs.
It definitely does something to the tone... slightly squishier with a slight change in the "crunch".
Here's a quick n dirty clip I did back then with 1 SM57 on speaker, Flanger added in DAW (no EQ or other polish).
Guitars are me, backing track is Al & Mike:
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