6L6 power reduction question

[Jimmy-Mayhem]

Hey guys, I have a question:

I currently play through an early 90s Fender Super 210, 60 watts, 2 6l6 tubes. Love the amp, but even at medium gigs, the sound guys/gals won't let me set my volume past 2. Been using an overdrive pedal to get "breakup" with the gain on like 3-4. I was either thinking of giving the THD Yellowjackets a try or I found a convertor that switches my 6l6s into triode mode. Ive read into what the yellowjackets do and I don't mind hearing what el84s would do in terms of tone to my amp, but those suckers are quite expensive. The triode mode would be a cheaper alternative, but Ive read mixed reviews, some people love it, some people absolute hate it; the people hating say it has a "blanket over speakers" tone, while others say there is a little more chime and smoother distortion.

I play mainly punk rock / alternative / rock n roll, so clean headroom is least important to me. I really like the social distortion tone and green day tone, and I play a les paul with p90s if this affects how either mods would react. I just want early breakup to get the amps natural power tubes going and would rather us an overdrive pedal as a solo boost than gain.

Any bit of advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[trevorus]

What is your reasoning for reducing the power? Either option will not shed that much overall volume. If you want to drop volume, you need less efficient speakers and/or an attenuator.

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[AlexR]

Re: 6L6 power reduction question

I always thought a triode mode required some mods done to the amp.

Truly, if you're gigging and all your gigs are done with the amp on '2', then I'd seriously consider a 15W amp instead of the monster you have

 

[glassman]

Re: 6L6 power reduction question

Using a 12AU7 in V3 will give you a little more use of the volume control without changing your tone too much other than a little more bottom end at lower volumes.

If...and I do mean if, your amp has a bias adjustment (it was optional) you can run JJ 6V6s. The bias WILL need to be adjusted to do this so if your amp doesn't have a bias adjustment pot, cross this off the list. The JJ 6V6s will lower the overall power (though probably not at the lower stage volumes you use) but it will break up sooner so you may not need higher volumes to get into a warmer tone area.

 

[Jimmy-Mayhem]

Re: 6L6 power reduction question

Thanks for the replies!

My amp is a fixed bias. My reasoning for wanting power reduction is that I want tube breakup to happened earlier so I can use the natural distortion from the power tubes. Love my amp, don't have enough cash to buy another one, just want to find a good alternative to make the most of it and bring out its tone, especially for recording

 

[nedcronin]

Re: 6L6 power reduction question

EL 84's are going to really change the tone. Maybe a DR Z airbrake? I have one and it does a great job of preserving tone and shaving off the db's.

 

[trevorus]

As Glassman said, JJ 6V6's are the ones to use, as most of the 6V6's in the market today can't handle the voltages of most 6L6 amps. I might pop in a 12au7 to one of my amps in V3, because I have the same problem. Too much volume too fast.

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