No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

[JeffB]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

These are all reasons why I take my amp to a pro when it needs to be biased. I'd rather pay $50 instead of being dead. I'm not completely mechanically inept, but electricity scares the bejesus out of me.

My pros charges $100-$120 for a bias/minimum "bench fee". Thats why I originally just got replacement pairs matched up to my original set.

I was scared, still do find it scary. But on this amp, its relatively easy. Thats why I attempted it. I dont plan on rolling lots of power tubes and have to continually re-bias it, believe you me

 

[Leon Of Late]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

Wow, that's a hefty bench fee. Glad its easy to do.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

And keep one hand in your back pocket while wearing rubber soled shoes. You don't want to create a path through your heart for the electricity to flow. THAT is what kills ya. Localizing the shock to just your hand will leave your hand feeling weird for a couple days (120VAC across my right hand) but you'll live.

Oh and wear a condom

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

These are all reasons why I take my amp to a pro when it needs to be biased. I'd rather pay $50 instead of being dead. I'm not completely mechanically inept, but electricity scares the bejesus out of me.

Don't be afraid of electricity - just ride the lightning!

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

Also, I see the metal handled mini screwdriver and towel. Good thinking on the towel but a plastic handled one is best. Bare hands on a metal handled screwdriver can kill you. Never put your other hand on the chassis at the same time either. If you get shocked with that much amperage, you can literally get locked to the amp till you die, unless you're lucky enough to drop the chassis or fall away.

I've had something like that happen to me twice.

this is the screwdriver set i prefer when working with electricity or with anything else that needs some finesse ..

ive had this set for like 28 years and they are insulated

 

[GilmourD]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

My pros charges $100-$120 for a bias/minimum "bench fee". Thats why I originally just got replacement pairs matched up to my original set.

I was scared, still do find it scary. But on this amp, its relatively easy. Thats why I attempted it. I dont plan on rolling lots of power tubes and have to continually re-bias it, believe you me

It's not too dangerous provided you take the proper precautions. Don't create a path for juice through the heart and use wooden or plastic objects to muck about inside when juice is present. I've run amps with the chassis flipped upside down so I could poke around while my brother played to diagnose problems (had a weird oscillation in my Bassman that turned out to be one wire running too close in parallel to another wire).

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

I still have my h30 70th, EVH g12m20s (x2), V30 is in the combo cab, and I just picked up a standard g12m greenback (chinese) which is in the 2x12 cab with the 70th, subbing in for an EVH for a trial run. The chinese m25 is a couple db louder than the EVH, which kind of gets lost in the cab with 70th. The m25 are also a little more aggressive and they have a bit more headroom. ..Really they sound more like Blackbacks, and the EVH have more of that late 60s/very early 70s thing going on (sweeter, warmer, more compressed when pushed).

I have many of the same speakers and agree completely with your description of them. The standard re-issue G12M really is a good match to the Blackback G12Ms.

 

[ken361]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

As if someone that doesnt know is to check the plate voltage first then use the bias calculator to determine the bias setting, dont just set it 38 because it might be too hot! My second time biasing the plate voltage went up 25, maybe because it was done at a different house? 475 would be 36.8ma which I did last time so we went to 34 ma. 36.8 was just getting into the hot range. I think both channels sounded better at 34.

http://www.tedweber.com/webervst/tubes1/calcbias.htm

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

As if someone that doesnt know is to check the plate voltage first then use the bias calculator to determine the bias setting, dont just set it 38 because it might be too hot! My second time biasing the plate voltage went up 25, maybe because it was done at a different house? 475 would be 36.8ma which I did last time so we went to 34 ma. 36.8 was just getting into the hot range. I think both channels sounded better at 34.

http://www.tedweber.com/webervst/tubes1/calcbias.htm

The plate voltage will change some with different bias settings. The plate voltage will increase if there are less electrons flowing through the tube, and will decrease with more electrons flowing through the tube. That why it is a good idea to do it again after the initial adjustment, especially if the adjustment was fairly large.

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

Sorry to kick up a dead thread but I finally got around to doing mine. 51.3 m.a. on the left tube & 54.1 on the right!!! At this point I think this thread is a public safety notice as much as it's information? I set mine around 36 & both CH's sound WAY better!!!

Especially the clean CH & this is where I spend most of my time. I tend to get most of my dirt from pedals, even if it's just a little O.D. to kick an already broken up amp in the teeth... When I got the amp I thought it was a bit gainny on the clean CH but it's a Marshall and the sound I was getting from it was a lot like a Plexi so I just figured that was it's clean sound & the thing just had almost no headroom, NOPE!!!

I can still get that Plexi like tone when I want it, but the gain has to be turned up past noon now, LOL!!! It was starting to break up at about 9:30-10:00 on the clean gain knob before, F-ING INSANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!! How they are letting these go out the door like this is completely beyond my comprehension....

 

[Demanic]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

I'd rather get an amp biased hot from the factory than one biased cold.
Though that us a good reason to have it checked.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[ken361]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

Hows my tones?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4rfbOIzjM

 

[ken361]

Re: No wonder my DSL sounds like arse

Trick is to keep the treb and presence low around 2 to 3 also