Pulling tubes on EL84 amp?

[Mononoaware]

I'm thinking of buying a used Crate V3112. It's a 30-watt, "class A" amp with four el84s.

Question is this: I've heard that you can halve the power of an amp running on a quad of EL34's by pulling the outer tubes. Would I be able to do this with the Crate without any ill effects?

(And I know that going from 30 loud watts to 15 loud watts is a fairly minor change; I'm as interested in the economics of the operation as I am in the slight reduction in power. . .)

 

[Saggy]

Re: Pulling tubes on EL84 amp?

It should be fine. If your amp has a fixed bias it'll be even easier and you won't have to take it to a shop!

 

[James Rock]

Re: Pulling tubes on EL84 amp?

Isn't it cathode bias. But yeh its fine I'm pretty sure. My dad just pulls random tubes from his AC30 without adverse effects (even had it running single ended although not for very long or loud so I wouldn't recommend this!)