5881's and 125E

[petemoore]

At low volume sound has 6L6 vibe.
Doing more reading, looks like a hard and fast rule that too small an OT shouldn't be used.
What happens ?
Will the transformer overheat? Core saturation ?
Would I recieve any 'danger signals' prior to core saturation or other catastrophic events?
No way to reduce power? [such as keep volume at '6v6' level?].
..Just sticking my toe in, testing the waters, curious..totally prepared to swap back.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

At low volume sound has 6L6 vibe.
Doing more reading, looks like a hard and fast rule that too small an OT shouldn't be used.
What happens ?
Will the transformer overheat? Core saturation ?
Would I recieve any 'danger signals' prior to core saturation or other catastrophic events?
No way to reduce power? [such as keep volume at '6v6' level?].
..Just sticking my toe in, testing the waters, curious..totally prepared to swap back.

I use to use a Hammond 125E in my SE 6L6 Soulkicker Jr. amp.
Biased at around 25 watts at around 380vdc, I never had one get overheated or go bad and those amps would make an honest, clean +9 watts output into a dummy load from around 85Hz to 6KHz.

[petemoore]

The pilot lamp has become sag indicator, seems to indicate more sag than 'looks' healthy for the tube heaters..at a glance}. Only does that when I turn it pretty far past 'loudest'.
I'll have to see what the current draw % turns out to be with the pilot lamp, perhaps a few ma. could be gain from pulling the lamp.
Thanks Bruce, sounds big 'n spanky, Tele w/5881's tweed is really nice combination of flavors, these TS 5881's seem like nice tubes, with some squishy compression added or not, very sweet !
And quite a departure from what EH 6v6's were doing: early, dirty breakup [nice...just a whole lot different].
I'll probably not be 'driving it into heavy dirt' with 5881's, as it doesn't seem to lend itself as well to that as with 6v6's [for that I use the other 5e3].
Drives heavy, seems like this kind of 'thinner dirt falls away'/..what a kick..bigger bottles = great big notes.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Thanks Bruce, sounds big 'n spanky, Tele w/5881's tweed is really nice combination of flavors, these TS 5881's seem like nice tubes, with some squishy compression added or not, very sweet !
And quite a departure from what EH 6v6's were doing: early, dirty breakup [nice...just a whole lot different].
I'll probably not be 'driving it into heavy dirt' with 5881's, as it doesn't seem to lend itself as well to that as with 6v6's [for that I use the other 5e3].

OK, I might have misunderstood the original question...
I have NOT used a pair of 6L6s or 5881s in push pull with the 125E OT, only in single ended amps with one 5881 or 6L6.
I have used the 125E with 6V6s in PP, but I bet it would still work OK with lightly "fixed biased" 6l6s or 5881s. Not as well an OT from say a smaller 30 watt amp such as a Pro Reverb or Bandmaster though.

[petemoore]

Amp in question is a 5e3, single ended.
Hammond OT 125E is what it says on it, PT is a 270DX.
Pilot light 'dips' under heavy load [ie when loud volumes and low notes are picked hard/frequently, I warmed it up then ran it harder than usual for testing it...PT seemed to be warm, like with 6v6's.

[Steve Conner]

FWIW, core saturation is not a catastrophic event. It happens all the time in guitar and bass amps, every time you play a low E cranked.

The average current draw of a SE power stage should actually decrease under heavy overdrive, though, so I don't know what is going on with your pilot light.