Hey there,
I'm new on this board, lots of great stuff on here !
I could spend my nights reading just that...!
I've got a question about running my Mesa Single Rectifier without any power tubes in it. Reason is I want to use only the preamp section of the amp to do "slient" recording during night studio sessions. However, even with the master volume lowered to the bare minimum, there is still an output signal to the cab. I built a 10 ohms dummy load and measured the output voltage with the master level fully counterclockwise and it's about 1Vrms, that's enough for me to worry about running the amp unloaded with master level off.
I'd like not to waste my power tubes and heat the room for no valid reason if I can just pull these two power tubes out. The only thing stopping me from doing this is that the B+ will probably rise up like crazy without plate loading from the power tubes.
I could not find a proper schematic for the Single Rectifier, but if it is anything like the Dual Rec, the B+ is at 460V when fully loaded and according to some basic calculations of mine, it could easily rise up to 509V without any loading (assuming a 120Vrms line voltage). Filtering caps in B+ circuit are supposedly rated at 500V which is one of my worry, but I'm also in doubt about the preamp circuitry if it is run with higher plate voltages.
Anybody's got some input on that ? I could always continue to use a dummy load as I do right now, but if I can pull the power tubes out, why not?
I remember having read somewhere that if IS possible to do it, but I need more experienced input about B+ rising too much. I am aware it might also affect the tone.
Thanx a bunch!
Paul
I'm new on this board, lots of great stuff on here !
I could spend my nights reading just that...!
I've got a question about running my Mesa Single Rectifier without any power tubes in it. Reason is I want to use only the preamp section of the amp to do "slient" recording during night studio sessions. However, even with the master volume lowered to the bare minimum, there is still an output signal to the cab. I built a 10 ohms dummy load and measured the output voltage with the master level fully counterclockwise and it's about 1Vrms, that's enough for me to worry about running the amp unloaded with master level off.
I'd like not to waste my power tubes and heat the room for no valid reason if I can just pull these two power tubes out. The only thing stopping me from doing this is that the B+ will probably rise up like crazy without plate loading from the power tubes.
I could not find a proper schematic for the Single Rectifier, but if it is anything like the Dual Rec, the B+ is at 460V when fully loaded and according to some basic calculations of mine, it could easily rise up to 509V without any loading (assuming a 120Vrms line voltage). Filtering caps in B+ circuit are supposedly rated at 500V which is one of my worry, but I'm also in doubt about the preamp circuitry if it is run with higher plate voltages.
Anybody's got some input on that ? I could always continue to use a dummy load as I do right now, but if I can pull the power tubes out, why not?
I remember having read somewhere that if IS possible to do it, but I need more experienced input about B+ rising too much. I am aware it might also affect the tone.
Thanx a bunch!
Paul
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