schematic and question

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

I don't know... depending on the actual amp, to my ears, EL34s always seem to sound great to me when they are idling at around 16-18 watts each.
But I don't like to say a specific idle current value because it also depends on the OT Zed, measured B+ at the plates and screen voltage.
Normally you would see a pair of EL34s at around 3200 to 3400 ohms and the screen voltage just a little less then the plate supply voltage.
With lower plate voltages and cathode biasing, I actually like the PA to be running a little higher in primary Zed.
But this brain is connected between my ears... even if I have more experience then you, I can't really tell you what is right with respect to overall tone ... especially if you've hit on something that is more of what you want.

[daz]

Well, i found a big part of the issue...cathode bias. i should say it was a big part of all my issues. I converted to fixed and now it's far better sounding. I could gig with it right now in fact and i'm pretty sure the tone would be better than most production amps i've owned. But i need to know how to bias it right. I used the 2204 schematic in the link below and set the DCV at the resistor junction to -40VDC because i recall that being a approximate setting from my old jcm's. Can you steer me in the right direction to do this right? I tried 1 ohm R's from cathode to ground and measured across them but couldn't get a reading that was anything near right. (got something like .007VDC at most with extreme setting of the pot)

http://www.schematicheaven.com/marsh...l_50w_2204.pdf

[Paul P]

How did you connect your 1 ohm resistors ?

Paul P

[daz]

One per tube, connected to pins 8 and 1 to ground.