Peavey Mace Head Tube Layout

[Rayme]

I am real close to purchasing a Mace head with the 6-6L6 tube setup at 160 watts. The tube layout for this amp is CBAABC. My question is since I will be playing this in a small area for awhile, can I remove tubes C&C which should run the amp around 100watts and not be quite as loud. Can this be done for any length of time without damage to unit? Thanks, Rayme

[Enzo]

The tubes are really just in two groups of 3. So ABCCBA is really no different from ABCABC. That assumes you will be using three pairs of tubes instead of a set of six.

If you want to pull two tubes from the ends, go ahead. ideally you would step the impedance down a partial notch, but you can;t, so don;t worry about it.

Now pulling two tubes will decrease the power to something just over 100 watts, but that is not much of a loudness reduction. Cutting power in half is only a 3db reduction. This is only a decibel or two.

The tube power amp is killer on this Mace, but the preamp is solid state, so really, why not just turn down the volume control?

[Rayme]

Thanks Enzo!

Thanks for the reply Enzo, makes a lot of sense and that is exactly what I needed! Rayme

[Prairie Dawg]

Thanks for the reply Enzo, makes a lot of sense and that is exactly what I needed! Rayme

Make sure you've got your chiropractor on speed dial if you're doing much schlepping that Mace around. I had a Mace combo with the black widow speakers and it was not much shy of 100 pounds. Ouch! Boosting that up a narrow flight of stairs was not a lot of fun.

[Enzo]

Amen to that.