by tigerstrat » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:30 pm
mijknahs wrote:tigerstrat wrote:mijknahs wrote: I recommend the new Tung Sol 5881 reissue power tubes.
Hey Jim, I wound up taking this advice by accident! Ran out the door at 6:30pm last night in a mad scramble to get new 6L6 output tubes for my Mark III before my gig tonight. First store: keeps me waiting 10 min while casually BS-ing w/ a customer, THEN at 10min to 7 tells me "oh we are all out" WHAAAT!!!??... scorched asphalt another 2 miles down the road to the next store: they have closed, but the guy lets me in. "We are all out of 6L6 but we have one last pair of Tung-Sol 5881's". Hadn't planned to spend that kind of $ but here I was in a bind. Play tested minimally at garage levels, sound fine I guess... hoping they show me God tonight onstage!
You only needed 2? I guess you have EL34s for the other pair. Let us know how they work tonight. Are you able to re-bias the amp?
There is no other pair, this is a 60w (or 50w w/the 5881's) Mark III from 1985. You'd never suspect it isn't 100w by the way it peels paint off the walls. I've NEVER biased it, have been thinking of trying it, but no time before tonight's gig, but the old output set lasted a long, long time. They still have a little life in them but I've been worrying they would suddenly start to go during a performance- will bring 'em along just in case I got a defective pair.
"There, in huge black letters, was 'The Grateful Dead'. It just... cancelled my mind out."-Garcia