Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum
Amp Stuff => Tube Amp Building - Tweaks - Repairs => Topic started by: Carlsoti on July 13, 2023, 12:04:18 pm
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I'm toying with the idea of a build that would incorporate, essentially, a Gibsonette GA-9 front end (Basically a 5F1 with an additional parallel output tube) fed into a Garnet "Herzog" (Basically a big resistor to burn up most of the power with a few bits to make a line out) and then fed into a PP power amp.
Will the "sparkle" that the parallel SE output is known for still be present in such a configuration?
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Why make more power (extra tube) only to burn-off the excess power?
Seems like for the price of extra tube and iron, you could buy nicer grille and tolex cloth, which always makes an amp sound better.
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Why make more power (extra tube) only to burn-off the excess power?
I really like the sound of the vintage Gibsonette I recently repaired for a friend, but it's not loud enough to gig with a heavy-handed drummer and too loud to crank up at home for any length of time.
Pricing for iron makes a 20+W parallel SE kind of expensive, but I have PP OTs laying around unused.
My thought was to find an unpopular(cheap), low-power pentode to replace the parallel 6v6s to reduce how much power is wasted. With lower powered "output" tubes, I might get away with using a much smaller (and less exspensive) "OT" feeding into the Herzog part of the circuit.
I realize it's kind of a foolish set up, but was wondering if that parallel SE sparkle would come through the PP output section, as the 2nd order harmonics are being generated "in the signal path."
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thinking the "magic" will get lost in the PP and all the extra bits but it's early n my brains listening to the birds mostly.
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... it's not loud enough to gig with a heavy-handed drummer and too loud to crank up at home for any length of time. ...
This is why they make the Fryette Powerstation (https://www.fryette.com/power-station-integrated-reactance-amplifier/).
Use as a reactive load when you need to be quiet (or silent) at home, or as a 50w (or 100w for the other-model) amp when you need to make-louder.
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GA-9 is single-ended, usually
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...Use as a reactive load...
That seems to be most sensible thing.
GA-9 is single-ended, usually
Yep, parallel, even. I LOVE the sound of the Gibsonette I worked on for a friend. He left it with me when he hit the road and won't be back until November. Once he's back, I'm gonna need something else to fill that spot. I was contemplating pasting a bunch of different bits together to make it more "versatile", but as HBP pointed out, it seems I'm taking the hard road.
Now I'm thinking of something like a hybrid between the Gibsonette and a 6G2, with parallel bottles bigger than 6V6s. I should probably look at some the Gibson trem circuits before putting much more time into it.
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Couple things:
The trem for the 16T/18 sounds very good and there is a thread here with PRR and Sluckey helping me slow it down, while keeping the strength up.
And I think I have a new 25W SE OT sitting on a shelf at home (not home right now) https://www.tedweber.com/wse25/ (https://www.tedweber.com/wse25/) I don't foresee using it and would let you have it cheap.
And, since you like the sound of the Gibson, I suggest that you do not get lured into trying to attain Fenderish B+ voltage - its too high to get the dirt that the Gibson digs up. IMO
I've built two SE 6L6 amps. They sound good - no reason a parallel 2x6L6 will not IMO.