My opinion is, most tube amps run safely within a certain range (like the Tube Store says), so if you run the same tube type, you should be fine. So, if you want to be 100% safe, biasing is a great idea. NOT biasing your tube amp CAN be a bad idea, and you can end up shortening tube life or doing damage to the circuitry. Which is cool with the tubestore because you can then start buying "perfect pairs" which are all grouped by there individual current drawīiasing a tube amp is NEVER a bad idea, and can never hurt your amp. If you look else where or read books it will tel you the same thing. ![]() Until you learn how to do it correctly by yourself, it's best to pay a technician a few dollars to do it for you. Also, your amp may sound horrible or cause undue wear and tear on the tubes or power supply. It's not difficult, it doesn't take long, but if you don't know what you're doing you may hurt yourself (amps can give lethal electric shocks even when unplugged, and NO, we're not just saying that to scare you). For the best results, specify the make and model of your amp in the "Comments" of your order and we will make sure you get the best tubes for your amp.Ĭathode bias amplifiers shouldn't require any adjustments and will work with a wide range of tube plate currents, as the circuit is "self adjusting".įor adjustable bias amplifiers, the amp should be biased by a tech with experience with this procedure. Fortunately, these amps are usually pretty forgiving and will work well with a pretty wide range of tubes. These amps (for example, some Fender and Mesa Boogie models) are designed to run with tubes that have a specific current draw (see question 4) and should only use tubes that fall within a certain range. The bias methods of amplifiers fall into several basic categories:Įach of these types is unique. Many tube amp owners are unaware of this simple regular service for their amp that will keep it sounding it's absolute best. Some amps do this automatically, but many do not - particularly in the world of guitar amps. ![]() Just like the idle of your car may need adjusting when a major change is done to the engine, new power tubes need their idle (the "bias") adjusted to make sure the amp sounds as good as possible. What does it mean to "bias" the amplifier? Thru the tube store you can continue to by tubes from the same "groups" which means if you buy a set from a group at the tube store, and have the amp biased, you just continue to by from that group and don't need to rebiased the amp.ĩ. I know you still don't believe me, but even places like tells you to rebias Power Tube's each time you replace them. ![]() Biasing should only be necessary if your amp goes out of bias (a sign of a serious problem) or if you change tube-type (like EL-84's to 6V6's). It's not a bad idea to have your amp biased every few years (maybe every second or third power tube swap), but I don't believe it's necessary every time. If you want to get anal about it, you can have it biased, but the plate voltages should be fine for a new set of tubes. Make sure you replace the power tubes (four EL-84's) with a matched quartet, all four at once. The only real problem with it is that there isn't a lot of room to maneuver or see what you're doing, so lining the tube pins up can be kind of a bitch.Īs far as biasing, you should be fine just swapping them tube-for-tube. There are just a couple panels that cover the tubes (that also serve to keep the tubes well-seated) that you'll have to locate and remove. Accessing the tubes is a lot easier than it first looks.
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