Sorta of a Dumb Question: Is it possible to turn down wattage on 6160 Block Letter?

LucasLeCompte

Experienced
I think it is possible, but I am unsure of the steps to do it. I wanna take the 6160 block letter and get the wattage down to 60 watts like the script letter combo. I wanna compare the two, but I need to take the 6160 down to 60 watts.
 
Is this on the amp model or the real amp? On the amp model, that should be unnecessary (and there isn't a straight forward mechanism in the Axe that would do it that I'm aware of) because you would simply turn the master volume up to get more power tube distortion and the output level down to avoid clipping.

The typical use case for pulling a tube pair in a 100W+ amp is to reduce power to get power tube distortion at a more tinnitus-friendly volume level. There are some subtle changes in feel and tone, but in my experience they're pretty small, and on an amp like the 5150 that derives so much of its tone from the ridiculous amounts of preamp gain, I wouldn't think there would be a huge difference.

For the 5150 combo that was designed around a 60 watt power section, odds are that the tonal differences between that and its 120 watt big brother will be more from the smaller power and output transformers than the two less tubes themselves (unless, of course, Peavey for some reason kept the bigger transformers from the 120 watt version, which wouldn't make sense from a cost control perspective).

All that said, fiddle with the Power Amp section's transformer settings, or perhaps do a tone-match of the actual combo if you have it?
 
I was joking but I should add if you are actually talking about the real amp pulling tubes can be bad for the amp. Many amps rely on the static bias current to cause a voltage drop across the power transformer. Pulling two tubes reduces this drop and increases the plate voltages. This can exceed tube's rating and damage the tube.
 
Back
Top Bottom