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Vintage Tung-Sol 5881's are back in the Tweed Bassman - Thanks to an astute subscriber

1,860 views · Published 1 May 2014 · 5:14 · Indexed 1 November 2026

Channel: millstap · 2014 · Music

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I took one of my subscribers comments to heart (AR you know who you are) who said he thought my tone was better before the Winged "C"'s 6L6GC's.  After reading a lot more about biasing the 5881's (I suggest Googling it), I realized I had burned up the last pair by setting them too high.  They only lasted about 6 months.  Luckily, I had one last pair of matched vintage 5881's so I decided to give them a test run today.  I could not believe how the sound of those tubes adjusted correctly made it sooooo much more fun to play (although it is not quit as Marshall like).  Since I have a Carl Hartman Amp Preserver (voltage regulator) I am able to reduce the house current by 12v to 108v.  This lowered the plate voltage on the tubes to 415v which is acceptable.  They are only rated at 400v.  I also found that biasing them a little cooler (29mV & 31mV respectively) gave me a plate dissipation of 56%.  You judge.  The last halve of the video is my better playing.

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