100W tube amps that are raw, open and uncompressed?

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Racerxrated said:
Hmm, not the case at all with the Rivera TBR 1SL I had....came stock with Rivera labelled Siemens 34s and they sounded killer at all volumes, no flub at all....I attribute a flubby EL34 to the JJ EL34L all day. THAT tube is flubby with any amp I've tried them in(with one exception, a Wizard MC), and pulled shortly after. Siemens 34s are my fav 34, over vintage Mullard and even Winged Cs which are my 2nd fave. The mids in the Siemens are special.
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The mids are special. My set was stock and may have been past their service life. JJ 30 watt glass has no flub so long as they’re biased hot. Biasing an E34L like an EL34 is way too cold.
 
Nigel said:
The mids are special. My set was stock and may have been past their service life. JJ 30 watt glass has no flub so long as they’re biased hot. Biasing an E34L like an EL34 is way too cold.
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Good to know; never heard that before. If I get another amp in that comes with those Ls, I'll try that.
 
glpg80 said:
If I were looking at a quickrod or a 5150iiis 100W which would you choose and why?
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Not sure 5150iii is particularly…not compressed, if that’s what you’re going for. At least the red channel
 
glpg80 said:
If I were looking at a quickrod or a 5150iiis 100W which would you choose and why?
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Honestly.... I prefer the 5150 IIIS 6L6 to the new Splawn Quickrods. Now, find me a working 2005 spec Quickrod and that becomes a different story. I don't like the changes to the lead channel that Scott made. I have played several of the newer spec Quickrods, and didn't think they held a candle to my old 2005. The original Quickrod was angry and pissed off. It sounded like a really pissed off modded Marshall JCM800. ("Weird mids" aside...lol!) The clean channel was garbage, but I was able to overlook that because of how good the lead channel was. The newer model has an excellent clean channel and a much more polite lead channel. I just didn't care for it. I like pissed off Marshall...lol!

The EVH 5150S 6L6 100 is just a beast of an amp, IMHO. I have owned both the 50 and the 100. The 100 sounds infinitely bigger to my ears. (And to my bandmates' ears as well.) The cleans are actually very nice as long as you keep the gain knob down WAY low. lol! The Blue channel will take you from AC/DC to modded JCM800 levels of gain. The Red channel will take you from modded 800 to super modern metal tones without breaking a sweat. I also prefer having three separate sets of EQ knobs. The Blue channel gets me just about all of the tones I was getting from my Quickrod. The Red channel just lets me take it over the top when I want those tones.

I will say for anyone looking at purchasing any of the Splawn amps.... have money for an attenuator. You will need it to make the amp usable for all occasions other than outdoor gigs.

Hope that helps.
 
To the OP; 100watt amp uncompressed ? In my opinion you are describing a wizard modern classic ALL DAY LONG. I'm not a 'fan boy' but I do own one and they fking KILL for punchy, tight, articulate, open and uncompressed sounds. VERY Dynamic and focused upper-mid tones with harmonic sizzle that just makes for a inspiring fun amp to play. That's my two cents.
 
Racerxrated said:
Good to know; never heard that before. If I get another amp in that comes with those Ls, I'll try that.
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My God. You may want blood when you hear E34L/KT77/6L6GC biased right. This board is for players who want service intervals instead of rules. WE WANT THE TONE. Bias those fuckers at 80% of 30
watts (25 idle) and see what you’ve been missing.

Cold biasing JJ‘s is sacreligous heresy to be punished by seasons in the abyss of forum myth and lies.
 
Hiwatt DR103. Only ever had access to that amp one time. I was able to really turn it up though, and it most definitely left an impression!
 
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SFW said:
Honestly.... I prefer the 5150 IIIS 6L6 to the new Splawn Quickrods. Now, find me a working 2005 spec Quickrod and that becomes a different story. I don't like the changes to the lead channel that Scott made. I have played several of the newer spec Quickrods, and didn't think they held a candle to my old 2005. The original Quickrod was angry and pissed off. It sounded like a really pissed off modded Marshall JCM800. ("Weird mids" aside...lol!) The clean channel was garbage, but I was able to overlook that because of how good the lead channel was. The newer model has an excellent clean channel and a much more polite lead channel. I just didn't care for it. I like pissed off Marshall...lol!

The EVH 5150S 6L6 100 is just a beast of an amp, IMHO. I have owned both the 50 and the 100. The 100 sounds infinitely bigger to my ears. (And to my bandmates' ears as well.) The cleans are actually very nice as long as you keep the gain knob down WAY low. lol! The Blue channel will take you from AC/DC to modded JCM800 levels of gain. The Red channel will take you from modded 800 to super modern metal tones without breaking a sweat. I also prefer having three separate sets of EQ knobs. The Blue channel gets me just about all of the tones I was getting from my Quickrod. The Red channel just lets me take it over the top when I want those tones.

I will say for anyone looking at purchasing any of the Splawn amps.... have money for an attenuator. You will need it to make the amp usable for all occasions other than outdoor gigs.

Hope that helps.
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I think around 2009 Scott started installing the loop volume control in all his amps. To my ears it works great and haven't felt the need for an attenuator. With that said after adjusting the loop volume to my liking I still play fairly loud in the house
 
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Nigel said:
My God. You may want blood when you hear E34L/KT77/6L6GC biased right. This board is for players who want service intervals instead of rules. WE WANT THE TONE. Bias those fuckers at 80% of 30
watts (25 idle) and see what you’ve been missing.

Cold biasing JJ‘s is sacreligous heresy to be punished by seasons in the abyss of forum myth and lies.
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Well, I don't think any Marshall I've ever had was cold biased, ever. My rule of thumb in a Marshall is, somewhere between 30-40ma is the sweet spot. No cold bias there. When it sounds great, there's the spot.
Now, with a Rectifier they might be...but I usually pulled those JJs immediately for better choices.
 
hammered said:
I think around 2009 Scott started installing the loop volume control in all his amps. To my ears it works great and haven't felt the need for an attenuator. With the said after adjusting the loop volume to my liking I still play fairly loud in the house
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I had a 2005 when the 3 gears was still a new "mod". To this day, that was the loudest frickin' amp I ever owned. The Laney GH100L I mentioned earlier was a close second. Those Laneys had headroom for days and though they had the added gain stage based on an 800, it wasn't a super compressed amp. They'd get real nasty boosted. Those GH's are an amp I'd never turn down owning.
 
Racerxrated said:
Well, I don't think any Marshall I've ever had was cold biased, ever. My rule of thumb in a Marshall is, somewhere between 30-40ma is the sweet spot. No cold bias there. When it sounds great, there's the spot.
Now, with a Rectifier they might be...but I usually pulled those JJs immediately for better choices.
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Depends on the plate voltage. Those values are fine for 25 watt tubes @440v B+ just like what Paul Rivera suggests, but closer to 50 is right for 30 watt tubes.

40ma @ 440v is only 17.6 watts. That’s less than 60% for an E34L or 6L6GC!
 
Nigel said:
Depends on the plate voltage. Those values are fine for 25 watt tubes @440v B+ just like what Paul Rivera suggests, but closer to 50 is right for 30 watt tubes.

40ma @ 440v is only 17.6 watts. That’s less than 60% for an E34L or 6L6GC!
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I've always used either Siemens or Winged C 34s now for over 10 yrs, so I'm always considering them 25w tubes. Hence my bias 'range'. Whenever I get over 40, like 45ma the sound turns brittle and harsh. Not good.
I wonder though, are the GT EL34LS considered 30w as well? Those are basically EL34L with bigger heat wings, to handle higher PV amps like Wizards, HiWatt, Old Plexis.
 
Racerxrated said:
I've always used either Siemens or Winged C 34s now for over 10 yrs, so I'm always considering them 25w tubes. Hence my bias 'range'. Whenever I get over 40, like 45ma the sound turns brittle and harsh. Not good.
I wonder though, are the GT EL34LS considered 30w as well? Those are basically EL34L with bigger heat wings, to handle higher PV amps like Wizards, HiWatt, Old Plexis.
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Yes.
 
I like raw and open, uncompressed and punch-to-the-gut guitar tones. My three main amps are a '82 Marshall 2203, a Soldano SLO 100 and a Hiwatt DR103. The rawest being the Hiwatt, the most usable and versatile being the SLO, the most classic being the Marshall.
 
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