5150 Bias settings (Samples)

Big difference indeed.

A funny thing is that I actually recognized the different bias characters in the files from the Axe-FX. Or to put it in another way: I knew that the higher bias would be fuller, and the lower bias would be...loose/scooped/swampy. Freakish. ;)

A big thank you, Lasse.
 
I dunno, I'm not a fan of 32 and 40, it almost sounds like the tubes are struggling and making the sound ...hm.. muddier and slower if that makes sense. I'd actually go for something between 12 and 18. All the clips from 18 up have some low mid stuff that I don't like.
 
Listening now, I'm kinda bummed you didn't re-amp the same take each time, would've made discerning the differences a lot easier! :( Thanks all the same for doing this, though I gotta be honest, I much prefer the 5150 when it's dialed in like the clip in this thread (wait a sec until it all kicks in), cuz that feels a lot more like where it belongs; it sounds a bit too muddy here and I think I'd prefer to leave this type of low mid chunk to the Rectifier (though one thing I notice that makes me VERY happy is the metallic sound that has sometimes bothered me about the 5150 seems to be diminshed the higher the bias is).

Maybe that's why I haven't really liked a lot of 5150 clips, cuz so many people try to go for the low mid emphasis and I just really don't dig it that much, but when it's punchy and so crunchy in the high-mids (Soldano-style) then I can't get enough of it!
 
I guess they're doing that to avoid warranty issues....tubes that cold pretty much last forever.

wasn't warranty, it was the way EVH and Brown designed the amp to sound, as in it wasn't getting enough juice to function properly. gives you that "brown" sound which is only useful if you play old grampas music :lol: They did other stupid shit like placing 300v 5w rated resistors in a circuit that contained 500v and near 15w of power, thats why you can blow shit up when tubes fail. I think they did that on purpuse so you 1) couldn't bias the amp hotter without getting into trouble (a that's what you get for fucking with shit" attitude and with dude like roger crimm, just proved that was peavey's attitude towards people who biased the amp) and 2) so the amp would prematurely fail with small fortune repairs (50-150 USD not including replacement tubes)

but i digress, i bias mine to 42mA, I like it that way. I use JJ pre tubes and a Boss SD-1 to compensate for the darker tubes, an eq where I scoop out the lower mids and I run that into a fairly bright cab, (G-Flex), and honestly I wouldn;t trade my tone in for the world, ok maybe an Engl Savage to go along with my 5150 but you get the idea.
 
Anyone else having trouble downloading it? Quite interested to hear. I right click to do "save as" and nothing happens when I click save as...
 
marcus: bear in mind that I didn't use a tubescreamer on these clips, hence the muddyness in the low mids.
Shadow: the brown sound comes from a too low voltage in the powersupply which gives you this saggy feel (recto does it with spongy/bold), not from the low bias. EVH is not the reason for the low bias ;)
 
but i digress, i bias mine to 42mA, I like it that way. I use JJ pre tubes and a Boss SD-1 to compensate for the darker tubes, an eq where I scoop out the lower mids and I run that into a fairly bright cab, (G-Flex), and honestly I wouldn;t trade my tone in for the world, ok maybe an Engl Savage to go along with my 5150 but you get the idea.

All my experience tells me that I agree. ;)

Oh damn, no TS might just do it! :D How come you left it out?

Maybe he wanted to hear the difference of the amp?? :err:
 
Thanks for doing this Lasse. I listened to the clips in order, so I felt like the clips just kept getting brighter (and I was thinking that maybe even 12mA was the best). Then I went back and listened to 12mA again and it sounded a bit loose and less powerful. :lol:

Did you make all the clips the same volume, or are their differences?
 
Maybe he wanted to hear the difference of the amp?? :err:

And how would a TS alter this? (and more importantly, since he's almost certainly gonna be always using a TS for recordings, I'd think it'd be more important to hear what the differences are with one on)
 
yeah, and my buddy's was even colder (8mA').

I guess they're doing that to avoid warranty issues....tubes that cold pretty much last forever.

aparrently eddie van halen wanted it that way, cos of the brown sound or some classic rock bollocks

EDIT: disregard that, i didnt see your post lasse, im talking bollocks :D
 
the brown sound comes from a too low voltage in the powersupply which gives you this saggy feel (recto does it with spongy/bold), not from the low bias. EVH is not the reason for the low bias ;)

the low bias is artificually recreating the effects of voltage vs. current over a PSU voltage drop. The ratio of voltage to current is not linear and therefor as you were to lower the voltage to the PSU the current would drop at a higher rate. The effect of a voltage drop would result in the amp having a lower wattage than it was designed for, that lower wattage is a result of of a lower current compared to the voltage (as the formula for power is P=VxI). The result of having tubes not operating at their intended rating they go into crossover distortion, the by product of the tube not having enough current to faithfully power the signal. That was what EVH purpously did with his Marshall's but as a result was burning shit out and had to lug around with him a variac PSU. When he went to peavey, they diesinged a circuit that would recreate the inhereted voltage drop.

Don't believe me refer back to the formula P=VxI, drop the voltage and see what happens to the power, even if the current were to stay static and not change, the power would drop, but realistically when you drop the voltage the current will also drop, considering you have resistance in the circuit, the ratio of resistance and voltage is the result of the current. With both the voltage droping, resulting tin the current drop, the power dissipation would be severly lowered, just like the negative bias voltage applied to the supressor grid, bottom line the output power of the tube is lowered, meaning, it is not getting enough power to reproduce the sound without coloration, this coloration is crossover distortion or the "Brown Sound".

you were close though, the brown sound is a result of an output power drop, not a voltage drop, exactly how you get that power drop does not matter.

I should note, I am going for my Associates in Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology, so this stuff is extremely fresh in my brain right now, so I am not just some snot nosed know it all punk talking out of my ass from shit that I have read and tried to translate over the internet to correct people and be a complete ass.
 
Actually, I thought it was the result of an input power drop, hence the variac between the plug and outlet. But I'm a total electrical n00b, so don't mind me :loco:
 
I was refering to the result of the drop, in electronics what you get in is what you get out. Basically you are clamping down on the input such as low biasing or feeding the PSU with a lower voltage and the result is lowered current and lowered voltage. The final result, lowered output, and as we all know, if the tube isn't getting the power it needs, crossover.
 
Yes, this one or the formula :) But the important thing is to check the real plate voltage of your amp because it can change very much from 2 amp of the same model (for example 2 savage or 2 5150).

Absolutely. That is a must. You cannot calculate your bias current without the Plate Voltage. I have this bias meter (BR-4):

https://taweber.powweb.com/biasrite/br_page.htm

It can measure Plate Voltage or Bias Current at the flick of a switch.
 
Hey Lasse....don't you use T-TOWN tubes in V1 position anymore? I knew you used it in the past.
After a month, do you like the 5150 hot biased version more? :)