How much t00b glowage is too much?

[Metaltastic]

So I've been having a grand old time with my Dual Rec, though I've noticed that the tubes seem to be glowing awfully bright, which kinda makes me nervous. It sounds fine, though I haven't taken it above bedroom volumes - I think I'll bring it to band practice tomorrow for its first exercise of SUSTAINED HIGH-VOLUME RIFFAGE, but I just wanted to ask anyone in the know whether these look like they're glowing too bright (therefore too much strain?), and what might be the source of the problem (if it is a problem). Thanks! Here's a pic; the two viewable preamp tubes are V5 (the phase inverter, closer to the camera) and V3 (farther away)

 

[53Crëw]

As long as the plates (the gray part) aren't turning red you're fine. They usually glow a dull red if tubes are under-biased.

 

[Metaltastic]

Cool, thanks man! (and I did order 'em from Dougstubes, btw ) - it's the phase inverter I'm more concerned about, that thing seems awfully bright...

 

[RockGuitarX]

Hey, just out of curiosity how do you bias that beast? I was always used to having that somewhat pointless bias test in the back of my Peaveys.

 

[Metaltastic]

There's actually no way to bias a (stock) Recto - they have a "fixed bias," which as I understand it means "cold-to-be-on-the-safe-side bias" (the 5150/6505 is the same way), so I just told the guys at www.dougstubes.com that they were going in a Recto so I'd appreciate them picking a batch that would be in the right range!

 

[Metaltastic]

Brought it to practice today and had it BLASTING for a good hour, with no problems and sounding great! What a beast, though I brought one cable too few so I couldn't use my TS, and no joke, I had the bass knob at just a little above 9 o'clock and it was still a'thumpin'!

 

[Kazrog]

Thanks for the info, good thread. I honestly never think about it, but then again I'm not doing anything ambitious with tubes.

 

[RockGuitarX]

Mine should paid off this week and arrive early the next. I'm pretty damn excited to say the least. FWIW I was at GC (I don't really care for GC very much but they're the only Mesa dealer where I live) I saw some dude jammin a triple rec and the tubes looked pretty damn bright compared to any tube head I've owned. I'm guessin that's the nature of the head?

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, I suppose so - and just to give this a bump, can anyone confirm that the amount of glowing from the PI tube is A-OK?

 

[Meisterjäger]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I don't think tubes can really glow 'too much', to be honest. I guess you're scared of it prematurely burning itself out? If it is a problem, it's more than likely a tube issue, so you'd have to replace it, whether the reason be that it's faulty or that it ceases to work. But my advice would be to stick with it if it sounds okay, let your ears make your mind up for you

 

[TravisW]

The glow is pretty much from the filament of the tube, which is basically just acting as a heater for the cathode (same basic principle as a conventional lightbulb). The amount that the filament glows can depend on the type of filament material or a variance in how much power the filament is getting. As another poster mentioned; don't worry unless the plates of the tubes start glowing--then the bias is screwed up.

 

[RockGuitarX]

Hey Guys my Mesa Dual Rec just came in today!!! .... but I think my tubes are fucked because the amp doesn't sound.. FULL, if ya know what I mean? One of the power tubes (6l6) is glowing a blue color... HELP please! I wanna be able to fix this shit before Christmas..