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pelliott wrote:Once you're getting into the territory of a large amp such as that is the sound difference between a 6550 and a KT88 THAT much to anybody but those with an extremely trained ear?

Tubes sound very different from one another mostly because the circuits that drive them are different. People think EL84's are the quintessential British sound because of the Vox and Marshall amps, but really you can make an EL84-based amp sound every bit as American as a 6v6 amp. With that said, my Fryette Memphis uses EL84s, and the sound is a cross between a Hiwatt, a Vox, and a modded Marshall JMP. Whether it's the EL84s that lends it a Vox tinge I don't know, but I'll hazard a guess that it's more to do with the circuit than the tubes and the requirements the EL84 needs.

However, changing tubes in an amp that has the same circuit and only requires a slight bias change, and you're biasing both sets of tubes neither hot nor cold, you won't find that much of a difference. It's a big enough difference for ourselves to warrant the consideration, but not to others. Others don't really care, unless they're gear nerds and are really into the specifics of their favourite band's sound and gear. In a studio it can matter, because the desire to compare the two recordings side-by-side is present and strong. But as Skip said, on stage it's neither here nor there.

pelliott wrote:Also listening to Harkonen and Helms Alee the past few days coupled with this makes me want to hang out with Ben Verellen. Seemed like such a cool dude when I saw HA a couple years ago.

And want to save up for an unnecessarily loud amplifier such as the Meatsmoke because that just looks RIPPIN

Ben rules!! I have some friends in Seattle that know him personally and have only heard awesome stuff about him, was a true honor having someone from some of my favorite bands build this for me and getting to know him a bit in process.

I can also attest that Ben Verellen is one of the nicest dudes I've worked with and talked to. Walking through each creation with him was a breeze and his customer service has always been great

ridingeternity wrote:Ben rules!! I have some friends in Seattle that know him personally and have only heard awesome stuff about him, was a true honor having someone from some of my favorite bands build this for me and getting to know him a bit in process.

I saw Helms Alee with Torche and Big Business, and noticed during BB that Ben was standing right next to me struggling to hold his beer and plug his ears one side at a time, so I pulled out an extra set of earplugs and offered them to him. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, cuz, you know, Big Biz was playing, but he gave me the most genuine grin, thumbs up, and elbow dap for that and it really made the night even better.

pelliott wrote:

ridingeternity wrote:Ben rules!! I have some friends in Seattle that know him personally and have only heard awesome stuff about him, was a true honor having someone from some of my favorite bands build this for me and getting to know him a bit in process.

I saw Helms Alee with Torche and Big Business, and noticed during BB that Ben was standing right next to me struggling to hold his beer and plug his ears one side at a time, so I pulled out an extra set of earplugs and offered them to him. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, cuz, you know, Big Biz was playing, but he gave me the most genuine grin, thumbs up, and elbow dap for that and it really made the night even better.

Dude what a heavy night on all levels!! Exactly why having an affinity for music like this is so rewarding...heavy music = heavy people.

Well fuck a 300 watt tube head. . . At least i still have the coolest bass cab.

Ben Verellen is a man among men. Nicest dude you can meet in life and knows lots n lots n lots about musical gear. That fucking Meathammer is a truly enviable piece. Congrats man!

D-Day wrote:Ben Verellen is a man among men. Nicest dude you can meet in life and knows lots n lots n lots about musical gear. That fucking Meathammer is a truly enviable piece. Congrats man!

Thanks! Can't wait to find a moment to post some clips...also slated to record a full-length with this beast at Earhammer with Greg Wilkinson in June, so full context mixes and masters of how this thing sits in the mix will be floating around pretty soon here.

Does your band have anything to listen to currently?

What's up bros. I haven't had time to play guitar a ton. Or internet a ton. But I did drink quite a bit on St. Paddy's, so that was nice.

So 88s versus 6550s. They are not hugely different but here are some specs to run down. Max DC power dissipation at the anode is 35W for a 6550 vs 42W for a Kt88. So generally there is a correlation between more AC output power and larger DC dissipation power. So those numbers are not the output power but the DC idle power you can dissipate maximum. Max Anode voltage is 800V for Kt88 and 600V for 6550, max screen voltage is 600V for Kt88 and 400V for 6550. Max grid leak for KT88 is 100k and max grid leak for 6550 is 50k.

So generally Kt88s have specs which are more robust then 6550s. The glass envelope on most KT88 is larger then a 6550. While the specs are better, that does not mean 88s will last longer compared to 6550s. It all depends on the voltages in the amps. 6550s were routinely run with larger then datasheet acceptable screen voltages in US delivered Marshalls back in the day and Sunn Model Ts and 2000s yet still survived often.

Kt120s on the other hand have even bigger specs, for example 60W max DC dissipation. However, I think people have yet to really use them back they tend to be fragile and they were nuking themselves too often to build a reliable amp out of them,

D-Day wrote:Does your band have anything to listen to currently?

Here is a vid from our PCNW tour last fall and our demo from last March, amp on this was a Krank Rev+ and at the time of recording the gain channel pre's were totally microphonic so I had to stick to the clean channel with a modded Rat for distortion, about as low budget as it can be but it has left a lot of room for progression on our upcoming offering and we are very excited to unveil the progress we have made in a studio setting in the past year(everything is based around live).

http://bloodmoonslo.bandcamp.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abY39NhaVfI[/youtube]

^Dig this!! Sounds awesome!

LOCOPELAND wrote:^Dig this!! Sounds awesome!

Thanks a lot man! Hope to make it back up there again soon with the Meat Hammer and more cabs!

I dig it! The Know I think might be my favorite place to play in Portland. Of course I've only played four or five places, but of those, it was the most fun.