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Okay...so I've never had to deal with 5881s. Know nothing about em.

If I were to switch them out for say...svetlana 6L6GCs would it need biased?

I dont think so

Would what need to be rebiased? Your amp?

If your amp is not self-biasing it needs to be biased after every tube swap to guarantee a good tone.

I'm guessing we're talking the valveking?
Did you have a tech or someone else install those? I didn't think those could handle 5881's.
Unless they are the higher spec 5881's or 6l6GC's labeled as 5881.

Honestly I'd at least ask a tech.
They are fixed bias so they might need adjustment anyway,

Nah.

90's Blues Deville.

And you're correct, the valveking doesn't take 5881s.

Rygot wrote:Nah.

90's Blues Deville.

And you're correct, the valveking doesn't take 5881s.

Ah I only ask because I know there are people that have done that to a valveking.
The fender is also fixed so you'll probably want to bias it. Fender tends to set them too cold at the factory anyway.

5881's are in the 6l6 family but they are lower wattage/voltage compared to the 6l6gc, so an amp set for the former probably won't sound great with the latter (electrical dangers aside) unless properly biased.

It sucks, my silvertone has one or two rare/obscure tube values that I can't use anything else in place of (that I know of). There is a similar tube, but I can't use it...now if my amp originally used the similar tubes, I could use the tube type it has now, but not the reverse. Similar to the 5881/6l6 debacle.

Yeah, I've heard this before (5881 vs. 6L6) so I was kinda expecting it.

I've never taken an amp to get biased...how much does it normally run?
I've heard a few things about the board being a piece of shit in the devilles as well...should I have them go over that at the same time?

The valveking things sounds kinda cool though, might have to look into it.