
Photo 1
Want to reduce the power in an amp with four output tubes? Here’s how to do it right.
Hi Amp Man,
I’ve heard of people pulling one of the two output tubes to reduce the power in a dual-power tube amp. Does this affect the amp’s reliability? Also, if the technique is okay, can you use it on quad output amps like a Fender Twin? And which tubes would you pull? Thanks!
David Lemnah
Hi David,
It seems there’s no shortage of players who want to drop the output power of their amplifier. Some may want to drive their amp’s output stage hard to achieve output-tube distortion, while others may simply find their amp has too much power to even use as a clean platform. Sometimes an amp just sounds better, even when playing it clean, if the output tubes are working a bit harder. This will cause the current flow to increase past the idle current, especially in standard-biased class A/B amps. In my opinion, this makes for a better sounding output tube. Whatever your reason, there is a right way and a wrong way to remove output tubes.
Photo 2
But first, in a standard amplifier with only two output tubes, it’s never okay to remove one output tube. While this would certainly reduce the output power of the amp, two things will happen: It will unbalance the primary side load the tubes place on the transformer, and it will leave one side of the primary completely unloaded. The latter could create excessively high voltage in the winding, and thus cause arcing and transformer damage. Bottom line: Do not remove one output tube in a two-output tube amp. There may be exceptions, such as a single-ended output amp with multiple output tubes in parallel, but I’m sure these are few and far between.
Now, in an amp with four output tubes it is possible to remove two of them, but you need to know which two to remove. Typically amps with a quartet of output tubes have what’s known as a push-pull output stage. (This also applies to amps with dual output tubes.) This basically means that each half of the output stage amplifies one half of the audio signal.
Sometimes an amp just sounds better, even when playing it clean, if the output tubes are working a bit harder.
If two of the output tubes are removed from the same side of the output stage, half of the signal will not be amplified and the sound will be extremely distorted. This will also cause the same issues as removing one tube in a dual-tube amp, so let’s make sure the correct output tubes are removed!
You have a few options: remove the two outside tubes (Photo 1), remove the two inside tubes (Photo 2), remove the first and third (Photo 3), or remove the second and fourth (Photo 4). I prefer any of the last three methods, because each provides a bit more cooling area between the tubes.
Photo 3
After removing the two output tubes, there’s another step that is theoretically necessary, and you should take it if possible. This is to change the output impedance selection to reduce the speaker load by half. For example, if you are running your amp into a 16-ohm load, reduce the impedance selector to 8-ohm. For an 8-ohm load, reduce the impedance selector to 4.
This is more important in Marshall-style amps, as their output transformer design seems to be, or at least is perceived to be, a bit more finicky and vulnerable. Impedance reduction is not an option in amps without impedance selectors, such as early Fender amps, but they seem to be pretty stable and not significantly impacted by this mismatch. In fact, certain amps—such as the Mesa/Boogie Mark Series—feature a “half power” switch that electrically disconnects two output tubes from the output stage with no impedance adjustment and no ill effects.
Photo 4
This tube-removal technique works best in amps that are fixed biased, as opposed to cathode biased. Also, some amps have their output tubes physically arranged in asymmetrical patterns, so consult with the amp manufacturer if possible before removing any tubes. As far as the amp’s reliability, other than the aspects we already addressed, if you occasionally use the amp with all tubes and occasionally with two, consider alternating the tubes you pull so they all wear evenly.
One more point: There are other ways to reduce the volume level of an amp. One is by simply inserting an attenuation device between the amplifier and speaker. THD, Weber, Soldano, Tube Amp Doctor, and other companies make such devices and they function quite well. Another option is to have your tech install a “pentode/triode” switch. This changes the wiring of the output tubes, converting them to a “faux” triode operation. This reduces the amp’s output by approximately 40 percent, which is on par with removing two output tubes.
WARNING: All tube amplifiers contain lethal voltages. The most dangerous voltages are stored in electrolytic capacitors, even after the amp has been unplugged from the wall. Before you touch anything inside the amp chassis, it’s imperative that these capacitors are discharged. If you are unsure of this procedure, consult your local amp tech.
[Updated 12/30/21]
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Nile Rodgers brings the rhythm at Bonnaroo 2018.
How the rhythm-playing hitmaker behind Chic—and our columnist—learned to love pop music, and why maybe you should, too.
When Nile Rodgers speaks, we should listen. His seminal work with his own band, Chic, as well as Sister Sledge, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Madonna, David Bowie, and Daft Punk, has made him a legend. He also filmed an entertaining Rig Rundown with PG just last year.
I recently listened to his 2017 South by Southwest address, where he told a story about a formative moment in his life. Nile was complaining to his guitar teacher, Ted Dunbar, about having to sing the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar”at an upcoming cover band gig. Dunbar replied, “Let me tell you something. Any song that sells and gets to the Top 40 ... is a great composition.” Rodgers was skeptical. Then Dunbar added, “Especially ‘Sugar, Sugar.’ That has been No. 1 for four or five weeks.” Next, Dunbar said something that changed Rodger’s life. “‘Sugar, Sugar’ was successful,” he said, “because it speaks to the souls of a million strangers.” Rodgers noted: “Two weeks later, I wrote a song called ‘Everybody Dance.’” Released in 1977, it was a Top 40 single on Chic's first album.
In a BBC This Cultural Life interview, Rodgers said that Dunbar “described an artist to me. I wasn’t an artist until he defined that. I wanted to speak to the souls of a million strangers, but I thought what I wanted to do was speak to some real cool people hanging out in jazz clubs.”
“Everybody Dance” and “Sugar, Sugar”both have hypnotizingly simple lyrics you inevitably replay in your head. Humans like chants, cheers, slogans, and catchy choruses. Rodgers' success came, at least in part, from opening himself up to simplicity that appeals to the masses instead of the complexity that appeals to jazzers. That’s the irony. Jazz, which ostensibly is all about freedom, is often restrictive. Like the old joke goes, jazzers play millions of chords for four people. Pop, rock, and country artists play four chords for millions of people.
Rodgers said, “That's what my teacher taught me, that anti-snobbery. Be open. Love all the music you are around, or at least try and appreciate what that artist is trying to say. Try and have, what we call in the music business, big ears.”
My friends and I have all, at times, been music snobs. I went through a blues binge in my youth where I was prejudiced against shredders. This was not uncommon at the time. After Nirvana hit with Nevermind in 1991, suddenly musicians were openly mocked for playing complex, difficult parts. It was almost like if you cared enough to really learn to play guitar, you were uncool. That was a big relief for me, as I could play neither complex nor difficult parts at the time.
“Taylor Swift is the Beatles of my daughter’s generation.”
Later, when I moved to Nashville, I was all about clean Telecasters and thought ill of music with lots of dirt or effects. Younger me would have plenty of condescending quips about my current love of overdriven humbuckers and delay. Most of my snobbery was driven by my deep insecurities, but part of it was tribalism. The heart wants what it wants; when you find your musical tribe, most of the young zealots trade all others for their one true religion. It might be the only way to get good at something.
On the other hand, my friends and I listen to a variety of music, but the common factor is it usually involves good guitar playing. We love what we love because it speaks to our souls. But most guitar players are drawn to those who are doing what we wish we could do. My uncle Fred used to say, “There’s nothing wrong with being a snob. It just means that you have good taste.”
Between club dates, sessions, and the occasional TV gig, I play with tons of people. I have no say in the set list, so “Sugar, Sugar” moments are unavoidable. I used to feel deep shame playing those types of songs, like it reflects poorly on my personal taste or abilities. In short, I was prejudiced until I saw all of the true pros who could find something beautiful, challenging in the seemingly mundane. It’s like the old actor’s adage: There are no small parts, just small players.
According to Forbes, Taylor Swift was “The Biggest Artist in the World in 2023.” That being the case, her songs inevitably come up on cover gigs. When this happens, some musicians might groan, like it makes them cool to hate on pop culture. But that’s probably because they don't really know her work. Taylor Swift is my 8-year-old daughter’s Alexa go-to, so I know Taylor’s catalog really well. Turns out, it’s amazing, full of truly catchy, engaging, touching songs. Taylor Swift is the Beatles of my daughter’s generation. Snobs will think that statement is heresy, but snobs often don’t know what they are talking about, and they never have as much fun as the people who are dancing violently to “Shake It Off,” or singing with eyes closed to “All Too Well.”Meet Siccardi Number 28: a 5-ply, double-cut solidbody tribute to Paul Bigsby’s “Hezzy Hall” guitar.
Reader: Mark Huss
Hometown: Coatesville, PA
Guitar: Siccardi Number 28
May we all have friends like Ed Siccardi—along with a rare stash of tonewoods and inspiration to pay tribute to a legendary luthier.
I have too many guitars (like at least some of you I’m sure), but my current No. 1 is a custom guitar made for me by my friend Ed Siccardi. Ed is an interesting and talented fellow, a retired mechanical engineer who has amazing wood and metal shops in his basement. He also has an impressive collection of tonewoods, including rarities like African mahogany and some beautiful book-matched sets. He likes to build acoustic guitars (and has built 26 of them so far), but decided he wanted to make me an electric. The fruit of this collaboration was his Number 27, a Paul Bigsby tribute with a single-cut body—looking very much like what Bigsby made for Merle Travis. Note that Bigsby created this single-cut body and “Fender-style” headstock way before Gibson or Fender had adopted these shapes. This was a really nice guitar, but had some minor playing issues, so he made me another: Number 28.
Number 28 is another Paul Bigsby tribute, but is a double cutaway a la the Bigsby “Hezzy Hall” guitar. This guitar has a 5-ply solid body made of two layers of figured maple, cherry, swamp ash, and another layer of cherry. The wood is too pretty to cover up with a pickguard. The tailpiece is African ebony with abalone inlays and the rock-maple neck has a 2-way truss rod and extends into the body up to the bridge. It has a 14" radius and a zero fret. Therefore, there is no nut per se, just a brass string spacer. I really like zero frets since they seem to help with the lower-position intonation on the 3rd string. The fretboard is African ebony with abalone inlays and StewMac #148 frets. The peghead is overlaid front and back with African ebony and has Graph Tech RATIO tuners. The guitar has a 25" scale length and 1.47" nut spacing. There are two genuine ivory detail inlays: One each on the back of the peghead and at the base of the neck. The ivory was reclaimed from old piano keys.
This is Number 27, 28’s older sibling and a single-cut Bigsby homage. It’s playing issues led to the creation of its predecessor.
I installed the electronics using my old favorite Seymour Duncan pairing of a JB and Jazz humbuckers. The pickup selector is a standard 3-way, and all three 500k rotary controls have push-pull switches. There are two volume controls, and their switches select series or parallel wiring for their respective pickup coils. The switch on the shared tone control connects the bridge pickup directly to the output jack with no controls attached. This configuration allows for a surprisingly wide variety of sounds. As an experiment, I originally put the bridge volume control nearest the bridge for “pinky” adjustment, but in practice I don’t use it much, so I may just switch it back to a more traditional arrangement to match my other guitars.
The Milwaukee-based “guitarist’s guitarist” doles out decades of midwest wisdom on this episode of Wong Notes.
You might not know Greg Koch, but we’ll bet your favorite guitarist does. In 2012, Fender called the Wisconsin blues-guitar phenom one of the top 10 best unsung guitarists, and in 2020, Guitar World listed Koch among the 15 best guitar teachers. He’s been inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame. Koch is a bonafide midwest guitar god.
He joins Cory Wong on this round of Wong Notes for this meeting of the Middle-America minds, where the duo open with analysis of music culture in Wisconsin and Minnesota—Koch taught at Saint Paul’s now-shuttered McNally Smith College of Music, which Wong attended. Koch and Wong zero in on the blues roots of most modern music and talk through soloing theories: It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be, but Koch shares that he likes to “paint himself into a corner,” then get out of it.
Koch and Wong swap notes on the pressures of studio performance versus the live realm, and how to move on from mistakes made onstage in front of audiences. Plus, Koch has created scores of guitar education materials, including for Hal Leonard. Tune in to find out what makes a good guitar course, how to write a guitar book, Koch’s audio tips for crystalline live-stream sessions, and why he still prefers tube amps: “I like to crank that sh*t up!”
John Petrucci, St. Vincent, James Valentine, Steve Lukather, Tosin Abasi, Cory Wong, Jason Richardson, Fluff, and more are donating instruments for contributors, and contributions are being accepted via this LINK.
The L.A. wildfires have been absolutely devastating, consuming more than 16,200 structures, and tens of thousands of people–including many members of the LA music community–have been displaced, as well as 29 persons killed. Historic gear company Ernie Ball has stepped up with a large-scale fundraiser, for MusicCares and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, to assist those impacted by the fire and responders on the front line. The company kicked off the initiative with a $50,000 donation.
“We are absolutely crushed by the devastation Los Angeles has endured over the past few weeks,” CEO Brian Ball said in a statement. “As a California-based company with origins as a small retailer in LA County, seeing the impact of these fires in our community is heartbreaking.
Message from Tim Henson
Tim Henson is donating one of his own Ibanez TOD10N guitars for the cause.
“That’s why we’re partnering with our family of artists to give back in a unique way. In addition to our donation, Ernie Ball artists are stepping up to donate personal guitars and gear—truly one-of-a-kind pieces that money can’t buy. Here’s how you can help: Donate any amount and we will randomly give these items away. Every dollar goes directly toward helping those affected by these devastating fires. If you can’t donate, sharing this message can still make a huge impact,” Ball declared.
The fundraiser will continue until February 14.