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Post subject: Trouble with blues deluxe reissue at high volumes
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:05 am
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Hello, I'm having a problem I'm wondering if ya'll can help me with. I've had a blues deluxe reissue for about a year now.. and have been gigging actively with it the past 3 months.. at low volumes it sounds perfect and exactly what I want.. when I crank it up for gigs it just sound flat, undynamic, as if the strings are dead and unsatisfying distortion (via stomboxes)

In terms of details.. the only thing I could have screwed up was when I changed the power tubes 6 months ago they may have had a slightly different power rating. I'm thinking I should change the tubes again? But I have no idea how to go about this, and I don't have an easy method of transportation to find somebody to rebias the amp.

Any help would be strongly appreciated.


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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:49 am
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you might want to replace them with the same type of tubes that came with your amp if your not in position to have the amp biased, i just swapped out my output tubes of my blues deville with the same type without re-biasing and it sounds much fuller and so much louder than before i replaced them


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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:21 am
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Thanks for the reply. That was my original intent when I replaced my tubes the first time-- but I simply could not figure out what kind of tubes my amp had-- they were blue groovetubes and everywhere I looked there was no such thing for sale.

Any insight on this?


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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:50 am
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You should always check the bias when you change power tubes. Even if it's the same brand/grade that GT uses. Nothing is more bogus and overpriced hype than GT's. Fender owns GT and that's why they are in your amp. When I had my HRDlx, changing from GT's to JJ's and re-biasing made a world of difference in that amp. Groove Tubes is a sorting house. They use other manufacturers tubes, grade and match them. They are not a tube manufacturer. My Egnater Rebel came with JJ's rebranded as GT's and sounds fine. My HRDlx had Sovetek 5881 power tubes branded as GT's. They were horrible.

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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:36 pm
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Here is my thread on my adventures biasing my BDRI:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=41432

Also, take a look at this video:

http://www.eurotubes.com/euro-Fender-HRDV.htm

It's for a Hot Rod Deville, but the BDRI procedure is identical.

Here are some retube kits for the BDRI:

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.ph ... ory_id=122

and for the HRD (which will work fine in the BDRI):

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.ph ... gory_id=32

Finally, here is the service manual for the BDRI:

http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/fen ... eissue.pdf

Good luck. Its easy to change tubes and rebias. Just be aware of the high voltages involved and exercise caution.

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Last edited by bluesky636 on Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:30 am
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Wow that's a whole lot of information. Thanks for the replies.

To be perfectly honest, I have no interest in trying to rebias this thing and potentially frying myself. I really just need the simplest method possible of returning this amp to normalcy so it doesn't sound like plastic when I'm gigging.


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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:23 am
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What tubes did you replace the originals with? I had a 90's BD, fixed bias, I replaced them with Winged C 6L6 and it was much better.


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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:31 am
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Just a note. Don't confuse a fixed bias amp with a cathode bias amp. Fixed bias amps still need to have the bias checked even though some may not have a bias trim pot.

A cathode bias amp is pretty much plug and play. As the amp ages, I would check the bias just to be sure everything's okay.

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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:30 pm
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siva115 wrote:
Wow that's a whole lot of information. Thanks for the replies.

To be perfectly honest, I have no interest in trying to rebias this thing and potentially frying myself. I really just need the simplest method possible of returning this amp to normalcy so it doesn't sound like plastic when I'm gigging.


Unless you are blind or drunk, measuring and adjusting the bias is a 5 minute job: 4 minutes to remove all the screws, 1 minute to set the bias. Then you listen to the amp and readjust if necessary. Just heed the safety instructions provided in the various links. I too was hesitant to do it and now I have no qualms at all. My next challenge is changing the tubes!

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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:48 pm
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Yep, it ain't rocket science. Like Bill said, heed all the warnings, watch the videos and you'll be just fine. :D It's a simple job that can be done with this.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=4214667

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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:37 pm
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63supro wrote:
Yep, it ain't rocket science. Like Bill said, heed all the warnings, watch the videos and you'll be just fine. :D It's a simple job that can be done with this.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=4214667


That's what I used intially, but it only goes down to a 2 volt range, so when trying to measure something around 65 mV, it rounds off to the nearest whole number. I picked up a much better one that measures more accurately with a 200 mV range at Lowe's for only a few dollars more.

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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:16 am
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Tubes drift with age.
A bias set when they are new may not be the same after being in use for a while, and the amp need to be checked and a re-biased..

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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:05 am
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cedarblues wrote:
What tubes did you replace the originals with? I had a 90's BD, fixed bias, I replaced them with Winged C 6L6 and it was much better.


I replaced them with

http://www.zzounds.com/item--GVT6L6BD

(I think)

and they sounded great for a while at all volumes but I noticed that this month (about 6 months after putting them in) they've sounded crappy at gigs.

I know I'm really resisting learning how to bias this $@!& but I just don't trust myself.. I'd rather just change the tubes and take it from there..

If I need to rebias I will get someone to show me in real life how to do it... am I blind and drunk? I have bad vision and am usually drinking.. so.. I'm not gonna roll the dice here.


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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:01 am
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siva115 wrote:
.....and they sounded great for a while at all volumes but I noticed that this month (about 6 months after putting them in) they've sounded crappy at gigs.


And as pointed out by peterp, tubes drift and bias needs to be checked if the amp starts sounding bad.

siva115 wrote:
I know I'm really resisting learning how to bias this $@!& but I just don't trust myself.. I'd rather just change the tubes and take it from there.


Which will require rebiasing the tubes.

siva115 wrote:
If I need to rebias I will get someone to show me in real life how to do it... am I blind and drunk? I have bad vision and am usually drinking.. so.. I'm not gonna roll the dice here.


The posted video is just as good as someone sitting next to you.

I cannot clearly see my fingertips at arms length without my glasses.

Stay sober.

Really, if you can change tubes, you can rebias your amp.

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Post subject: DELUXE SOUND ISSUES
Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:51 am
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I recently sold my blues deluxe;found too bassy and on high volumes my clear sound was dull and horrible, I just bought a DDRI much better


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