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Which tubes for a Hiwatt dr103 Custom 100?

N

nononsensestyle

Jul 5, 2012
5
0
#1
Hi everyone,

My 1973 Hiwatt dr103 Custom 100 is in need of some new tubes. It's been nearly four years since they were replaced. I believe I've currently got 6L6's for power and 12AX7's for the preamps (both Groove Tubes brand).

While I'm mostly happy with the sound I can get from the amp, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to increase the headroom by using different tubes or if anyone could recommend tubes that would better suit this guitar amp to be used as a bass amp.:help:

My biggest issue comes from sometimes playing venues (usually outdoor) where they cannot mic the cab and sometimes cannot even give me a DI. In these instances, I'm forced to turn my amp up as much as possible to compensate, but after about 12 on both gain (normal) and master volumes, the amp begins to break up without adding any more power or actual volume. :bawl:

My cab is a Mesa 4x10 with two stock Mesa speakers and two Tone Tubby Super Boy Bass Ceramic speakers, for reference. I play an American standard P-bass and use a Paul Cochrane Tim pedal as my distortion.:bassist:

Thank you.
-Ryan
 
#2
As I recall your Hiwatt should be running EL34s not 6L6GCs. As for outdoor gigs, a 100W amp is not going to take you too far without help from a PA.

Why did you mix your drivers? This is a concept that works well for guitar but poorly for bass. Are your drivers all wired with the correct polarity? Do the battery test to check. All the cones should move in the same direction.
 
#3
Hi Paul,

You're correct, they are EL34's - for some reason I had 6L6's on the brain.

I currently have access to an Ashdown AMB 500 Evo 2 that I bring just in case to outdoor stuff, but as you can imagine, the sound I'm able to produce out of the Ashdown is nothing like the Hiwatt. I may even start a thread seeking advice on working with the Ashdown, because I cannot seem to get a decent sound out of it.

I was unaware there would be anything wrong with mixing drivers. I've been blowing speakers and a friend turned me on to Tone Tubbies, so I bought one (all I could afford at the time) until I bought a second. The eventual plan is to replace the Mesa speakers with TTs. :hiding:

I've never heard of the battery test before, so any information you can point me to would be very helpful.

Thank you!
 
#4
Plug a TS speaker cable into your cabinet. The other end place a 9V battery against the tip and sleeve. You'll get a hearty thump from the cabinet. All the cone should move in the same direction. Usually with the tip of the plug touching the positive terminal and the sleeve to the negative the cones should move out away from the basket.

Do a search on mixing drivers. There's a plethora of information on the subject. In a nutshell, four identical drivers will work together well. Miss matched drivers can and will cause cancellations unpredictably.

If you are blowing drivers then your system is insufficient to meet your needs. This should be addressed otherwise you'll just continue to blow them.
 

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