Some of the other recommended biasing, “methods” — such as -”.. tubes running red hot, increase the bias .. sounds harsh and runs
too cool, turn it down ...” are guesswork at best. Luckily, one of the great things about tube amps is that they can usually stand some
abuse without causing any real harm ... at least not immediately.
But don’t these alterations imply that you are second-guessing the amp designer and that there’s a better set of operating conditions
that the designer missed but the tube sellers have discovered?
Now some players may like the sound of their amp altered by tubes with extreme characteristics and with the bias set to help
compensate. But often it is the mere novelty of change that they’re really responding to and when the amp goes back to the proper
original way, we’ve seen them be far happier still!
Because every part in every one of our designs has been meticulously evaluated, compared and stressed over — no matter how
seemingly insignificant it might be. And with every design we look for a “sweet spot” where all the parameters — including the bias —
come together to give the best sonic performance, consistently and reliably. Every part and voltage is important — yet no one
complains that these other parameters aren’t available for tinkering.
Consider our patented
Simul-Class
circuitry where there are two different bias voltages used for separate pairs of power tubes ... and
changing one voltage also changes the other. Great care goes into getting this just right and we think we’d be asking for trouble to
have it adjustable for the world to play with ... unless you like paying to have your amp messed up. Sorry, I meant to say, “Uh, ... your
amp needed biasing.”
If that doesn’t appeal to you, then merely plug a matched set of
Mesa
tubes into one of our amps and you’re ready for tone.
Guaranteed. You’d be amazed at the number of service calls we field every day that lead to a diagnosis of out-of-tolerance, non-spec
tube problems. To think these would be prevented by including a bias adjustment is something of an insult to you and us. If you put
the wrong size tires on your car, do you think changing the pressure will make them right?
Please, don’t think this is a blanket indictment of the other guys selling tubes — it isn’t. And their tubes aren’t all bad either. It just
doesn’t make sense to pay more of your hard earned cash for tubes that were probably made in the same Russian or Chinese factory
and which have the possibility of being outside the performance window we select for your amp. And it pains us to hear the hype and
mystique built up around biasing when twenty-five years of evidence affirms our decision to make bias circuits that “never need
adjustment”. How much money and trouble that has saved Mesa/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate.
Our rigorously tested and hand selected tubes are available at your nearest Mesa/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody
offers better price, quality or warranty than we do ... so why swerve?
Next time we’ll talk about our part in developing the great Sylvania STR 415 type 6 6 and how we’re on the verge of seeing something
fairly close reappear on the market. Remember, we still have some of these super rugged mondo-bottles available for older amps —
Boogies only please! Until then, Relax, Breathe and Nourish your soul!
Cheers!
Mesa/Boogie Ltd.
Randall Smith
Designer & President
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