OR120 not loud at all!?

[kaospilot]

went to the store today to get some prices, the guy told me that if I bought a quartet of EL34 it wouldn't need any re-adjusting.
is this true? so if I order a matched quartet I can just switch em myself?

And what happens if I do the switch myself without the re-adjusting? Can this damage the amp or the tubes?

[kaospilot]

Sorry for all the n00b questions, but please understand that I am a n00b when it comes to tube amps.
Another thing I noticed while I was playing it just a while ago is that when I turn the gain all the way down, and my master between midnight and 3 o'clock it's makes weird noises like there are ghosts in my amp. kinda freaks me out.

[misterfolkertsma]

Sorry for all the n00b questions, but please understand that I am a n00b when it comes to tube amps.
Another thing I noticed while I was playing it just a while ago is that when I turn the gain all the way down, and my master between midnight and 3 o'clock it's makes weird noises like there are ghosts in my amp. kinda freaks me out.

Look on the bright side, you've got a unique effect many would kill for

[Randy Bass]

went to the store today to get some prices, the guy told me that if I bought a quartet of EL34 it wouldn't need any re-adjusting.
is this true? so if I order a matched quartet I can just switch em myself?

And what happens if I do the switch myself without the re-adjusting? Can this damage the amp or the tubes?

This is not necessarily true unless the guy at the store knows the bias rating of the new tubes and also somehow knows how your amp is currently biased. The concept of tubes being matched does not account for variance in the voltage requirements of amps in which they are to be installed. Once you buy a matched set of tubes with a specific rating from a particular tube company and have your amp biased to them, you can then in the future buy the same exact (matched) tube type with the same exact rating without having to re-bias the amp (in theory). It is possible that you can get lucky and replace tubes without adjusting the bias and not cause any damage, but it is not recommended. This was more common decades ago when the quality of tubes and amps were better and components were more rugged. Biasing is now recommended universally to avoid causing damage to the amp and/or the tubes. If you were to replace power tubes without checking/adjusting your amp, you could potentially cook the tubes and/or components in the amp like resistor(s) or a transformer. It is much cheaper to have the amp biased by a tech than to take it to the tech to fix/rebuild later.

[kaospilot]

Ok, thanks for explaining that one Randy.
I will get it serviced when the new tubes get here. I'm hoping the powertubes will fix the problem of it being so quiet and get the ghosts out of my amplifier. It's like the dead are talking to me through my quiet OR120.

Any info/electric schemes on how to put in a stand-by switch? Is it possible to replace the original powerswitch by a 3-way one like the modern Orange's have? (off - standby - on)
Or would it be easier to remove the rear slave out and have a stand-by switch added there?
One on the front would be easier to use, but maybe it's not so easy to do electrically?

[Gladmarr]

Old Oranges don't need a standby switch. It's not worth the effort.

[kaospilot]

but i've found an awesome tech who does nothing else but work on/optimize tube amps!
he'll replace my tubes and put a 3way switch in where my powerswitch is so i'll have a standby, and it's not that old. :p

Oh and, everyone does agree that it isn't normal behaviour that I have to crank my amp up ALL the way to be as loud as a cranked 15w tube head. Because the previous owner told me he had it at a tech twice and that it was always this quiet. Which I found absolutely weird because I was trading it with my Hiwatt Custom 100, had it right next to the Orange on the same cab, with the hiwatt at 9o'clock it was just as loud as the orange turned way up!

[Randy Bass]

Your "ghosting" issue might be a case of radio frequency interference. I don't think the tubes would cause that, but you might as well have the tech look things over to make sure everything is grounded properly and connected where it should be inside the amp.