Rocker 15

[Jondog]

6V6 version

Had a 6.6k transformer kicking around and some 6V6 tubes. Changed the bias and voila! Sounds awesome!

[beppe]

Hi, What are the advantages of doing this please. Also is the amp particularly noisy in the standard form? thank you

[Jondog]

Hi, What are the advantages of doing this please. Also is the amp particularly noisy in the standard form? thank you

The amp is one of the quietest for noise, especially with the gain it has I've ever used. The mod makes it a little nicer for playing at home and being able to crank the Natural channel to get the power section break-up. I always felt if they made a Rocker 15, it should have 6V6 power tubes. 6V6 sounds closer to an EL34 than an EL84 does to my ears. The EL34 is the sound of the Rocker in my opinion. The new (real) Rocker 15 combo uses the Tiny Terror transformers and power section with EL84. Next to my Tiny Terror this Rocker sounds fuller and richer. It's also has less noise than my Tiny Terror. I always found el84's a bit noisy.
The mod literally took me 30 minutes to do.

[beppe]

Thank you Jondog. So in a nutshell the standard Rocker 15 is not an overly noisy amp then? Thanks for your advice as it will help me with my purchase.

[Jondog]

Thank you Jondog. So in a nutshell the standard Rocker 15 is not an overly noisy amp then? Thanks for your advice as it will help me with my purchase.

I've only played the newly released Rocker 15 once...a gave a less than stellar review of it....Still a good amp, but me knowing what a Rocker 30 sounds like to me, it wasn't the same. And the mod I've done here maintains what I like. I think some of the secret sauce is in that big heavy power transformer.

[Les Paul Lover]

Ah ah!!!!

You really can't stop tinkering!!!! That's sounds ace. 15w would make much more manageable on a day to day basis for me.

I'd love to hear it next to my R30 and AD15!!!!

So to do that, you had to change the output transformer and the cathode resistor? Does the output remain at 16 ohms?

[Jondog]

Ah ah!!!!

You really can't stop tinkering!!!! That's sounds ace. 15w would make much more manageable on a day to day basis for me.

I'd love to hear it next to my R30 and AD15!!!!

So to do that, you had to change the output transformer and the cathode resistor? Does the output remain at 16 ohms?

Rocker has two cathode resistors in parallel to bias the EL34's, 270 and 330 ohm. Just need to remove the 270 ohm and leave the 330 ohm for a good bias on the 6V6's. The output transformer doesn't need to be replaced, but the impedance is 4k so to bring it up to 8k for 6V6's you can run a 16 ohm load into the 8 ohm speaker out. I just happen to have a proper transformer sitting on the shelf.

edit: from the man himself

The plate voltage is fine! However,if you want to try 6V6`s in a Rocker 30, you need to run them into an 8K load! The Rocker 30 has a 4K load which will become an 8K load if you use the 8 ohm jack to run a 16 ohm speaker! This amp also has 2 cathode bias resistors, one 270 ohm and one 330 ohm, wired in parallel. You need to remove one of these resistors when using 6V6`s in this amp! If you remove the 330 ohm, the amp will be running in really deep class A and on the hot side. If you remove the 270 ohm, the amp will run a little cooler and you nice little RCA`s will last longer! Also, two 6V6`s will only make around 15 to 20 watts in class A so you will have turned your Rocker 30 into a Rocker 15!
If thats what you want, then give it a try!

Ade Emsley
Orange Amps

[Les Paul Lover]

Sounds fantastic!!!!

So all I'd need to do is clip one resistor of and plug in the 8 ohms output tap......


Modding an amp has never been easier!!!!

[Jondog]

Sounds fantastic!!!!

So all I'd need to do is clip one resistor of and plug in the 8 ohms output tap......


Modding an amp has never been easier!!!!

Yep. It'll still be loud obviously, but with less headroom which is nice for using Natural channel without shaking the house apart as much.

[Les Paul Lover]

Sounds fantastic!!!!

So all I'd need to do is clip one resistor of and plug in the 8 ohms output tap......


Modding an amp has never been easier!!!!

Yep. It'll still be loud obviously, but with less headroom which is nice for using Natural channel without shaking the house apart as much.

That clean channel is great cranked, iy really is where it shines. I've been using my attenuator to get there, it really gives that amp another dimension.

[Jondog]

I'm using JJ 6V6's, seems like they break up sooner on the dial than the EL34's. 12:00 with the 6V6 and with the EL34's it was around 2:00. I am using a quarter pound single coil pickup which is P90ish in output.