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Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:11 am
by Lyric
As I’m looking into purchasing here nearly soon the Rockerverb 100 MKiii I watched a video with Ade and he mentions of course you can run whichever choice of tubes you’d like whether that be KT88, 6L6, EL84 or a mix of tubes and so on.
But what I’m wondering is why Orange removed the external bias switch from the Rockerverb MKiii? I noticed on the rear of the Rockerverb MKii you could simply switch between two settings depending on whichever tubes you’d like. I’m not 100% with this switch if it would still require you to internally bias the amp given that you have an external bias switch on the rear.
So anyways does anyone know why they removed the external bias switch and moved it internally?
And with a little common sense and some understanding of electronics is biasing easily to do yourself if your patient and careful?
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:28 am
by Rlw59
Some people can't resist flipping any switch they see. "Hmmmm, what's this do?"
And people in guitar stores often flip switches just for the hell of it.
So that's probably why they moved the switch.
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It would still need to be biased when changing tubes. The switch changes other tube parameters. (Some manufacturers that allow multiple tube types design compromise circuits that are ok with different tubes but not perfect with any of them. Other manufacturers design ideal circuits and let you switch between them.)
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Orange worries about liability, so this forum has always had the policy of not teaching people how to bias.
The caps in tube amps can store lethal voltages even when the amp is off.
And severely wrong bias settings can destroy tubes and possibly damage other components.
But biasing isn't hard or complicated. Do a lot of reading/researching on the safety rules for working on tube amps. Then read about/research biasing.
Many people safely and successfully bias their own amps. If after your research you think "I can do that", you probably can.
-------------------
(Like all things guitar-related, people argue about the minutia of simple things. Best way to bias, best plate dissipation level, best multimeter, yada yada yada. On the one end there are people who say just slap in a new set of tubes and see if the plates glow red. On the other end there are people who say you need an oscilloscope to do it properly. The Buddha would say somewhere in the middle of those extremes is best.)
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:56 pm
by Les Paul Lover
The switch was removed as it wasn't working as intended.
For non EL34 valves, it could actually make it impossible to find the correct bias range.
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:56 pm
by Lyric
Rlw59 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:28 am
Some people can't resist flipping any switch they see. "Hmmmm, what's this do?"
And people in guitar stores often flip switches just for the hell of it.
So that's probably why they moved the switch.
-------------------
It would still need to be biased when changing tubes. The switch changes other tube parameters. (Some manufacturers that allow multiple tube types design compromise circuits that are ok with different tubes but not perfect with any of them. Other manufacturers design ideal circuits and let you switch between them.)
-----------------
Orange worries about liability, so this forum has always had the policy of not teaching people how to bias.
The caps in tube amps can store lethal voltages even when the amp is off.
And severely wrong bias settings can destroy tubes and possibly damage other components.
But biasing isn't hard or complicated. Do a lot of reading/researching on the safety rules for working on tube amps. Then read about/research biasing.
Many people safely and successfully bias their own amps. If after your research you think "I can do that", you probably can.
-------------------
(Like all things guitar-related, people argue about the minutia of simple things. Best way to bias, best plate dissipation level, best multimeter, yada yada yada. On the one end there are people who say just slap in a new set of tubes and see if the plates glow red. On the other end there are people who say you need an oscilloscope to do it properly. The Buddha would say somewhere in the middle of those extremes is best.)
This actually makes sense, sometimes people seem to have fingers that like to flip things without control and understanding lol.
I’ll check out the biasing stuff online. I’d probably just have it done locally by a guy who’s really great with amps who’d I would trust just to make sure it’s properly done. Maybe later down the road I’ll pick up a cheaper tube head or amp to have practice on lol.
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:58 pm
by Lyric
Les Paul Lover wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:56 pm
The switch was removed as it wasn't working as intended.
For non EL34 valves, it could actually make it impossible to find the correct bias range.
Yeah I could see that too. It was just a simple two way switch that designated several tube choices into two positions. Might as well do it old school which works with internal biasing.
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:05 am
by Jondog
Lyric wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:58 pm
Les Paul Lover wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:56 pm
The switch was removed as it wasn't working as intended.
For non EL34 valves, it could actually make it impossible to find the correct bias range.
Yeah I could see that too. It was just a simple two way switch that designated several tube choices into two positions. Might as well do it old school which works with internal biasing.
I
think all it did or was supposed to do was adjust the bias circuit to be
capable of biasing those specific tubes on each setting. Putting in different types of tubes may require the bias circuit to be modified to get the range required.
Re: Rockerverb biasing MKii vs MKiii
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 2:13 pm
by Les Paul Lover
Read here - I thought I could remember it. Funnily enough, that's not the user I thought, so i guess there's another forum member who made a similar thread witj regards to the valves switch being missleading at best....
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45261