570v plates is quite high for a modern amp, but around right for a vintage 100w Marshall. Make sure you never skimp on output stage valves - it'll eat those Chinese valves for breakfast.
Sounds really nice btw - bet that'll slay with the master on 3+
Yeah. Two of the tubes that were in there when I got it red plated and it made a high frequency sweep when you switched off standby. I almost rejected it, but then had the idea to take the two good tubes and pull the fuse for the other pair to check it, and indeed it was working properly on those 2.
Imagine, the guy still had the first tubes in there. Never changed since early 90s. Preamp and poweramp!
I retubed it completely and it sounds at least twice as good as before.
At the moment this machine from hell is scaring me a bit. Very high temperatures going on there. Luckily power tubes have extra fuses pair wise, so if one tube goes, you can still continue the gig.
I will probably get a quad of Ruby EL34BHT, they seem to be the recommendation for XTCs, more reliable than SED =C= beyond 550V and less boomy too.I wanted to try a pair of SEDs I have lying around, but saw that at the lowest bias point they were at 42mA, so I took them out immediately.
For the two gigs with FreeLaunch this week it'll be the Axe FX. It's consistent and safe and in rehearsal today it was smashing. It's pumping and crushing like hardcore techno, which really does have something while you play.
Not sure yet if the XTC can pull it off for the metal act and also not sure I wanna lug the big rig around for 40min festival gigs. The Axe is pretty ideal for these occasions. Set up in 5 minutes and consistent, high quality signal going to FOH. We'll see.
I wouldn't have bought an amp, but I got this at significantly less than what it can be sold for if I restore some bits (proper retube, some plastic stuff, disintegrating fuse holders, dead power lamp, etc.) So I see it as kind of an investment. I still hope that Bogner can find one of those front panels (the black panel with the labels for the controls), as the fact that it's missing (and the Bogner logo) is a devaluing factor, even if the amp looks great as is.
