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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Fender Super 210 Tube Question from a Board Newbie
Fender Super 210 Tube Question from a Board Newbie
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Baltobluesman
1 post
Jan 13, 2011
3:47 PM
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Hey folks!
I'm brand new to this forum. In fact, I just found it today. So, I'll listen to my southern sensibilities, do the courteous thing and take a moment to introduce myself before diving in with my question.
I'm the lead singer and harp player for a swing blues/r&b band called Black Cadillac. I've been singing since the day I could talk but I've only been playing harp for about 6 years. I started getting serious about gear about 2 1/2 years ago in a previous band, but had to upgrade my amp significantly about a year ago when I joined my current band. I currently play into an RCA 88E microphone (early dynamic wired for high Z) through a Fender Super 210 amp from the early 90's. One of my primary goals with this rig was to achieve a tone that was distinct from other players in this area while still maintaining a vintage sound...
All of that said, I've been very, very pleased with the sound I've gotten from the Super 210. However, as happens with tube amps, I found myself at our last gig with the amp wide open and still barely able to hear myself over the rest of the boys. I fired it up earlier this week and it looks like one of the 6L6 tubes has given up the ghost.
I am wondering if anyone here has experience with playing harp thru a Fender Super series amp, esp the 210 or 112 Combo amps and what brand of tubes you would recommend. Also, I've considered switching to the 6V6 tubes to get a slower, smoother breakup but I really can't afford to lose too much in volume due to the fact that we are a six piece and we tend to play larger houses...
Thanks in advance for any input you can give me, we have another gig Saturday night so I have to find something local tomorrow so I can break the new tubes in and set the tone up the way I want to...
Play on!
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LeonStagg
249 posts
Jan 13, 2011
4:00 PM
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No experience with the Fender Super Series, someone will weigh in momentarily.
Just wanted to welcome you in! Good to have you.
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Baltobluesman
2 posts
Jan 13, 2011
5:03 PM
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Thanks Leon, I'm pretty excited to have found this... Not too many folks that I know around here to shoot the stuff about harp with...
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htownfess
245 posts
Jan 13, 2011
5:10 PM
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Welcome--I don't have experience with the Super amp but do have experience with JJ 6V6s in a 6L6 application, and I think you'll lose too much projection with 6V6s (JJ 6V6S are probably the only 6V6 that can reliably handle the voltage level of that amp). The tone gets more compressed w/ 6V6 and won't cut thru a mix as well. You can get "slower, smoother breakup" by biasing 6L6GCs warmer, but feedback tends to come in sooner as we bias warmer, so there's a tradeoff.
IMO the TAD 6L6WGC, their short bottle blackplate, is a great 6L6 for modern Fenders, can be biased cold for crunchy without being harsh or warm for smoothness. It's hard for me to predict what you would like in that amp, as a given brand/model of 6L6 is going to sound different depending on whether it's biased colder or warmer, and I forget what's underneath the Groove Tubes or Ruby Tubes labeling--there're some of those you'd probably want to avoid for harp in that amp.
No schematic for that amp @ Fender's site, but it sounds similar to the ProSonic, which does have a bias trim pot, so hopefully you can bias to suit. If there's a local amp tech who will let you participate in biasing, let you play in the shop while the tech swings it cold, warm and in between so you can decide what suits you, that is the way to go. Biasing by ear instead of a preconception works better for harp.
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Baltobluesman
4 posts
Jan 13, 2011
5:42 PM
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Thanks for the help... Unfortunately, this amp doesn't have a bias trim pot, it has a ss rectifier with no adjustment. I understand from a number of guitar forums that as long as I get a matched set, it'll be ok, so I'm pretty dependent on the characteristics of the tubes themselves to get the tone I want... That said, I've read very good things about the TADs you mentioned, specifically related to bass clarity and tone characteristics, which is important to the sound I want. Neither the Rudy's or the Groove Tubes respond as well in those areas... Don't know anywhere in Baltimore that carries the TAD's tho, might have to break down and drive to DC for a visit to Chuck Levin's...
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honeydawg
28 posts
Jan 14, 2011
6:41 AM
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Hey Balto... be sure to call Chuck Levin's before you come over, I'd gone by there and seen the place closed after the old man died, but I think they are open for business now.
And welcome to the forum! I'll have to come check your band out!
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