Tube-less Preamp?

[theapprentice]

Hey guys, I'm really sorry for not being able to post samples of the new amp, because I am still in the dormitory, and the LC50 is back at home.

Anyways, I was thinking that I would probably be using only the power amp section of the LC50 most of the time, with the RP500 used as the preamp section (seriously guys, this thing is really good at modeling ). Is it safe not to put any preamp tubes in the preamp section? It would probably be easier with tube amp maintenance, with only the 2 EL34s needing regular replacement, and no preamp tubes being fried idly when I am not running through the front end.

Of course I could always choose to just get a dirt pedal (such as a Satchurator) and run it in front of the amp, and use the RP as a loop effects unit, but I don't have the money for that yet. Besides, the reason why I bought a multi-effects unit is because it is much easier to set up and hide away, and i am not very picky with effects, I just needed some that sound ok.

[RNRCRAZYKNIGHT]

You could run the RP500 into the effects loop return of the LC50 and bypass the front of the amp all together.

Scott

[theapprentice]

I was actually thinking of deactivating the preamp altogether, since the preamp tubes will only burn out for nothing if I use only the power amp section with the pedal.

I do know that I still need one preamp tube for the power section, but It would be really nice to buy only three tubes (a 12ax7 matched triode preamp tube and 2 EL34B power tubes) every time I need to replace the old ones on the amp.

[Vim Fuego]

RNRCRAZYKNIGHT is right, the best way to achieve what you want is to plug the output of the RP500 into the effects in on the back of the amp. this would bypass the pre-amp completely and then you could remove the tubes if you want (V1, V2 and V3). you will need the phase splitter tube as you correctly said (V4) which is a 12ax7.
If you want to use the input of the amp then you will need at least V1 as that drives both channels but you *could* then remove V2 if you don't use clean or V3 if you don't use drive, but I wouldn't bother...
Jim

[guitar-turk]

Originally Posted by theapprentice

Hey guys, I'm really sorry for not being able to post samples of the new amp, because I am still in the dormitory, and the LC50 is back at home.

Anyways, I was thinking that I would probably be using only the power amp section of the LC50 most of the time, with the RP500 used as the preamp section (seriously guys, this thing is really good at modeling ). Is it safe not to put any preamp tubes in the preamp section? It would probably be easier with tube amp maintenance, with only the 2 EL34s needing regular replacement, and no preamp tubes being fried idly when I am not running through the front end.

Of course I could always choose to just get a dirt pedal (such as a Satchurator) and run it in front of the amp, and use the RP as a loop effects unit, but I don't have the money for that yet. Besides, the reason why I bought a multi-effects unit is because it is much easier to set up and hide away, and i am not very picky with effects, I just needed some that sound ok.

yes you could remove the v1-v2-v3 tubes.but the only way to get sound from the amp is:::::running signal(the cable comes from effect chain such as saturator rp vs.vs output signal)the amps effect return jack which is connected directly to power amp section.do not worry about anything then...you will have the only power amp section.i download the schematic and be sure everything is ok
cihan

[theapprentice]

Of course the only thing I'd have to do is to just plug in some new 12ax7s to use the amp "properly" again right? I was thinking about this from a practical perspective because, as I stated in my other thread about the LC50-II, the Philippines is by no means a vacuum tube Mecca of any sort (although I could always choose to order my tubes online )

Thanks for the info everyone

[theapprentice]

This is a bit OT, but what would happen if I chose to order 12AX7s with all of them having matched triodes? The triode matching has an additional charge of $5 from thetubestore.com, and I was wondering whether the sound of the amp would improve with such tubes installed.

[Vim Fuego]

You may see a benefit with matched triodes in the phase inverter of the power amp stage, but from looking at many schematics, the two halves of the phase inverter are rarely matched perfectly anyway....
Jim