Budda Superdrive 45 - Yellow Jacket SS Rectifier?

[mouzer]

Hi all- Wondering if anyone out there has tried using the Yellow Jacket drop-in SS rectifier tube replacements in a Budda Superdrive.

Yellow Jacket Tube Converters | Amplified Parts

Browse products from the Yellow Jacket Tube Converters category - listing products sorted by popular, page 1

www.yellowjacketstc.com

My Superdrive 45 sounds really good as-is, but on amps that give me a tube/SS switch I've almost always gone with SS rectification. Some of the early Superdrives had that switch but mine does not.

I wouldn't mind tightening up the sag a smidge! However I just want to make sure it won't do any harm to the amp. I know Buddas can be finicky with tube selection, and I'm definitely no expert on tube amps. I do wonder if the fact that the amp is cathode biased has any bearing on whether or not the YJR would be effective or harmful.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pdf64]

It’s typically a bad idea to increase the HT voltage on cathode biased amps. They’re usually designed to idle very hot, at or near the rated anode limit, so wacking up the HT by 10% will increase idle dissipation by perhaps a further 20%.
If you want it stiffer, I suggest to convert it to fixed bias, and if that isn’t enough, then try the solid state rectifier.
Or just get a different amp, one which is stiffer by design

 

[mouzer]

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad I posted on here and confirmed my suspicion. The amp sounds great, I see no reason to mess with the circuit. I happened upon the YJR the other day and wondered if it'd be useful. Best to leave things as is!

Thanks again!

 

[HoboMan]

When I had my SD45 I emailed Jeff Bober directly and asked the same question. He advised against it,

 

[mouzer]

Thanks HoboMan! I suspected something like that, and happy to hear I was right to be suspicious.

Happy to see you in the thread, I've owned my SD30 for a number of years now and the bright mod you posted way back when really helped solidify its place with me.

Do you know if the SD 45 works with the same mod? I've seen the claim that the 45 is the brighter Superdrive but I feel like it could benefit in the same way.