Matchless hc30

[LARRY GERSHON]

Been fooling with my HC 30 Matchless head lately and realized, maybe I forgot that the amp has the ability to use 2 rectifiers and it says on there to use 2 5v4's- I think that is what it is yet I have 2 5y3 rectifiers in there, come to think of it I tried them in there and liked the way it sounded better than the single 5ar4, how much less am I hitting the power tubes with the 2 5y3's vs two 5v4 or one 5ar4, not a big thing was just curious. Also one other question, am I safe running this in the low power mode into a single vox blue, sounds great was just getting a little uncomfortable when I was cranking it, sounded great just dont want to blow up a $200 speaker.

 

[Blue Strat]

The speaker situation may be borderline when cranked. Even though the power may be ok, the extra harmonics from overdrive/distortion can do a speaker in. Be careful.

The jump down from 2 5V4s to 2 5Y3s is pretty signification in terms of lower volume breakup and compression...probably more than the difference between a 5AR4 and 2 5V4s.

Running a single 5V4 will likely also be safe and is an option. Worst case you might kill the 5V4 prematurely if you run the amp hard consistently.

 

[LARRY GERSHON]

So with the 2 5y3's how many watts do you think the amp is putting out?

 

[Blue Strat]

So with the 2 5y3's how many watts do you think the amp is putting out?

No idea without checking with a scope.