Mesa Badlander tube bias testing

[GJgo]

Hey guys. So every Mesa amp I get I test & record the tubes that I have on hand since there's nothing I can do about the bias, and I prefer to be in the 60-65% dissipation range tonally. We all know Mesas are biased cold for tube longevity & it usually takes some work to bring them up. With the old amps no big deal, but with the new ones we have to use Mesa tubes to maintain our warranty. So...

I picked up a Badlander 100. Loving it in the band so far!! Might not be my favorite bedroom amp though compared to the vintage rigs. I will say it has Mark-like bounce, bloom and high gain note separation, is tight, and does not do the "wall of sound" thing. So far I'm not really seeing any Recto lineage here. I'll also add that for this amp I really do think the EL34s sound better. IMO. Interesting to note that in the manual, they reference the amp's "British heritage" a few times. Anyway..

The amp came with a quad of Mesa 447 (EL34) in Grey. As we know, the Mesa color code system runs from cold to hot like this where each color range is a few mA hotter. That said, I'm used to seeing a significant spread in mA in the amp from any given color code set and if I'm being picky I'd need a few sets to get pairs that are within 5-7% or so.

Red
Yellow
Green
Grey
Blue
White

So here's the data. Plate voltage today- Variac 391, Bold 447. We'll use Bold for testing. Ok, we're not at risk of smoking tubes from voltage.

Testing tubes in Bold mode-

Mesa EL34 447 grey- 16-19 mA which is around 32%. Cold!! I'd like to go straight to white & re-test.

Mesa 6L6 440 grey- 22-24 mA which is 34%. Cold!! Note for testing I briefly switched this up to EL34 bias which is hotter to see where it lands and it was in the 60+% range which is >100%, so, I immediately shut it off. Though, this "may" be usable with Red. Maybe. Also note Grey is optimal for every 2 or 3 channel Dual or Triple Recto I've owned.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

So what about the BL makes you say it's not your favorite bedroom amp? Does it lack girth/balls until it's wound up? I've never really noticed a significant impact to the tone/feel regardless of bias. I know everyone hears things different, but I've experimented with a couple dozen amps and can't tell any difference in tone or feel between an amp set at 25mA or 50mA, so I always just opt to set them cold which usually works out somewhere around 30-40 mA on most.

 

[cardinal]

Yeah, I always end up biasing cold because I can't hear any difference...

 

[IIBornotIIB]

For my Boogie’s, I shoot for somewhere in the 36-40Ma range... that BL is running cold.

 

[GJgo]

Keep in mind that my frame of reference is a Triple Recto & a Mark Coliseum. I like huge power sections! The Badlander actually does have really great Mark-like qualities with the EL34s in it however it doesn't have the organic feel of the vintage amps- which I don't expect it to. That said I think it's a lot better here than the JP was. To me the IIC+ is the benchmark by which to compare all other bedroom amps. It has the perfect tone & feel for playing by yourself. So far I'm not really seeing any Recto qualities in the Badlander. I think it would be really interesting to A/B it with a Triple Crown.

On a lot of amps (most?) 35-40 mA is about right and I often find that's in the 60-70% range. For me, between 60-70% is where the tubes really start to sing. It's the sweet spot. Generally speaking that's a good place to be. When you've got mA in the teens, IMO it's just too cold. You're leaving tone on the table.

I can hear what I consider significant differences in tone when I switch picks. To me everything matters. To each their own, though..

 

[Racerxrated]

So what about the BL makes you say it's not your favorite bedroom amp? Does it lack girth/balls until it's wound up? I've never really noticed a significant impact to the tone/feel regardless of bias. I know everyone hears things different, but I've experimented with a couple dozen amps and can't tell any difference in tone or feel between an amp set at 25mA or 50mA, so I always just opt to set them cold which usually works out somewhere around 30-40 mA on most.

Most of my experience is with vintage Marshalls, at a low volume you may not notice anything but when you turn it up, big difference to my ears. My 83 2203, when I got it sounded brittle and harsh at volume. It came with GE 6550s so I knew something was up. The bias was between 16-19ma per tube. Got it up to 34-37ma and WOW what a difference that made. Night and day.
When you say you set your amps up between 30-40ma on most amps, that's actually the perfect optimal range for most amps out there. Unless you're dealing with super low or super high plate voltage.

 

[Holy-diver]

Keep in mind that my frame of reference is a Triple Recto & a Mark Coliseum. I like huge power sections! The Badlander actually does have really great Mark-like qualities however it doesn't have the organic feel of the vintage amps- which I don't expect it to. That said I think it's a lot better here than the JP was. To me the IIC+ is the benchmark by which to compare all other bedroom amps. It has the perfect tone & feel for playing by yourself. So far I'm not really seeing any Recto qualities in the Badlander. I think it would be really interesting to A/B it with a Triple Crown.

On a lot of amps (most?) 35-40 mA is about right and I often find that's in the 60-70% range. For me, between 60-70% is where the tubes really start to sing. It's the sweet spot. Generally speaking that's a good place to be. When you've got mA in the teens, IMO it's just too cold. You're leaving tone on the table.

I can hear what I consider significant differences in tone when I switch picks. To me everything matters. To each their own, though..

To be fair I think changing picks actually affects tone more than bias unless you’re talking about abnormally low or high readings

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Most of my experience is with vintage Marshalls, at a low volume you may not notice anything but when you turn it up, big difference to my ears. My 83 2203, when I got it sounded brittle and harsh at volume. It came with GE 6550s so I knew something was up. The bias was between 16-19ma per tube. Got it up to 34-37ma and WOW what a difference that made. Night and day.
When you say you set your amps up between 30-40ma on most amps, that's actually the perfect optimal range for most amps out there. Unless you're dealing with super low or super high plate voltage.

For sure Tom! I'm not trying to imply there is not much difference, my beat up old ears just can't discern it LOL! Just like tube swaps be they preamp or power, I just don't hear it...they all sound basically the same to me. Small variances in tone to me are the next guys wow moments...we all hear things differently no doubt about it.

 

[Racerxrated]

For sure Tom! I'm not trying to imply there is not much difference, my beat up old ears just can't discern it LOL! Just like tube swaps be they preamp or power, I just don't hear it...they all sound basically the same to me. Small variances in tone to me are the next guys wow moments...we all hear things differently no doubt about it.

I agree, with more modern/newer produced amps I haven't hear that much difference...reissue Marshalls, EVH, Wizard etc...I haven't owned that many newer amps though. That also applies to tube rolling, when I've done that with newer amps it didn't make that much difference. But Vintage Marshall/Mesa stuff, definitely. It'll be interesting, down the road when these newer amps become vintage, will that change? Who knows.

 

[skoora]

I tried a 100 Badlander recently and it didn’t feel or sound much like a recto. Had some decent sounds in it but it wasn’t a “holy crap” amp. Just a feeling of, mmm, not bad. Hard to describe it. It’s not exactly like anything I’ve heard from them before. The clean and medium breakup is kind of nice but the higher gain definitely lacks that recto wallop in the bass you might be used to, which can throw you off. They probably should have not called it a dual rec and just called it a Badlander. Considering it doesn’t even have two rectifiers circuits to choose from and it wouldn’t trigger mind games on what you think it should sound like when you play it If the “Dual Rec“ name wasn’t there. Boogie lately is releasing amps that are head scratcher to me. I feel like they’ve nailed some feature sets but have lost something in the sweetness or “richness” of the top end. Love my V but CH 3 just had a certain stiffness or coldness to the top end that is eclipsed easily by my quad which has a juicy top end. I really hear this stiff or cold top end in the JP as well.

 

[BrandonTMX]

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