Members mbengs1 Posted October 30, 2020 Members Share Posted October 30, 2020 while i was recording a song, the volume suddenly dropped for like 2 seconds and came back right away. was it a sag? does this mean i have to change the power tubes? I changed cabinets after a long time. I used my randally 4x12 for 2 years and went back to the original bugera cabinet just days ago. my amp is a bugera 6262. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Grumpy Posted October 30, 2020 Members Share Posted October 30, 2020 Normally, "sag" is used to describe a type of compression that tube amps with tube rectifiers have. The rectifier is part of an amplifier's power supply, voltage is boosted inside the amp's power transformer; then it is passed through a rectifier which acts like a "one way valve" for electricity; this converts the high voltage to a pulsed DC voltage. The pulses are then "smoothed out" with filter capacitors. When a loud signal is fed to an amp with a tube rectifier, the high voltage power supply (the B+ supply), the loud signal drains away some voltage from the filters caps, causing the loud signal to smoothed out a bit, as the tube rectifier cannot pass enough current through it to instantaneously re-charge the filter caps. So it acts as a form of mild compression...the Silverface era Fender amps used tube rectifiers and the 'sag' is part of their renowned clean tone. Sag from tube rectifiers was never intentional, but simply part of older tube amps' "inefficiency" and "imperfections". Probably one of those things that Leo Fender tried to get rid of in his later amp designs. Most modern amps of course - like your Bugera - use a solid state rectifier, which are much more efficient at recharging the filter caps, so little to no sag. Solid state rectifiers are smaller, cheaper, much more reliable and almost never need replacing. They also don't generate heat or waste power like a tube rectifier does. I suppose that's why Mesa/Boogie invented the "dual rectifier" amp - so the player could choose between the more compressed, "squishy" feel of a tube rectifier or the more modern, attack-heavy sound of a solid-state rectifier. 14 hours ago, mbengs1 said: the volume suddenly dropped for like 2 seconds and came back right away. was it a sag? No, that's not "sag" as most musicians mean it. Don't know if you need new power tubes or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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