Allen Old Flame

[Phil M]

I've been researching these on a couple of forums and wanted to check in here. After owning a few vintage blackfaces, I decided I wanted that sound but with the ability to overdrive it at lower volumes. This led me to the Old Flame, which intrigued me with its master volume control, RAW knob and three-knob reverb. The amp head should be here next week. I'll be driving an 8 ohm 2x12 sealed cabinet.

I can throw a few blues licks out there, but I tend to be more of a classic rock/alt. rock kind of guy. I know a lot of you are using these amps for blues, but is anyone playing rock with these? Tom Petty, Stone Temple Pilots, early '70s Rolling Stones, U2, etc. I used to have a bf Bandmaster and I thought it was pretty good for that sound with a Les Paul, Strat and an OD pedal for the heavier stuff like STP...

 

[estrauman]

The Old Flame is a great amp. If you do a search here you tend to see nothing but great reviews of all of David Allen's amps. I've been gigging with my OF 2x10 combo for the past 4 years and find it to be a great all-around amp. Aside from doing, say, super high-gain metal, I don't think the amp has any limitations with regards to styles. With 6L6s it's pretty loud and has good headroom. I tend not to use the raw control but a lot of other folks really dig that feature. The cool thing about almost all of David's amps is that you can switch between 6L6s and 6V6s depending if you want earlier breakup or not. The master volume is very usable, but I like to run it between 7 and 10. I use Teles and Les Pauls with the occasional 335, SG, and archtop hollowbody thrown in. Single coils, including P-90s, and humbuckers all sound great. It also takes to pedals with no probs. Hope this helps.

 

[GopherTele]

Old Flame

The only thing about the OF that I can't get on with is that it sounds super bright when I play it alone--but cuts extremely well in a band situation.

The high end is a little harsh at home but I can live with it for the cut I get.

Can someone walk me through the steps to rebias for 6V6's? What should the volts be set to for them and how exactly does it work?

Thanks.

 

[Phil M]

Glad to hear that you're playing it with a Les Paul. I use a Strat and a LP, but it seems most people do use Fender guitars with these amps. That RAW control is intriguing and going by it's description, I bet I'll use it at least partially on. Also, I firmly believe that "cut" is the best thing because I've learned that what sounds best sitting in my house at low volume is not usually what sounds best with drums and other instruments. That's why I like blackface amps and tubescreamers.

The amp should be here by mid-week and I can't wait to see how it will work for me. You're right, you don't really hear anything negative about them which is why I'm not too concerned about it being a dog. This particular amp DOES seem to have changed hands a few times in the last year or two, but that could be the dreaded GAS disease as much as anything.

 

[Kurzman]

Old Flame w/6V6's

Gophertele,
I'm pretty sure that first you replace the rectifier with a 5U4, install the 6V6's and rebias to about 20-25mV. I have an 8ohm 15" Weber California and Dave Allen said I could switch the amp to 4 ohms after the 6V6 swap to help tame it even more.
I'm thinking about trying a 2X10 cab with two Reverend Alltone 10's.
Anybody have an opinion on this? I would guess it would sound a little warmer than the Weber 15" California.

 

[Doug T.]

Re: Old Flame

The only thing about the OF that I can't get on with is that it sounds super bright when I play it alone--but cuts extremely well in a band situation.

The high end is a little harsh at home but I can live with it for the cut I get.

Can someone walk me through the steps to rebias for 6V6's? What should the volts be set to for them and how exactly does it work?

Thanks.

Gopher .. not trying to be a smart-alec or anything but have you tried switching off the "bright" switch (if it's engaged)? Makes quite a difference on my Old Flame ...

 

[dwdyer]

2x6V6 + 5U4 = OK

I'm pretty sure that first you replace the rectifier with a 5U4, install the 6V6's and rebias to about 20-25mV. I have an 8ohm 15" Weber California and Dave Allen said I could switch the amp to 4 ohms after the 6V6 swap to help tame it even more.

I have a 2x10 OF that I built from the kit. Lovely amp, although I don't play out so I can't really enjoy its full potential.

I run it with two Mazda 6V6G (coke-bottle) and a 5U4 like you describe. I've never really liked the harder feel of a 6L6 amp, and although the amp sounds great with say, Philips tubes, I love the Mazda sound and feel. I hear the Brimars are very similar. I did also try the 5Y3/6K6 setup, but it was too dull sounding. The 6K6 seems to be to a 6V6 what the 6V6 is to the 6L6 tonewise.

Cutting the impedance of the speakers in half is a good thing, because 6V6's like to see about half the impedance of 6L6's.

-W-

 

[GopherTele]

Re: Old Flame

The only thing about the OF that I can't get on with is that it sounds super bright when I play it alone--but cuts extremely well in a band situation.

The high end is a little harsh at home but I can live with it for the cut I get.

Can someone walk me through the steps to rebias for 6V6's? What should the volts be set to for them and how exactly does it work?

Thanks.

Gopher .. not trying to be a smart-alec or anything but have you tried switching off the "bright" switch (if it's engaged)? Makes quite a difference on my Old Flame ...

Indeed I have. For me, it comes down to the fact that my Allen seems to like humbuckers more than my Esquire or 52 RI. It's a very bright amp but the buckers seem to tame it somewhat.

 

[TDPRI]

Gopher... OK, I have a little experience with Fender amps along the areas you are asking about.

In a Deluxe Reverb, there is a 47pfa cap across two of the volume control leads on the back of the vol control. When my DR was too brite I cut one of the leads off keeping the cap in place for future use/resale. This removed a lot of brightness.

As a futher cure I changed to an Alnico speaker which helped a TON, and found some NOS Tubes that had a more "brown" sound. Sometimes folks will sell their tubes with a description of how bright they sound.

Lastly, I rebiased the amp to a higher output level. I bought a device called a Bias King. You plug the Bias King into a powertube socket and then plug the power tube into the Bias King. The unit has a big mA gauge and I would bias the DR to around 35mA.

This helped quite a bit to get the brightness out of my DR.

Now... does it apply to the Old Flame? I'm not sure. You'd have to find out from an OF owner or Allen himself I guess.

Paul Green
PS. Even after all this I sold the DR and bought a BF Princeton Reverb and that really solved the problem.

 

[GopherTele]

6V6

Thanks Paul.

I'm going to see if going to the 6V6 will help but I am not terribly handy when it comes to electronics.

Now everyone always says how easy it is to rebias an Allen, but I still need help. A few questions:

1. What to set my meter at (probably stupid question, but...)

2. Do I stick the entire negative (red) test lead INTO the bias measurement jack and then touch the black to the ground?

3. Should the amp be on or just plugged in when doing this?

4. Is the mV adjusted by turning the jack either clockwise or counter-clockwise? I think it probably is.

Thanks.

 

[Rick Towne]

It's the best amp I've ever had...

An Old Flame in a 1x12 combo, with a Weber 12A150 (50 watt alnico). Beats all of the BF Fenders and the several Jim Kelleys, a Holland, and so on. With the EQ/raw/bright/MV controls, there's not much it can't do with a single coil Tele-style guitar.

 

[mkg]

Re: 6V6

Thanks Paul.

I'm going to see if going to the 6V6 will help but I am not terribly handy when it comes to electronics.

Now everyone always says how easy it is to rebias an Allen, but I still need help. A few questions:

1. What to set my meter at (probably stupid question, but...)

2. Do I stick the entire negative (red) test lead INTO the bias measurement jack and then touch the black to the ground?

3. Should the amp be on or just plugged in when doing this?

4. Is the mV adjusted by turning the jack either clockwise or counter-clockwise? I think it probably is.

Thanks.

GopherTele, I'm going to assume that your amp is set up for biasing like my Allen Hot Fudge w/Nuts. In any case please email David to make sure that it is, then follow these steps:

• 1. Turn all amp volume controls to zero.
  2. Install your new tubes.
  3. Plug in the amp and power it up, but leave it on standby for five minutes.
  4. Assuming you're facing the back of the amp, turn the bias adjust pot all the way counterclockwise.
  5. Set your digital multimeter for volts. If it's like mine it will automatically callibrate itself to mV. Do NOT set it for mA.
  6. Take the amp off standby, like it's ready to play.
  7. Touch the black probe to ground and insert the red probe into one of the bias jacks.
  8. Turn the bias adjust pot clockwise until you get a reading in the neighborhood of 22 mV for the tube you're biasing.
  9. Keeping the black probe on ground, insert the red probe into the other bias jack to see if the other tube is within 5 mV or so of the first one you checked.
  10. Remove the probes, turn off your multimeter.
  11. Plug in your favorite guitar, turn up amp volume, enjoy!

 

[GopherTele]

Thank you very much!

Great instructions.

 

[heylow]

Here's something funny...

I have both an Old Flame and an Accomplice. The funny part is that I run he Old Flame with 6V6s and the Accomplice with 6L6s. Backwards, but works great for me.

They are both great amps and while I could go either way with the Accomplice, I feel that the Old Flame really comes across better with 6V6s in it for some reason.

I have to admit that between the two, I most often favor the Accomplice.


Just my thoughts....


heylow

 

[KuuKOO]

Not to totally derail the thread, but has anyone ever tried an Accomplice Jr? That's the one that has me GAS'ing...

 

[Phil M]

Hey, mkg!

I was just at Radio Shack yesterday looking at multimeters in expectation of my Old Flame head's arrival. I was overwhelmed by the choices (7 or so) and the price range. Which one will work sufficiently for biasing an Allen amp?

 

[mkg]

Phil, when I get home from work today I'll see which one I've got. I got mine at Radio Shack but I don't remember the model number.

 

[mkg]

Here's the one I've got: (link removed)