What is biasing?
When we ‘bias’ our amp we’re setting the working condition of our tubes. ‘Setting the bias’ on your amp is a lot like setting the idle on your car. If it’s set too high (or “hot”) the car’s running away with you, but if it’s too low (or “cold”) it will choke when you give it some gas. To put that into guitar terms, too high (or “hot”) and your tubes may run out of spec and die prematurely; too low (or “cold”) and your tubes will sound cold and sterile. We don’t want to be at one extreme or the other, but preferably at a nice spot in the middle. We want our car to run its best just like we want our tubes to last long and sound their best. In that sense we’re trying to find the perfect in-between point when biasing. That’s basically it! We bias to make sure our tubes are operating in a safe range and sounding their best. Click here to learn more about biasing, and how to bias a Fender Hot Rod.
We bias so (1.) our tubes are operating safely and (2.) because we want our amp to sound its best. When we ‘bias’ we’re setting the working condition of our tubes. ‘Setting the bias’ on your amp is a lot like setting the idle on your car. If it’s set too high (or “hot”) the car’s running away with you, but if it’s too low (or “cold”) it will choke when you give it some gas. To put that into guitar terms, too high (or “hot”) and your tubes may sound good, but will burn out quicker; too low (or “cold”) and your tubes may sound sterile, but will last a long time. We don’t want to be at one extreme or the other, but preferably at a nice spot in the middle. We want our car to run its best just like we want our tubes to last long and sound their best. In that sense, when biasing we’re trying to find the perfect in-between point.
