OH! DEM PREAMP TUBE BLUES...

From the "PERSONAL EXPERIENCE" file: ALOHA... I've just returned from a gig in Honolulu, Hawaii (Valentine's Day) where I played thru a HOLLAND harp amp that was furnished for the date by audio engineer extraordinaire Milan Bertosa. About the size and scale of a tweed Deluxe, it was tricked-out with a Jensen 12", had a single channel with a volume and active tone control. At rehearsal I plugged-in one of my JT-30's with a NOS MC-151 crystal. To my amazement I found I could NOT run the amp as high as 2 and at that, couldn't completely open-up the volume pot on the mic. Insanely HOT... I soon learned Milan had been using the HOLLAND for electric guitar and was running a 12AX7 in the preamp tube position for maximum gain. Alas,he did not have and I was not packing a selection of lower gain preamp tubes or a lower output microphone to help cope with the amp's dynamics. I had to make do...
Moral of the story: Be prepared, boyscout! Foresee the unforeseen. Whether it's an extra zipcord, mic line, power or line adaptor, that alternate mic or preamp tubes, when you pack for the road, take nothing for granted...