This amp uses a DC supply for the heaters. The bridge rectifier in the heater supply was getting too hot and desoldering itself after the amp warmed up. I replaced it with a huge 25A rectifier which should stay much cooler.
The amp was biased WAY too hot - way beyond the maximum dissipation rating of the output tubes. Both 6L6s were redplating. I increased the value of the cathode resistor and the amp sounds much better now.
I replaced many of the cheap components in the amp and slightly tweaked the circuit for better tone. I also replaced a few of the bulging reservoir caps and threw in some old stock preamp tubes which improved the tone over the original Sovtek WCs.
