hybrid head questions

hoseheadjohnson · #1 02-24-2011, 07:55 PM

I come seeking some advice/opinions.

I am currently searching for a backup head. I want a hybrid(tube pre, solid state power) head that can push at least 500w @ 4ohms and is preferably $600 or less. I haven't played many hybrids recently seeing as how i've now owned my Sunn 300t for 2 years. To be honest, I have not had many problems at all with my sunn until this past tour in which I blew a tube and several fuses 2 songs into our set. I then had to plug straight into the board for the remainder of the gig and that was nooooo fun! I have not shopped for or played many hybrids for a few years now, so I was wondering what you guys thought about best price vs. sound etc. Any and all opinions are welcome and feel free to ask questions. Thanks in advance.

Rick Auricchio · #2 02-24-2011, 10:01 PM

Best sound? That really depends on your taste, not mine.

Ask about reliability and you'll get objective answers; but tone? It's very subjective. And it depends a lot on the cabinet you use.

rodl2005 · #3 02-24-2011, 10:44 PM

I picked up a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 - 600w into 4 ohms one tube- which you can easily push into a nice overdrive for less than $500 recently. This one was 'floor stock' But was/is in A1 condition & has warranty!

Fit's in a LAPTOP case along with neutrik Spkr leads, pwr leads, a couple of intrument leads, a couple of books, a small 'pencil-case' type ZIPPER bag containing a 1 spot power adaptor for my pedals-along with a few patch leads & 9v adaptor leads.... basically- LOTSA stuff. Everything I need for a gig- along with BACK ups of every lead.

So that head is SMALL! & packs a punch!

MadDogM · #4 02-24-2011, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Auricchio

Best sound? That really depends on your taste, not mine.

Ask about reliability and you'll get objective answers; but tone? It's very subjective. And it depends a lot on the cabinet you use.

+1 yuh. We can't tell you how you'll get your best sound. It depends on your cabs, your bass, and most importantly on YOU! what you want from your instrument is the biggest factor in choosing your 'perfect' tone.

hoseheadjohnson · #5 02-24-2011, 11:58 PM

Good call on the tone guys. I completely agree. I've heard people who don't know what they're doing get terrible tone out of an expensive amp and guys who do, that get amazing tone out of a cheap one. So I guess, as you said Rick, reliability and bang for your buck is what I'm looking for opinions on.

I've heard good things about Genz Benz, i've never played one though. The one's i've seen, more often than not, seem out of my price range though.

As I said, I haven't really even started looking at prices yet, but I may have to start haha.

Anymore suggestions?

KJung · #6 02-25-2011, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoseheadjohnson

Good call on the tone guys. I completely agree. I've heard people who don't know what they're doing get terrible tone out of an expensive amp and guys who do, that get amazing tone out of a cheap one. So I guess, as you said Rick, reliability and bang for your buck is what I'm looking for opinions on.

I've heard good things about Genz Benz, i've never played one though. The one's i've seen, more often than not, seem out of my price range though.

As I said, I haven't really even started looking at prices yet, but I may have to start haha.

Anymore suggestions?

Since you are used to an all tube head, most of the hybrids will probably not rock your socks off. Within your pricerange, the tubiest (IMO) of hybrids that is pretty close to your price limit is the new Genz Streamliner 600 (which I believe sells for a bit over $600 if you look around). It has the ability to get very big down low like an all tube head, and you can also push that input gain a bit for some grind. Simple controls, around 6 pounds, and the 900 is smokin' loud... I would assume the 600 will be decently loud into a good 4ohm cab (or two 8ohm cabs). Quite impressive.

I think you would be disappointed in the Shuttle 6.. nice amp, but very tight down low, and more 'bright' than fat.

The GK MBFusion might also be an option... brighter, grittier and more aggressive than the uber fat, warm 'older school' Streamliner.

IMO. If you really like the midrange grind of an all tube amp pushed to the limit, a used Mesa BB750 might really float your boat also.

Finally, if you dig totally clean 'old school' Fender Bassman type all tube tone, the Hartke LH500 is an amazing deal (really cheap, kind of heavy though). It has that strange Fender tone stack thing, and it won't 'grind', but it sounds a lot like an old Bassman run at clean, low volume.

**crustychef** · #7 02-25-2011, 01:45 AM

I love my MB Fusion. It is isn't tubey as a TC RH450 but it has more presence and loads of low end booty. I engage that deep switch and my low end saturates the room. It is definitely grittier when pushed hard. If you want more tubey gooey goodness through a VT bass pedal in front of it. I have a Tone Hammer in front of mine for same purpose but it gets a little nastier than a VT.

blastjv · #8 02-25-2011, 07:36 AM

Not a hybrid, but if you shop around you may find an Aguilar AG500 for $600-ish. Might find a deal on a Mesa M-Pulse.

hoseheadjohnson · #9 02-27-2011, 05:18 PM

I guess I forgot to mention, I run my clean channel about 92% of the time on the sunn. I only use the dirt occasionally. Also, forgot to mention that I'm pushing two 8ohm eden 410xlts.

I would love to get either an Eden wt800 or an SWR sm900, but both of them are out of my price range, even used. I have played both of these heads and have liked them alot. To expensive though.

This is the second forum where I've heard some good things about Genz-Benz heads. I would love to give one a good once over but no one around me seems to have them.

Haven't tried many GK's either. The only 2 GK's i've ever played through have been the 700rb and the 1001rb. Those seem to be the only one's that are around my area.

I've never been the biggest Hartke fan, but then again, I think the only heads I've tried of theirs are the all solid state models, no hybrids. I'll have to give one of their hybrids a try if I can find one near me.

As of now, I'd kind of like to stay away from pedals. I know if I started buying pedals, I would open a Pandora's box and just keep getting more and more and more. Right now, the old wallet can't take that! haha

It's funny blastjv, the only non-hybrid head I was considering was one of those aggy ag500s. Can that head get a fairly tubey tone in your opinion? Again, I've never had the chance to play one.

I also completely forgot to mention that I have a qsc power amp that I used for my keyboard rig in another project I used to be involved in, so a pre/power setup might also be an option. Any good pre suggestions?

I REALLY need to decide if I wanna do the pre/power setup or just go with a new head. It would probably be cheaper if I went with the pre/power setup seeing as how I already have the power amp. The problem with that, however, is weight! Haha, my qsc power amp is one heavy beast! Seeing as how it would be backing up a 75lb sunn, that sounds like a little much on the ol' back. Haha. What do you guys think?

P.S.
Thanks again, for all the reply's thus far!

hoseheadjohnson · #10 04-12-2011, 01:48 PM

small update:

I finally got the chance to try out some heads. I tried out as many as I could considering the limited options available at my local music stores.

I got a chance to try out a Mark Bass little Mark tube 800, a GK 1001RB(which I had tried in the past, but couldn't recollect the sound) an ampeg svt700 and a Hartke LH1000.

My favorite, by far, was the little mark tube 800. It was an awesome sounding little amp! I liked how the pre was blendable between tube and solid state. The Mark Bass's solid state even sounded really good, which was an excellent surprise! Wasn't a big fan of the price tag, but definitely my top choice.

The GK was good as well. The only thing I didn't really like about it was the highs were more aggressive than I would have liked. Overall though, very solid tone.

Wasn't to impressed by the ampeg as I expected. I've never really been a big fan of their heads or cabs and this sort of reaffirmed that for me. I've heard some people get some AMAZING tone out of ampeg gear, I just never seem to enjoy the tone I get when I play through their stuff.

The second biggest surprise I received while shopping around came from the Hartke LH1000. My history with Hartke has, like ampeg, never been to exciting. In fact, until I tried the LH1000, i'm pretty sure every Hartke head I tried was completely solid state. The biggest bummer with the LH1000 was that it did not have many tone sculpting options at all. It's features are also very basic as well, no tuning mute or other features i'm used to on a head sort of bummed me out. However, once I tried it the tone + power output + price tag on the head blew me away! Again, the Mark Bass was my favorite by a longshot, but as far as bang for your buck is concerned, the Hartke was a pleasant surprise!

I still haven't made a purchase yet seeing as how I'm still trying to test as many heads as I can before I decide, but I figured I would throw out an update and see if you guys had any other comments/suggestions. Thanks again, I love this forum!

GrowlerBox · #11 04-12-2011, 02:14 PM

My only advice, FWIW, is not to get stuck on the idea of a hybrid over a solid state on the assumptions that a tube in the preamp is going to make it sound "tubey". There is such a huge range of tones produced by different heads in all 3 "categories" that it's futile trying to make meaningful generalisations. For example, to me the TC Electronic RH450 is about as tubey as you can get without a tube in sight, whereas the Genz Benz Shuttle series (except for the 3) with their tube-containing preamps are clean, tight, all the things generally associated with high-end solid state.

Happy hunting.

hoseheadjohnson · #12 04-13-2011, 05:55 PM

Yeah, I understand what your saying. That markbass blew me away with the sound of it's solid state for sure! I'm going to try quite a few more before I make my decision. Thanks again everyone for the comments and suggestions! If you guys think of anymore, let me know!

georgestrings · #13 04-13-2011, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoseheadjohnson

Yeah, I understand what your saying. That markbass blew me away with the sound of it's solid state for sure! I'm going to try quite a few more before I make my decision. Thanks again everyone for the comments and suggestions! If you guys think of anymore, let me know!

Try a G-K 700rb-II... it's a bit warmer than the 1001rb-II is, and way louder than it's 480 watts would lead you to believe...

- georgestrings