Low Wattage Tube Amp Experiment

[chaosMK]

I recently picked up a Krank Rev Jr. 20w amp for guitar and thought to try it out as a low wattage tube power amp for bass. This amp actually has 2x 6L6 but it's supposed to be the 20w version... maybe some transformer magic?

Boomy tone with Sansamp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTyDm3FR6jo

I jammed it sans Sansamp (I forgot it) at a medium volume rehearsal (medium drummer, clean guitars) through a loud 1x12 cab and it sounded great in the mix though it was quite distorted. I think that with this little tube power you lose pitch definition on the lowest notes at volume... you get a nice expansive warm low end though.

[basscooker]

my little 20 watter is a pair of 6v6. it sounds really full through a pair of 12's. almost enough to jam out with the guys. if i push it into creamyness, it can keep up, but it's pretty fuzzy, especially down low. i just keep it in the living room. and now the shameless exploitation:

[NYCbassist]

I'm getting a '80's Peavey Classic 50 very soon. I'll let you know how that works for bass.

[Mr. Foxen]

Isn't the too little power that causes the tone issues, its the too little transformer that can't pass low end.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

Isn't the too little power that causes the tone issues, its the too little transformer that can't pass low end.

+1. About 10 years ago I had a '66 BandMaster head that I sent to Gerald Weber to perform some magic on, including putting a Showman type OT in it. Big difference!

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by chaosMK

...This amp actually has 2x 6L6 but it's supposed to be the 20w version... maybe some transformer magic?

Most likely cathode biased.

[will33]

Originally Posted by basscooker

my little 20 watter is a pair of 6v6. it sounds really full through a pair of 12's. almost enough to jam out with the guys. if i push it into creamyness, it can keep up, but it's pretty fuzzy, especially down low. i just keep it in the living room. and now the shameless exploitation:

If there is ever a "prettiest" or "coolest" amp poll on TB, I'm voting this one.

It looks like it was made out of the gas space heaters we had at our previous house. I kept the front panel off of one of them to put on an amp someday.

[LuvMusic]

If you're looking for a low power bass tube amp, you may want to check one of these out:



Another option is the new Fender Bassman 100T. It has an option for running at 25w.

[chaosMK]

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

Isn't the too little power that causes the tone issues, its the too little transformer that can't pass low end.

Does this mean that the power section doesnt really overdrive the way I was hoping? I've noticed that when I really push it my speaker (300w) has kind of jagged excursions... it made me think it was more like solid state clipping. I'm no expert though.

[fuzzy beard]

Low wattage bass amps. I have had a few! My fav is the Fender Bassman 20. 18watt 1x15 bass combo.

[4Mal]

I have a BF Princeton Reverb the does duty as the lead channel on my guitar rig , (Rivera Doce for rhythm). Every so often I jack the PR into a 1x15 for bass. It is just gucci...

[jungleheat]

Just last night I was getting together a rig for a jam/practice that was supposed to be tonight. I plugged a Carvin LB70P into my Masters TVA-30 1x12 guitar combo (all tube, EL-84), and then instead of the onboard guitar 12, ran it through my older Trace 2x10 wedge (no tweeter). This particular amp is know for it's toroidal PT and overbuilt (for guitar anyway) OT (the 12" is also pretty burly and rated at 80w).

And it actually sounded really good. If anything I had to roll off some low end. The best part is this same rig sounds great with GUITAR too, so it can do double duty (at least for practices). Actually for guitars the Trace cab has a really thick low end that would be good for metal stuff with the right amp. And it's rated for 300w, so you could probably run a 150w Mesa Triple Rec through out balls out if that's your thing.