The Unofficial Small Sample-Size Preliminary Tube Head Shootout

[tombowlus]

Okay, I didn't really plan this as a shootout of any kind, but I went down to the Fifth Avenue Fretshop (in Columbus, Ohio) yesterday to hang with my good buddy (and BGM Technical Editor) Phil Maneri. I wanted Phil to look at one of my basses, and as long as I was coming down, he asked if I could bring along some all-tube heads for him to check out. He's been playing mostly his AI Focus and Walter Woods Ultra for some time, and was hankering to jam through some true tube monsters.

We spent most of the time playing Phil's vintage ('63, I think) Precision, though he did have his old upright on hand. The cabs were two EA VL-208's (Phil's personal cabs), and we were all surprised how great they sounded with these tube heads!

In hindsight, I would have liked to have brought a number of additional heads with me, but for a "quick trip" on a busy weekend, there's only so many all-tube heads I could take. The one exception to the all-tube rule was the Orange Terror Bass, as I wanted to show how close that little guy gets to its big brother.

I've posted links in some of the dedicated threads for some of these heads, and I apologize for the duplicate posts, but I thought that it might be helpful to have them all together.

Here are the contenders:

Ampeg Heritage SVT-CL

Orange AD200

Orange Terror Bass

Reeves C225 * Be careful, this clip starts out louder (before the Q3's auto level adjusted).

Sadowsky SA200 (with P-bass)

Sadowsky SA200 (with upright)

I must say, we were all just amazed at how great that SA200 sounded with upright bass!

Please note, this was a rather impromptu thing, and we didn't spend a lot of time EQing or matching volume levels. Still, IME/IMHO, these clips do a decent job of giving a bit of a feel of what each of these heads brings to the table. But with different instruments, different players, different cabs, different settings, etc, these heads will of course sound different, as well.

As always, YMMV.

Tom.

[JimmyM]

shocked at how similar the sadowsky and reeves sounded in those clips. i'm also shocked that out of all those clips i probably dug the orange ad200 most. but that could all change with the flip of a tone knob

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

but that could all change with the flip of a tone knob

Too true.

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

shocked at how similar the sadowsky and reeves sounded in those clips. i'm also shocked that out of all those clips i probably dug the orange ad200 most. but that could all change with the flip of a tone knob

Same here with the reeves and sadowsky, but I definitely disagree about the orange. It was cool to see how well the terror bass copped the AD200 tone, but I felt the AD200 was already pushing too far into crunchville for such a low volume test. The Heritage CL definitely reminded me a lot of a standard CL (kind of disappointed by that, although I'm not sure what I was expecting). But, knowing that it takes the ampeg (at least the several I've had) a decent amount of gain/volume to get gnarly like the orange did in this test, I feel like these videos just reconfirmed my opinion that the orange starts off too fuzzy for me. Don't get me wrong, I dug the tone of the orange, but I don't want my amp to sound like that until I'm really pushing it, not right off the bat. But, that is just my opinion.

Thanks for the videos Tom.

[Musicman20]

They all sound fairly grindy, apart from the Ampeg and the SA200 with Upright. Obviously the P Bass makes a lot of this anyway.

They all sound great to me, but the Ampeg was my least favourite with these vids. A little thin sounding but that could be anything.

Orange Bass Terror doing a fine job for such a tiny light amp.

My favourites were the Orange AD200b and SA200.

[Musicman20]

PS Tom, thanks for these. These will be helpful for people buying tube amps in the future

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by xsubs

Seems to me that the gain knob on the AD200 MUST have been set high. There's plenty of clean in that head... especially at that volume. Tom?

As I recall, it was below noon, so I don't think it was set all that high.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Musicman20

PS Tom, thanks for these. These will be helpful for people buying tube amps in the future

You're welcome! It was a blast, and I think we all learned a few things. It can't be stressed enough, though, that these are just snapshots of what these heads can do. When dialed in differently, and used with different players/gear, the results can vary a good bit.

Still, sometimes a snapshot is still better than nothing for folks who have not heard these heads.

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

It can't be stressed enough, though, that these are just snapshots of what these heads can do. When dialed in differently, and used with different players/gear, the results can vary a good bit.

I think you captured a fair representation though. Having only played the AD200 and the SVT-CL (albeit not a heritage CL) I can only comment on those heads, but the sound was fairly representative of a "standard" tone from those heads.

It was good to hear the SA200, not one you commonly see clips of. Also very interesting, as said above, to see how similar the Reeves sounded to the Sadowsky.

[jokerjkny]

awesome!

the sadowsky is still my all time knock down drag out fighter on top, but the orange is still a terrific amp.

tom, did you guys make any separate mp3 recordings of these?

[NickRich]

Originally Posted by Musicman20

PS Tom, thanks for these. These will be helpful for people buying tube amps in the future

+ 1 !

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by jokerjkny

tom, did you guys make any separate mp3 recordings of these?

Nope, I just grabbed some quick clips with my Zoom Q3.

[jordie65]

my AD200B is arriving in the next few days and seeing that AD200B clip didnt help my anxious wait! comparing to the terror its clear it has been voiced the same and comes close (sort of) to the AD...could be a good back up head to buy in the future

i didnt get a chance to try a lot of tube amps before buying the Orange but after seeing all the clips i definitely preferred the Oranges tone! though the SA200 with P bass clip was also great sounding.

[OldogNewTrick]

Tom thanks for posting these !

listening to the Reeves clip and to the bass segment at the end of the Tech21 Leeds demo, I am floored as to how close the character series can match an amp sound.
I've got the VT, but now I want the Leeds too.
Mind you, nothing like the original, but hey, my name isn't Tom

[johnk_10]

the Orange sounded the best to me in those clips.

[Queg]

The Orange sounds kinda affected to me. A bit of phasing/wash out as well as grind. Not that it doesn't sound great, but in comparison to the more faster, hi-fi nature of the Reeves and Sandowsky, does the Orange have what one would call a "signature tone"?

[KJung]

Dug the Ampeg. At least in these clips with that bass and those cabs, none of the other heads did much for me. Hated the orange... phasey distorted mess to my ear Of course, for some sort of metal grindy thing, that would kill I'm sure.

I agree, the Reeves and Sadowsky sounded quite similar.

You can see why the SVT is used by the vast majority of tube amp guys.

Nice job!

[Musicman20]

Originally Posted by Queg

The Orange sounds kinda affected to me. A bit of phasing/wash out as well as grind. Not that it doesn't sound great, but in comparison to the more faster, hi-fi nature of the Reeves and Sandowsky, does the Orange have what one would call a "signature tone"?

Personally, Id say it does. Its different to the inherent Ampeg tube tone. I think the grind is one of the best out there, especially with a Precision.

[tombowlus]

One note on the Ampeg Heritage SVT-CL. There were three of us there who have owned and gigged with vintage SVTs, and who have also played through "regular" SVT-CL's, and we all agreed that the Heritage SVT-CL was at least as good sounding, if not better, than any other SVT we had heard. Now, bear in mind, this is without the benefit of any kind of A/B (for the other two guys, at least - I've played it directly against my '74 SVT, and let me tell you, it can hang with the old beast!), and this is all done through those VL-208's. Opinions may vary if we had used different cabs, though again, in my own personal experience (including using the Heritage and "regular" Ampeg 810's), the Heritage SVT-CL is one of the best examples of the SVT tone that I have heard. I can't wait to hear a Heritage SVT-VR!

[GeneralElectric]

You've made me want an Orange even more.