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50w-100w Valve Owners Thread

#221
banikek said:
Only in the quest to keep this thread going... I present my Ampeg V4 with 212e cabinet. All together not a very lightweight rig but it is a good size and sounds huge.

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chris
Click to expand...

Very Nice!
To me, being compact is a major plus in terms of gigging. Easier to fit on stage, easier to fit in the car. That looks like a nice "meaty" set-up, and I'll bet it can get nasty as well.
 
#223
sold my bassman 100 last week. Gonna stick with the V4B... if I ever get it back from the shop.

Played a gig lastnight with a bassman 50. I borrowed it from the guitar player. Worked great, and I actually liked it better than the 100. The band was a little loud last night, but the bassman did good.
 
#227
So I am a little apprehensive about this but really like the idea of that classic tube sound. I found a Sovtek Mig 50 for sale for $400. So is this a good price and how concerned should I be buying this old of an amp? It will have to be my main rig for now and I need something I can rely on. I am not gigging right now but playing with some friends and want to be able to play when the opportunity presents itself. Nothing worse than having your amp in the shop all the time. So I guess that gets to the heart of my apprehension. Volume and reliability. In the $400 price range I could get a good solid state head or combo. In fact I am going to have to sell my GK MBE115 combo to afford it. So will the Sovtek 50 Watt tube head produce as much volume as the 200 watt GK combo I am currently using? I understand that tube watts are different than solid state but what can I really expect. What kind of cab should I put underneath it? These amps have three different output options 16, 8 and 4 ohms. Is this like what I am use to with a traditional bass amp, meaning I get 200 watts at 8 ohms but 350 watts at 4 ohms. Do I only take advantage of the amps full power when pairing it with a specific ohm cab? Is there anything to look for when I test the amp out? How reliable can I expect something like this to be? Finally does anyone have a ballpark price for taking something like this to be serviced?
I recently played a orange 15 watt tiny terror through a ampeg 210 cab and thought it sounded great and had some good volume. I would think that this would mean that a 50 watt tube amp should be fine, but I play with a very heavy handed drummer and dont want to spend a bunch of money on equipment that I can not hear when I play with him. Most of the time it is just me at home and I am desiring great tone, something that the GK is just not giving me right now. Don't get me wrong I like the GK, I mean I did buy it, but looking for that classic warmth and drive of tubes. Any input form you guys would be great.
 
#228
Also found a Ampeg B25B in the same price range. Any difference in sound? Either one better than the other for bass. Problem is everything is in a different direction from where I live and a good days drive as well. Need some help before I start driving all over the country and driving my wife crazy.
 
#229
Between the Mig 50 and the B25 I think I'd probably prefer the B25 for sound, but the Mig 50 may be the better purchase in terms of ability to connect cabinets. The 16/8/4 ohm switching will probably be a lot more accommodating than the 16/8 of the B25. Either one, if properly tuned up and running well should serve you just fine, but you'll definitely want to make sure you have enough speakers to cover your volume needs, a need which only you will be able to determine. What works for some, doesn't work for everyone.
 
#230
You will be FINE with 50 tube watts.
If you want more volume.. add more cabs.

I can keep up with any drummer using my 50watt sovtek... and $400 for a Mig 50 is a steal imo.

Retubing and biasing could be as much as $150.00 but that depends on the cost of the tubes and your tech...

This amp may not need that work done yet.

Tubes are like tires.. the harder you drive them, the faster they wear out. But really, they last a long time ime. :bassist:
 
#231
Riddle me this if you don't mind please...

When the tube amp says 50W and it has 16/8/4 ohm outputs does that mean it puts out the exact same 50W at any of those loads?

I'm thinking that means it's going to be same loudness with 2 of 8 ohm cabs @ 4 ohm or 1 of 8 ohm cab or even series of 4 of 4 ohm @ 16 ? Any cab will take 50W
 
#233
OK, some would argue that you would get the best Power Amp valve tone from the 16ohm tap as you would be using the complete/entire winding of the tranny. Others would say that your best bet would be to run as many cabs from the 4 ohm tap as you can if volume is your biggest concern.

Honestly, the difference in db from one tap to the next isn't going to be that great. Use whichever tap is best for your amp aka matches the cabs. This is critical with tube heads.

I use the 4 ohm tap into a 4 ohm 2x15" cab.
The 15's are 8 ohms each wired in parallel for a total of a 4 ohm load. It sounds beefy and is def. loud enough to gig with in a large bar if you have pa support out front. I have also used this amp with an 8 ohm 2x10 cab for smaller coffee shop gigs and it kept up with a 100w fender twin, and a drummer.. no pa.. no problem. :bassist:

All the bass SS wattage whores must play in bands that cause ear bleeding from their audience.. and I bet they NEVER dime their amps.

I have NEVER needed more than 200 solid state watts or 50 tube watts to be heard. EVER.

I asked Aspen Pitman once why tubes amps were louder than SS amps (of equal power ratings). He explained it by saying that tubes have a reserve of power in the amp ready to blow each time you hit a note.. ss amps must pull the power from the wall each time you hit a note. Made sense to me.
 
#234
I don't have any particular axe to grind over SS, despite being #1 Trace Elliot fan with a 250W SS model. I hear what you're saying about 200W being oodles. It really is.

Getting back to tubes, the only explanation I heard that made any sense to me was the tube amp rated to X watts puts out a lot more than X when overloaded into distortion but the rated power is the "clean" power.

I don't believe SS amps "pull power out of the wall" as such.

Another question about the Sovtek MIG50. Is that a guitar amp that does bass just as well? There's a few of them floating about in NZ and not too overpriced, around $700US, wouldn't mind seeing what the fuss is about....
 
#235
I have no experience playing bass through a MIG50.
Try it and see what YOU think.
Surely you can "try before you buy"

I would love to think that my Sovteks are worth $700.00+
Honestly $550.00 is a more realistic price given the state of things today. YMMV.
 
#236
Downunderwonder said:
I don't have any particular axe to grind over SS, despite being #1 Trace Elliot fan with a 250W SS model. I hear what you're saying about 200W being oodles. It really is.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I don't dislike SS and don't think lesser of dudes for using what they like or can afford. I own 3 SS bass amps (traynor, sunn, gk).. I just love valves so much now that I have used enough gear to have a real and informed opinion on the subject.

did you see that trace elliot comando on ebay?
sweet amp with <2 hours to go!
 
#237
I think around the 400 - 600 range for the Sovtek... depending on where you are.

50 tube watts is pretty loud. I've used a 30w amp with 2 15s and did just fine - drums, 2 guitars, and keys. Not a quiet band, but we try not to be TOO loud. If you push those tube watts, you will start to get some natural distortion, and that's ok, unless you are looking for total clean sound... in that case you need a high watt SS head.

What if find with the low watt tube heads is that you don't stick out in the mix - I think a lot of bass player are used to hearing them selves kind of stand out with all these high power heads. With the small tube amps, you sit in the mix better.

I like low watt tubes (got a little bastard in the mail), but I also like some SS stuff. Been using a TC Classic450 the last couple times I played.... BUT, I had the pre turned up to about 4/5, and the Master on about 3/4, and that was plenty of volume with a single 15.
 
#238
I forget if I posted this. Oh well! Let's keep the tube amps in the spotlight.

This Sound City's in for a complete rebuild right now but it'll be roaring through my Mesas within the week I hope. Yay! leaky caps...

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