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50w-100w Valve Owners Thread

#121
Just got this yesterday.
IMG_3010_.jpg

It has a nice tone, but I am dissapointed in the lack of clean headroom and the output volume, wich I thought were supposed to be really high on these things.
But anyway, allthough a guitaramp, it got the walls shaking trough my 2x15. But It is definitely lacking some real low end.
It got this aggressive high lows/low mids grunt going on.

My tech believes there is something wrong with it, and said that 50 EL34 watts should be much louder then this. The treble and middle controls are shot anyway, so I'm gonna have him fix it up and hopefully it will perform better.

And since he is doing work on it anyway, why not have it modded. I'm thinking either of sticking a JTM45 preamp in there, or keeping it as is, and having the normal input modded to allow for more, and hopefully thighter, lows, and to have the EQ more responsive to bass guitar frequensies.

On the plus side of it all it is small and very light weight.

It will probably make part of a great practice rig and for bringing along to not so loud jams, but I was also hoping to use it along side my 200 watt/2x15 rig for a guitarlike octave up with efx doubling trough the brilliant input of the SC going into a Matamp 2x12. But I'm starting to doubt that it will loud enough.. And I'm afraid that the SC wouldn't be powerful enough to run a stack of two of those 2x12. Any thoughts?
 
#122
GHI said:
Just got this yesterday.
IMG_3010_.jpg

It has a nice tone, but I am dissapointed in the lack of clean headroom and the output volume, wich I thought were supposed to be really high on these things.
But anyway, allthough a guitaramp, it got the walls shaking trough my 2x15. But It is definitely lacking some real low end.
It got this aggressive high lows/low mids grunt going on.

My tech believes there is something wrong with it, and said that 50 EL34 watts should be much louder then this. The treble and middle controls are shot anyway, so I'm gonna have him fix it up and hopefully it will perform better.

And since he is doing work on it anyway, why not have it modded. I'm thinking either of sticking a JTM45 preamp in there, or keeping it as is, and having the normal input modded to allow for more, and hopefully thighter, lows, and to have the EQ more responsive to bass guitar frequensies.

On the plus side of it all it is small and very light weight.

It will probably make part of a great practice rig and for bringing along to not so loud jams, but I was also hoping to use it along side my 200 watt/2x15 rig for a guitarlike octave up with efx doubling trough the brilliant input of the SC going into a Matamp 2x12. But I'm starting to doubt that it will loud enough.. And I'm afraid that the SC wouldn't be powerful enough to run a stack of two of those 2x12. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

i think my dad had the combo vertion when he was younger

apparently it had 2 12 inch speekers and was louder than holy hell
 
#125
50 watts won't shake the earth and certainly won't exhibit much clean headroom if you're trying to shake the earth or using an inefficient cab. Focusing on low and high mids might be better. That's how I can use a 30w head for full volume bass duties into an efficient cab.
 
#126
KramerBassFan said:
I'd have somebody re-wire the specs to a Hiwatt DR201 pre amp, or a DR504 i'd assume.

Something bass friendly. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking that too. But I did some searches on the plexi palace board, and as I understood it, there is very little space to do the DR504 preamp in the 50+ because of the small chassis. Do you know somebody who have done this ?

christw said:
50 watts won't shake the earth and certainly won't exhibit much clean headroom if you're trying to shake the earth or using an inefficient cab. Focusing on low and high mids might be better. That's how I can use a 30w head for full volume bass duties into an efficient cab.
Click to expand...

No, it certainly won't.
It did have very little clean headroom when playing guitar trough it as well tho.
Do you have any efficient cabs to recommend?
 
#128
hennessybass said:
I'd like to hear as well. I am thinking about pulling the trigger on a Little Basterd -- 30W, and would use it with a Berg AE212. I want to get the most out of the LB... any thoughts on this match up?
Click to expand...

I've been using a Bag End 410 with the 30w head. Q10BX-D, I believe is the model. It isn't the most efficient cab but it ain't bad either. :D

I can't commend on Berg gear from experience but I've heard nothing bad about it. The reviews and the specs seem to say that it must be good. I wouldn't hesitate to try a LB through the AE212. It's specs on paper are a little better than my 410.

I'm also a big Genz Benz fan. I think their Ubers (with a low mid emphasis) would be killer with a low-mid wattage tube head. Genz / Bag End are currently my two favorite cabs from my own experience. I'd love to try Berg and other high end brands though...

GHI said:
...It did have very little clean headroom when playing guitar trough it as well tho.
Do you have any efficient cabs to recommend?
Click to expand...

Test the tubes. Premature breakup is a sign that they're at their end. My old AlphaBass had crap (dead) 12AX7's in the pre and wouldn't go above speaking volume. After a quick swap, HUGE difference.
 
#129
GHI said:
Yeah, I was thinking that too. But I did some searches on the plexi palace board, and as I understood it, there is very little space to do the DR504 preamp in the 50+ because of the small chassis. Do you know somebody who have done this ?
Click to expand...

You could try searching for someone who has done it, or just start a new thread called "Converting a Sound City to Hiwatt Preamps specs" or something like that, and anybody with experience should chime in.
 
#131
I can contribute photos tonight but does it count if I ran my 1001Rb through my Genz Benz 610 on cleans and ran the effects out into a Marshall JTM-60 112 half stack for some nasty distortion? 60 watts of mild mannered tube OD I describe as soft (no icepick highs) on guitar flat out snarls with a P Bass. (Yes, I cut the lows out.)

I just wanted to bump this and tell someone how COOL this setup sounds.
 
#133
christw said:
I can contribute photos tonight but does it count if I ran my 1001Rb through my Genz Benz 610 on cleans and ran the effects out into a Marshall JTM-60 112 half stack for some nasty distortion? 60 watts of mild mannered tube OD I describe as soft (no icepick highs) on guitar flat out snarls with a P Bass. (Yes, I cut the lows out.)

I just wanted to bump this and tell someone how COOL this setup sounds.
Click to expand...

im looking forward to this
 
#134
faceinbass said:
Howdy!

Do you own a lower watt, all valve bass amp?

If so I want to hear about it!

Depending on the situation, I use one two Sovtek 50w "Rhythm 'N Blues Bass Amplifier" Bassov Midgets or the AIMS Personalized Producer which claims to be a 120w amp but really only hits about 60w. Each of the 3 has its own thing going on, and I enjoy playing with the differences. I prefer 1x15, 2x15 and 1x18 cabs for these amps. Tube amps and large speakers sound so good to me. I have a USA Univox 50W bass amp on the way and will report back if this thread goes anywhere..

Pics wanted?!

fu2oo8.jpg


Now it's YOUr tURN!(?)

and
Click to expand...

Actually my Aims Producer put out around 90W rms according to my amp tech, but yeah, the 120W is for sure reaching a little
 
#135
KramerBassFan said:
I'd have somebody re-wire the specs to a Hiwatt DR201 pre amp, or a DR504 i'd assume.

Something bass friendly. :)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't. In my mind the value of a vintage amp is in its original form. You modify it and it'll impact the value. If it's faulty you simply cannot know how the amp really sounds. get it repaired and if it still doesn't work for you sell it and get something that does. 50 watts is not going to make a loud bass amp no matter what you do to it.
 
#137
BassmanPaul said:
I wouldn't. In my mind the value of a vintage amp is in its original form. You modify it and it'll impact the value. If it's faulty you simply cannot know how the amp really sounds. get it repaired and if it still doesn't work for you sell it and get something that does. 50 watts is not going to make a loud bass amp no matter what you do to it.
Click to expand...

Maybe he just has a bad tube? I had a bad tube in my Superbass once, and it caused a HUGE drop in tone and volume. I could dime the 100w amp into 2x15 and stand two feet in front of it and be able to talk over it. But i put in a new tube, and it was ear splitting at 9 o clock.
 

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