Afordable Bass Tube Amp

check in local area sales mags like where im at there is the paper shop, there is a ampeg tube head for like 400, id buy it but then i wouldnt have money fr a cabinet

 

Don't know what you price range is, but the traynor YBA-200 (not sure about the model number) is a good value and sounds great. You could probably find some used around $400-$500

 

HI

Used Fender Bassmans are still affordable. You want to gig or record? Cant exactly gig with a B15 at 25 watts or whatever they put out

Rob

 

Pay any attention? Recent threads about $399 Peavey VB-2 all tube head, 225 watts?

 

Given inflation, B15s were not cheap back in the '60s- those were professional kit, and priced accordingly.

You should be able to find a '70s Bassman head fairly cheap if you troll pawnshops and classifieds. Of course, a cheap tube amp will probably need expensive maintenance by now...

 

Unfortunately, none of those Peaveys showed up here in my town. Or I'd have one.

I picked up a Bassman 100 in the past year for $350. It needed a bit of work, and isn't a pristine example. Getting it back in shape was fun for me, so no big deal. I really like the Fender, and it has a long term place in my arsenal.

Watch CL. Traynor, Sunn, Fender, Plush, Earth and once in a while even Ampeg stuff shows up at a reasonable cost. Any of them will work, and can be maintained by most any tech worth the salt in their spit.

 

Just to clarify, you're talking about all-tube amps with valve preamp and power stages...not just solid state power sections with a tube preamp (a 'hybrid')?

 

yea id love to snagg one up!!!

 

My uncle has a 50 watt blackface bassman head, 250 bucks he got her for...sounds KILLER through his 215 Sunn cab...much louder than one would think.

 

my 50watt bassman keeps up with 100watt marshalls

 

you could always build your own, theres a couple on this site

http://www.paia.com/index.asp

 

Back in the day PAIA offered interesting kits, I bought some myself. Today they offer what I consider to be "toys". There certainly is nothing that compares to a B15.

Paul

 

These are new prices from July 2008 on all-tube bass heads.

Alessandro Bassist Hound..60 watts..$2600.00
Ampeg SVT-CL..300 watts..$1599.00
Ampeg SVT-VR..300 watts..$1999.00
Divided By 13 TBL200..200 watts..$2500.00
Eden E300T..320 watts..$1269.00
Fender Bassman 300 PRO..300 watts..$1249.00
Green Power..120 watts..$2230.00
Highwatt Custom 200..200 watts..$3859.00
Highwatt Custom 400..400 watts..$5419.00
Markbass Classic 300..300 watts..$2599.00
Orange AD200B..200 watts..$2279.00
Peavey Tour VB-2..225 watts..$899.00 (but these are turning up much cheaper.)
TraynorYBA200..200 watts..$799.00 (but these are turning up much cheaper.)
With these prices....I'd try to buy used!

 

that was a one weekend sale for floor models only .

 

It actually lasted longer than a weekend, it appears to be until they're all sold out (which I think is the case now). I started seeing notices about them here on the 23rd. There were still a few available on the 30th, according to the guys at my GC.

 

there's an Eden VT-300A on Ebay at a "reasonable" price. Some TB'ers have said there are a few quirks with the amp.

 

I'd recomend a VB2 or a Traynor YBA 200, I have both (though the Traynor is up for sale). There's alot to be said about each amp, but I found the Traynor to sound a bit richer, but the peavey to be louder and a bit punchier. Both are very good amps that were plenty loud through my carvin 810 and both represent a great value for the price.

Yup, there's probably a few still around. I picked my VB2 up on Sunday at the GC in Burbank, IL. Just ask your local GC to computer search the chain and find one. They'll send it to your GC.

A couple of folk reported getting one's that didn't work, so you may want to ask your salesguy to check and see

 

The usual Eden bashers have said there's some quirks.
Truth is the Eden VT300's have been just as reliable as any of the other tube heads. I've got a bassist buddy that's had one for years, it's been rock solid.
The bashing has already started on Eden's newest tube head, the E300T, , and the truth is....it's only been just recently released. Without it's being in use for awhile, how does anyone know how dependable a amp is going to be?

 

Hi,

I usually just read stuff, this is my first post, but I couldn't just watch this because everyone seems to be forgetting about the Marshall VBA400, which I think is a great value-for-money amp (I own it myself together with a VBC412 and I love it).

I'm not sure about the pricing in the U.S. but I live in The Netherlands and I got my VBA400 out of the U.K. for under 1200 euros including shipping, which is kind of cheap compared to what they cost here(1650 euros) and what they cost in Germany(1900 euros, and usually it's cheaper to get stuff in Germany).

The VBA400 is also cheaper than both the Ampeg SVT-CL (which is 400 pounds pricier on the same website I got my VBA400 from) and the Ampeg SVT-VR (which costs 750 pounds more than the VBA400, also on the same website).

So I would advise anyone who is on the lookout for a good all-tube amp to check out a Marshall VBA400, especially if they need a lot of power, because it offers 400 watts at 4 or 2 Ohms.