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Big Cabs Club

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one statement of yours I would like to point out is One reason is cost and size and weight and portability. This doesn't mean at all that they will outdo solid state amps with or without kilowatt ratings just because Bass amp manufactures don't make one. With solid state amps, there is more of a choice and why not get lot's of power.

The Mesa Boogie 400, Hi-watt 400, and one made by Aguilar are the largest wattage bass tube amp I'm aware of and they are big and heavy enough.

Also 90 watt tube bass amp and too loud onstage? that's a good one!!!


Yeah Traynor YBA1a with an EV 1x15 it was one of the loudest amps I ever owned.
Also, did I miss a pic on this thread of your equipment because I would like to see your big cabs with your setup!

My GK4112 AKA "backbreaker". The two speakers on the front are 10" drivers highpassed with a cap to handle only mids/highs. Behind them are 4 square magnet 12" woofers. The whole mess is 4 ohms and loud as hell. It has that bass horn thing where you can hardly hear it right next to you but its killing people 20 feet away.
gk2.jpg

and the woefully inadequate handles on the back
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No idea how much it weighs. Easily over 150 lbs. I only gig it if the load in is easy. No stairs, no landings.

Usually run with a Mesa Bass 400. A few times with a GK 800RB.
 
one statement of yours I would like to point out is One reason is cost and size and weight and portability. This doesn't mean at all that they will outdo solid state amps with or without kilowatt ratings just because Bass amp manufactures don't make one. With solid state amps, there is more of a choice and why not get lot's of power. I used to play in a metal band with 2 guitars and a loud aggressive drummer with my Peavey Mark4 (300 watts) and 2 -18x 10 cabs and I kept up just fine.

There are tube amps in amateur radio ( class A/B just like guitar amps, just different applications) that are rated in Kilowatts, but they are the size of refrigerators and you need a forklift to move it. The Mesa Boogie 400, Hi-watt 400, and one made by Aguilar are the largest wattage bass tube amp I'm aware of and they are big and heavy enough.

Also 90 watt tube bass amp and too loud onstage? that's a good one!!!

Also, did I miss a pic on this thread of your equipment because I would like to see your big cabs with your setup!

Depending on your EQ and what cabs you're running through, ~100 watts can be very loud. You'd never accuse Lemmy of being quiet, would you?

Also, the Mesa 400 I've heard is actually more like 260 watts. There's a couple other 400 watt tube amps as well, like the Marshall VBA-400, and the new Ashdown BTA-400 and 427 Small Block. Not sure what the wattage of the Trace V8 was, but it was quite powerful as well.
 
The EL34 has the rep for being a 17-22 watt amp becaues that the way you see it used in Fenders, Riveras, Torres amps and the like.

But on Wiki is does say -

Specifications

In common with all 'E' prefix tubes, using the Mullard-Philips tube designation, the EL34 has a heater voltage of 6.3V. According to the data sheets found in old vacuum tube reference manuals, a pair of EL34s with 800V plate voltage can produce 90 watts output in Class AB1 in push-pull configuration. However, this configuration is rarely found. More commonly found is a pair of EL34s running Class AB1 in push-pull around 375-450V plate voltage and producing 50 watts output, while a quad of EL34s running Class AB1 in push-pull typically run anywhere from 425-500V plate voltage and produces 100 watts output.

The EL34 is a pentode, while the 6L6, which delivers a similar range of power output, is a beam tetrode which RCA referred to as a beam power tube. Although power pentodes and beam tetrodes are based on different principles of operation and have different internal constructions they are functionally closely equivalent. Unlike the 6L6, (EIA base 7AC) the EL34 has its grid 3 connection brought out to a separate Pin (Pin 1) (EIA base 8ET) and its heater draws 1.5 Amps compared to the 0.9 Amp heater in the 6L6. However, Sylvania (and possibly GE) marketed a tube as 6CA7 which was not only in a markedly different 'fat boy' envelope, but used a beam forming plate much like a 6L6. Examining the mica spacer on the top of the tube will confirm the lack of a suppressor grid. Although these tubes have similar (but not identical) characteristics, they are made very differently.

Matched EL34 Vacuum Tubes by Russian manufacturer, Svetlana

The EL34 was introduced in 1953 by Mullard and its parent company Philips and, although no longer made by them, is manufactured by JJ Electronic, Svetlana and Reflector (Sovtek, Electro-Harmonix and some brands), amongst others. Some firms make a related tube called an E34L which is rated to require a higher grid bias voltage, but which may be interchangeable in some equipment.
[edit]
Application

The EL34 was widely used in higher-powered audio amplifiers of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the very popular Dynaco Stereo 70 and the Leak Stereo 60, and is also widely used in high-end guitar amplifiers because it is characterized by greater distortion (considered desirable in this application) at lower power than other octal tubes[citation needed] such as 6L6, KT88 or 6550. The EL34 is found in many British guitar amps and is associated with the "British Tone" (Marshall) as compared to the 6L6 which is generally associated with the "American Tone" (Fender).


But I've never seen a 100 watt, dual EL34 amp.
 
Oh heck, tactician beat me to it. Yes the EL34 can do 90 watts a pair if volted right!
The YBA3 does 140 watts from 4 EL34s. It isnt quite as hot with the volts so it doesnt chew through a set of tubes every 6 months.
One of these days I am going to get one of each and run a biamp tube setup that will tear faces off. Probably something involving way too many 12"s in very big cabs.
 
That Traynor cab........is that the down and dirty look? Or is that one of those rare 1960's 36" speaker cab protos that there were rumours about? (A little (lot!) flappy in the cone, but hell it looks good!)



Looks like a 4x12 or 8x10 traynor? Love to see under that suckers grill.
One thing I dont like about traynors. The pocket handles on the vintage cabs were useless! What is that second cab? a Gauss loaded traynor 2x15?





The one on the right is a YCV-215 with the original Cerwin Vegas. The one on the left is a "Big B" 8x10 cab. Just loaded it with Jensen MOD 10 50 watters and rewired it with 14ga. Looks shabby, sounds fantastic.


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drove up last night about 3.5 hours away to pick up my ampeg svt 810-e.
brought it back and had a short band practice with it.
getting it down the stairs was the hard part.
i'm used to dragging an 8x10 around (an old peavey) for the last two years (or 200 shows or so) but this fridge clocks in at noticeably heavier than the peavey did.

but... can't keep the peavey. got to shift the gear in order to afford more of it.

i had an old black widow peavey 1x18 as well... loved the tone, but couldn't afford to keep it. had to replace the whole rig, so i sold it to my drummer's dad.

now if only i could lay hands on an ampeg 215, my cab setup would be just about complete.
 
Spungey - try 'rolling' it corner onto corner down the stairs. Be super careful though. I heard of a guy a few years ago who was helping a delivery guy with a one arm bandit down the stairs - the top guy let go and the bottom guy went down the stairs and was killed by the machine crushing him against a wall. These big cabs and stairs need respect.

Get yourself corner wheels or a sack truck for moving on the flat. (Or roadies) (Or Tough Groupies - the girls with hairy arms and tattoos - LOVE on the knuckles of one hand and HATE on the other - well actually it now says HAT since she lost a finger in a fight.)
 
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