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Earth Tube amp + ??? cabinet

Thumpin_P

Thumpin_P

Nov 26, 2006
958
153
Limestone, TN
#1
:help: I own an Earth Sound Research Super Bass b-2000 all tube 100w bass head. I am not sure what the impedance is, and I know it needs work, but, I love the sound, the ease of maintenance (point-to-point wiring) and the fact that I have owned it for the most amount of time (sentimental). I am looking for a cabinet that will match this monstrous head, but, I don't want a 4x10 or 15's. I would like a 2x10, but I'm not sure about the wattage and the ohm rating. any help would be greatly appreciated. :help:

Sincerely,

Thumpin_P:bassist:
 
#3
I read on an Ebay auction that they're 220 watts at 2 ohms. But that's ebay so you never know.

Avatar speakers are cheap and would work all right I think. I have 112 that's rated at 500 watts. I used to play it with a Road 440, an archaic SS head that only one other person on TB owns (that I know of). It was putting out about 150 into an 8 ohm cabinet and sounded pretty good. The Road is kind of rough around the edges, being old SS and all, and the avatar didn't clean it up any. But with a tube amp I would think it'd be alright.

I was asking around on another forum about Earth Sound Research amps. I was told that they sound almost exactly like a clean Fender bassman. What're your thoughts?
 
#4
I think 2 ohms might be right. I was thinking it might be 2 or 4 ohms. I'm not sure about the 220 watts, but It might be an equivalent rating because of the class of wiring (not sure, a,b,c, or d). As far as the sound, if the head is matched up with the right cabinet, say, a 4x10, a clean Bassman would be accurate. At one point I had added a 18 + 2x10 in one cabinet, and a 4x10. What a growl!!! I have wondered if that is why my head doesn't work now(overworking the impedance). I pulled every possibility out of that head, even bridging the two channels together, a la old Marshall, with a MXR compressor between the channels. I have heard alot about Avatar on TB, as a matter of fact, I hadn't even heard about them until TB. Kudos to the community!!! The only thing I hadn't thought about until last night was the possibility of something expensive about the repair(i.e., output transformer, replacing all the tubes). But, my point is, if the repair is going to go over my budget, I might forego the repair and buying a cabinet and instead, buy a good, inexpensive combo amp, also utilizing 2x10's, within a limited amount of cash, possibly Ashdown, possibly with a built in compressor. Any thoughts?

Thumpin_P:bassist:
 
#5
You have alot of confidence in your answer, and I know you are right about the wattage, so 8 ohms it is. I was going to ask my serviceman about all this, but I figured the community would be the best for cabinet opinions,possible combos, etc..,

Thanx

Thumpin_P:bassist:
 
#6
Thumpin_P said:
You have alot of confidence in your answer, and I know you are right about the wattage, so 8 ohms it is. I was going to ask my serviceman about all this, but I figured the community would be the best for cabinet opinions,possible combos, etc..,

Thanx

Thumpin_P:bassist:
Click to expand...

No, If your only going to use one cab, then get a 4 ohm cab. If your going to use (2) cabs, then buy (2) 8 ohm cabs. This amp really wants to see around 4 ohms.

I have the Plush version of this amp runing a stock Plush vertical stack of (3) (8 ohm) 15's in parallel. So it can safely run down to at least a 2.7 ohm load. I love the sound of this amp. I completely recapped mine and did several other improvements. It's now beautifully quiet with incredible headroom. PM me if you need any guidance in fixing your amp. I have schematics and sources for components. The entire project as a DIY only cost around $75.

John
 

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