• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Favorite all tube amp?

#21
I have an Aguilar DB359 (200w; now discontinued but show up from time to time). Can't compare it to other tube amps, but sounds clean, warm and phat to me. I just had mine cleaned/serviced and new power tubes put in and it sounds great. Some will say it can't get very loud, but it's kept up for me jammin with 2 loud guitars and drummer through 2 12's cranked relatively high up. Good luck, DM
 
#22
I've owned:
an early 70's SVT,
early 70's V4-B,
'64 Showman,
Traynor YBA-3 and
Sunn 2000S (with SS rectifier)

The Sunn is the only tube amp I kept.

The others are all good in their own way, but the Sunn always sounds good, no matter what the acoustics are like.

I've moved to more modern gear (iAMP800), but I still use the Sunn every two weeks or so to keep everything "working". It sounds great with a pair of Aggie GS112's.
 
#25
The last few years I've been mostly using a Reeves 225, but for a long time before that I was a Sunn 200S/2000S devotee.
I still use the Sunn stuff, but for most applications the Reeves is easier to dial in tonally, plus at 24" wide it's easier to move and it fits better on a variety of cabinets. I have a personal pet peeve about that "T" look when an amp is wider than the cab it's on top of.
As we all know ratings can be deceptive. Factory ratings wise, at 225 watts vs 120-150 watts the Reeves is indeed more powerful, but not so much so that it makes a difference. Bass Gear Magazine got 256 solid watts out of the C225 on a bench, and I've never seriously scoped a 2000S under controlled conditions like the BGM tests, but I'm fairly certain that under the same conditions the Sunn would pull north of 200 watts.
BTW; I'll volunteer one of my 2000S's as a test mule if BGM wants to wring one out.

But, back on topic.
The big Sunns are awesome, and the Reeves is awesome on steroids. I like SVT's; don't currently own one but I have in the past and I undoubtably will again, but I agree that they are indeed the standard by which all other tube amps are judged. Also, it isn't a freekin' accident, or a conspiracy, or endorsement deals that cause so many pro's to use them.
However, as far as my personal "tone tastes", I find them tonally a little "soft around the edges" and sluggish with dynamic response compared to the 4 X KT88/6550 circuits of the Reeves and Sunns.

But... My favorite all tube amp is probably a 60 watt Sunn 200S; with a 200S cab. Certainly not big enough for every application, but suprisingly loud and at a reasonable SPL (it will get over a loud drummer) able to keep up in small-medium venue without PA support.
It just sounds so good, solid and rich you can almost taste it.
 
#26
Don't know about the best - but I am absolutely LOVIN my SVT 2 Pro. Holy Smokes - coming from a (very good) SS amp, the SVT just has IT. Pretty freakin unbelievable.

As much as I liked my Thunderfunk, I cannot see myself ever going back to SS after the SVT 2Pro\Berg NV412 stack!
 
#28
Favorite all time tube head? Fender 400PS. Hands down the meanest tube head ever built, IMHO.

But the years have not been friendly, and I can't lug those monsters around any more. So now I just use the SVT setting on my Line6 Studio 110. I have the tone, and it is portable. But I don't play out anymore, so I can get away with that. Though a Line6 Lowdown 700 head would be my choice if I was playing live. Yeah, I am a line6 whore.:D
 
#29
i like my 400PS (and my 300PS) alot too, but probably still have to go with the 2000s and SVT. my sound city bass 150 is up there with all of them too (IMO somewhat similar to a Hiwatt/Reeves). since i already have most of the ones that are my favorites, if there's one more on my 'must have' list, its definitely the reeves 225. i've been kinda jonesin' for one of those for a while now. so maybe, if i'd stop buying bass preamps and high-end channel strips for a minute, i'll finally get one.

as far as the line6 stuff goes, no offense, but everything that i've tried of their's (guitar and bass amps) sounded like a slightly less than adequate simulation, or kinda like a recording of the amp that they're modeling, and not at all like when the real thing is sitting there in front of you.

if its woking for you, i think sincerely think that's great, and i'm not discounting for a minute that you are getting a good sound out of it, it just has never worked for me.
 
#32
I haven't owned a tube amp for more than 20 years - this wek I purchased a new Traynor YBA200, so far it's wonderful!
 
#33
i have to say that while i really like the fender 300 pro, being a vintage Sunn freak from when they started building them, and hopefully not be be too OCD about it, but it always gets to me that Fender ever called it a "Sunn 300T". IMO, that amp didn't (& doesn't) have a single similarity to any Sunn amp ever made, except that Fender owned the Sunn name and used a Sunn-type tolex and a Sunn nameplate on it. IMO, it should been called the Fender 300 Pro, or Fender 300T in the first place. and if i really want to get petty, i don't think they should have used the word "bassman" on it, since its nothing like a bassman either, other than the fact that "bassman" is a reeeaallly cool name.
maybe they should have called it, the "Fender Bassman PRO Sunn model T 300"
but, they own the names and they can do whatever they want, so i guess that i'm just rambling now. ;)

...........but it still always cracks me up to refer to them as a "Sunn".



okay, i'll stop now. :hiding:


(disclaimer: these comments are solely for entertainment purposes and all of the names, characters, situations and events are ficticious and/or faceitous).
 
#34
My fave tube amp for tone was the venerable Traynor YBA1a. That amp didnt have a lot of sub lows but damn totally smooth what it did have. Loud as hell for only 2 power tubes. Only takes 8 ohms min though. The YBA3 inst the same amp with more tubes. It got louder, but it didnt sound as retro.
Ampegs never work for me, they are kind of, I dont know blurry sounding? Too thick?
I like the Mesa Bass 400. It gets almost as loud as an SVT and has its own kind of grindy tone. It can also be very loud and thunderous without being too boomy.
I used to have a fender bassman that sounded excellent. Too bad it never got loud enough to be able to jam with anyone but the most polite drummer. I also have had bad experiences with Fender amps blowing up. As in grey smoke, sparks. Not worth paying for repairs.
 
#36
Another Aguilar DB359 fanboy here. Can't beat the phat tube tone -- and that's with the eq set flat. I keep mine at our rehearsal space because it's not fun to schlep, and take an Aguilar AG500 to gigs. Real good too but not the same as the DB359. I see them in the TB classifieds and on Ebay from time to time. By the way, the amp is plenty loud -- enough to compete w 2 guitars, keys, drums and 3 horns. But it does sound best in quieter situations where the warmth can surround you. Matter of fact our drummer and I were saying last night, playing tunes with that amp is like slipping into a warm bath. MMmmmmmmmmmmm...
 
#38
I thought that I had gotten over my own tube amp G.A.S., but after reading this thread......

My favorite is the vb2 right now.

Do the Sunn's have an active tone control, or or passive/cut only like fender?

Were Sunn's the ones that used Dynaco hi-fi transformers?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back