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#42
I has an svt pro and a fender 300 pro. Loved the sound of both. Fender gets the nod for sound and features. Got rid of them both as they both sucked for reliability. Would fail every 6 months or so. Now have a stv 4 pro for home practice and use mark bass heads and a tech 21 sans amp out. Tube sound (so shoot me) , light weight and 100% reliability.
 
#43
indiefan4000 said:
what is the difference between 6550's and 6L6's?
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beyond wattage there is alos a tonal difference. I think it sounds silly trying to directly describe these differences by saying one sounds bolder and the other sounds more polite. Those kind of descriptions only invite anecdotal claims to the contrary.
Suffice it to say the 6L6 always sounds a little fendery to me, the 6550 always sounds a wee bit Ampegish. The EL34 of course is over there in Marshall land.

As far as the 400 not quite making it to 300 watts. This is true. It does only put out about 250 watts with 6550 tubes. But I would defy you to hear a discernable volume difference between a 300 watt SVT and Mesa Bass 400. They sound pretty much equal to me, with the Mesa sounding a bit louder in the high mid, the Peg louder in low mids.
 
#47
gbarchus said:
My experience with 6L6 and 6550 tubes tells me that 6L6s break up sooner and have a more controlled and smoother sounding distortion. The 6550 stays cleaner longer (more headroom) but when it breaks up it's not as pleasant sounding as the 6L6. This, however, could also be due to the amp design.

Gale
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It also seems to me that 6550 tubes have a lower low end on them than 6L6s. As far as breakup, I have heard early and late breakup on both types of tubes.
 
#52
I'm kind of partial to my Ampeg B-15.....

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#56
Pow.jpg
Absolutely ripping clean but round tube power is produced by the Simms-Watts A.P. 200 (and/or P.A. 200) heads. 3x12AX7A, 4xKT88 with huge (bigger than in an SVT or a HiWatt 200) transformers (I think they are Partridge brand). Ultra-linear output transformer design makes these louder than one would expect for 200 watts. This head measures 29.5 inches wide, which is really enormous, but it only weighs about 60 pounds which is a lot lighter than an SVT. Great head for "rolling" preamp tubes, because it is so clean tonally...the fine nuances between different makes/models of tubes can be really heard. They also made 100 watt versions of these heads that use 4xEL34 power tubes, that I have not heard, but have read positive reviews on.

Highly recommended, but very rare and hard to find, especially in the USA. I got mine from a shop in Leeds UK, and had to pay pretty hefty shipping and duty charges, on top of what was not a "cheap" sales price.

Web site on these: Simms-Watts Tube Amplifier Heads

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#58
My AD200B is amazing, such an awesome fat tone. I have played through an SVT and I noticed nothing special :hiding: , although I do really want to try a Blue line or a SVT-VR. Mesa 400+'s sound really good as well, I was surprised that it was that light.
 
#59
I have had a plethora of all tube bass amps during the past 39 years of playing bass, including an Ampeg SVT-CL (and fridge cab), a Marshall VBA400, a Reeves 225, an Aguilar DB680/DB728, a Kern pre into a Demeter 300M, a Fender Bassman 300 Pro, and an old Fender tube amp, but nothing, and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G, holds a candle (IMO) to the awesome tone and power of my USA Ampeg SVT-VR through a pair of LDS nEarful 15/6 cabs. It sounds so good and toneful, I almost have to reach for my drool bowl every time I hit a note (and that can get inconvenient and messy at times, especially on stage).

And yeah, I know the rule...no pic, no amp. Observe:
 
#60
Boot Soul said:
Pow.jpg
Absolutely ripping clean but round tube power is produced by the Simms-Watts A.P. 200 (and/or P.A. 200) heads. 3x12AX7A, 4xKT88 with huge (bigger than in an SVT or a HiWatt 200) transformers (I think they are Partridge brand). Ultra-linear output transformer design makes these louder than one would expect for 200 watts. This head measures 29.5 inches wide, which is really enormous, but it only weighs about 60 pounds which is a lot lighter than an SVT. Great head for "rolling" preamp tubes, because it is so clean tonally...the fine nuances between different makes/models of tubes can be really heard. They also made 100 watt versions of these heads that use 4xEL34 power tubes, that I have not heard, but have read positive reviews on.

Highly recommended, but very rare and hard to find, especially in the USA. I got mine from a shop in Leeds UK, and had to pay pretty hefty shipping and duty charges, on top of what was not a "cheap" sales price.

Web site on these: Simms-Watts Tube Amplifier Heads

CIMG0069.jpg

CIMG0070.jpg
Click to expand...
My Lovely old Simms Watts Ap 200 is quite a bit louder and cleaner than an original Hiwatt Dr201 and any of my clones of it, its even louder than my old Marshall Major was and thats really saying something.
They are also very, very good on signal to noise ratio and take pedals really well.
I really think with its utterly enormous partridge UL transformers, a well biased Simms Watts AP 200 super is probably the best use of 4 KT88 output tubes there ever has been:
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:bassist::D
 

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