Good Amp Head for a Decent Price?

Buy used and you'll get a great amp for a decent price. What is your budget?

 

I'll bet you can get an RB 400 or 800 head used cheap. They're heavey, compared to todays amps.

But looking around a class D micro is only a few bucks more. And light.

 

Make sure there's no funny noises. And if there are know what they are. If you are sure don't buy.

Smell the amp. The smell of death shouldn't be there. Look at he tubes. Any funny lighten patterns inside?

Play it. And remember the mere presence of tubes is not the decider of tone.

I'm a tube nut BTW. For guitar. I do use my Univalve for bass but not where people can see me.

 

Neither of those are tube heads. That is what the OP is asking about. The only Tube heads that I can think of that would fall into your price range would be Ampeg V4B, Peavey VB-2 And Peavey Alphabass . There are a lot more but not at the 600.00 price range. You might be able to find something cheaper but it will cost you in the end in repairs.

 

Also Look at the tubes for (milky ) color could indicate loss of seal/ Vacuum in the tube and could lead to catastrophic failure upon power up. Other wise what Bawana Rik said holds true. But dark spots on the tube do not always Indicate a bad tube.

 

What are you planning on running for a cab?

For an all tube SVT, you're looking at roughly $1000 for a used head. But you'd still need a cab to play it through.

 

As noted above, Buy Used.
Bass players are a fickle lot, and change partners frequently.

My criteria is, pay no more than 66% of the new-discount price for production gear.
Collector's items, esoteric gear, etc, do not follow this guideline.
For example, I find Rane pro-audio gear selling far below the 66% line.

If you want a bargain, you will have to wait for it, and scan constantly for it.
There are seasonal times when bargains appear, i.e. back to school, graduation, etc.

 

You can find used Traynor YBA200-2 heads used in that price range. They are good quality all tube heads.

 

Keep in mind with the SVT you need a 4 ohm speaker load. If your cab is 8 ohms they won't match up.

 

Keep an eye out Fender bassman 300 or obscure Sunn 300T. Mesa 400 and 400+ G-K Fusion hybrids can really do the nasty overdrive tube thing with the full tube preamp. Peavey VB2 or VB3.

 

I don't think this is correct. Tube amps produce the same wattage at their minimum supported ohms & everything above. An 8 ohm cab will work fine with the SVT & will receive the SVT's full watts.

Don't know if SVTs support 2 ohms. If they don't, then two 4 ohm boxes would be a problem.

 

So, you want loud, cheap, and good sounding. Here is what comes to mind as far as good bulletproof used heads goes.


GK 800RB -- Great Tone, Big and Loud, I see them going for $400-500

Carvin B1500 -- Really Great Tone, Big Loud and Heavy, $400-600

Ampeg SVT 4 Pro -- Typical Ampeg Tone, Big, Loud, Powerful, and heavy. These are everywhere and not as popular as they used to be so you can pick them up used for under $500 if you shop around.

Tube head are a whole other story, your not gonna get something all that powerful for the amount you want to spend...but you can find some really great deals on used tube heads if your not afraid to buy something that may need a trip to the tech to get back to full working condition. I have a bunch of tube heads and I didn't pay more than $400 for any of them.

 

SVT's DO NOT support an 8 ohm load. The output transformers are ONLY tapped for 4 ohms and 2 ohms! After repairing those amps for decades that is why I posted the warning.

 

That's great - good luck with your search. A great amp is something to love and cherish.

In my opinion, speakers and cabinets are too often overlooked. They are equally important to your overall tone, some would say more so. Make sure to include some good research in this matter in your overall goal.

 

+1.

Also, I encourage you not to let yourself get sucked into the idea of something without actually experiencing it. Don't assume that tube is necessarily what's right for you. With the wide variety of amp-cab combinations, you might end up preferring the sound of a solid state given your particular gear. If I were you, I'd take my bass to a music store and try out a variety of things in my price range, then I'd respond to some craigslist ads and do the same.