I am mainly thinking of 100w tube heads, made for guitar. I know that some of the amps are voiced for guitar, but can a Marshall / Peavey / Mesa 100w tube head sound like a Classic 70's Ampeg head? And what about bi-amping, using SS for the deep low end, and a tube guitar head for the rest?
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Guitar amp heads for bass?
- Thread starter jsa0100
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Many people have used tube guitar heads for bass and been happy with the result. You probably won't get a guitar head to sound like a vintage SVT though. A 100 watt guitar head will distort too easily to get a clean bass tone at loud volumes, but if you like distortion they can sound great. Most of them will not have a lot of low end. I have used a Marshall 100 watt Super Lead played through a 1969 Ampeg 8X10 and liked the sound. Biamping is another way to do it, that will give you the low end the guitar head lacks. I'm sure there are threads on this sort of thing here.
Here's a thread on the Bugera 1960, the last few posts are from a guy who used one with bass and liked it.
Bugera 1960 for bass
Here's a thread on the Bugera 1960, the last few posts are from a guy who used one with bass and liked it.
Bugera 1960 for bass
A Fender Dual Showman head on a proper cabinet is magical tone-wise and louder than you imagine.
This cabinet used to be a Peavey 215 slot port before it was dressed in a Fender suit. The speakers are 400 watt E-V's.
This cabinet used to be a Peavey 215 slot port before it was dressed in a Fender suit. The speakers are 400 watt E-V's.
I used to use a 100 wat Super Lead through a folded horn for smaller bar gigs. I like some dirt, so it worked really well
Connect a short patch cord between the inputs for the normal and bright channels, then plug your bass into the other jack for either channel.
Didn't sound at all like an SVT, though.
Before I sold my 100 watt, Mesa Dual Rectifier, I tried it with bass through a few of my bass cabinets...4x10, 2X15...
I couldn't get a decent sound that would work with my band. Too much breakup and no solid low end.
I then plugged my 100 watt, SS Sunn Beta Lead into the same bass cabinets. Same thing. That amp is horrendously loud and punchy...ear busting punchy with guitar. Not so much with bass.
I did gig with one of my Bassman 100's, but I seriously modded it...London Power style preamps, 6550's with separate bias adjusts, aux filament transformer, increased B+ filtering, etc. It did the job and did it well.
I couldn't get a decent sound that would work with my band. Too much breakup and no solid low end.
I then plugged my 100 watt, SS Sunn Beta Lead into the same bass cabinets. Same thing. That amp is horrendously loud and punchy...ear busting punchy with guitar. Not so much with bass.
I did gig with one of my Bassman 100's, but I seriously modded it...London Power style preamps, 6550's with separate bias adjusts, aux filament transformer, increased B+ filtering, etc. It did the job and did it well.
I had a few players come through our music store, who wanted their amps perked up as they were not quite gig worthy. One old player used a beat up 62 Jazz bass, a Fender 2X15 Dual Showman cabinet, and for a head, had an old Twin Reverb, with no speakers or baffle board. I went through the amp, got rid of noise, properly biased the new power tubes, (it had 4 different brand and shaped 6L6's) and when I did a cap job, I increased the B+ capacitance to tighten the amp up. He was thrilled.
Another was struggling with a 50 watt Bassman. We decided to rewire it for a pair of 6550's, which barely fit in the cabinet, and I again, increased the B+ capacitance...about double. I probably added an aux filament transformer but I don't recall if we needed it.
He was very happy with the result. Downside is, he has to take the chassis out to replace the power tubes. He can go back to 6L6's with a bias adjust...or EL34's.
Another was struggling with a 50 watt Bassman. We decided to rewire it for a pair of 6550's, which barely fit in the cabinet, and I again, increased the B+ capacitance...about double. I probably added an aux filament transformer but I don't recall if we needed it.
He was very happy with the result. Downside is, he has to take the chassis out to replace the power tubes. He can go back to 6L6's with a bias adjust...or EL34's.
The best sounding amp I own is a 1970 Ampeg V2 60w guitar amp. It won't get very loud before it starts to break up, but up to that point, it sounds fantastic. The highs are sparklingly clear, like no other amp I've owned. Plenty of low end, or as much as I want. I've been told a V4 sounds much the same. They must be super nice.
First I've heard of a cross-dressing bass cab. I'm cool with it though. To each his own.
If the band is not too loud and you have a bunch of super efficient speakers, a 100W tube guitar amp will work fine. I have several of the vintage classics and they all sound great with bass. I gigged with a mic'ed blackface Twin for several years. The amp served only as my personal monitor as it was not loud enough for anything else. I had it loaded with JBL E120s and loved the way it sounded. I also used the Twin biamped on top of an SVT on top of an 810. Biamping posed a level matching/noise problem. I used an Orban 672A for EQ and crossover duty. The Orban only had one level control and no matter how I set it, the Twin had a bit of extra hiss. Other than the hiss, that was an awesome sounding rig.
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Biamping would probably work much better with a more modern amp with a line level effects loop.
I second the Dual Showman heads for bass, I have a 67 blackface head, sounds great through an old Ampeg SVT 810 cab, loud and punchy, of course we used to use those for bass years ago too with the original 2 x 15 cabs which also sounded pretty good but not as good as an SVT cab. If you want a Showman head make sure it's a Dual Showman as the Showman's are only for 8 ohm cabs, some don't say Dual on them though. I also used a Marshall Major for bass years ago, not sure if it was the lead or the bass model, it also sounded good through Sunn 2000S cabs. I used a Marshall Super Lead head years ago also with an SVT cab, I never liked the Marshall tone controls though, not enough range but then again I was young and didn't know a whole lot about getting a good tone then either so it may have been me, the Fender heads have a lot of range
I just picked up an Orange OR15 for guitar and it is turning out to be a hammer of a bass amp. The fuzz I get is awesome. It's a bit thin overall but I am loving the fuzz enough to try and use it in a band setting.
Bi amping with an actual bass amp will give you awesome results. For recording I use an old Laney Klipp through an Emperor 6x12 in addition to my Sunn 300T through an 8x10 and 1x18. Sounds massive.
