have the D's toppled the SVT's?

[Manticore]

That wasn't really my intention, but the "hit and run" future of the musician is sort of written on the wall. Nearly all of the clubs I play don't have parking for their bands, and there tend to be 4-5 bands playing a night. Parking in a city like LA is tough, so a long walk carrying a tube head and making a second trip for a big 8x10, and then maybe a third for your basses\pedals\etc isn't fun. The whole "band van" thing doesn't really pan out for local musicians, and people are moving to smaller and smaller cars for a lot of reasons.
There's working harder and then there is working smarter. This isn't a strong man contest and I'd call moving 300lbs of gear more than a "little" work. If the pay is barely enough to pay for gas (if there is pay) then the pay certainly isn't enough for spinal surgery.
As far as I'm concerned SS is SS. The class D amps are just smaller SS. My Shuttle was plenty loud, but was a little light in the low end department. The D-800 I just got more than capable.

Spoken like a man that's played the HOB on Sunset!!!

 

[castlev]

Spoken like a man that's played the HOB on Sunset!!!

Even if the shuttle was light in low end u can run di to the house and take advantage of their subs if they have em.

 

[Manticore]

Even if the shuttle was light in low end u can run di to the house and take advantage of their subs if they have em.

I agree. It is extremely rare for me to bring a rig to an LA gig. There are far better options.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

i think you'd be hard pressed to find even the most diehard tube amp lovers gigging regularly who don't use a class D amp a fair bit.

 

[agedhorse]

Even if the shuttle was light in low end u can run di to the house and take advantage of their subs if they have em.

Or you can use the LF Boost (extend) switch which extends the low frequency response?

 

[chaosMK]

I'd give class D a chance but nothing has toppled my Old Iron yet.

Link Removed

 

[peterpalmieri]

Folks love talking about their 40lb neo cabs being so wonderful but a 40lb V4b or 29 lb prodigy are beasts and make hauling impossible.

There are some awesome tube options that don't weigh 100lbs. And just blow the doors off IMO

 

[Jeff Scott]

Still, I'd love to have a nice Traynor YBA-3 of pretty much any vintage.

That was the first bass amp that I ever owned, I bought it new in 1974. I must have been going downhill ever since then!

 

[agedhorse]

Folks love talking about their 40lb neo cabs being so wonderful but a 40lb V4b or 29 lb prodigy are beasts and make hauling impossible.

There are some awesome tube options that don't weigh 100lbs. And just blow the doors off IMO

Perhaps if there was a 6 lb cabinet, the comparison would be more obvious? I know that comparing a 90 lb cabinet to a 40 lb cabinet makes the 40 lb option look pretty darn attractive when comparing cabinets to cabinets.

 

[tattooSAM]

When I see this on Reverb for $250 OBO, I will agree that tube amps are on the way out.
People vote with their dollars.

Until then, long live the king!

 

[peterpalmieri]

Perhaps if there was a 6 lb cabinet, the comparison would be more obvious? I know that comparing a 90 lb cabinet to a 40 lb cabinet makes the 40 lb option look pretty darn attractive when comparing cabinets to cabinets.

My point is and someone said earlier that they already carry 2 40 lb neo cabinets. I always put those on a folding cart anyway so adding the head isn't really a big deal. A single 100lb box can be cumbersome I will give you that.

I happen to have owned some pretty good stuff over the years, plenty of the small stuff, my Jule Monique and M700 serve as back up to my V4b for the times I need to bring my own backline. The V4b gets the call almost every time as it sounds better.

If there is a good monitor system I will bring Monique by itself and run Direct. That's the easiest schlep.

 

[bobyoung53]

That was the first bass amp that I ever owned, I bought it new in 1974. I must have been going downhill ever since then!

Ever try a Traynor YBA-300? 12 6L6's.

 

[Jeff Scott]

None around her to try. But as much as I'd like to give one a whirl, I am perfectly happy with my 4 lb. Class D SVT killer.

 

[socialleper]

Spoken like a man that's played the HOB on Sunset!!!

Never had the pleasure.
Loaded, however, is my number 1 worst place to see or play a show.

 

[GregT]

Cars and amps got smaller. Small cars and amps got better. What's not to love?

 

[Sav'nBass]

For me and my ears and the kind of music I play I can get everything I want out of my SL900 or my M800.... and there is nothing that would make me ever get a head that weighed over 10lbs max.

 

[JimmyM]

i think you'd be hard pressed to find even the most diehard tube amp lovers gigging regularly who don't use a class D amp a fair bit.

I'm using my little $100 BA108 on tomorrow's gig just after using an SVT/810e on last night's gig. I'm the world's worst tube snob

 

[Korladis]

With the ToneHammers and Subways, has the big iron fallen?

There's CLs and older models for sale everywhere and nothing seems to move, yet the D's fly off the shelves like hot cakes.

Preamp/poweramp is popular (I've used it, it's great)

Ampless is getting more and more popular too...

Nope.

The only thing I could see myself using a tonehammer for is a backup.

In actual stores, yeah, stuff will sit there, because people will often know what they want and get it online. This is common to expensive items, not just big tube amps.

Ampless is only popular with people who have guarantees of good monitoring and PA support. That's the case for many people in cover bands on talkbass, but out in the scenes I play in, is not the case at all. In most cases, if you don't show up with a rig that has some firepower, you'll not be playing.

 

[Korladis]

i think you'd be hard pressed to find even the most diehard tube amp lovers gigging regularly who don't use a class D amp a fair bit.

I don't own a class D amp.

Every time I gig, I use a tube amp.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

I don't own a class D amp.

Every time I gig, I use a tube amp.

I didn't say never. Do you think you're out of the ordinary or not?