+1. Check ebay or used. Then get a pair of 210 cabs or a fEARful 15/6. You'll have money left over and a smallish but very light, toneful and loud rig.
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I need a LIGHTWEIGHT TUBE amp
- Thread starter HoosierBassist
- Start date
+1. Check ebay or used. Then get a pair of 210 cabs or a fEARful 15/6. You'll have money left over and a smallish but very light, toneful and loud rig.
$1800 will get you a lot, especially used. I'm a huge fan of the Walkabout you mentioned. Great tone and while certainly not a micro head, it is small and lightweight so easy enough to schlep in that Camaro. The Scout combo is nice, but I'd personally shop it with some other cabs. I liked it well enough as a combo, but LOVED it with the Mesa 410 and even more with my Bergantino. Plenty of good, smallish cabs out there these days, too. Would be a big upgrade from what you are using now.
As others have said, only you can decide what is best for you, so have fun trying out as much gear as you can. Good luck!
As others have said, only you can decide what is best for you, so have fun trying out as much gear as you can. Good luck!
this kind of misses the point of a tube amp.
It's like saying, if you like classic cars, buy a Subaru Forester and bolt a Chevy Bel Air body on to it.
Is the Subaru better for fuel efficiency, does it weigh less and handle better? But classic car guys like the smell weight and boat like handling. not so much the mileage.
Depends on what you want out of said tube amp. Personally I couldn't find a cab that could handle or reproduce the low end I get out of my tube head before I played through my current cab. In fact for the longest time I thought I hated tube heads specifically the SVT because they were always paired with an 810e. It just wasnt the sound I wanted to hear and was no good for me. Cue to playing tube heads through cabs that I do like the sound of, and Im a fan.
Different strokes and all that...
To the OP:
Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion 500 W or 800 W.
Try out Neo Cabs by the various makers. Probably want an 8 ohm cabinet so you can double it if required or (heaven forbid) by another 8 ohm configuration cab.
Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion 500 W or 800 W.
Try out Neo Cabs by the various makers. Probably want an 8 ohm cabinet so you can double it if required or (heaven forbid) by another 8 ohm configuration cab.
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
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- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
Well, the need for a good cab isn't really a question, it's just a fact. And the last couple sentences were just what I would do.
I sense this is a HS kid who was told by a HS guitarist that he *must* buy a tube amp. That's a fallacy, my friend. You can get a great lightweight head and cabinet like a Markbass, GK or Genz-Benz and save your back and your money. You can even get an Avatar 1x12 4 ohm cab at 500 watts! That will fit in your car along with a microhead like a GK, Markbass, or Genz-Benz. You'd have tone and volume in a nice transportable package.
Maybe I'm wrong and you personally think tubes is where it's at. I've never liked the tone myself. But, if it's a HS guitar player giving you this idea, tell him to worry about his own gear!
And yes, great job on the disciplined saving! You can get a great, powerful, compact rig for about $1000 and you'll have money left over! It's a great lesson for life and one that many adults have not yet learned.
Maybe I'm wrong and you personally think tubes is where it's at. I've never liked the tone myself. But, if it's a HS guitar player giving you this idea, tell him to worry about his own gear!
And yes, great job on the disciplined saving! You can get a great, powerful, compact rig for about $1000 and you'll have money left over! It's a great lesson for life and one that many adults have not yet learned.
Orange AD200B is about 55 pounds. They're quite expensive, though.
I drove a 2000 Pontiac Firebird in high school/ early college. A 410 CAN be squeezed in the back seat, but I know it's a pain! However, there are plenty of loud modular bass rigs these days. (fearful, barefaced, Schroeder, etc...)
I drove a 2000 Pontiac Firebird in high school/ early college. A 410 CAN be squeezed in the back seat, but I know it's a pain! However, there are plenty of loud modular bass rigs these days. (fearful, barefaced, Schroeder, etc...)
Considering how many "custom" car folks do exactly this sort of thing (see: Troy Trepanier, Chip Foose), how popular Resto-Custom builds are with VW's, and the popularity of kit cars....
...it appears a lot of folks are doing just that.
I am going to jump on the Class D bandwagon, check out the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 as well. I replaced my SVT with one and could not be happier. Best tone I have ever had. I run mine with two Ampeg SVT 210av cabinets and it is loud enough to hang with most crash bang drummers. ymmv
But if you are going tube, I recommend the new Fender Bassmans. Great sounding amps.
But if you are going tube, I recommend the new Fender Bassmans. Great sounding amps.
Is the lightweight and not so lightweight SS/hybrid stuff good? Yes it is. Is it any substitute for a tube amp? No way. If it was, I'd be using nothing but. While it's true that nobody will walk out on your show because you use a SS head, there's something special about tubes that can't be duplicated.
To the OP, aren't you a little young to be worried about an amp being heavy? That kind of talk is for old geezers (not me, mind you, I figure that's why God gave us shoulders: hefting SVTs).
Really important to remember: a hybrid is not a tube amp. It's not the same thing. Not saying it's bad, but it's a simulation of the thing, not the thing. For smaller gigs and easier transport, you probably only need 100 watts and 1x15 or 4x10 cabinet. An old Ampeg V4b would be great and you'd have money left over.
Really important to remember: a hybrid is not a tube amp. It's not the same thing. Not saying it's bad, but it's a simulation of the thing, not the thing. For smaller gigs and easier transport, you probably only need 100 watts and 1x15 or 4x10 cabinet. An old Ampeg V4b would be great and you'd have money left over.
- Jan 17, 2002
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There's a good technical reason why lightweight tube bass amps are hard to find. It's called the output transformer. Small OT... no low bass. Guitar amps can get away with undersized OTs because the lack of bass actually improves their tone. Not so with us.
A modern tube amp could be built with a switching power supply, which would save some weight, but it would still need a big OT.
A modern tube amp could be built with a switching power supply, which would save some weight, but it would still need a big OT.
There have been a couple built already with SMPS...namely the Peavey VB-3 and the Markbass Classic 300. The Peavey seems to be doing alright in the marketplace. The Markbass wasn't so lucky.
A 300 watt tube head is going to be around 80/90 pounds because of the size of the transformers.
So as mentioned using a 100watt to 150 watt tube head will lighten the load a bit.
Everyone being obsessed with high power dont realize that the efficiency or sensitivity of the speaker system can save you lots of watts, and with low to med level gigs 100 watts can be fine if the cabinet has high sensitivity.
using a 2x12 or 2x15 is good advice and for space limitations the same setup but using 2 single 12's or 2 single 15's.
i would stay away from a 4x10 and skip right to a 4x12 for better sensitivity, but i would take a 2x15 over a 4x12 anyday.
beam tetrodes like 6l6 6550 kt88 stay cleaner threw most the power range and in general have a brighter tone and more controlled deeper bass.the stay clean until the very end and then finally have a more aggressive breakup at the top. pretty much golden tone. El34's will breakup sooner so they get more "tubey" faster, but lack the bass response of a beam tetrode. Anyhoo...the golden setup is a 100 watt quad of 6l6 or a 150 to 200 watt quad of 6550/kt88.
So a fender bassman 100 or a fender bassman 135, or a ampeg V4 or a sunn model T. many others out their just look for a quad of 6l6 or 6550.
Low watts work fine just use more speakers for volume if needed.
So as mentioned using a 100watt to 150 watt tube head will lighten the load a bit.
Everyone being obsessed with high power dont realize that the efficiency or sensitivity of the speaker system can save you lots of watts, and with low to med level gigs 100 watts can be fine if the cabinet has high sensitivity.
using a 2x12 or 2x15 is good advice and for space limitations the same setup but using 2 single 12's or 2 single 15's.
i would stay away from a 4x10 and skip right to a 4x12 for better sensitivity, but i would take a 2x15 over a 4x12 anyday.
beam tetrodes like 6l6 6550 kt88 stay cleaner threw most the power range and in general have a brighter tone and more controlled deeper bass.the stay clean until the very end and then finally have a more aggressive breakup at the top. pretty much golden tone. El34's will breakup sooner so they get more "tubey" faster, but lack the bass response of a beam tetrode. Anyhoo...the golden setup is a 100 watt quad of 6l6 or a 150 to 200 watt quad of 6550/kt88.
So a fender bassman 100 or a fender bassman 135, or a ampeg V4 or a sunn model T. many others out their just look for a quad of 6l6 or 6550.
Low watts work fine just use more speakers for volume if needed.
