i want something with tubes

I think all Eden's have a tube preamp, and the EQ section on them is amazing......I've spent hours on end just playing with the EQ, but it's still really easy to get a good tone from it. But that may be from the fact that I've spent hours playing with it. But they aren't cheap, but it's possible to get a good deal on a used one.

Now I'm just going to guess at facts, I'm not positive on any of this so don't hold it as the truth. But I think there are a few Ampegs that are hybrid (then there's the classic all tube Ampegs, but you said you wanted a solid state poweramp.)

I think all of SWR's professional heads have tube preamps. Don't know about the Workingman or any of the combos.


Those are the first three I can think of, and they're also three of the most discussed brands on here. Out of those three I prefer Eden, they work for me better than the others. But check out all of their websites, find what's in your price range then hit the music stores to try them out.

 

if you want a nice distortion, i don't think the eden is the way to go.. i would suggest the SWR Interstellar Overdrive, or the ampeg SVP pro.. Most of the other swr stuff is hi-fidelity, which means super clean, not very good at distorting well... and it seems the same with eden, although i haven't tried to push one that hard...

 

all the amps i mentioned were preamps.. you could get a solid state poweramp.. but in that price range.. i don't know what kind of tube setup you can get... anyone else have some advice?

 

Get a guitar head.
If you want real tube growl don't mess around and play through a guitar head ( and a bass cabinet). The Marshall JCM 800 has a wonderfull sound if used with a bass. Lemmey has been using one for years. Lou Barlow era Dino Jr.? Well that was a guitar head as well. If you can't swing the Marshall find an old Ampeg V4 Guitar head, they sound killer through an SVT cabinet.

-Lumpy

 

Or better yet, find a V4-B. Same head, but made for bass.

 

The V4b is an excellent head, infact it's what I use these days. That head is as old as I am.

But if you want growl get the V4 guitar head because it has that extra gain/ dirty channel.

I used one for a number of years.

Somebody check with Watt. When I saw them in Philly I swear he was using a JCM800 guitar head for the Fog tour.

-Lumpy

 

You won't find tube sound in that price range, unless it is an old all tube head that needs major $$$ in rebuilding.

 

[ [/B][/QUOTE]

Me too!!!

.....hopefully she can cook and give a massage!!

 

Try a Hartke 3500. It has a tube and SS. You can adjust your signal on both. It's just over your price range new, but you may get a used one for that price.

 

In my opinion, nothing with just 1 Tube in the Preamp, sound like a real All-Tube Preamp.

Many manufacturers put 1 tube to atract customers and declare "Tube Warm" sound, wich in my experience its b....s..it..

 

good amps with tubes in em hmm...

Ampeg,
Mesa Boogie,
Eden,
Aguilar,
try them all.

 

Me too!!!

.....hopefully she can cook and give a massage!! [/B][/QUOTE]


That's good stuff!!!! LMAO!!!!

 

two choices:

1) save more

2) get a sansamp BDDI. tube emulation circuitry. I sure as heck can't tell the difference from the real thing.

 

I seem to remember hearing about a peavy head with a tube preamp section.Don't know what model it was,but if you could find a used one of those I doubt it would cost more than $300.00.

 

'70s Ampeg V-4s and V-4Bs can be had for under $300. So can Music Man HD 130s and 150s. They are all tube heads, though some of the Music Man heads have a solid state preamp. All of them sound great! All are under 150 watts, but they'll be as loud as 300 to 350 solid state watts.

The Sans Amp BDDI is also pretty cool, and will get you very close to that tube sound when run through an SS head. Heck, they're useful in their own right.