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Is tube really worth the money?

#81
Fender says it is -passive with no boost-, but have a read of this

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=491699

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/fender-tbp-1/nov-04/892

I think Fender are talking about the way they boost, turning stuff up takes stuff away. Because they said it has no boost I thought the way to increase bass was to turn down the mid and high knobs. So I guess turning the bass knob up reduces mid and high.

Fender should explain this more clearly, it may be straight forward to guitar players, which I think they assume we are.

I think it is explained in the Hartke LH500/1000 manual, if, they are talking about the same thing. Turning knobs right increases stuff.
 
#82
alembic5 said:
I tried tubes, but they weren't the sound I liked. Play it before you buy it, and buy the one that sounds the best to your ears. Only you can make the decision on if it is worth it to you! That being said, I'm always trying new gear. I'm sure I could find a tube amp I liked if I looked hard enough, but considering my little F1 amd LMII are SO cheap and light weight, I'm not really excited about changing it out for something that weighs and costs so much more! To each their own, as the saying goes...
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people make the mistake of judging a tube amp by itself and don't take into account how it would sound in the mix (recorded or live). Now I'll be the first one to admit tube amp my not have the best sound soloed or get that "sound in yo head" right off the bat. But in a band it really shines! It fits right in like a glove.

Also I'm not a solid state hater, at the end of the day I will use whatever works. I just happen to lean more towards tubes.:bassist:
 
#84
Ya, I have it, but it looks like boosts on treble and bass to me. I think I kind of understand what Fdeck meant, but I still don't get the passive thing when the result looks just like active. I'll never get this stuff ;)
 
#86
Here's an official blurb from Alembic, describing the "Fender" stacks on their tube pre's:

The tone control section follows, with a circuit attributed to Tom Walker, wherein the Bass and Treble controls contribute mostly boost and the Mid control provides cut only. While there is no absolutely flat position, the response is reasonably flat with the controls set at 2 - 10 - 2, with the bright switch off. The circuit can be described as interacting, such that the frequencies affected by each control is changed somewhat by the settings of the other controls. Additionally, when all 3 tone controls are turned to 0 then no signal is passed at all. These effects, while not suitable for a music reproduction system, have nonetheless proved highly pleasing for electrical instruments and have been adopted by a wide group of manufacturers.
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So if bass and treble knobs aren't technically boosting, I'm curious as to why they function so differently from the mid knob. (If they were all the same simple cut, shouldn't flat be 10 - 10 - 10?) Are those freq's bumped up elsewhere so a lack of cut feels like boost?

IME this style of tone control can be frustrating sometimes, the way each knob interacts (i.e. interferes) with the other. But there are some heavenly sounds to be had.

Alas I'm a Mac guy - can't run that cool program. :atoz:
 
#89
James Hart said:
Buy an amp that sounds good to you...
Good amps are worth it in the end... not necessarily any specific 'type' of amp.
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I'm a "Tube Guy" who's been converted to a RB1001II and a 3-way cab. I'm very happy with my current sound and it fits my playing style perfectly. If I ever need that extra 'tubey' crunch, I adjust my Sans-amp. Hard to tell the difference when playing live.
 

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