Looking for Bass Tube Amp Recommendations

[Bruiser Stone]

I'm pretty sure the 200w Simms-Watts "POW" heads have Partridge transformers. I haven't played one for years but I remember it was an amazing amp for bass, whatever the transformers were.

From what little bit I've read and gleaned from scant clips, that is my dream amp.

 

[Mr. Foxen]

I'm pretty sure the 200w Simms-Watts "POW" heads have Partridge transformers. I haven't played one for years but I remember it was an amazing amp for bass, whatever the transformers were.

EV ones. Ultralinear is the magic in them.

 

[arbitrary]

I had the Traynor yba200 for a while. Was a great amp, miss it every so often. Id go for that. Solid price and sounds great. I liked it better than the mesa prodigy (and wayyyyy cheaper).

 

[wheelsup247]

Noble DI plus your present amp.

 

[Could Be Better]

You are very close on selection criteria, including budget friendly. I'm not a collector and don't want museum pieces - I will play whatever I buy. A vintage Fender would be nice but they tend to command premium prices. My other criteria are reputation for good tone and "work-on-ability" i.e. wiring and components that are reasonably accessible and replaceable if needed. I neglected to mention the Sunn 200T / 300T - those hit my radar also but seem to be quite rare.

I used to have a 300T. The tone you get from it is amazing. It can nail seriously everything. Anything from huge lows to bright clank to an awesome mid grind. It definitely has learning curve though. The graphic EQ can be overwhelming at first IMHO.

However, this amp is just way too heavy if you plan on moving it often. When I first bought it, I thought the weight wouldn't get to me, but it did. It's also so awkwardly shaped that it doesn't really fit well on most cabinets.

I ended up selling it for the Ampeg V4-B RI and haven't looked back Since! You cannot beat the weight and tone of the V4-B. Super simple to use and just has "it". You cannot go wrong with an Ampeg all tube head

 

[grouse789]

I've been plugging this video lately. It's a good representation of what Ampeg is all about. This guy plays through a lot of the Tube ampeg line.
check out the video around 1:51 for some serious angry growl!
My faves were the B25, B15, and the V4

 

[Cnivek61]

Noble DI plus your present amp.

With my SWR? Please share your thinking.

 

[Cnivek61]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread - I have a few more brands and models to consider as I search, and learned a lot about several models, like the Sunn/Fender 300T. Special thanks to @Mr. Foxen for sharing technical insights on the definition of "all tube" and "hybrid".

 

[10cc]

This is pretty cool. I'd like to hear what it has to offer.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[SherpaKahn]

I am a relatively new bass player and enjoy playing and working with (restoring) older (typically '80s) basses and amps. My primary amp at home is a SWR Workingman 300 driving a Peavey 115BX BW cab.

I'd like to to find an all tube bass amp and have the following on my radar:

• Peavey AlphaBass
• Peavey VB-2
• Traynor YBA-200

What else should I be looking for in this zone?

I had a bad experience 14 years ago when my YBA200-I (with the funky transistorized auto-bias circuitry) failed. On the bright side, it led to my interest in building my own dang amps, which has enabled my hoarding tendencies nicely. The bias circuitry in the YBA200-I also crippled overdrive behavior of the power section (cools bias when plate current increases, for the amp nerds), if my auditory memory serves me.

They switched over to a conventional bias scheme in the MKII revision, which is more likely what you'd see. Avoid the old ones. But even so, that amp runs the power tube screens at 560V ( tube datasheet says: only permissible in ultralinear operation, which this is not), which is wildly optimistic wrt modern tube specs....I'd prefer something like a Hiwatt which runs the screens at 1/2 the voltage of the plates. Va=Vg2 is pretty safe at lower voltages, but the design seems a little borderline for me...

...I know most people don't dig out schematics when comparison-shopping, but there's my two cents' worth.

edit: TLDR: if you go for a YBA200, make sure it's the newer version (Mark II). Some of the MkI units were sent in to Traynor for conversion to MKII specs, so there are MkI-badged units with MkII innards, but make sure it's the newer revision. And use tubes with good screen grids, whatever that means!

 

[SucksFuneral]

Would a tube PRE-amp pop your fizzle? Maybe try on Carvins 2000w.....*thing*. Owned one for all of 2 months till it was related to dust gathering while my BXR400 took center stage once again.

HOWEVER, when I get an itch to chug on the 8 string it CANNOT be beat

 

[SherpaKahn]

Would a tube PRE-amp pop your fizzle? Maybe try on Carvins 2000w.....*thing*. Owned one for all of 2 months till it was related to dust gathering while my BXR400 took center stage once again.

HOWEVER, when I get an itch to chug on the 8 string it CANNOT be beat

To paraphrase/plagiarize a venerable australian amp-nerd (ZoeNIan via now-defunct AX84 forums):

Tube preamp into SS poweramp. Hang a 6AL5 (diode-strapped 12AT7) with variable resistance(potentiometer: knob) between junction of antiparallel diode sections and ground. The other end of the diode pair goes to the preamp out. The diode pair (compressor) goes between the preamp out and SS poweramp in. Trim the sensitivity of the diode compressor such that it squeezes down the signal just before the SS unit's input clips.The other "trim" is the series resistance between the tube unit output and the diode pair shunt. The pair of trims are set to emulate the strain of a pushed power section.

Et voila: tube compression without the chiropractor's fees.

I realize this is a DIY approach, and not a market-available recommendation, but it goes to show that yes: the technological means exist to avoid needing a tube power section, purists notwithstanding.

TLDR: [tube preamp =>well-calibrated compressor=>SS poweramp] : probably close enough.

Sincerely,

a tube power section nerd.

P.S. The SS poweramp won't smell quite as nice as a tube unit.

edit: technical de-obfuscation (clarity)