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Practice Tube Amplifiers

#21
Biszkhopt said:
Nice, i like the idea of modding Valve Jr a lot and it is certainly one of options i consider, but i'm also curious about alternatives.

About your Valve Jr: Can you get some decent volume in smaller places? I'm only looking for bedroom amp but still it would be nice to crank it up (neighbor friendly up :D) from time to time.
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Doesn't seem like much wattage wise, but it's pretty loud. I think it's safe to say you could potentially piss off the neighbors with it if you turned it up full. You can definitely get decent volume.

I don't know how well it'd hold up against a drummer or a full band though, not well if they're playing loud I'd guess.

Another great thing about it is that it still sounds great through a 2x12 with a guitar too, if you're into that.
 
#22
dlegault said:
Doesn't seem like much wattage wise, but it's pretty loud. I think it's safe to say you could potentially piss off the neighbors with it if you turned it up full. You can definitely get decent volume.

I don't know how well it'd hold up against a drummer or a full band though, not well if they're playing loud I'd guess.

Another great thing about it is that it still sounds great through a 2x12 with a guitar too, if you're into that.
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That's cool, and i don't intend to use such amp for playing with band so it sounds like it would be good enough.
 
#24
Would you be able to get your hands on the VHT Special 6? There's a youtube video floating around of a guy using it with bass and it sounds pretty good. The head goes for around $300 here in Canada so I don't know what price you'd be looking at in Poland, and then if you can even get your hands on one through a dealer.
 
#25
Older Traynors can be found for pretty cheap and they can sound killer. A newish YBA-200 can be found just outside your price range, but I don't know if a 30-40lb 50-200W amp makes sense for practice.

My practice amp is a 45lb Mesa D-180 tube amp, so what do I know!?!

Personaly, I would experiment with smaller tube amps, likely guitar. Traynor, H&K and a few others make them in the 15-25 watt range and are small. Not sure if the Mesa, Vox and Orange stuff is all tube, but worth a look.
 
#26
Muckaluck said:
Would you be able to get your hands on the VHT Special 6? There's a youtube video floating around of a guy using it with bass and it sounds pretty good. The head goes for around $300 here in Canada so I don't know what price you'd be looking at in Poland, and then if you can even get your hands on one through a dealer.
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Good idea from a fellow Whitby resident!

I tried one of these with a guitar and it was suprisingly nice for the $$$. Made in China I believe, but handwired. VHT = Van Halen Tech.
 
#27
Muckaluck said:
Would you be able to get your hands on the VHT Special 6? There's a youtube video floating around of a guy using it with bass and it sounds pretty good. The head goes for around $300 here in Canada so I don't know what price you'd be looking at in Poland, and then if you can even get your hands on one through a dealer.
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Technically yeah, its available here Invalid Link Removed on paper it looks good, but then it's hard to judge the sound only from that youtube video, and with things like mentioned above Epi Valve Junior, we have trustworthy opinion of fellow TB-ers.

Still it looks intresting, too bad they dont have all those small amps in my local music store, i still wonder how Fender Super Champ X2 HD would do with proper bass cab.
 
#28
for 80 bucks you can get a blue tube pedal
for 200 bucks you can get a swell tube overdrive pedal
these might be tubey enough for you and can just hook them up to a smallish ss amp

my quiet tubey setup is my wmd geiger counter run into my pignose hog 30
 
#30
I've done some research about this VHT Special 6 amp, and it looks like some bass-mod worthy piece of equipment:

- the basic Special 6 (not ultra) is dirty cheap (more or less Epi Valve Jr cheap)

- on VHT site it says it's mod friendly and they provide schematics --> [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

av-sp-16-chassis1.jpg


- I've read that it'll swallow various vacuum tubes



I wonder what exact mods would be best for turning it into bass amp,

also would that [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] be betteer for bass (although mod-wise simpler circuit = better, i guess)
 
#32
Hey there,
Well, i think I finally read enough about little tube amps, so I decided to go ahead and order a Special 6. I don't have the need for a big rig these days, but have an Ampeg Micro CL stack that I will use the cab from with the Special 6 head, and see how it goes. I am not going to get real crazy with mods (NO experience with electronics beyond replacing tubes), so I will just play with that aspect of it and see how it goes. I have a couple of 12at7's to try, and will be popping a different 6v6 in, along with trying an el34 and a kt88 just for fun, to see if it makes it more bass-friendly. Like I said, new(er) to all this, but I'll report back with some impressions after I get a chance to play around with it.
Thanks
B.
 
#34
Hey,
So as I said, I bought a Special 6 with intentions of rolling various tubes through it, and here is where I am with the process.
The preamp tube has remained a Mullard 12at7 (CV4024) for continuity. Good tube for this use.
NOS JAN 6V6: Sounded musical, but didn't have much omph for bass use. Really not bad but. . .
JJ EL34L: much bigger body, warmer, and woolier. might depend if you feel woolier (whatever that means really) is a good thing or not. I liked it myself so I moved to
EH 6CA7: So far, everything that the EL34L was, but more bottom end, which is important with the fixed EQ/tone stack of this amp. So far, this is what I am sticking with at low/medium apartment volumes.
JJ KT88: Strangely anemic sounding, but (without understanding much about tubes) not as bad as the 6V6's. I think maybe at higher volumes it might act differently.
Anyway, this is what I got; after seeing this amp, I really am SHOCKED that more of you haven't messed around with this amp. I got mine from GC for $184, and the transformers are gigantic compared to what I saw in the Valve JR. thread, not to mention the hand wired turret board for all you electronically inclined freaks;)
The pic is with the 6CA7. Big OT for the $$ yes?
Anyway, there you go.
B.
 

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#35
Well, I am gonna update this, even though it seems to be dead. A while back, I got my hands on an RCA gray plate 12AX7, and also threw in a Genelax Gold Lion reissue KT88.
Holy poop on a stick.
This little 6 watt amp sounds enormous with this combo of tubes. Big big big. Really tight low with smooth high end, plus really malleable Mids through external EQ.
This little $185 amp is amazing.
 
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#36
Biszkhopt said:
I've done some research about this VHT Special 6 amp, and it looks like some bass-mod worthy piece of equipment:

- the basic Special 6 (not ultra) is dirty cheap (more or less Epi Valve Jr cheap)

- on VHT site it says it's mod friendly and they provide schematics --> [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

av-sp-16-chassis1.jpg


- I've read that it'll swallow various vacuum tubes



I wonder what exact mods would be best for turning it into bass amp,

also would that [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] be betteer for bass (although mod-wise simpler circuit = better, i guess)
Click to expand...

The VHT is a pretty darn good amp for modding, same with the Valve Junior. I've got an unmodded valve junior that I plugged into my warwick 410 pro, and ran my bass through. The clean tone left much to be desired - the thing could really benefit from some extra beefy caps near the transformer, because it just doesn't move enough current for good low-end. Using the VJ you could probably make a half-decent 15-watt push pull amp by adding a 12ax7 for phase inversion, a matched pair of EL-84s, and a new output tranny designed for PP applications. That being said though, when completely unmodded it sounds great when you crank it, really fizzy, crunchy overdrive. I t was just really fun, and surprisingly loud.
 

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