Agreed on all of the above - I've played thru a D800, and although it's a killer amp that I will eventually own, it doesn't sound like my Bass 400, nor does it cop the tube vibe nearly as well as my Streamliner 900 does...
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Solid state/class d vs tube amps
- Thread starter Sparkl
- Start date
Agreed on all of the above - I've played thru a D800, and although it's a killer amp that I will eventually own, it doesn't sound like my Bass 400, nor does it cop the tube vibe nearly as well as my Streamliner 900 does...
Preaching to the choir! I came from a background where accordions were a huge part of my family life......not an easy instrument to master at all and one that, happily, is still used in some of my fav music....they were and are such a big part of American music.
LOL! Ampeg was clever...they would make the same amps for accordion and bass but they'd designate them separately for accordion players because they needed respect. That respect lasted till 1961, then it suddenly stopped
Accordian metal:
The accordian player solo:
I hear you. I got a newfound respect for the accordion when I discovered zydeco. Plus our local flea market had a guy who would walk around and play his accordion, and he was amazing!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,952
- 5
- 220,599
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
I toured regionally with a Cajun band in the 1980's, the lead being played with accordion. It wouldn't have worked any other way.
Grammy Award winning artist Queen Ida. Great times, great band and nice folks.
Grammy Award winning artist Queen Ida. Great times, great band and nice folks.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,952
- 5
- 220,599
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
I worked with Levon's cousin Jerry off and on for about 20 years. Jerry was a university theatre scene shop manager, good guy.
Garth really helped change my mind on accordion, too. Turns out when you play cool music on accordion, it's still cool
Nothing wrong with accordians, unless you can't drive one. Is an accordian some who loves Honda accords?
Ffec
Levon was a down to earth good guy as well, very generous with his time. He had a farm in Woodstock and used to encourage folk to drop by any time for a visit.
Nothing wrong with accordians, unless you can't drive one. Is an accordian some who loves Honda accords?
Ffec
I’ve seen some Accords crumple like an accordion when they get smacked. Maybe that’s where the name comes from.
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Not a long as some people think? For sure
I think there are a lot of tubes out there that measure less than 75% of their original spec. They still work, but they aren't up to what they once were. Just changing them people notice a difference.
Using a worn out tube doesn't effect the rest of the amp. In fact I'd say some tubes come off the manufacturer line at less than 75% spec these days but end up in circulation anyhow.
An although it rarely happens, Even for SS, not reaching 75% of spec would probably go unnoticed.
I've read Eniac had 18,000 tubes and the longest it ran without failure is 5 days. On average it crashed every other day from a tube failure.
I just got a Mesa D800 amp, I already have a Prodigy tube amp. I wanted a lighter alternative that would handle 2 ohms if I needed it. Probably won't but that's GAS. I used to be an Aguilar owner, TH500 (never quite got a sound I liked) and a DB750 (sorry I sold it). As someone said earlier, the D800 is a great amp, maybe closer to a tubey sound as you'll get from a class D amp. As for the Prodigy, it's just 250 watts (way louder than that, think at least double) of rich creamy bass goodness. It's so fat and deep, and it only weighs 29 lbs. OK, so replacing tubes could cost close to $300 but how often do you do that?
I play them through two Bergantino HD112s and a Bergantino NV115 (really sounds great with the Prodigy). I'm thinking of picking up a second NV115.
Back to your original question, the Mesa D800, or D800+ would be a good choice.
I play them through two Bergantino HD112s and a Bergantino NV115 (really sounds great with the Prodigy). I'm thinking of picking up a second NV115.
Back to your original question, the Mesa D800, or D800+ would be a good choice.
The founder of Ampeg hated that his amps were being used for rock, r&b, and blues. He wanted to steer the company towards developing amplification for accordions instead. I guess who ever had leverage, be it a bank, or a board, eventually forced him out.
Garth really helped change my mind on accordion, too. Turns out when you play cool music on accordion, it's still cool
Yuup.
I'm loving how this thread has totally morphed from tubes to bellows.
very much so but the thing is that tubes are fragile in comparison to ss and so require a degree of care...
lack of care = re-tube ...
you need to treat glass vacuum tubes like the expensive light bulbs they are
as a kid with tube amps i'd do dumb things and have to get them replaced. i still do dumb things, just not with my tube amps
Bass players have an affinity to organ because both instruments have deep rich tones. Similarly, accordions can have a thundering low end.
Tusk: Powerful bass, a lot of brass, some drums, and a tiny accordion. What’s not to like.
Tusk: Powerful bass, a lot of brass, some drums, and a tiny accordion. What’s not to like.
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That's somewhat off base. While Everett Hull DID hate rock n roll, he was not trying to corner the market on accordion amplification. The name "Ampeg" was the shortened version of Amplified Peg". Hull was a big-band and swing bassist and pioneered the development of amplification for the upright bass, which initially consisted of a microphone attached to the "peg" of an upright, mounted up inside the body. Regardless of the instrument, though, Hull maintained a pursuit of two ideals: clear undistorted sound, and stellar customer service. His disdain for rock began with the music itself, but when people started looking for amps that distorted he was horrified. When Gibson installed a fuzz circuit into some of their EB-0 basses, he couldn't understand it. He couldn't believe that they were selling distortion.
In the end, he was phased out by his business partners as something of a dinosaur.
