Cool! I have 5 watt, 25 watt, 100 watt and 225 watt.
Say what you want about how SS amps sound.
They are not tube amps and they do not sound the same. Some come close but none of them really sound like the real deal.
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Solid States More Popular Now
- Thread starter ch willie
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Cool! I have 5 watt, 25 watt, 100 watt and 225 watt.
Say what you want about how SS amps sound.
They are not tube amps and they do not sound the same. Some come close but none of them really sound like the real deal.
I don't mind the extra weight to get an amplifier that reacts how I want to my playing. I sold my ShuttleMax 12.0 because the 300 Pro got all the action. Plus moving kegs makes my 80 lb Fender and Mesa feel a lot lighter these days. 
I think they are too, but still not as popular as solid state stuff in the bass world.
In the guitar world, once you are out of your basement you are nearly required to have a tube amp.
I've seen a fair amount of new all-tubers surface recently. There is movement towards a lower wattage all-tube bass amp market. The Fender Bassman 100t, Mesa Prodigy, Ashdown Little Bastard, etc. are all recent models (and some not released yet) that could be categorized as this. This is contributed to people wising up about the "more wattage = more volume" myths that have been around for decades...I'll elaborate later.
What many new bassists, and some experienced players depending on their needs, consider conventional wisdom is to get as much volume and wattage as you possibly can out of whatever bass amp you are using...which usually brings them to a SS head. SS wattage ratings and their supposed relation to overall volume is more than hotly debated on here. In short, lets just say that a 500w SS amp doesn't mean you are literally pumping out more volume than a 300w SVT does....there is a lot more that comes into play than just how much wattage your head puts out.
Two things to consider, before we even get to the real culprit for volume, is where your EQ and compression settings are. Having a present midrange and using compression correctly can give you a noticeably more present sound in the mix. Some bassists get 1,000w amps expecting to have no problems hearing themselves in the mix, when their smiley-face EQ can take out all the definition in their notes when in a band mix. Many bassists can fall prey to this (yours truly did for about the first 3 years of playing) until they get some sage advice from experienced players who've been down that road before. Compression is not something that I could speak on too eloquently, but there are some smart chaps on here who could explain it far better than I could even understand it. One of the things that can give all tube heads more perceived volume is their natural compression from the tubes. That "fatness" and "round" tone you get from all-tubers gets a healthy chunk of that sound from the natural compression, amongst other things.
Now I've said all this to get to this point down here. The biggest myth out there concerning bass amplification is more like an omission of information...the cab has a LOT more to do with your volume than the head does. This opens up another case of worms (speaker size, speaker size mixing, neo vs ceramic drivers, size of actual cabinet, etc) but in short, the cabinet is what is making the noise at the end of the day. The fEarful cabs, neo drivers, and other great applications in cab design are a great investment for the bass player these days. You could slap a 50w tube head on a fEarful cab and probably make yourself go deaf at 50% volume output. For many bass players, 100w tube heads are plenty of volume for gigs if they have the right size/type of cabinet. You will undoubtedly rumble the floors with a 200w all-tuber plopped on an 8x10 or 2x15 cabinet.
Some people dig a super-small rig and need only minimal volume for what they do, and that's totally fine. I like having the flexibility of multiple rigs and different gear for each situation. I own a Carvin BX500 ultralight head and an avatar neo 2x10 for small gigs with no PA support at all. I have a 2x15 for shows and am in the market for an all-tuber myself in the following year or so to pair with it. If I'm truly going for lightweight and there is PA support, I'm just going to bring my VT Bass Deluxe pedal and call it a day...no sense in bringing an ultralight head w/ cab when I can use that as a DI. If I want some stage volume, I'm going to want to sound good and probably have my cab mic'd if I can, thus the 2x15 and tube head would be brought along. Tube rigs aren't for everyone, some people are fine with compromising and some people aren't. To be honest, I want the people in the front row to enjoy themselves more than the people in the back who are just mulling about with drinks in their hands...the people in the back can get the mid-scooped house mix while the people up front get the uninhibited sound of a grindy all-tube rig through a vintage 2x15s cab
As always...YMMV. Save the all-tuber for the good gigs!!
What many new bassists, and some experienced players depending on their needs, consider conventional wisdom is to get as much volume and wattage as you possibly can out of whatever bass amp you are using...which usually brings them to a SS head. SS wattage ratings and their supposed relation to overall volume is more than hotly debated on here. In short, lets just say that a 500w SS amp doesn't mean you are literally pumping out more volume than a 300w SVT does....there is a lot more that comes into play than just how much wattage your head puts out.
Two things to consider, before we even get to the real culprit for volume, is where your EQ and compression settings are. Having a present midrange and using compression correctly can give you a noticeably more present sound in the mix. Some bassists get 1,000w amps expecting to have no problems hearing themselves in the mix, when their smiley-face EQ can take out all the definition in their notes when in a band mix. Many bassists can fall prey to this (yours truly did for about the first 3 years of playing) until they get some sage advice from experienced players who've been down that road before. Compression is not something that I could speak on too eloquently, but there are some smart chaps on here who could explain it far better than I could even understand it. One of the things that can give all tube heads more perceived volume is their natural compression from the tubes. That "fatness" and "round" tone you get from all-tubers gets a healthy chunk of that sound from the natural compression, amongst other things.
Now I've said all this to get to this point down here. The biggest myth out there concerning bass amplification is more like an omission of information...the cab has a LOT more to do with your volume than the head does. This opens up another case of worms (speaker size, speaker size mixing, neo vs ceramic drivers, size of actual cabinet, etc) but in short, the cabinet is what is making the noise at the end of the day. The fEarful cabs, neo drivers, and other great applications in cab design are a great investment for the bass player these days. You could slap a 50w tube head on a fEarful cab and probably make yourself go deaf at 50% volume output. For many bass players, 100w tube heads are plenty of volume for gigs if they have the right size/type of cabinet. You will undoubtedly rumble the floors with a 200w all-tuber plopped on an 8x10 or 2x15 cabinet.
Some people dig a super-small rig and need only minimal volume for what they do, and that's totally fine. I like having the flexibility of multiple rigs and different gear for each situation. I own a Carvin BX500 ultralight head and an avatar neo 2x10 for small gigs with no PA support at all. I have a 2x15 for shows and am in the market for an all-tuber myself in the following year or so to pair with it. If I'm truly going for lightweight and there is PA support, I'm just going to bring my VT Bass Deluxe pedal and call it a day...no sense in bringing an ultralight head w/ cab when I can use that as a DI. If I want some stage volume, I'm going to want to sound good and probably have my cab mic'd if I can, thus the 2x15 and tube head would be brought along. Tube rigs aren't for everyone, some people are fine with compromising and some people aren't. To be honest, I want the people in the front row to enjoy themselves more than the people in the back who are just mulling about with drinks in their hands...the people in the back can get the mid-scooped house mix while the people up front get the uninhibited sound of a grindy all-tube rig through a vintage 2x15s cab
As always...YMMV. Save the all-tuber for the good gigs!!
because they're playing thru a 15 watt combo amp that weighs less than 30 lbs, they really dont need to factor in the weight. Its all about tone.
I used to use acoustic heads, vintage solid state. But now i use a Mesa Bass 400+ and night and day. The old acoustics are nice and have some growl when pushed, but night and day, the all tube is so much better. It is cleaner, or dirtier. I can set it accordingly with preamp
I have both tube and solid state and likely always will. There are times when logistics dictate that the lighter smaller stuff should be used, and I don't think a pro bassist should be without a small rig for those times. For example, it stormed like an SOB on my outdoor gig tonight, and I am glad I brought my Micro VR instead of my SVT. But for all the other times, I want tubes, and I don't mind lifting a little extra to get them. The load in and out lasts a few minutes but some of my gigs last hours, and I'll get over the heavy lifting but I have to listen to it, too.
+225
Emulation will always be emulation, never the real deal. Some people are fine with settling on that, but like you said, none of them sound like the real deal. It would be a great day to see more low-wattage options for bass-specific tube heads in the days to come. I know a lotta gents use the guitar heads with good luck, but some basscentric ones would be great too!
Modern speaker designs also has a lot to do with the tube head resurgence.
You can get a lot louder with less power now then you use to.
You can get a lot louder with less power now then you use to.
Well a lot of companies slap a tube pre in an amp and market it as sounding like a tube amp without the weight...when they fail to realize that the power section is where a lot of that all-tube magic really happens. The overdriven or pushed power tubes are what really generate the fatness and round tone that we all know and most of us love. I've read on here, from some savvy amp techs, that even the iron OT in an Ampeg SVT has a big effect on the tone of the amp as well. I'd love nothing more than to buy an amp with a 12AX7 into a class D SMPS amp and have it sound like an SVT, but if they could do that then nobody would buy SVTs. Not to say there aren't snake oil schemes in music (like say...$200 power cables for your amps lol), but the tube amp people aren't suckers for marketing schemes. Not saying that the people who aren't tube people are suckers, they just have different expectations of their gear. Same as a regular Squier p-bass strung with rounds might be vintage enough for someone, where a CV Squier with flats and a foam mute is vintage for me lol. Some people just have different desires for authenticity!
As good as some SS amps sound, I have to agree with hdracer on that comment.
Also, in addition to sound, what I have noticed is the feel of an all tube amp compared to SS. IMO, tube amps have a feel that is difficult to put into words.....it's as if the notes want to jump off of the fretboard or something. I have not encountered the same feel with SS amps.
And there are some people who prefer the sound of SS to tube, guitarist and bassist. Depends on what you are playing.
I've seen a guy playing guitar through a Roland keyboard amp and doing his best Junior Brown act. Tube break-up is not something he would've wanted at all.
I've seen a guy playing guitar through a Roland keyboard amp and doing his best Junior Brown act. Tube break-up is not something he would've wanted at all.
Break-up is not the only reason to like tube amps. I like them better when they're running clean, too. Don't know where the idea started that tube amps were only if you like distortion, but it ain't true.
Well I am a recent convert from the SS ranks. I thought my SS Class D was just fine until I ran my friends Aggy tube DI in front of it and heard the difference. I've got one myself since then and I would not like to be without it.
+ 1
Break-up isn't the only thing a tube amp can do. My ideal tone is that resonant, thumpy low end that still has present notes thanks to the low mids shining through.
Try an all-tuber! You'll thank all of us later!
If you really need that extra push over the cliff, you can always put a VT Bass or ValveDrive or something in front of it, too.
Nothing wrong with tube amps. I love the 50w I use for my guitar. Heck, I play the bass through it sometimes also, too.
But solid state is solid for bass these days in a way it just ain't for guitar. I can get all the growl I want out of a GK ss. I'm not a guitarist. I have no need to push my amp near death. A decent preamp is all I need.
Tubes are great for guitars, but they're little more than a status symbol for bassists with lucrative day jobs.
But solid state is solid for bass these days in a way it just ain't for guitar. I can get all the growl I want out of a GK ss. I'm not a guitarist. I have no need to push my amp near death. A decent preamp is all I need.
Tubes are great for guitars, but they're little more than a status symbol for bassists with lucrative day jobs.
It's all personal preference, I think. I played the Ampeg V4 and 810 last night at the Blues Shack, but not long ago I ran my Little Mark III head through the same cab and sounded just as good, although different in its own way. I've chosen the lightweight route all the way around with SS, and now saving for a couple of Barefaced cabs. SS is good enough for me.
