Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[oZZma]

I can't say I have tried plenty of amps in my life, but I find to be "generally" true that tube amps provide a fuller sound, and "drone" better
So @YawningJorin if I was after a heavily distorted hefty "drone/doom" sound... I'd go for tubes.
SS state pres may have a beautiful distortion as well but I wouldn't call it "earth shaking rumbling". Seems a kind of growl I'd appreciated more for fast more "punk" riffage.
I'm not an expert tho, just thinking of the few amps I tried and rigs used on record I love

 

[bassboysam]

That Sunn rig should be all you ever need, but it might not be too much fun to lug around. If the Meatsmoke can act as an all in one solution for running straight to FOH and you're fond of it, I'd say keep it. If not, sell it and pick up a cheaper portable solution if you need to. Spend the extra cash on someone you love!


I shall look them up! I think you are a very cool bass boy and value your input greatly


I run into a cab sim with studio monitors most of the time, sometimes a Warwick BC80 with a class D power amp and a tweeter, which is in effect a bass-heavy hi-fi speaker. I think my biggest challenge for dirt comes from a lack of saturation. My current approach is to use my Dunwich DA120 and Burning Sunn as stand-ins for power amps, meaning I run more dirt into them when wanted. With the DA120 this is no problem at all as it's built to emulate a power amp and does a great job of it. The Burning Sunn, however, doesn't have that same edge. Not that it quite needs to since it's more responsible for the lower end of things, but I should very much like a bit more punch to it.


This is a very good point. I'm on flats myself and they have plenty of boom just going straight from pickup to DI. It's not the extra boom I'm after so much as that earth shaking rumbling distortion.

actually i don't know if Reiner is still making preamps..

 

[donahue]

Over the last couple years I’ve come to really like SS preamps paired with tube power amps. And example of that @YawningJorin would be like your DA120 into the return jack of an all tube head. You would get your nice DA120 sound plus the power tubes. Best of both worlds imo.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it but I do. Sometimes the tube preamps get kind of loaded up and overcompressed with certain dirt pedals pushing them. I like tube pre’s on their own but sometimes they don’t play nice with dirt pedals ime.

 

[donahue]

Fellas, the PD-7 is cool but I need to move it for $ reasons. I paid $67 for it and I will sell it for $67, shipping including. PM if you would like to buy it.
Thanks

 

[donahue]

The PD-7 is sold to a fellow doomer. Thanks!

 

[lucas303]

The PD-7 is sold to a fellow doomer. Thanks!

 

[xJasonSmithx]

In my opinion, tube preamps (or anything) are hot air. I’m not discounting their viability, but they don’t do anything special to me. I’ve tried playing SVTs in the store, but they just didn’t feel right. No immediacy in the attack. I can dial in some boom on my SS rigs, but can’t dial it out of the tube rigs I’ve played. Granted, I’ve not played many tube amps, but none of them did anything for me. SS rigs are just more my style. Again, personal preference and all that. For reference, I’m talking pretty much GK vs. Ampeg here, and as much as I used to want Ampeg back in the day, I just have no interest anymore.

Part of me also wonders about the tone goals - I typically prefer flats for the thump, but many people find them to be dull and lifeless. In my brighter and often more articulate SS rigs, they can be plenty lively. But most people prefer rounds. And with their natural tendency towards treble, may work better for a tube amp that isn’t quite as articulate. Anyway, not sure, as I haven’t tested these things, but that is my thought at least. I’m sure someone with more experience can chime in.

I have owned both big GK and Ampeg rigs and I like both a lot. A SVT has to be really really loud to hit that sweet spot. I currently run a V4B into an 810 and it is a lot easier to get to the breakup point and can still easily hang with two really loud Science half stacks. I really love the lower watt GK heads cranked. I had the 1001rbII running into a GK 8x10 and it was just too much clean headroom before breakup. I wish I would have had the 800 or 400 back then. I still want one of those two as a backup. I also really love the sound of GK heads into Ampeg cabs. Two very different brands but both are great!

 

[YawningJorin]

At this point we've hit preferences for every combination of SS/tube pre-amp and SS/tube power amp. I'm starting to think I might just have to form my own opinion. It's hard to judge what characteristics come from the overall circuit design and what comes from the specific choice of tube or transistor though. Not to mention formulating what I actually want

 

[kleinenenten]

My (likely flawed) opinion - Pedals have gotten so good at emulating so many tones, I just want a clean, powerful amp. For me, that’s SS GK Amps. I’m sure tune amps can do it too, but I have no desire for those. If I need a different “amp” or specific tone, I buy a pedal for that need. Keeps my amps (and costs) down, and I have all sorts of variety. Are the pedals 100% identical to the amps? I’m sure not. Can I tell the difference? Rarely, and it’s usually minute.

 

[kleinenenten]

I have owned both big GK and Ampeg rigs and I like both a lot. A SVT has to be really really loud to hit that sweet spot. I currently run a V4B into an 810 and it is a lot easier to get to the breakup point and can still easily hang with two really loud Science half stacks. I really love the lower watt GK heads cranked. I had the 1001rbII running into a GK 8x10 and it was just too much clean headroom before breakup. I wish I would have had the 800 or 400 back then. I still want one of those two as a backup. I also really love the sound of GK heads into Ampeg cabs. Two very different brands but both are great!

Yeah, I’ve never needed that much volume. Unfortunately.

 

[lucas303]

My (likely flawed) opinion - Pedals have gotten so good at emulating so many tones, I just want a clean, powerful amp. For me, that’s SS GK Amps. I’m sure tune amps can do it too, but I have no desire for those. If I need a different “amp” or specific tone, I buy a pedal for that need. Keeps my amps (and costs) down, and I have all sorts of variety. Are the pedals 100% identical to the amps? I’m sure not. Can I tell the difference? Rarely, and it’s usually minute.

Finding myself bouncing around to different rehearsal spaces with varying amps/cabs already there, this is my current mindset as well.

 

[lizardking837]

My (likely flawed) opinion - Pedals have gotten so good at emulating so many tones, I just want a clean, powerful amp. For me, that’s SS GK Amps. I’m sure tune amps can do it too, but I have no desire for those. If I need a different “amp” or specific tone, I buy a pedal for that need. Keeps my amps (and costs) down, and I have all sorts of variety. Are the pedals 100% identical to the amps? I’m sure not. Can I tell the difference? Rarely, and it’s usually minute.

I gotta agree with this. My GK head and darkglass absolutely sing.

Thanks Lucas

 

[kleinenenten]

I gotta agree with this. My GK head and darkglass absolutely sing.

Thanks Lucas

As do mine! Though my DG offerings are small compared to many.

 

[br1qbat]

Satan help me. Bi-amping tonight. Still the best tonez out there. No gigs = no worries about schlepping 2 rigs. Silver lining and all that.

 

[oZZma]

Satan help me. Bi-amping tonight. Still the best tonez out there. No gigs = no worries about schlepping 2 rigs. Silver lining and all that.
View attachment 4059148

Oooh c'mon, you don't need two of those.

 

[Novarocker]

My impression is that guitarists care a lot more about their pickups and pick them based on how they interact with amps a lot. Bass is more often than not played clean and you can just kind of shape roughly the tone you want in a pre-amp with two or three bands of EQ to dial in some boomy bass along with some definition in the mids and treble. As long as your pickup is picking up a bit of the needed frequencies, you can work with it.

Anyway, to do exactly the opposite of what you are up to, I'd like to ask how the stoner doom feels about tube pre-amps. Do you think they give your tone that elusive warmth, or are they just hot air? The reason I ask is that I'm looking at the Correct Sound Sunn pre-amps. I have been feeling like my Burning Sunn isn't quite cutting it. It doesn't go extreme enough for my tastes, it barely reaches unity gain when it's cranked, and dialing in the treble causes it to lose almost all its volume. It has one setting that works for me, and it's great for that setting. But it's what I'd consider the very heart of my dirty tone, and I want that to be a really really good tone. I've been waiting for the Dunwich Mojo to release but I think Magic Pedals is a bit swamped in keeping up with demand just for the DA120 while also trying to get other Dunwich classics out on the market every once in a while. And as I understand it, the Mojo is going to be a transistor based Model T pre with a baked in boost. Which I have tried with my Burning Sunn, but not with results I've quite liked. So I'm not sure if I should count on the Mojo. What do you all think? I figure this is the best place to talk Sunn on here.

The hilbish destroyer or the std production run(invictus I think) might be up your alley for Sunn preamps. They look awesome and the few clips I've heard sound good.

I agree with a lot said. I think the design is more important than ss vs tube.

 

[br1qbat]

Oooh c'mon, you don't need two of those.

 

[Flamingo21]

How does this even work? Is the signal split before it's sent to the amps?

 

[Kawai2g4b]

I posted earlier in this thread about the Hilbish Night Destroyer/Sol Invictus that I bought, but I will reiterate that this preamp absolutely nails the Sunn Beta series tones for bass and guitar. I have been using it with my Epiphone EB-3 5-string as of late and it’s the best kind of raw and dirty.

The hilbish destroyer or the std production run(invictus I think) might be up your alley for Sunn preamps. They look awesome and the few clips I've heard sound good.

I agree with a lot said. I think the design is more important than ss vs tube.

 

[br1qbat]

How does this even work? Is the signal split before it's sent to the amps?

I have a boss line selector pedal. A great utility knife of a pedal. I normally use it as a clean blend with my fuzz. Another way to use it is as a splitter. So that splits the signal and I plug into both amps from the pedal.
I emphasized the low end on the quilter/gk rig, while the peavey side is dirty mids/treble. The peaveys are guitar amps, so voiced that way. It's pretty sweet. There's nothing really like it in s one amp set up.

Sounded amazing!