Lou Reed might have liked it when he recorded "Metal Machine Music," which was 80 minutes of annoying industrial noises. Beyond that, nobody's looking for the sound of an overdriven SS amp.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
The Tube Challenge (Volume Two)
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Guitar players do - fuzz boxes will never go out of style
Plenty of bass players like them too.
Annoying? For 1975 I'd say it was innovative.
"a sick, twisted, dunced-out, malevolent, perverted, psychopathic integrity" - Lester Bangs
"Feedback is a complete style of playing." - Lou Reed
I know very few guitarists who will tell you that a stompbox sounds better than a tube amp's power section driven hard. And I know even fewer who will run a stompbox into a SS amp and call it a great sound. Me, for example. I have and love many stompboxes for fuzz and OD, but they never sound good in a SS amp to my ears, not even for bass.Guitar players do - fuzz boxes will never go out of style
Plenty of bass players like them too.
And Metal Milch, "Metal Machine Music" was written to fulfill a contractual obligation with RCA Records so he could sign with someone else (Arista, I think). You show me anyone who's ever listened to an entire album side of it and I'll show you an insane person
I really don't mind SS amps for bass, never did, as long as it doesn't sound cheezee. If you have a decent sounding bass you should be able to get a good sound with a 100 watt Bogen SS and a good cab...maybe not your cream dream sound, but a good bass sound nonetheless.
Truer words were never spoken. I'll go one farther and say that if you gave me a Behringer combo amp, I'll even figure out a way to make that POS sing. But since I'm not forced to resort to that anymore, why not get all silly about tones?
+1 re the POS sing thing! & +2 for my rhyming ;-)
I tried out a Behr. BXL1800??? I think it was that- llum. cone 2 chan. OD chan one of 'em....- It sounded darn good "for a POS" ;-) & I'm sure I sounded like ME!! Dang sure I'd 'a been happy having it as a small-ish power prac. amp- able to carrry one hand/bass & leads in other......if someone bought it for me!!! For now I'm happy with the LMII/Aggie GS112 for that
Another thing- I DON'T have/prefer all tube amps for their OD(even tho THAT IS a beautiful thing) I have 'em coz I like their tone/feel/prescence/punch/solidity. All of these things -I find - them to do far better than any other type of amps I'VE TRIED!
This test IS fun & interesting & as stated is NOT trying to show how a tube amp sounds bettr/worse/different ;-) at it's "break up" point OR how a S.S. amp may/may not sound "faster" ;-).............just that many amps may be close to each other in sound- AFAIK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps-by USING capitols, I'm NOT shouting- I got an OLD PC & it's FAR quicker 4 me to do a quick reply, than a proper one, & therefore my use of caps is meant to be like a "italics, or underline/bold etc...
I tried out a Behr. BXL1800??? I think it was that- llum. cone 2 chan. OD chan one of 'em....- It sounded darn good "for a POS" ;-) & I'm sure I sounded like ME!! Dang sure I'd 'a been happy having it as a small-ish power prac. amp- able to carrry one hand/bass & leads in other......if someone bought it for me!!! For now I'm happy with the LMII/Aggie GS112 for that
Another thing- I DON'T have/prefer all tube amps for their OD(even tho THAT IS a beautiful thing) I have 'em coz I like their tone/feel/prescence/punch/solidity. All of these things -I find - them to do far better than any other type of amps I'VE TRIED!
This test IS fun & interesting & as stated is NOT trying to show how a tube amp sounds bettr/worse/different ;-) at it's "break up" point OR how a S.S. amp may/may not sound "faster" ;-).............just that many amps may be close to each other in sound- AFAIK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps-by USING capitols, I'm NOT shouting- I got an OLD PC & it's FAR quicker 4 me to do a quick reply, than a proper one, & therefore my use of caps is meant to be like a "italics, or underline/bold etc...
You're right, but I think the idea of the poll is whether or not you can tell the difference, not which one you like better, right?
Agreed. But it's easy to tell the difference between an overdriven B-15N and an overdriven LMII. One is 30 Watts and the other is 500. You would mainly be testing the distortion characteristics of the speaker.
LMII
SWR
B-15
I think I am guessing #2 pretty well. The SWR500 I tried had some upper end sparkle like the recording.
And #1 and #3 were close just like the first time, however #3 had less mid presense and I assume that was the B-15.
Jonathan
SWR
B-15
I think I am guessing #2 pretty well. The SWR500 I tried had some upper end sparkle like the recording.
And #1 and #3 were close just like the first time, however #3 had less mid presense and I assume that was the B-15.
Jonathan
You show me anyone who's ever listened to an entire album side of it and I'll show you an insane person
If I could get my hands on it I would listen to it. It'd have to be in cd format (or cassette) cus I dont have a turntable no more
Okay, I don't know how well I'm going to fare this time, even though I picked out the B15N last time. My hearing is royally effed today, as I have an ear infection that feels like someone dumped sand in my left ear. But enough of the whiny excuses...
I voted #3 as the B15N, and I believe the amps are as follows:
SWR
LMII
B15N
I think all the amps sound very nice (to the extent that I can actually freakin' HEAR them) on these recordings. My favorites are amps 1 and 3 (not necessarily in that order) regardless of what amps they actually turn out to be. Amp 1 sounds like it has more high end, while with Amp 3 I think I am hearing that growl in the low end on the slap parts again. Both sound very nice in their own ways. Amp 2 seems to have a different sounding high end than Amp 1, which I think I remember hearing on the LMII in the previous test, although I'd have to go back to that one to try to verify that.
One thing I didn't feel like I could hear this time was the compression of the B15N. But then, with the sinusitis and ear infection, my whole freakin' head feels compressed. Maybe I can market this to compression lovers somehow: Hey, kids! Not finding the right compressor to help you achieve YOUR sound?! Well, then try my new patented method of pouring fine granite sand in your ears and squashing your head in a vise!!!
Okay, maybe not.
Anyway, once again, thanks for the challenge. I do enjoy this kind of thing quite a lot!
Matt
I voted #3 as the B15N, and I believe the amps are as follows:
SWR
LMII
B15N
I think all the amps sound very nice (to the extent that I can actually freakin' HEAR them) on these recordings. My favorites are amps 1 and 3 (not necessarily in that order) regardless of what amps they actually turn out to be. Amp 1 sounds like it has more high end, while with Amp 3 I think I am hearing that growl in the low end on the slap parts again. Both sound very nice in their own ways. Amp 2 seems to have a different sounding high end than Amp 1, which I think I remember hearing on the LMII in the previous test, although I'd have to go back to that one to try to verify that.
One thing I didn't feel like I could hear this time was the compression of the B15N. But then, with the sinusitis and ear infection, my whole freakin' head feels compressed. Maybe I can market this to compression lovers somehow: Hey, kids! Not finding the right compressor to help you achieve YOUR sound?! Well, then try my new patented method of pouring fine granite sand in your ears and squashing your head in a vise!!!
Okay, maybe not.
Anyway, once again, thanks for the challenge. I do enjoy this kind of thing quite a lot!
Matt
