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Tube amp...
- Thread starter jaco's potato
- Start date
"Cheapest" tube amps would be from Bulgera (Behringer). Cheap and tube amp rarely are found in the same sentence, paragraph, page, chapter or even book.
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
+1 on the price comment.
Solid state with a tube preamp might be your best bet if cheap is what you're aiming for, but it's not limited to those. Check Craigslist or eBay. See what's in your price limit and listen for yourself. IMO, you can never go wrong with Orange or Ampeg. Just my opinion. Orange offers the Terror Bass 500 and 1000 which I have seen both go for as little as 600. Ampeg offers the SVT Pro series that I've seen certain models run at pretty nice prices in the region of 500-700. Once again though, you are not always that limited. One of my first bass amps was a 1966 Fender Bassman that I gave 500 bucks for, so tube amps are definitely out there for cheap. Just do some looking and feel free to consult with our more intelligent counterparts here on TB about it. Good luck with your amp search!
uhhh dudes don't know what the deal about the price thing is but by cheap I do NOT mean solid state price but I mean a lower end tube amp :|
So instead of "cheap"meaning price, you are asking for cheap meaning poor quality?
Why no look for Traynor or Yorkville, not cheap quality, but right there in your country.
oh geez do not start a debate on Americans
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Maybe you should take a moment and define what you mean when you say cheap by...throwing an actual number out there. Might help people figure out what you're actually saying.
You can find Bugera 1960s for 300-350$ used. I don't own one anymore but the quality seemed fine and it didn't fall apart on me or anything in the time I owned one. Plenty loud too.
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1. Peavey VB2-$899
2. Traynor YBA200-2-$899
3. Ampeg V4B Reissue-$1299
4. Fender Bassman 100T-$1449
All new Prices you can do cheaper if you go used.
2. Traynor YBA200-2-$899
3. Ampeg V4B Reissue-$1299
4. Fender Bassman 100T-$1449
All new Prices you can do cheaper if you go used.
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"Cheap" and "Tube Amp" are incompatable terms, especially if you want any semblance of good sound. If you purchase a trashed-out Bassman head, you will spend a lot of money getting the filter caps and other components replaced and new tubes. If you purchase an Ampeg V4, you will have fun finding 12DW7's and 7027's, although they are now easier to get then they were for awhile. If you purchase an old Traynor, you will have to rewire the grid circuits and add safety plate resistors. And the list goes on.
Bottom line: the care and feeding of tube amps after the fact is an expensive fact of life. That's why I switched twenty years ago from tube to solid state for gigging, and only keep a Bassman Export head at home for personal practice between gigs, which had to have new filter capacitors and tubes when I purchased it (it still had the original RCA tubes in it), and that was so many years ago I'm getting some noise again from pots and hiss from caps again.
Bottom line: the care and feeding of tube amps after the fact is an expensive fact of life. That's why I switched twenty years ago from tube to solid state for gigging, and only keep a Bassman Export head at home for personal practice between gigs, which had to have new filter capacitors and tubes when I purchased it (it still had the original RCA tubes in it), and that was so many years ago I'm getting some noise again from pots and hiss from caps again.
I have no experience with them, but the Traynor sounds like it might be your best bet. I can't speak for the sound but if you listen to it and like it, atleast they won't gouge you for shipping. I wouldn't settle for just any old amp though. Do some looking on the locals and you might find one that you like more.
Traynor YBA200 on consignment so you could probably haggle a bit: Invalid Link Removed
I had one of these and I think you would be quite happy with it.
I had one of these and I think you would be quite happy with it.
