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Tube Amps. Worth it?
- Thread starter Tom Gotsch
- Start date
Yes for tone and groove, no for back and wallet.
yes, No, and Markbass does not make a tube amp, only amps with a tube preamp which almost every manufacturer does and they don't play like a tube amp.
When you say “worth it” what exactly do you mean?
Depending on what you buy or how you buy it, a tube amp is not necessarily more expensive than a SS amp.
I currently have two heads and I have a little less into the Fender than I do the GK.
Depending on what you buy or how you buy it, a tube amp is not necessarily more expensive than a SS amp.
I currently have two heads and I have a little less into the Fender than I do the GK.
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
The distortion is what makes them good. It might not be enough distortion to notice it being distortion rather than better sounding clean. People have bad ideas about what distortion is from bad sounding solid state distortion, because those are the things with 'distortion' written on them.
A good tube amp is a beautiful thing. My current and favourite rig is an Alembic F-2B into the FX return of a GK MB500. It’s lightweight, portable and sounds sooooo nice. For me it’s a good compromise between tube tone and portability. Tube amps have a presence and 3D quality that’s hard to duplicate. I’ve played through SVTs and loved them but they are super heavy so I’ve never owned one. The Aguilar DB750 is tube hybrid and is the nicest amp I’ve ever played through. Just my humble thoughts...
Well he owns one and uses it sometimes, so I'd probably say yes.
Yep, but it's a little in between. It's a unique amp, it'll do both. Not AS thick as either SVT or Super Bassman or the AD200B, but has its own voice, which is excellent. It's also nowhere near as heavy as those.
Here's the all tube and matching cab.
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The amp and cab were fairly well reviewed, but I think the amp had some significant reliability issues related to it's auto-bias circuitry.
OP, as I get older I shy away from those bug stadium rigs and beging to appreciate the 100 and 200 watt tube amps more. It doesn't take as much SPL to get power tube saturation.
Keep an eye open for one of those little Ampeg recording heads, a Buster, or cobble together a preamp with a tube power amp.
Take the rig for a spin with a decent multi driver cab at good but not excessive volume.
Then tell all of us if you hear something different.
Keep an eye open for one of those little Ampeg recording heads, a Buster, or cobble together a preamp with a tube power amp.
Take the rig for a spin with a decent multi driver cab at good but not excessive volume.
Then tell all of us if you hear something different.
I have been on a tube amp binge as of late. Started with an SVT VR through an Ampeg 610HLF. That started me getting more tube amplifiers and multi driver cabinets. At present I have five with another on the way. They range from 180 watt to 465 watts. I find that 200 watts is sufficient for most situations. So as long as I have a drummer to carry them I am sticking with tube amps. He hauls them due to my health issues. Actually three of them are under 50 pounds. The others are 55 to 90 pounds. The SVT VR stays at the rehearsal space. I primarily use my YBA200-2 and Mesa Prodigy on gigs. I had SS amps for over 30 years before I became a tube user. I play my amps clean with dirt added by my Sansamp units, the DP3X is a killer pedal for this with passive basses. I have no problem with SS preamp, but prefer tube power sections.
Worth what? My tubes aren't worth the carry most of the time. I can twist a little solid state pot or two and get most of the tone.
I believe JimmyM is in the same boat these days.
But dang there is some magic in leaning into them and getting the fur flying.
Ymmv.
I believe JimmyM is in the same boat these days.
But dang there is some magic in leaning into them and getting the fur flying.
Ymmv.
I've just gone back to a tube amp after 30 years of solid state and then class D amps. Works just fine for me. There's a sweetness and heft that I've rediscovered.
True. There is the common rumor about tube amps not able to produce this "hi-fi tone SS amps can produce. To me this is complete BS. Both can be hi-fi or fat and massive. It's just different.
