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Tube Amps. Worth it?
- Thread starter Tom Gotsch
- Start date
doesn't one type produce Even ordered harmonics ... and the other produces Odd ..??!!
read it a while back , can't remember which was which ...
read it a while back , can't remember which was which ...
I have a Marshall DBS7200 hybrid amp that is my go to for bar gigs. Decent sound very reliable but nothing compared to the Marshall model 1992 SuperBass 100w. (Lemmys Murder One amp) I run it at 4 ohms through two 10" Eminence 250w drivers. Micro Stack. It sounds very warm and true at almost any volume, like an ampeg B-15 but with some real output.
I also run it through a JCM800 bass cab with 1x15 and 2x10 Eminence drivers with 2 seperate 8 ohm inputs so I can run 4 ohm load.
I also run it through a JCM800 bass cab with 1x15 and 2x10 Eminence drivers with 2 seperate 8 ohm inputs so I can run 4 ohm load.
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Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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You mean when driven to distortion, I presume, because any good quality amp produces any frequency within it's response range, typically 20-20kHz. I think that your statement is probably a broad generalization, because clipping in any amp is going to be a complex waveform dependent on the behavior of a specific design, and would also include the nature of the input and any pre-amplifier distortion, too.
Biiiiiiiiiiig +1
And yes, @Tom Gotsch, all-tube amps are, IMO, totally worth it!
IMO/IME, nothing provides the lush tone and the dynamic feel of an all-tube amp.
Oh...and don't let anyone tell you that all-tube amps are less reliable than solid state amps.
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hasbeen
Commercial User
- Sep 23, 2004
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yes, they are worth it. It isn't just about the tone, it is equally about the feel of the amp.
I'll never part with my tube amps.
I'll never part with my tube amps.
I understand this, but the easily transportable tube gear that I've played through, or heard online demos of sounds less like the sound in my head than what I have, so for now, no tubes in my signal path. I did own a fair number of tube amps in my youth. I have absolutely nothing against them, in principle, but I'm also not going to ever lift a Sound City 200 Plus head again, as I have a dislike for elbow and/or shoulder dislocation.
If you know of a pedal that really sounds liken an old Bassman cranked to the point where it's straining and complaining, but not yet farting and fizzing, I'm all ears.
I have a pair of old, non-master Traynor tube amps. I really like them a lot. One is nominally a bass amp (YBA-1) and one a “guitar” amp (YSR-1) but I routinely use either amp for either instrument and other instruments like synths and drum machines for that matter.
On electric guitar, yeah, I don’t mind getting a bit of distortion sometimes, but not necessarily. I like the volume of a pair of EL-34s. It can be nice and loud while still pretty clean and not so loud I need to leave the county if I want distortion from the output stage.
But I would also say I really like the passive tone stacks on the two amps a lot and the EQ is a bunch of the goodness of those amps.
Also, I dig the fact that that both have two input channels, each with a volume control and each with a guitar level input and a padded input for a line level signal. And that one input is a “guitar” input which I call “scratchy” because it has a cap across the volume that creates a big HF boost at low volumes and even better you can mix your signal into both channels to whatever degree you want.
So, it’s just as much the cool features of the amps as the fact of being classic tube designs built to withstand the abuse of rentals.
Otto
On electric guitar, yeah, I don’t mind getting a bit of distortion sometimes, but not necessarily. I like the volume of a pair of EL-34s. It can be nice and loud while still pretty clean and not so loud I need to leave the county if I want distortion from the output stage.
But I would also say I really like the passive tone stacks on the two amps a lot and the EQ is a bunch of the goodness of those amps.
Also, I dig the fact that that both have two input channels, each with a volume control and each with a guitar level input and a padded input for a line level signal. And that one input is a “guitar” input which I call “scratchy” because it has a cap across the volume that creates a big HF boost at low volumes and even better you can mix your signal into both channels to whatever degree you want.
So, it’s just as much the cool features of the amps as the fact of being classic tube designs built to withstand the abuse of rentals.
Otto
I couldn’t say one way or the other about power tubes, but amps with a tube preamp are absolutely worth it provided you get a good one.
I have several All tube amps They are worth it if you like what they do just like anything else to me they are worth every cent.
I'd say they sound better (to me) and I love the way they subtly drive and compress the bass signal, but also don't think that is worth their size, weight and price. When you see the more than great tone you get from a small box and a 210 these days... But if you're in for the sound, an all tube amp with a 410 to match is the way to go for me.
I'll put it like this...I am a big fan of tube amps and if price/weight were no object I may go all-tube. If I'm recording or will have great sound reinforcement at a gig, all tube is the way I'd probably go. If I need to get the job done with a small load-in/out or just need to make a lot of noise at the same time as other people, I'll probably grab my GK gear.
That having been said...gun to my head, have to pick one amp company to use for the rest of my life, I'd go with Gallien-Krueger.
That having been said...gun to my head, have to pick one amp company to use for the rest of my life, I'd go with Gallien-Krueger.
I used to be a huge fan of all-tube bass amps, and am currently hanging on to my Ampeg Heritage SVT and Aguilar DB659/728 setups (at least until I can sell them for a decent price!), but I can safely say my love affair with them is over. They do sound very nice but I’ve been too frustrated trying to find a good tube amp tech (at least in Texas) that could keep them running while I took them on the road (even cased out), and after having both tube rigs in the shop two times a year each I jumped into the Class D world without looking back.
Every six months or so I’ll fire up one of my old rigs just for fun, but the combination of a tube preamp/D.I. and a Class D amp gets me a certain amount of tube “warmth” and solid state “punch” that I’m exceedingly happy with (Noble preamp/D.I. and Bergantino B Amp in my case). I suppose if I were to start recording remotely I’d probably want a nice low-watt tube amp but as a road dog I need to have a sound that I love that’s reliably there for me every night, and that simply wasn’t my experience with tube amps.
YMMV, IMO and all that good stuff...
Every six months or so I’ll fire up one of my old rigs just for fun, but the combination of a tube preamp/D.I. and a Class D amp gets me a certain amount of tube “warmth” and solid state “punch” that I’m exceedingly happy with (Noble preamp/D.I. and Bergantino B Amp in my case). I suppose if I were to start recording remotely I’d probably want a nice low-watt tube amp but as a road dog I need to have a sound that I love that’s reliably there for me every night, and that simply wasn’t my experience with tube amps.
YMMV, IMO and all that good stuff...
