• 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.

Tube(like) Solid State

#41
well, i guess one has to decide if tubey means:
grit grind and overdrive
or
phat, with varying degrees of harmonic content

the early ampeg "round sound" was designed to deliver the latter, it's what I grew up on, and what I think of as tube tone.
 
#44
me too. i get a kick out of these teenagers on here who always talk about how tube amps are only good for distortion, demonstrating a near total lack of appreciation for anything that happened before they were born.
 
#47
Chef said:
well, i guess one has to decide if tubey means:
grit grind and overdrive
or
phat, with varying degrees of harmonic content

the early ampeg "round sound" was designed to deliver the latter, it's what I grew up on, and what I think of as tube tone.
Click to expand...

Yeah- Me 5. The latter. I didn't even KNOW that it was OK for them to distort until I was about 20 y.o.- 6 yrs of owning a 120w all tube amp. :D
 
#48
I worked with very tube-esque sounding A.M.P. BH-420 and BH-260 heads for years until recently switching to at Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0.

The BH-420 is the predecessor of the Thrunderfunk and pretty much the same amp except for having an enhance switch instead of a enhance knob.

Last time I checked a used BH-420 is considerably less expensive than a used Thunderfunk but I don't often see either being sold used.
 
#49
Chef said:
well, i guess one has to decide if tubey means:
grit grind and overdrive
or
phat, with varying degrees of harmonic content

the early ampeg "round sound" was designed to deliver the latter, it's what I grew up on, and what I think of as tube tone.
Click to expand...

One of my early bass influences was the bass player from Grand Funk Railroad, named Mel. His tone was the overdriven tube sound. He uses Ampeg now, but not back then.

Tube tone is both OD and smooth/round. A SS amp with both available would be cool. No such animal yet but close.
 
#50
The SVT changed all that, to the extent that you pump up the volume.
Before you "over-saturate" the preamp tubes, the SVT stays pretty clean and representative of the earlier ampeg tone.
 
#51
LAG said:
One of my early bass influences was the bass player from Grand Funk Railroad, named Mel. His tone was the overdriven tube sound. He uses Ampeg now, but not back then.

Tube tone is both OD and smooth/round. A SS amp with both available would be cool. No such animal yet but close.
Click to expand...

Try the TC RH450 or Classic 450 (if you don't need all the bells and whistles). The Ampeg guys (classic clean, and grindy overdrive) seem to totally dig them. They seem to be voiced with a tone and a 'unique tube feel' for solid state amps that has the Ampeg tone goals (again, clean and dirty) in mind to my ear.

The Mesa Walkabout does 'clean tube tone' extremely well, but in a 'Mesa' way that is quite different from the Ampeg tone IMO. The RH450 is the first solid state amp that seems to have really focused on 'Ampeg emulation' to my ear.
 
#53
joeydavidson said:
I tend to agree, there are also some people that say a distorted amp is 'warmer' than an amp run clean.
Click to expand...

I can understand this thinking, though I'm not 100% sure I agree. As the preamp tubes reach saturation, and the power tubes are driven to the edge, all that grind can seem "warmer", but the point *before* the tubes are at their very limit, to me, seems warmer. I've said this before, but, it's almost like you can smell the tone from a tube amp. Hard to describe a sound with words, but I think we're all on the same page. Oh, and +1 for the Walkabout. Tubiest sounding hybrid I've ever heard, and with far fewer actual tubes in the path then say, an Ampeg SVT Pro series amp.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back