OK, I stand corrected! Brands aside, I guess my point was just that he's using a small combo for the guitar rather than some sort of stack setup, and that choice could help the onstage balance with Lane's B15 work out OK.
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Tube Rectified bass head.
- Thread starter jeff ward
- Start date
OK, I stand corrected! Brands aside, I guess my point was just that he's using a small combo for the guitar rather than some sort of stack setup, and that choice could help the onstage balance with Lane's B15 work out OK.
The angle of the photo and lighting could be causing a shadow under the face plate,
so I totally get a lot of people thinking its a Silver Face Princeton or DR and I could be wrong.
It's too big for a Champ and I've never heard a Princeton or DR break up like that without a pedal. A small Ampeg totally will get that hairy.
so I totally get a lot of people thinking its a Silver Face Princeton or DR and I could be wrong.
It's too big for a Champ and I've never heard a Princeton or DR break up like that without a pedal. A small Ampeg totally will get that hairy.
Exactly. When I toured with this folk singer we were the national act and would have local openers. We were on a tour bus but knew we would play smaller bars and clubs so we all had just a combo amp, drummer went with a smaller kit so we would all have room on stage and not be crammed, etc. was hilarious you'd see the national act with a couple combos, the local openers would show up with Marshall full stacks and Ampeg 810s, our tour manager would laugh and say "you guys playing Carnegie hall or something?"
Point is those huge rigs don't make sense unless you're a loud rock/metal band OR want to look cool (no judgement there, that's half the game).
The point jimmym and myself and others have made is if you're actually practical, 30-50 tube watts is fine and totally do-able.
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
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Not necessarily. I could never survive on a 30-50w tube amp and I'm not playing metal or hard rock. As usual, TB'ers like to take their experience as everyone's experience.
Hello Jeff, I know it was already mentioned here by another TBer and myself, but let me again suggest, since you are looking for something in the 50 watt range, the Ampeg B25b. Search for comments here on TB, I don't think I've ever read any negative impressions. On the contrary, most find it a pleasingly rich, organic kind of tone which gets the right kind of dirt at a very useable level. I think it's a lot like the B15 tone with a bit more oomph and 2 15" drivers, if you find a matching B25b 16ohm cab. The extension jack will feed an 8 ohm load, 4 ohms is out of range for this head but I've done it at times. I've had my '69 model since the mid 70's and still going strong. Recently completed re-capping and re-tubing the head. Original power tubes were a pair of 7027a's, and they are available, although 6L6gc's will work in them and most new manufacture 7027's are nothing more. Mine now uses a plug-in SS rectifier BUT, it is great with the orig 5ar4 and I also have a new Sovtek 5ar4 on hand which also works well. There is a 7199 driver tube which the amp is a little fussy about. I tried a new Russian 7199 and it had a nasty hum, went to a NOS JAN 7199 and that works fine. A while back I went in and tightened all the fasteners in the cab which did some good. And I've updated to a 3 prong cord, eliminated the "polarity" switch, and moved the "standby" to the front face. I've used the B25 with my blues band in smaller venues
without support, no sweat!
I wonder if Ampeg today could make a B25B reissue with more normal impedances and common tubes and have it sell. Seems to me it would be the perfect head for power tube distortion nuts who can't turn up real loud, plus it would make a nifty recording head and not cost as much as a Heritage B-15N. Could even slap a dummy load in it and use it for silent recording ampless. I think I would totally hit that if they came out with one. I should do a poll to see if there's any real interest.
Along those lines...not too long ago, I was gigging with my blues band, playing a late 70's Thunderbird tuned Eb through my V4BH and a single 15. At some point I lost all headroom and realized I was heavily distorting so I tried some corrective eq tweeks, but to no avail. It was way looser and fuzzy whenever I dug in, but kind of cool so I finished the gig with it. Later discovered that one of the 4 original 5881 power tubes was dead, it just faded away with out drama. The tubes were 8 years old, and have been replaced with premium =C= 6L6's.
This dead tube condition was probably close to what you described, so there it was, the modern B25b "classic". Try it, pull a 6L6 from your V4-B reissue and let us know what you think!
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Thank you so much, I'm quite proud of 'er, after all she was my first!
BTW, in case any were wondering, the jumper between the inputs allows one to utilize both channels and all tone shaping controls. You can have your fat bottom and some upper mid clarity too.
- May 9, 2008
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I have a 1968 Matamp 100 in my studio that has a pair of 5U4G glass rectifiers to power 4xEL34 output tubes.
I love that amp so much, it's not very saggy at all with both rectifier tubes in, but if you run it with only one rectumfire tube in, then it gets beautifully saggy.
I love that amp so much, it's not very saggy at all with both rectifier tubes in, but if you run it with only one rectumfire tube in, then it gets beautifully saggy.
I just looked up the McIntosh specs. Only 116 pounds and a mere pittance at $11,000.00
Look under the couch cushions
Come on now, that McIntosh is not using valve rectifiers. McIntosh is not going tolerate sag in an amp like that. I doubt it sounds any different than any other hifi amp. Except to golden ears. There are those outside of the bell curve. They show up a lot around here.
I just did gigs last week with a B-15N...25w. Your low wattage scenario does not scare meAlong those lines...not too long ago, I was gigging with my blues band, playing a late 70's Thunderbird tuned Eb through my V4BH and a single 15. At some point I lost all headroom and realized I was heavily distorting so I tried some corrective eq tweeks, but to no avail. It was way looser and fuzzy whenever I dug in, but kind of cool so I finished the gig with it. Later discovered that one of the 4 original 5881 power tubes was dead, it just faded away with out drama. The tubes were 8 years old, and have been replaced with premium =C= 6L6's.
This dead tube condition was probably close to what you described, so there it was, the modern B25b "classic". Try it, pull a 6L6 from your V4-B reissue and let us know what you think!
I just did gigs last week with a B-15N...25w. Your low wattage scenario does not scare me
Did you also have FOH doing the work? I seldom do since the taverns we play in are small enough that 100 watts will easily cover it. On rare occasions I'll gig with my B25b with 2-15 cab, just for kicks. I'm pretty sure I could get by the majority of the time with the B25 rig, but one of the factors is the larger 2-15 cab vs. One or Two 115's. Much easier to tote two smaller cabs by myself than one big one, having a flight of stairs to deal with. I'll see what the B25 can do with a single SVT15e next rehearsal.
I guess it would be nice to have a 4 ohm speaker jack on the B25b.
I've done both PA gigs and non-PA gigs with my B-15. The non-PA gigs were small but I have done it.
but I have done it.
Thanks for the video and the info as the record version is one of my all time favorite live performances (plus I love the Faces / Small Faces).A lot of people assume Ron Wood is using a small Fender for that show, but closer inspection shows it's either front panel Jet, Reverbocket II or a Gemini I. Their back line was Ampeg.
That era Fender would not have the Tolex Bar under the Faceplate.
Best I could do with stop motion.
Sorry for the hijack but what bass is he using? Such a great player.
Just spitballing here, but would it be workable to use a combination of a tube and diodes, like to get some sag flavor and still support the high power?
Or perhaps switch in the tube rec. as part of a 1/4 power switching scheme or something?
Of course, it just being a gimick is the other option.
just wanted to pop back in. i haven't had any luck getting a tube rectified head (bought a b15 but it was broke) but am jonesing again for that sag. i'm thinking fender bantam bass and turn it into a head. 30 watts all tube could be a nice recording and small bar unit.
other options include another ampeg b15 or b25.
i've heard the Jule monique is, but it's way overpriced and i thought you needed a power source to have the rectifier work so not sure how that works (or if its just a glory tube).
anyone else find any more units that are tube rectified?
other options include another ampeg b15 or b25.
i've heard the Jule monique is, but it's way overpriced and i thought you needed a power source to have the rectifier work so not sure how that works (or if its just a glory tube).
anyone else find any more units that are tube rectified?
