tubes or transformer?

[Snert]

Nothing.

They still enjoy what you are throwing down despite not knowing or understanding your gear choice for the evening

Yep. I've said the same for years about gear, yet am often mocked for it or given some anecdote that someone came up to them post gig and commented positively on their gear as their reason for why a particular piece of gear, bass or amp/cab is important.

I used a Steinberger exclusively for many years playing all sorts of gigs, usually through an old pre, a Yamaha pro poweramp (various over time) and a Peavey 15" cab and later one similar to the fEarfuls of my own design. No one really ever commented on the gear beyond the XL2; some made asinine remarks, but more had never seen anything like it and were curious. Almost all of the comments were to the band in general complimenting that they enjoyed the show. Nothing else mattered to us more than that.

 

[agedhorse]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

 

[ardgedee]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

Yeah, that sounds more like something a lead guitarist would say.

 

[Guitalia]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

The closest I ever got to a getting a compliment was when a girl came up to me at the end of a set and asked, "Is the lead guitarist married?"

 

[baxter_x]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

Well, I swear it does happen to me very often. However, not 10, I admit.

 

[Zenbassie]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

Probably just means that there were 10 bass players in the audience.

 

[R Baer]

That's a driver stage and driver transformer not an output transformer that interfaces directly with the speaker. In this case, the transformer is used BEFORE the output stage.

That's correct Andy. The Valkyrie had a small push pull tube amp with a transformer that was located in-between the solid state preamp and the power amp section. The signal was split so that the lows and highs could be driven at different levels.

 

[Jefenator]

FWIW I voted: "both".
I've used gear where they hype the use of tubes, but cut corners in the overall build and the end result is usually pretty underwhelming.
Maybe I'm just listening with my biceps, but I have to think the huge transformers in my old Sunn 200s must be contributing to its exceptional sonic qualities.

 

[agedhorse]

The larger size of the transformers may indicate that they are using lower quality magnetic materials. Choosing a transformer by size/weight alone ignores all the actual performance parameters.

 

[Aussie Player]

I voted tube/valve.
I use Class D for rehearsal, Hybrid for back up and Tube for live.

 

[micguy]

When a bass player says that 10 members of the audience told the how awesome their bass tone was, it makes me suspicious

For me to get 10 people to notice me, I have to play a couple hundred gigs. And I'm pretty good.

 

[micguy]

If I were asked to design an amplifier, I can see using tubes as non-linear devices to get some character out of it - there are a lot of tricks you can use to get tubes to do a bunch of very different things. A transformer does one thing, and it's character is VERY frequency dependent - transformer saturation sounds like it'd be a great thing (from the name alone), but when you hear a transformer saturating at low frequencies - the borderline between "cool" and "ugly" is a very fine line.

 

[BlueTalon]

For me to get 10 people to notice me, I have to play a couple hundred gigs. And I'm pretty good.

I play in a trio, and I play a bass that has neon strings on it, lit with UV lights. Everybody notices me.

 

[ardgedee]

For me to get 10 people to notice me, I have to play a couple hundred gigs. And I'm pretty good.

There's your problem. If you played badly you'd be much more noticeable.

 

[Scotty4string]

In 30 plus years of playing the most audience members at one gig that complimented my tone was two. It does happen more often when I use my SVT than any other amp I own. Maybe people can't hear the difference between tube and solid state, but more people seem to like the sound of my SVT.

Also, doesn't the fact that guitarists are migrating toward amp modelers that use innovative tech to emulate tube amps bolster the argument that tubes sound better than solid state? At least in guitar amps?

 

[micguy]

26990260[/URL], member: 326439"]There's your problem. If you played badly you'd be much more noticeable.

We usually have half a dozen singers at the front of the stage - well lit and all that. I’m in the back - 20 to 30 feet behind them, and we don’t get a lot of light. My basses and clothes are mostly dark. I’m pretty much a stealth bassist, at least visually. I do know from my feet that I’m definitely shaking the place.

 

[pepj]

IME, Valves have always been a factor in producing a kinder sound to my ears.
I have a modern and very well regarded class D without even a valve in the pre stage and I can't really like it so its the 'worst' in my stable.
For sure, its usable..and light, which is why I keep it, but its last out to a gig.
I bought it because I needed backup whilst my main amp was in for a service/repair but its my practice amp whilst I keep the mileage down on valves.

 

[BlueTalon]

We usually have half a dozen singers at the front of the stage - well lit and all that. I’m in the back - 20 to 30 feet behind them, and we don’t get a lot of light. My basses and clothes are mostly dark. I’m pretty much a stealth bassist, at least visually. I do know from my feet that I’m definitely shaking the place.

If you ever get tired of being visually stealth, you know what to do. (I wear dark clothes too, for what it's worth.) (This isn't me in the video.)

 

[baxter_x]

If you ever get tired of being visually stealth, you know what to do. (I wear dark clothes too, for what it's worth.) (This isn't me in the video.)

Well, it doesn"t sound too bad! I thought those strings were niice to look at but couldn't sound good. What's your bass and amp for this recording?

EDIT: I went to see some freviews of those strings. It appears the paint peals off after a several weeks. Do you confirm?

 

[BlueTalon]

Well, it doesn"t sound too bad! I thought those strings were niice to look at but couldn't sound good. What's your bass and amp for this recording?

EDIT: I went to see some freviews of those strings. It appears the paint peals off after a several weeks. Do you confirm?

I have never had an issue with the color pealing or flaking off, and I have been using neon coated strings for about 12 years. The color will show wear over time. One set of strings lost a lot of its color on a long hot afternoon gig, where I spent a lot of time wiping my acid sweat off the bass & strings. But normally, the strings will start to lose their brightness before they start to lose their color. And since I'm the only guy I know personally who uses those strings, I don't have anyone else's experience to share with you.

The color can give a good visual indication of string life, though, where they wear against the frets. You can see wear patches on normal strings if you look close, or if the strings are really old. But with the neon strings, it's really obvious.

That wasn't me in the video, so I have no idea what the bass/amp/signal chain was. I can tell you that I play a Maruszczyk Frog through a Mesa D350 into Phil Jones C8 cab, and that sounds reeeeally good, but that probably won't help you with the video.