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Uncle GAS Needs You: Help Design an All Tube Amp!!!

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#62
jokerjkny said:
lol,

it really is a small world after all. :p

mike, were you a part of his last funk band?
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Yup!!
That was me on the demo as well.
Link Removed
Why?!?!? What did he say?!?!?! ;)

I also MD/bassist his country band and a new R&B singer we are backing up.
 
#64
jokerjkny said:
LOL,

holy crap, you were rawkin'. freakin' funk fury, dooder. :cool:

and congrats on your country gig. scott put up a few pics of your last outdoor show. looked like a blast.
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Aww, shucks, thanks dude! :smug:

Yeah, that outdoor gig was killin'. We tore the place down.
Big ass stage, tons and tons of people, the band was smokin' that day.
Actually, if you saw a post I did a while back that had me with my Sadowsky's and a cowboy hat on, those were from the same show.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201167
Click the link in my first post for a few pic's if ya want. Might be some of the same pics Scott threw up.

Sorry for the de-rail/hijack of your thread!!
 
#65
Rockin' pics man! I'm planning on having Nino make me an all black and silver 5 string NP5/Fatstack with a bell cover and seeing your 5 string with the bell pretty much erased any doubt in my mind of how badass it would look!

And back to the thread topic before we are mercilessly beaten to death by brad. :p

I second the Longhorn! Definately have to work a snake or bull into the amp name heheh.

Being that PBG mentioned the pin number as being the only difference between the aforementioned tubes, why are the 6s prefered over the 12s? i.e. what benefit will this bring to the amp over a 400+'s pre section (IIRC)?
 
#66
MikeBass said:
Aww, shucks, thanks dude! :smug:

Yeah, that outdoor gig was killin'. We tore the place down.
Big ass stage, tons and tons of people, the band was smokin' that day.
Actually, if you saw a post I did a while back that had me with my Sadowsky's and a cowboy hat on, those were from the same show.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201167
Click the link in my first post for a few pic's if ya want. Might be some of the same pics Scott threw up.

Sorry for the de-rail/hijack of your thread!!
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lol,

all good. but yea, i saw those pics, and its kinda funny that i didnt know that i was in fact looking at two sides of the same stage. :p

and FF5,

my alessandro guitar amps and its 6SL(N)7 tubes have a hifi clear clean tone, that's unrivaled in any amp i've owned, heard, etc. again, seeing that the Low Down Sound True Voice uses the same tube makes me really excited for that amp as well.
 
#67
JacksonAmpworks said:
Hey this is Brad Jackson with Jackson Ampworks.

That make an excellent question. I'm am certainly about building simple amps that deliver tone above everything else. I'm wanting to build a bass amp tone machine that will deliver some of the warmest, vintage tones along with enough power and flexibility to cover some of the modern tones.

Right now I'm thinking a quad of KT88's roughly 200W. Baxandall tone stack (hi-fi TREBLE and BASS) with a MID-SHIFT control and either a DEEP or PRESENCE control.

Definitely I'll have a DI or at least line or mic out. I'm still gathering opinions on the FX loop. I can see that an FX loop would be cool for running compressors or EQ inline with the signal.

The half power idea is out the window after gathering some feedback from other players.

Thanks for all of the info guys. Feedback from gigging players is CRITICAL to designing and building an amp that players will dig.

Thanks again!

Brad Jackson
Jackson Ampworks
Link Removed
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Are you the same dude that built the Jackson amps that included the Reference amp? I bought one of those several months back but UPS couldn't seem to get it down the mountain (2 hrs away) without modifying it so I was never able to check it out.

I ended buying a THD univalve. I just wanted something to experiment with tubes. Turns out it was pretty ideal for the application - just have to mic it to get volume up on the clean channel. The lead channel has amazing output but has limited application for bass. The clean channel works fine for bass but output is real low.

Lots of things are really sweet about that amp though and I've pretty much used everything to some degree. Most convenient is using a broad range of tubes without re-biasing. Alters tone as desired in a big way. Don't know squat about amps so I don't know that would be feasible in a larger package. The dummie load has been a plus. The associated line out with level output is a real plus for a number of applications. Also the switching for various ohm loads (which I guess is pretty standard). The treble/bass controls have had limited application cuase it wasn't designed for bass so they prett much stay respectively cut and maxed. I just run tone controls in a seperate pre if they're needed. It does amazingly well without one and I typically by-pass the pre for most tunes anyway. The attitude control I use frequently as well as all the switching. The attenuator level has rarely moved from max, but I don't record.

Don't know how feasible something along the lines of Uni but smaller/lighter and geared to bass would be but it would be of interest to me. I'm not much different than others, I'm not fond of large heavy gear - but I like tubes and there still needs to be ways to get the volume up to par and retain the quality so application is not limited.
 
#68
Psycho Bass Guy said:
That's because they're the SAME tube. A 12AX7 has a noval (nine pin) base and a 6SL7 has an octal (eight pin) base, and that's about the only difference.
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The 12AX7 has a gain of 100 whereas the 6SL7 has a gain of 70. The 6SL7 has a more broad frequency response, with extended low end. Listening tests confirm this. For my Union Jack amplifier, I chose the 6SL7 as it's extended low end helps to deliver the sound that I'm looking for in that amp. Trust me, if I could find that tone in a 12AX7, I would be using it. The 12AX7 is less expensive, more available and working examples are more readily available. The 6SL7 is available, but I have to buy several at one time in order to sort out the best examples.
 
#70
jokerjkny said:
hehe...

but seriously, i really like the idea of a "bypass" EQ section. i wouldnt mind at all using just my MTD or Sadowsky's onboard pre to shape my tone, while letting the tubes of the Jacksonworks amp do its thing.

:cool:
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This might be doable. I'm also thinking about an Ultra-Hi and an Ultra-Lo switch. I'll look into it.
 
#72
jokerjkny said:
hmm...

i think in this case an F/X loop is best.

sometimes for gigs where its mostly fingerstyle stuff, then no compressor if i can get away w/ it. but once i start the slappin', i.e. on some gospel, gotta have the compressor.

but frankly, i think Brad is building something that's more straight up plug 'n play, and deep down inside that really resonantes w/ me. my Alessandro Basset Hound is literally just volume, treb, mid, bass, and cause it sounds sooo good, i'm more than happy to leave it at that.

as long as there's plenty of wattage, i think Brad'll have something killer here. the only real point of contention up until now is the tone stack. again, guitars are one thing, while bass is a completely whole other.
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You're right man. I want to build something simple that is all about tone. Including features like an FX loop and a DI out will enable you to ADD the extra features to the amp, while still retaining the tonal purity of the amp. That to me is paramount. If the amp is pure and honest, you can always add on extras. If you add on extras to the point of spoiling the tone of the original design, you can't ever get that back.

So I guess I'll let the user make that decision on a personal bass-is. :)
 
#74
JacksonAmpworks said:
Thanks Tom! Now you're got me thinking more along the lines of 300W. Hmmmm.
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I'm glad to play my part! :D

Tom.

P.S.
If you check out my profile, I've got a number of nice tube heads to play with, so I'd be happy to share any thoughts/observations/likes/dislikes about particular models, if that would be helpful at all.
 
#75
JacksonAmpworks said:
You're right man. I want to build something simple that is all about tone. Including features like an FX loop and a DI out will enable you to ADD the extra features to the amp, while still retaining the tonal purity of the amp. That to me is paramount. If the amp is pure and honest, you can always add on extras. If you add on extras to the point of spoiling the tone of the original design, you can't ever get that back.

So I guess I'll let the user make that decision on a personal bass-is. :)
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:cool:
 
#76
tombowlus said:
I'm glad to play my part! :D

Tom.

P.S.
If you check out my profile, I've got a number of nice tube heads to play with, so I'd be happy to share any thoughts/observations/likes/dislikes about particular models, if that would be helpful at all.
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brad,

take it from me, the guy knows tone. heck, he owns a 90% of it in the world. :p

The%20Collection1.jpg
 
#77
tombowlus said:
I'm glad to play my part! :D

Tom.

P.S.
If you check out my profile, I've got a number of nice tube heads to play with, so I'd be happy to share any thoughts/observations/likes/dislikes about particular models, if that would be helpful at all.
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Hey nice blog Tom! With all that gear, you should be ashamed of yourself! ;)

Hey I would love to get some of your feedback on power levels. I would like to keep the amp at 200W for size, weight, cost issues. Tell me, is that enough for most gigs? Keep in mind that I'm not wanting to build a feature laden amp, but a simple bass TONE MACHINE.

Your thoughts?
 
#79
jokerjkny said:
i'm not tom, but while i do play one on tv :p, for the most part, maybe. again, 300 gives peace of mind.

but for my gigs, i can get away w/ 200 watts.
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LOL! :p

I think that a 200w all tube head, that is making the most of all 200 of its watts (good tone at high gain settings), is just enough for most of my gigs. I feel pretty comfortable bringing my SA200 or Quatra Valve to a gig. But, at least IME, the DB 359 leaves me wanting some more volume (but loving the tone!), so I'll sometimes slave a SS amp to drive anothter cab. 300w is a notable increase when it comes to tube amps (again, IME), and I think that if you could offer a 300w head versus a 200w head, you may get bass players reaching for their wallets a good bit faster. :D
 
#80
JacksonAmpworks said:
The 12AX7 has a gain of 100 whereas the 6SL7 has a gain of 70. The 6SL7 has a more broad frequency response, with extended low end. Listening tests confirm this. For my Union Jack amplifier, I chose the 6SL7 as it's extended low end helps to deliver the sound that I'm looking for in that amp. Trust me, if I could find that tone in a 12AX7, I would be using it. The 12AX7 is less expensive, more available and working examples are more readily available. The 6SL7 is available, but I have to buy several at one time in order to sort out the best examples.
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I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't the best tube. I agree that 6SL7's sound better than almost all 12AX7's. I went back to my sources after reading your post and got conflicting gain figures, but RCA's said 70, so I'll take that as gospel. I only posted what I did because I have always heard that the 12AX7. 12AU7, etc evolved as miniaturized versions of the 6SL7, 6SN7, etc, so they had equivalent gain. IME with my B15's, the best sounding 6SL7 is the 6SL7WGT, which is like a 5691 without the hi-fi snob price.

BTW, I'd make the driver a cathode follower for bigger bottom. Ken Gilbert's BAGA uses EL84's in that fashion. I think a tube like a 6V6 or a 6CG7 or even a 12BH7 ala SVT would definitely separate your amp from the pack and make it a LOUD 200 watts. Don't be afraid of toroids either. Aguilar and Koch both use them in their big bass amps and they're fine.

I also would NOT make the amp cathode biased if you're wanting to hit the gigging bass player market. I have a Wizard Bass 500 running six KT90's cathode biased, and while it is VERY loud, its volume is an all or nothing proposition with very little headroom and most bass players aren't going to want constant overdrive all the time. Bass players like clean that can be dirtied up if need be. A Vox AC30 isn't famous for its clean tone... just my 2 cents.
 
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