What amps have a tube power section and solid state preamp section?

[KJung]

The 100-B was the last one they made (in 1982), and it's companion was the all-solid state 120-B. The HD130 and 150 were '70's heads, and IIRC, they had both guitar and bass versions, sort of like Ampeg had the V9, which was the guitar verion of the SVT.

Ah, never heard of the 100-B. I enjoyed the HD130 that I had way back when (even back then I as a gear head, and put in a pre order, so had one very early one). Compared to other amps at the time, they were relatively small, relatively loud, and quite warm. They were also VERY well made. I remember them having a very good quality feel. They looked similar to the Bassman head, but were about twice as loud and punchy.

Then GK came out with the 400RB, and that was that!

 

[JTE]

There was also the 65 watt head, just like the HD-130 but half the power. And the "bass" channel was designed for "bass heavy instruments' and less low end response. I think it was made to try to make a Gibson "mudbucker" come through better.

The HD-130 and 65 both had two channels (no switching), with volume, bass, mid, and treble controls and a bright switch. THere was a master volume, a master "deep" switch, and they could be set to run at half power (more useful for guitar players going for power amp saturation than for bass players). Like KJung says, they were incredibly well made amps! Big oversized transformers, steel chassis that were nickle plated, some of the tidiest wiring and soldering I've ever seen, and solidly built cabinets.

jte

 

[seamonkey]

I don't think you need a big tube power amp. Just a small one. Many 5 watter's available. Run this to a speaker or dummy load and there to a DI to a big pro-sound quality solid-state power amp. You'll have many options.

 

[Bassenstien]

Both of the heads that I run in my live setup have a SS pre and a tube power. I have a '75 Peavey Roadmaster 200W that has a SS pre and a 4x6550 power section and I have an Earth Sound Research Revival guitar head for my effects side that has a SS pre and a 4x6l6 power section.

 

[Martin Beer]

There was also the Dynacord Bass King T from the late 60's/early 70's. Transistor pre, 12ax7 phase splitter and 2xEL34 power amp. I've got one lying around. It seems to combine the hiss and nastiness of early transistor amps with the weight of a valve amp!

 

[Stompin Tom]

I don't have any suggestions as far as heads go... though I think it's an excellent idea.

Don't tell anyone, but I also play guitar (gasp)... and if you ask gear-headed guitarists, many will tell you that there's magic in a tube power amp that's being pushed. The sag, gentle distortion, and natural compression from a tube power amp cannot be emulated by a tube pre. As both a bass player and a guitarist I'm not really into preamp distortion (though some pres sound better than others, of course)... That's why some guitarists out there (like myself) really like small tube amps like the fender champ, etc. If you're using a hundred watt head for guitar you have to really be loud to warm up the power amp section.

In any case, my favorite bass rig involved running the preamp out of my crappy ss ampeg combo into my monster univox tube guitar head. Just the right mix of focus, warmth, and natural, glorious compression for the heavy band I was in. I could also see the ss pre and tube power combo working great for clean but warm tones.

 

[danomite64]

I don't have any suggestions as far as heads go... though I think it's an excellent idea.

Don't tell anyone, but I also play guitar (gasp)... and if you ask gear-headed guitarists, many will tell you that there's magic in a tube power amp that's being pushed. The sag, gentle distortion, and natural compression from a tube power amp cannot be emulated by a tube pre.

I agree completely. I've tried modern hybrids with tube pre's and SS power sections, and haven't liked them nearly as much as the Musicman heads with SS pre's and tube power sections. Here's the Musicman bass heads that I know of:

The 75 and HD-150 are improved 65 and 130 amps. The 100-B used 2 6L6 tubes and had a 5 band eq section.

 

[fireincairo]

I've been a guitarist for most of my life, and have always searched for those nice crunch tones from preamps. I realized early on that my Marshall JMP could also manage some fantastic clean tones. However, with the bass frequencies, it may be harder to manage those clean tones with the volume cranked up.

I'm betting a company would do well to issue an amp that has this configuration.

 

[Stompin Tom]

I'm familiar with the musicman guitar amps, but I didn't know they made bass heads, too. I really want to try one out!

 

[ezstep]

HD150 - my main amp for about 18 years.

Used it on top of a Peavey 4x10 and LabSeries 1x15 for a long time (with a passive crossover), then switched to a single 2x15 Peavey for about ten more years. I wish I had it back.

 

[Jerrold Tiers]

The Deuce and one or two other Peavey amps didn't really have a tube power section, it was "hybrid". On several, the phase splitter was SS, and the only tubes were the outputs.

Yeah, a fussy fact, but.......

I think some other amps were made with SS and tube reversed from what is common now.... Possibly Tusc, or Legend. I think one of those was SS power, I remember a funny-looking heatsink setup, but the other may have been tube.

 

[barroso]

I am not a technician, but I suspect that in the '60s Italian company Eko pioneered this solution of a SS preamp in a tube poweramp. I have 2 Eko heads (Herald III bass & Herald VI bass) which should use this configuration.

 

[dave_kts]

I played my bass through my friends musicman 112rd 65 combo guitar amp and loved it. pushed my 410 cab loud enough for band practice, cut through better than my 1400 watt PA setup. very nice mids, clean, compressed tone, but you could tell the eq wasn't set up for bass. maybe if you put a parametric eq in with it... i would have loved to keep playing through it, but he was selling it. had the FET transistor pre pushing only two 6l6's, very suprised how nice it sounded.

 

[Spray Ndanus]

All musicman amps to my knowledge are excellent bass amps. I've got a RP65 which runs through one of the old 210 ported cabs musicman made. It sounds great in the rehearsal room, would probably do a small gig easily. They're really loud 65watts.

Also the SS pre's are superb. Real audiophile design with top circuitry.

I've got a 210 sixty five which I bought in 2002 randomly, didn't know anything about them but I'll never get rid of that amp. Recently modded it with kt88's and it's incredible.