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Which all tube head??

#21
eyeballkid said:
Fender 300 pro buries any tube amp for clean volume, has tone for days and with the blendable over drive channel has made my fuzz pedals obsolete! On the fender 810 it is glory personified.

Btw... the 215 cab, if it's the older tall one is your weak link in both volume and low end. If its the cab I'm thinking of, that design was low end deficient and farted out easily.
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I think two of the newer Fender Pro Neo 1x15 cabs brings home the bacon with good clean tone. I agree, the old 2x15 cabs from the 1970's were poorly designed and couldn't handle much power. Just my opinion. I'm running a 1978 Fender Bassman 135 with two of the Pro Neo 1x15 cabs and it's clean all the way up to the highest volume I can stand.

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#23
Yango said:
How about either of these?

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Strategy was on my list of recommendations. I think it would be better than the Prodigy for the OP's purposes, partly due to more power, and also partly because it has a less "sparkly" top end, and so maybe would get along better with fuzz pedals (not that the Prodigy can't be used with a fuzz pedal, just that I tend to prefer a little less "glassiness" from the amp if I'm going to be using one, as too much sizzling high end can sound harsh with the fuzz on).
 
#28
Just throwing this out there. You may want to look at the Jule Monique 700 Tardis. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] It is not cheap, or all tube, but will give you what you are looking for in spades.

It is hand built with a point to point all tube pre into a 700watt Hypex amp that has a 1200 watt power supply. It weighs like 14 pounds. It is louder than any of the 1000 watt amps I have ever had. It is so deep and full, yet balanced all the way across. Feels bottomless IMHO.
 
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#29
Find yourself an old Mesa Boogie D180, I had one with the Boogie 215 cab, and our sound man didn't have to bring me into the mix until the third set... Also you may find with that hot tube tone the fuzz and distortion boxes may go too, I know mine did.
 
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#31
I'd say Ampeg SVT.
Either a CL, or an used SVT II (Pro). I got myself a SVT II Pro Premiere Edition some months ago, and if one doesn't use the graphic EQ, there are only tubes working (in total 8 for the preamp section!!!)!
It's insanely loud, has many nice and useful features, and delivers that classic bass tone! I simply love it!
 
#32
There are, thankfully, still a number of great options for all tube heads, even looking at current production, only. Ampeg soldiers on with the SVT in multiple guises, and they are all worthy of consideration (I'd opt for a Heritage SVT-CL, personally, but a VR or CL would also do nicely). I am a big fan of the Reeves C225, and I can only imagine what the C400 would bring. Fender really impressed me with the Invalid Link Removed, and I have recommended that to a lot of folks. There really isn't much it can't do and do well. Likewise, the new Invalid Link Removed heads are just excellent. They are very tonally flexible, and their burst power is amazing. The Invalid Link Removed is very compelling for some (myself included), but doesn't pack as much clean headroom as some of the others mentioned, here.

In the discontinued camp, I can personally vouch for the Peavey Classic 400, Trace Elliot V8, Trace Elliot VA400 as having gobs of headroom and killer tone. My favorite tube bass tone would still be the Sadowsky SA200, and with the right cabs, it can cover about any gig that I might play, though again, it does not have as much headroom as some of the other heads.
 
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#37
JackRobertEvans said:
i'm currently using a GK backline 600 (300 watts) with my extra braced and lovely eminence's in Fender Bassman ported 2x15 bass cab.
I love the sound however I want A LOT more headroom and low end.

I've been looking at Ampeg SVT VR, Fender Super Bassman, Orange ADB, Matamp GT200 etc...

I want massive volume, power and low end. As much headroom as possible as i'm using very high output fuzz pedals.

I'd also love to add an 8x10 to the set-up too.

Thoughts??
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If you like the tone you have now and want more headroom and low end, a tube head isn't going to get you there. Generally, tube heads have lower headroom due to their lower power output and less low end due to the tendencie of the OT to act as a high pass filter.

What I would recommend is upgrading your GK Backline 600 to a 1001RB, 700RB, 550 Fusion, MBF500, MB800, or MBF800. You all ready like the GK tone, any of those will give you more of it. That should cover your desire for more headroom.

For the low end, I'd recommend upgrading your cab to two GK212 Neos. That way, you have modularity as well as insanely loud lows. Alternatively, you could look at any of Greenboy's speakers.

Probably not the answer you want, but it will get you where you want to go.
 
#39
cfsporn said:
If you like the tone you have now and want more headroom and low end, a tube head isn't going to get you there. Generally, tube heads have lower headroom due to their lower power output and less low end due to the tendencie of the OT to act as a high pass filter.

What I would recommend is upgrading your GK Backline 600 to a 1001RB, 700RB, 550 Fusion, MBF500, MB800, or MBF800. You all ready like the GK tone, any of those will give you more of it. That should cover your desire for more headroom.

For the low end, I'd recommend upgrading your cab to two GK212 Neos. That way, you have modularity as well as insanely loud lows. Alternatively, you could look at any of Greenboy's speakers.

Probably not the answer you want, but it will get you where you want to go.
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I kind of agree with this. If you like the GK tone, but want more with it, there are a good number of bigger/badder GK options that will give you what you want (more low end and headroom). GK just doesn't sound very tube-like to me - it's a classic solid state sound. Even the Fusion 550, which I had for a while had a bit of tube grind in that pre and a little color - but was still GK all the way, to me. Headroom for days with that amp and the low end really slams hard (although I was used to using a more mid-focused Thunderfunk at the time). Hard to believe that amp was just 550 watts. And also agree on the GK212 cabs - they are really impressive and will make a huge difference in what you get out of your rig.

That said, maybe you'd prefer the tone and feel of an all tube rig. If so, you've got lots of good suggestions in this thread. I guess where I may disagree with cfsporn is on the headroom and low end all tube rigs put out. I'm certainly no expert and no engineer. But, I'll tell you that I can't imagine needing any more headroom or low end than a 300W tube head puts out into relatively big cabs (I use 2 212s). Played mine in a decent sized room with a fairly loud rock band recently - that rig ate it up and was asking for more. Heck, I felt it was just starting to really open up. Big, fat, warm, loud rock goodness had particles falling from the ceiling.

GK stuff sounds really good, but I MUCH prefer all tube...
 
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#40
dtrmn8r said:
Find yourself an old Mesa Boogie D180, I had one with the Boogie 215 cab, and our sound man didn't have to bring me into the mix until the third set... Also you may find with that hot tube tone the fuzz and distortion boxes may go too, I know mine did.
Click to expand...
That's been my experience. Not clean, but a glorious kind of dirty, and loud as hell. I have no need for a pedal for my regular overdrive sound.

tombowlus said:
There are, thankfully, still a number of great options for all tube heads, even looking at current production, only. Ampeg soldiers on with the SVT in multiple guises, and they are all worthy of consideration (I'd opt for a Heritage SVT-CL, personally, but a VR or CL would also do nicely). I am a big fan of the Reeves C225, and I can only imagine what the C400 would bring. Fender really impressed me with the Invalid Link Removed, and I have recommended that to a lot of folks. There really isn't much it can't do and do well. Likewise, the new Invalid Link Removed heads are just excellent. They are very tonally flexible, and their burst power is amazing. The Invalid Link Removed is very compelling for some (myself included), but doesn't pack as much clean headroom as some of the others mentioned, here.

In the discontinued camp, I can personally vouch for the Peavey Classic 400, Trace Elliot V8, Trace Elliot VA400 as having gobs of headroom and killer tone. My favorite tube bass tone would still be the Sadowsky SA200, and with the right cabs, it can cover about any gig that I might play, though again, it does not have as much headroom as some of the other heads.
Click to expand...
^^^OP, you should listen to this guy.

Tons of experience comparing different amps, there.
 
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