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Why aren't you using tube amps?

#81
The first factor is weight\size. I can wear my Mesa D800 around my neck. That is pretty hard to beat.
There is a cost issue as well. Something like a Traynor is comparatively cheap, and the Ampeg V4B isn't too bad. The "real" stuff is up around $2k and I can't swing that.

Edit: Also, I'm a guy that isn't afraid of knobs or buttons. I like features. I like a complex EQ with tonal options.
I like not having to worry about impedance.
I like that SS class D heads require virtually no maintenance.
Then there is that they are easier to ship if you buy a used on online or sell it online.
 
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#82
IMG_0799.JPG
I use one when load in permits. ... that's not often usually it's a block roll in from a downtown parking garage, that's when the new light weight stuff gets used and it is a compromise.
 
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#83
Too heavy.
Used a Model T 1979 to 1984, 100+ gigs per year.
Don’t miss it. I love the new light stuff.
Tone hammer pedal in front when necessary,
which is not often for the stuff I mostly play.
 
#84
Weight SVT 95lbs (Sits in basement) My Shuttle 6.0 or SVT IIP thru a VTRack or VT Deluxe is close enough to not carry the SVT. My giggin rig weighs less in total than the SVT Head , Rack and 2 cabs nice and easy to move with a cart.

I have A/B'd the SVT against this setup and its too close to call, does the SVT win yes, but not the extra weight and don't forget the house payments to re-tube. (And I'm the only one that notices and it doesn't bother me)
View media item 16212
 
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#86
I could handle the cost, weight, inconvenience associated with maintenance/servicing, etc., but why when for most everything I do a SS or hybrid rig makes all those issues go away and doesn't make a difference to 99% of the audience or anyone in the band (including me). FWIW I said "doesn't make a difference to 99% of the audience" fully recognizing that there could be a few tube fanatics out there that just can't let go! :)
 
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#88
Based on the Traynor YBA300 I had:

Because: Clean power.
Because: I never trusted that t00b thingy! Every time I turned it on it sounded different though no knob was touched. I did not like the over-carefulness necessary to haul the thing about
Because: For two times re-t00bing I could have bought a new one (let alone a lot of other amps)
Because: Weired form factor (mostly, them Mesa's (and a few others) are 19inch, which is cool)
Because: People tend to listen with their eyes and, even worse, wallets. They see some t00bs glimming and feel enclined to touch everything

Because: It never made much of a difference to me. Some people say they can hear the difference. I believe this to be true in studio environments, but not in a bar at 2o'clock in the morning at gig-volume of a metal band. No! freaking! way!
 
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#93
vbchaos said:
Based on the Traynor YBA300 I had:

Because: Clean power.
Because: I never trusted that t00b thingy! Every time I turned it on it sounded different though no knob was touched. I did not like the over-carefulness necessary to haul the thing about
Because: For two times re-t00bing I could have bought a new one (let alone a lot of other amps)
Because: Weired form factor (mostly, them Mesa's (and a few others) are 19inch, which is cool)
Because: People tend to listen with their eyes and, even worse, wallets. They see some t00bs glimming and feel enclined to touch everything

Because: It never made much of a difference to me. Some people say they can hear the difference. I believe this to be true in studio environments, but not in a bar at 2o'clock in the morning at gig-volume of a metal band. No! freaking! way!
Click to expand...
^^THAT^^
So damn true and so much my point of view! Especially the "People tend to listen with their eyes and, even worse, wallets"
 
#95
IME tubes have gotten both more expensive and crappier (at least the cheap ones) in my lifetime. Tubes I really want to hear are cost prohibitive.
I'm a professional, and have had several occasions where the tubes failed noisily at very bad times- like with orchestras or opera/musical pit gigs- where silence on stage is mandatory.
 
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#96
Because at both the "small combo" and "large outdoor rig" levels, I've gotten to do side-by-side comparisons of tubes vs. SS and the tubes sounded great - but not great enough to justify the damage to back and wallet, and in some cases, not even better than a cheap alternative.
 
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#97
Ι have a class D which is nice enough with 250watts (ΕΒS Reidmar) and light enough to through it in a backpack and survive to tell the tale, but it could be lighter (e.g. mesa , or GK amps)

Did i mention that it cost me 350 euros ?

I leave heavy amps and tubes to the rehearsal studios and the live PA my bass is pretty happy with the class D.
 
#100
Simply...tone.

I love tube amps and have gigged them often, but the tone I've been chasing for the last several years is more easily found via solid-state power sections.

Right before I went to SS amps, I was gigging with a Peavey Classic 400 -- 95 lbs. of wildly impractical bada$$ery.
But then I started listening to a lot of Shellac, and Jesus Lizard..and I fell for that hard, crunchy immediate sound of SS -- so I gigged a GK 700RB-II for the last 3 years.

Just recently, I got a GK Fusion 550 -- which marries a bit more "tubey" of a front end with the quickness and impact of the GK power section. It's everything I want in an amp...for now...but there's no guarantee that my tastes (and hearing) won't continue to shift -- in fact, it's pretty much inevitable.
 
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