Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

I think there's a real hole in the market for low wattage highgain channel switching amps.

+1. I bet there's tons of guys like me who don't play out, and would love to have 20 or 30 watt versions of the 100 watters.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

Me too. My '54 Tele through a cranked tweed Fender Deluxe, maybe goosed with a MIJ Boss DS-1, gets me into Led Zep I territory, and even though those tones are now FORTY YEARS OLD (gasp!) that's the heavy benchmark for me.



Lew

I can dig it. I'm currently running a Victoria Double Deluxe with a G2D overdrive and it gets great 'turn of the 70s' heavy rock tones. I plugged it into a G12h30 quad last week too and that pushed it even further towards the classic 70s rock thing. The sag of a tweed fender may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm loving every minute of using mine as a rock amp. Especially considering I bought it for my soul band...

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

I would agree with you on the low wattage high(er) gain amps however...I personally fell that an amp with 4 EL84's is still too much power for most people to really get cooking and I am also of the opinion that the world needs another EL84 powered buzz bix like I need a hole in my head!

You can run 2 EL34's or 6L6's for as low as 20 watts or it could be done with 6V6's...Im just so bruned out on EL84 amps I could throw up but all that said a nice high gain low wattage amp woudl be a great thing for some guys...however even a 20-30 watt amp can be far too loud on top of a 4x12 cab!

Well, the 18w marshall concept is about not really pushing the EL84s into too much discomfort. The problems begin when you try and make four EL84s do 30 watts and still sound like a Marshall...

 

[J Moose]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

I seems like almost every high amp these days comes in 2 sizes...to big and stupid big...Im not sure why but 100+ watts is the "norm" these days. The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to get it so you use the master and gain controls for ALL the crunch and then having 100+ watts still allows for a decent clean tone...

Hear hear!!!

Yah... crack open a JCM900, one of those PV's or something... and they look more like solid-state amps with glowy things then "real" tube amps. IC's and diodes for gain...

Lets face it though, diming an amp in any kinda domestic situation will probably turn that situation into a strained one... Plus I think there's been a real trend since the '80s to have as much preamp gain as divinely possible EVEN IF it's wholly unusable by anyone other then bedroom shreaders.

Headroom has gone out the window too. Too expensive?!

Crappy under regulated power supplies, undersized filter caps & other cheap componments are driving poor old "headroom" outta modern production amps.

It's easier to throw a quad of China born EL34's at it!

Back in the day, I NEVER got the front end gain on my Boogie over the noon mark. Anymore then that and note definition went out the window... I also yanked a pair of 6L6's from the rectumfryer and ran it as a 50 watt head.

Still sounded a bit "small" next to a lot of other amps. But oh man was it EVER versatile!

I'd love to see a 25 watt Bogner or some other gain machine that runs on EL34's or something...

TGWIF ~ I'm with you on the EL84's. There's enough of 'em out there already and I don't think the voicing of those tubes are all that hip for 'gained out' rock anyway...

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

For me, I like the Mark III and Mark IV Boogies. The Mark IV just has some tremendous flexibility in the power amp section. There's a big learning curve on this amp, but I think its work the time. Since I do Classic Rock, Country, Blues, Jazz--all kinds of stuff with my band--I LOVE the versatility.

I also have a Maverick 212, and it has been a real treat playing on this amp. Class A, and 30 watts--it responds very differently than the Mark Series amps. It's certainly loud enough for most of the things I do with my band. It doesn't have as much gain on the LEAD channel as the Marks--but it is plenty for me.

And for jams--I have a DC-3. This is 35 watts and sounds more like 70. A very dynamic amp, it has the clean channel preamp from the Mark IV and the Dual Rectifier's Lead Channel. When push came to shove, I sold my 1965 BFDR and kept the DC-3. Yes, I think the DC-3 is THAT good--and no regrets, either.

And while I love the Boogies' singing lead tones, I usually have my LEAD GAIN below 7 on the dial. I don't like it too fuzzy-buzzy--I want it to sing. I think a lot of players play with way too much buzz and distortion. It gets tiring to listen to. You have to learn that, what sounds great while noodling in your bedroom may not sound the best on stage.

Now, one of my favorite amps of all time--the Fender Super Champ. I may have to take a look at one of the Rivera Chubster/Pubster/Clubsters to see if there's a hole in my amp stable that needs filling.

Bill

 

[Mephis]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

Then it's the wrong amp to buy in the first place...

Not when it has a usable volume knob...

I think a lot of people here forget that most of these 100watt high gain amps get their distortion from the preamp. Yes, having the power amp cooking does tighten and open up the tone but it's not noticable to a non-guitar player.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

I keep coming back to two 6L6's or two 6V6's.

Loved my Matchless SC-30 with four EL-84's...but now never play it.

Loved my Matchless Chieftan with EL-34's...but now never play it.

Loved my '70 Marshall 50 watt with two EL-34's...but sold it. Guess why? Yep: I never played it.

I play my tweed Fender Super with two 6L6's and my Fender Deluxe and Deluxe Reverb amps with two 6V6's...for me, those tubes are where it's at.

Anything else I might like at first but eventually I get tired of.

Lew your just an old school Fender amp guy, and I can't say that I blame you a bit. Great amps.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Heard the Peavey Satriani amp the other night...

Modern high gain amps are all about creating the sound in the preamp, and having the power amp faithfully (umm tightly) make that sound a little or a lot louder. But the sound from the pre-amp remaines the same.

It''s fundamentally different from the classic tube amps, were you have pushed output tubes, an output transformer, and the speakers, working together in a dynamic fashion. It's a big sound that resonds to the players touch better. Modern amps don't have it.

The fact is that a big power amp just barely ticking over is a small sound. Most of the modern amps just get more compressed instead of sounding bigger as they turn up too.