Played a bunch of tube amps today........

[SoCalSteve]

Fenders, Mesa's, Marshall. Crate V-Series and they all had one thing in common - sounded awesome at high volume and not so good at very low volume. I guess I'll be looking at solid state for low level at home use - unless you guys know of some other options that I don't know of.

Do these small 5 watters like the Bad Cat and others sound good or should I go SS?

Steve

 

[brisk]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

5 watt tube would be as loud as 20W solid state amp. SS amps sounds ok at a lower volume. lower wattage tube amps usually don't have the full option (missing middle knob or no reverb, no FX loop ...)

 

[RiffRaff]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Even the little badcat 5 watters are pretty loud, but they do break up nicely at a reasonable volume - I played through a little gibson 5 watt class A amp at GC a couple of weeks back and it sounded pretty good, they were under four bills new. I think for true bedroom level playing an amp like a zvex nano amp (1/2 watt) into a single 12 cabinet would work pretty well - but those little things run over four hundred new!

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

what type of music do you play?

-Mike

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Did you play a mesa f-30? those are great at low volumes and.......
when







































CRANKED!!!

and if you would rather have 6l6's instead of the okay el84's the f-50 is probalby as good.

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

what type of music do you play?

-Mike

+1

even though this is a great question i still think the mesa f series is pretty versitle.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

+1

even though this is a great question i still think the mesa f series is pretty versitle.

Classic rock hard rock.

I played the Rectoverb and the Lonestar Special. I guess my 43 year old ears prefer the Fender, Marshall tones that I grew up on.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Even the little badcat 5 watters are pretty loud, but they do break up nicely at a reasonable volume - I played through a little gibson 5 watt class A amp at GC a couple of weeks back and it sounded pretty good, they were under four bills new. I think for true bedroom level playing an amp like a zvex nano amp (1/2 watt) into a single 12 cabinet would work pretty well - but those little things run over four hundred new!

I'll have to look into some of the 5 watters. The zvex nano wouldn't necessarily be ruled out. I've got a V12 that just needs a cab. But would a 12" speaker still need to be loud to sound good?

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

What do you have for a price range? Did you dry any of the marshall jcm2000 series amps???

 

[Gamera]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

It sounds to me like you really want someone to justify your purchase of a solid state amp in this world of "if it ain't tubes it ain't shiite" world.

If that's the case, buy yourself a nice SS Fender amp. Awesome cleans. Especially with that Strat of yours, it'll feel right at home. I have a Fender Stage 160 (I think it's called the 1600 now) that sounds fantastic. It can get vary, very loud for band practice and live situations if it's mic'ed. And if you're jamming alone it can sound great at any volume. Although I have to warn you the 160 doesn't get very quiet -- average conversation volume is as low as it gets. But it always sounds great.

 

[BigBazz]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

I had a Jcm800 preamp hotrodded for more gain slapped onto a 10w 6L6 poweramp (boutique thing) it cost me £250 (about $420), sounds absolutly amazing at even the lowest of volumes, the cleans are amazing, distortion is amazing and it can go really loud. any good amp tech should be able to build you something like this, or small boutique companies, and they sound 10 times better than any solid state amp, and mostly any amp to be honest. otherwise try a good valve amp with a power break

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Steve,

After reading a bunch of your posts, I would recommend that you check out the Line 6 SS stuff. They will get the tones that I think that you're going after, and they'll do it at low volumes. Most of the tube guys, myself included, have a mental block when it comes to the modeling amps. Don't let that influence your decision. You can freakin' scream at low volumes with the modeling stuff, and I think that you would be happy with your purchase.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Steve,

After reading a bunch of your posts, I would recommend that you check out the Line 6 SS stuff. They will get the tones that I think that you're going after, and they'll do it at low volumes. Most of the tube guys, myself included, have a mental block when it comes to the modeling amps. Don't let that influence your decision. You can freakin' scream at low volumes with the modeling stuff, and I think that you would be happy with your purchase.

Guitar World had a glowing review of the new Spider II's and the soundclips at the Line 6 sight sounded pretty darn good. I actually had a POD XT Live and could not believe how great that thing sounded with the headphones on - just like listening to a cd. Maybe that was the problem with the XTL going through the Atomic - after hearing it through headphones there was just no way to reproduce that.

Your advice is well taken.
Steve

 

[Stratcat]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

I highly recommened the 5 watt Bad Cat Mini Cat all tube amp.
It also has a headphone jack.

 

[7th Hell]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

I'll say this again- I was at Guitar Center one time, and I was trying out that tiny Line 6 Spider II 15 watter. I had it on the "insane" distortion setting, and the volume was almost pegged. That little guy killed! When I ran through all my Lynch-Licks, a lot of guys came up around me, not believing that all that sound was coming out of a 15 watt 8" speaker! I say, if you're just looking for a practice amp, you cannot go wrong with the $160 Line 6 Spider II 15!

Funny- I also tried out the bigger Spider II 30 watter with 12" Celestion, and it didn't sound as good. Go figure...

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

I tried one of the newer Spider IIs at GC and to my ears it was one of the best amps there. There was a British channel that copped really great Marshall tone at low volumes, but the cleans were a bit sterile and dry for my taste.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

If you're going Line 6 don't mess with the spider series. They are pretty much aimed at the teenage market. Get at least a Flextone III, prices are good too. It sounds a lot better and you'll have a lot more sounds at your disposal.

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

Alright, let me say my piece to satisfy my own love of tubes.

I think that it's an application thing. Tubes react differently when you're playing at performance volumes and get tones that you just can't get any other way. I agree that the modeling amps get close, but they just don't react the same way as the amp climbs up in drive to both the preamp and power amp. And then there's the variation of drive coming from each place, the preamp or the power amp. That's the voodoo for me, the way that the tubes change in feel as you change the volume and the amounts of drive in the preamp and power amp stages.

The modeling amps don't do that, they just reproduce the tone that they're programmed with. It doesn't matter, though, if you play at lower volumes and have a variety of modeled tones to choose from.

It's not like one is good and one is bad, they both have their place. It depends on the ears of the player who's playing them and the situation that he is in the majority of the time. In this case, I think that Steve would be best served by a modeling amp.

Thanks for letting me make my case for each.

Rob

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

I'm like Rob, I really like the interaction of pre and power amps. When you really dig into them they really come through for you. All that said, I was toying with the idea of buying a used pod for playing at the house. My amp needs to have a little breathing room to sound truly great. But it's enough to run the neighbors out of the apartment building and my amp is only 18 watts!!

Luke

 

[shreder75]

Re: Played a bunch of tube amps today........

all depends on the ears...I have a line 6 vetta 2 and I just bought a b-52 at-100..cause it TEARS...even on lower volumes is sounds good...really good punchy hollow log sound...notes jump off the neck...and I haven't even cranked it up yet...it's got a very early VH tone to it (at least, thats' what I've gotten out of it thus far)..

both may be a little more than what you're looking to spend..but for me as far as tube amps go, you can't beat the AT-100 for the price/options you get with it..it sounds better than any Mesa amp I've plugged into..and it even sounds better than the VHT pittbull I plugged into at nearly a third of the price...

I like my vetta..don't get me wrong..but there's just some allusive sound that I just can't get with teh thing, no matter what I try..and with a little tweaking, I got it right away with my tube amp...I can't wait to crank it and gig/record with it =D

oh, another option..a buddy of mine played through a smaller berringer amp..it was less than three hundred semolians..and the sound really impressed me..could go that route as well...