Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

re soldano astroverb: out of my price range, no fx loop, no power scaling, single channel. nope.

No hate for traynors, they're fine for lower gain and medium gain sounds but definitely not for really high gain. I hope to never use pedals for metal distortion ever. Just doesn't have the same oomph, growl and character as tubey distortion.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I hear ya natural tube distortion has that oomph! well sorry I could not help I was thinking the Soldano because I tried the combo of it and it RIPPED with a Pawn Shop Fender mustang special.. I could tell immediately it would sound killer with a band and cut through nicely but damn are they pricey

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I don't see much about these, but some of the sound clips sound pretty good to me. Apparently Tony Krank moved from Krank to branch out a bit and create Stiff Amps. The price doesn't look too bad, anyway.a

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Is all tube a must or would you give SS a chance if the amp was what you want?

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I don't see much about these, but some of the sound clips sound pretty good to me. Apparently Tony Krank moved from Krank to branch out a bit and create Stiff Amps. The price doesn't look too bad, anyway.a

Oh lord...methinks he has some sort of hidden obsession with phalluses. I'll look into them some more though. thanks for the suggestion!

Is all tube a must or would you give SS a chance if the amp was what you want?

All tube is a must. I've just gotten used to the sensitivity and immediacy that comes with playing a tube amp. SS amps just feel like playing Unreal tournament with massive amounts of lag now (I'm dating myself here but I don't care, UT was awesome).

 

[everdrone]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I looking for a smallish lunchbox sorta amp, that is giggable but still cutesy enough to play at apartment volumes.
!

I have lived in many apartments, and you really cannot play a tube amp at any sort of apartment volume. not even if it is less than 1 watt. my epiphone valve junior combo with an 8" speaker was a total letdown, I cant even use it on less than 1 on the volume. so I recommend modelers!

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I refuse your reality and instead substitute my own.

Right now with my Jet city, I can only turn it up to a max of 1.5 (or 2 if I use a 12au7 in the PI), but it's loud enough to hear an inkling of the roar that follows when the volume is turned up to 3 or 4. I haven't had any complaints from neighbors. The room it's is is also partially acoustically treated so that tends to cut out some of the sound-to-wall transference but yeah, if I can do that with a 100W, I should be able to do it with a 15w scaled down to 2 or 1W no problem.

I don't need to dime the volumes on any of the lunchboxes, just get it loud enough to get the power section groovin', that's all.

 

[everdrone]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

lol

you are set in your ways, and they have worked so far! I would go with a 1/4 watt if I were you, like a blackstar 1/4 watter, or blackheart killer ant.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Ah...well they still are fairly straight forward but i just don't see the point of getting a low wattage amp and an attenuator when its power can already be scaled down (sorta acting like a built in attenuator). As for using an attenuator with a high powered head....I just don't ever need that much power, that's why I'm getting rid of my Jet City in the first place. It never gets turned up to the point of roaring anymore.

But with an attenuator (on the 100w), can't you crank the head and just back it off with that?

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

This Russkie doesn't make this amp sound too bad.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

lol

you are set in your ways, and they have worked so far! I would go with a 1/4 watt if I were you, like a blackstar 1/4 watter, or blackheart killer ant.

Except that 1/4W probably wouldn't be enough to keep up with a full band. With a 15W scaled down to 1 or 2W, I should be able to get the power section groovin' before terrifying the neighbors, and i can scale it up to full power when I gig. best of both worlds!

But with an attenuator (on the 100w), can't you crank the head and just back it off with that?

aye, I could. But then I'd have to keep the half stack and I don't really wanna. I've had my fill of the Jet City. Nice amp, but I'm ready for some change. Plus, putting an attenuator on the 100W amp doesn't make my rig any smaller, which kinda defeats the purpose of wanting to downsize.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

hrmmmmm

 

[DankStar]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

when uberdude mentioned the ironheart in another thread up popped the studio version in my search - holy crap that looks cool. someone mention that already?

http://www.laney.co.uk/products/product_details/156

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

oooooooooooh interesting!!!!!!

I wasn't even looking at that cuz it's a rack unit but i'll be damned, that looks like a real nice package. the Ironheart 15W head was a writeoff cuz of the single channel, but this is QUITE different...I like that it has active tone stacks.

The only other Laney I've played is a VH100R and while it's a nice amp, I find it voiced a bit too dark for my personal preference.

Watching some demos on the Ironheart studio right now.....seems like it's capable of quite a lot of brutality but also some nice lower gain tones. Voicing is still kinda dark, but maybe that's a Laney thing.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

K, I am suitably impressed. Adding the Ironheart Studio to the shortlist.

so now it includes:

- Randall RD20H
- H&K Tubemeister
- Engl Gigmaster
- Hayden Mofo15
- Laboga The Beast
- Laney Ironheart studio

I'm hesitant about adding the Stiff fistpump or dirthead although both sound great, mostly because I'm concerned about the company itself. I don't know how or why Krank went belly up, but from the looks of the Stiff website, I'm not even sure how long they'll be around, whether or not service issues will arise and be dealt with swiftly etc... It's more of a gamble than going with any of these other companies if something goes wrong down the line. Hayden is part of Ashdown and I know Ashdown has been around for quite a while so I'm not worried about that, and Laboga has also been around for a significant amount of time, at least enough to build a really great reputation. Let's just say that the list is the starting lineup and the Stiff amps are benched for now.

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

K, I am suitably impressed. Adding the Ironheart Studio to the shortlist.

so now it includes:

- Randall RD20H
- H&K Tubemeister
- Engl Gigmaster
- Hayden Mofo15
- Laboga The Beast
- Laney Ironheart studio

I'm hesitant about adding the Stiff fistpump or dirthead although both sound great, mostly because I'm concerned about the company itself. I don't know how or why Krank went belly up, but from the looks of the Stiff website, I'm not even sure how long they'll be around, whether or not service issues will arise and be dealt with swiftly etc... It's more of a gamble than going with any of these other companies if something goes wrong down the line. Hayden is part of Ashdown and I know Ashdown has been around for quite a while so I'm not worried about that, and Laboga has also been around for a significant amount of time, at least enough to build a really great reputation. Let's just say that the list is the starting lineup and the Stiff amps are benched for now.

Krank went belly up because, well, it's Krank. I don't think a lot of people gave them too much credit past the Dimebag deal. Some of their stuff is half-decent, but really that's all. Mostly, their parent company was actually the water dept. for whatever state/town they were based from, and they just decided to drop funding.

So.....I would have said Mini Recto, but you're not keen on Rectos. The Dark Terror is really sweet and has a really nice FX loop, but it's not 2 channel. The TH30 is ESSENTIALLY a 2 channel, 30w Dark Terror from what I can tell, but out of your $$ range. I THOUGHT I had seen some for less than $1000, though. The Ironheart Studio actually looks really cool, might be your ticket. Express 5:25 would be pretty good. There is a new Express series out, though I don't know how they are priced. Comes with a graphic EQ, now and supposedly closer to the Mark-style tones.

 

[vinta9e]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Nobody really plays or wants a Laboga in their homeland. There's even been signature models that the signers themselves didn't want to play. Right here, where people know the man behind the name, his reputation runs down the drain.
All tube high gain with two 12ax7s? Forget it, it's a scam. You need one more double triode as a phase inverter, or use a transistor and call it an "all tube preamp", hahaha.
Go figure the Soldano Avenger has four double triodes, and that is the most basic amp of this type, and a kind of starting point for modern high gain. Tricked out Marshalls do away with four stages (two 12ax7 plus one for the PI) but they are nowhere near as saturated as the soldano, but still enough for high output passive pickups.

Now while I'm at it. Power tubes are not meant to be clipping in a high gain amp. What you are hearing first is the phase inverter clipping, so a PPIMV layout gives you most of the saturation at lower SPL. Noticeable power tube distortion starts occuring more or less in the last third or quarter of the master volume scale and actually needs to be kept in check, or your sound will lose definition.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Nobody really plays or wants a Laboga in their homeland. There's even been signature models that the signers themselves didn't want to play. Right here, where people know the man behind the name, his reputation runs down the drain.
All tube high gain with two 12ax7s? Forget it, it's a scam. You need one more double triode as a phase inverter, or use a transistor and call it an "all tube preamp", hahaha.
Go figure the Soldano Avenger has four double triodes, and that is the most basic amp of this type, and a kind of starting point for modern high gain. Tricked out Marshalls do away with four stages (two 12ax7 plus one for the PI) but they are nowhere near as saturated as the soldano, but still enough for high output passive pickups.

Now while I'm at it. Power tubes are not meant to be clipping in a high gain amp. What you are hearing first is the phase inverter clipping, so a PPIMV layout gives you most of the saturation at lower SPL. Noticeable power tube distortion starts occuring more or less in the last third or quarter of the master volume scale and actually needs to be kept in check, or your sound will lose definition.

You do realize that the soldano OD circuit gets its gain from only two preamp tubes right? Only V1 and V2 are used for gain stages. V3 is the FX loop driver, and V3 drives the tone stack, V5 is the PI.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

In other news, I made this:

Winner: Laney Ironheart Studio!

 

[DankStar]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

wow, that's a spreadsheet