Author Topic: Advice on affordable tube amp,,,, (Read 211 times)

jerryme · « **Reply #15 on:** April 27, 2009, 04:02:51 PM »

I do check out harmony-central, though I like talking with people on this forum b/c imho if you are shelling out tens of thousands of the best guitars and basses in the world you take a little more care about what you use.
As far as the 100 watt question, maybe your correct, though I have always liked the 50/100 or 60/100 switch capability. I will look into this a little more. Colin

crobbins · « **Reply #16 on:** April 27, 2009, 05:31:40 PM »

I play my Tribute through my Boogie amps all the time, no problems, sounds great.....

tom_z · « **Reply #17 on:** April 27, 2009, 08:49:04 PM »

My skylark sounds fantastic through my Mesa Lonestar combo. I like to run the skylark through the Mesa and an old bandmaster head and 2x12 cab simultaneously when I have the space.

The Lonestar is 2 channel (though I really only use the clean); switchable 50 watts (2 6L6s) or 100 watts (46L6s); switchable tube or SS rectifier; and a really nice sounding spring reverb. Plenty of clean headroom even with 50 watts and the tube rectifier. A really versatile amp. After a quick look at ebay, it looks like they're holding their value pretty well, but you may be able to snag a used one under 1K.

Why especially are you only interested in 100 watt amps?

In case you dot already know about it, another great place to do your research and generally enjoy yourself is The Gear Page. Lots of very knowledgeable folks around there too.

Good luck.

Peace
Tom

peoplechipper · « **Reply #18 on:** April 27, 2009, 11:28:40 PM »

Colin, maybe you could look for an old Traynor tube amp; they show up on ebay from time to time and they are killer amps!! Americans are discovering them so the prices are going up...think Fender/Marshall hybrids with better transformers than the equivalent Fender...I have a 60's Custom Reverb and it's like a plexi Marshall with nice reverb and trem...the Custom Special is the loudest amp this side of an SVT...check'em out, eyelet board construction, cloth covered wire...all the good stuff for cheap! Tony

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #19 on:** April 28, 2009, 07:31:50 AM »

Do you really need 100 watts? Many players I know prefer less wattage. A 100 watt amp, especially a tube amp, will usually need to be cranked pretty loud to hit its sweet spot.

I think that was the biggest complaint about that Carvin I tried was that we couldn't really let it sing the way it was supposed to in the space we had. I used to own a Soldano Reverb-O-Sonic. It was a great amp, and I loved the sound, but it was also just too damn loud for my situation (and it was only 50 watts).

tom_z · « **Reply #20 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:15:58 PM »

Exactly my thoughts Kevin. Also one of the reasons I like running two amps together. In my case, the Bandmaster is easier to overdrive and will begin to break up a bit before it gets impossibly loud. The Lonestar has plenty of clean headroom even at 50 watts (at least, for the rooms I play in). Also, my current Bandmaster configuration is fairly bright - the Lonestar a bit darker. So both amps together have a very nice depth.

jerryme · « **Reply #21 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:47:03 PM »

Thanks for all of the advice folks!

Colin

lbpesq · « **Reply #22 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:48:00 PM »

Tom:

How do you hook up your two-amp rig? My new Pritchard has an amp DI that hooks right into the input on another amp and drives it like a slave. I haven't tried it yet, but I thought it might be useful to spread the sound out on a big stage or outdoors.

Bill, tgo

tom_z · « **Reply #23 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:31:17 PM »

I run the guitar into a Lexicon LXP-1 which is a stereo unit, then left-side out to one amp, right-side out to the other. It's crude but it sounds great. The Mesa has an effects loop where I have a TC Electronic delay, and I can put a Mu-Tron III in front of the Lexicon. Once my Further is done, I'll probably put the Mu_Tron in the loop on the guitar.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #24 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:54:25 PM »

Let me chime in on the why 100 watts chorus. As a soundman, it is my firm opinion there is no room short of arenas & stadia where 100 watts worth of guitar is useful - & you'll be going through FOH long before you get to that size, so really not even then. The classic, iconic, Wall'O'Amp that we all know & love was, indeed, once a neccessity, but the Grateful Dead & Alembic invented the modern PA in the early 70s. Do your engineer, your bandmates, & your ears a favor; get something in the 20-50 watt range (or less) & mic it (if you can't hear yourself, tell everyone else to turn down - and if the drummer's too loud, put it in the monitors.

Peter

crobbins · « **Reply #25 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:08:59 PM »

I have a mid-70s Fender Proreverb(40 watts) with ToneTubby speakers that I'll let go for $500.00.....You will never find a better deal.........

jerryme · « **Reply #26 on:** April 28, 2009, 07:13:09 PM »

Craig- Is it a silver or black face? Do pro-reverbs have the same master volume issues as the twins?
I will have the chance this weekend to play a couple of different amps this weekend, will check back.

Colin

crobbins · « **Reply #27 on:** April 28, 2009, 08:31:27 PM »

Mine is a silverface, with a master volume. I heard of these issues, but whether I plug my Tribute, or my PRS, or my Les Paul into this amp it sounds good to me...

(Message edited by davehouck on April 29, 2009)

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #28 on:** April 29, 2009, 07:47:02 AM »

I've got one of those as well (I can never remember if it is a '74 or a '76). I love it, and have for the most part retired it. I don't think you can beat the clean chimy sound it produces. I've had to repair it once. I can't remember exactly what went bad, but it only cost me about $200. I have owned mine since 1997, and have played it pretty regularly up until a few years ago. I think I paid about $450 when I bought it then, and it still had/has the original speakers. I would like to upgrade to tone tubby's at some point, and was wondering how do you like them Craig? Do you ever plug into the 1st input of channel one, and slave a cord between the 2nd input and the 1st input of channel two? I have heard this is permissible, but have never tried.

lbpesq · « **Reply #29 on:** April 29, 2009, 08:41:40 AM »

I have an old Blackface Pro Reverb with JBL D120's that I bought from a friend in the early 80's. Great amp. I noticed that the old Pro Reverbs have now outstripped the Twins in value, something I found quite surprising as it seemed the Pro had always been looked at as the Twin's less desirable little brother. I always found the Pro to be just good as a Twin, and a little lighter to boot. I was once leaving a jam, a little inebriated, and fell down the stairs while carrying my Pro. The speaker baffle popped out, but everything else looked o.k. I popped the baffle back in, gave it a few smacks, plugged her in, and she worked just fine. They are well built amps.

Bill