dan670844

This is all subjective of course to everyone who has said it is loud, ok its loud for you. For me comparing to what i normally play it doesnt not have the punch and dynamics headroom or the low end of my amp. Which is a ctm300 its only 350watts rms probably around 700 peak. the terror feels flat in comparsion, but that is the way i play, i like my amp to be be as dynamic as possible. I guess if you play rock metal its ok as you don't bursts of transient power. I guess though i am being really unfair as my ctm was a custom job so its possible to buy four bass terrors for the price of my amp. As I said that is a problem with digital amps its not the digital output module its the switchmode power supply they cant keep up with sudden demands of power from a class d module. Ashdown are making a big thing about there mibass 2.0 400 rms 600peak i wonder why no other manufacturer displays this about their class d amps. i know its all horseshit but i think peak and rms does give you some idea of the power reserves of the amp. A Ashdown spyder 550 is 550 watts rms 900 peak, thats dynamics. Trouble is its heavy gear not what i want to carry on the tube anyway.

Nah i reckon a Mark percy 4x15 would be better haha! http://www.markpercy.co.uk/cabinet.htm Cool little thing wonder what it sounds like with guitar ? I love my lb30 for home noodling, but its a bit too loud for that this would be a better choice. So many good products coming out this year from a loud of manufacturers esp ashdown trouble is everybody is skint

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1359300967' post='1952688'] Sorry? Are you serious? Hardly a real world test... [/quote] How else do we test an amp before we buy? run it on a gig, buy it then decide you don't like it. That seems to be common practice here fnarr fnarr.

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1359287513' post='1952422'] a tube power section doesn't do much of anything special that a class D doesn't. With a tube power section the impendence has to match exactly to get the most out of it, with a class D it's not so important. The 'juice' of a valve power amp only makes a difference once yo start pushing as the power valves start to naturally compress the signal. IMO a class D power amp is a lot better in many ways that even today's valve power sections. The OTB has one of the most solid power sections on the market, it is 500watt in either 8 ohm or 4 ohm, regardless. Where as quiet a few that a rated similar wattage struggle to get there on burst, let a lone continuous. Unfortunatly(IMO) that's all the OTB has to offer, the EQ is lack luster, and the rest of it's features are pretty poor, even for it's price range. The EQ is the por mans passive one and comes with a naturally deep mid-scoop(lots of low mid present) and seems very boomy, to get a flat signal out of it you need the bass pretty much off. Although surprised that you found it lacking in oomph, maybe you miss-set the input gain? [/quote] It's supposed to have the same eq as a ad200, but tonally its nowhere near, its so scouped. I think the harmonics that the tube output stage makes in the 'sweet spot' must make up for the weakness. But yes I agree it is all low mids and you cant get rid of it. The burst power or peak power is no where near as good as my CTM300. Yes the terror bass has volume but I think it is very flat and undynamic. I really tried as I want it to work, the gain doesnt affect the slope like a all tube design either. I don't think its the output module class d or other wise. Its probably the switchmode power supply, I guess they work very well with class A designs (constant current), but with a class d module, its got to be the worst combination unless its got a lot of output. I know its is possible as I have a proel power amp. Also there is a german manufacturer called basssysteme who make a nice class d with dynamics and grunt. I guess its not possible though for £500. Yes I could try a Genz streamliner, but have any shops got any to try?

[quote name='yorick' timestamp='1359278769' post='1952292'] Did you change the impedance on the back of the amp? [/quote] Well I assume so the guy in the shop must have set it correctly. It was already set up when I went in. It went quite loud just not the kind of loud I like it was very middy compared to the AD200, (the ad200 is a thumping good amp, first time id had a decent go) . With the TB500 there was not really any increase in percieved vol. Maybe its the digital power section. It just doesnt cut it with my playing style. I am going to give the Markbass TTE 500 see if that fairs any better. I guess I am used to valve power amps.

hello all, I have been looking at a lighweight valve hybrid amp and was fortunate to try an orange bass terror. I have for some time played all valve designs SVT ashdown ctm300 and lb30. This is going to sound contenious but I have to say I was highly disappointed. It claims to be 500watts, but it did not feel nowhere near, my 300watt ctm would blow it into the weeds on half tilt, even the lb30 would get there if it was growly. the tone was hard and all low mids, didnt feel the bass at all. The amp was not all dynamic, when you dug in there was little percieved vol increase. For reference i tried an orange ad200 into the same cabs (orange 15 and 410) and it was all there, very lush. What am I doing wrong? was it a dud? I really need a lightweight valve sounding solution as we are rehearsing at a place in town were I have to get the tube. The little lunch box would be ideal!!

Alright dude, I will come down for a jam if you like and see how it goes To have a look at some of my work check out the band fonixx www.fonixx.com Can play all styles esp Rock reggae and funk

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1352114208' post='1858779'] I was repairing amps on and off from the late 60s till the mid 90s, and still do the occasional one or two. Theres a big difference between the older Mullard and Brimar stuff which was of a much more consistent quality than the stuff available these days, so as Bassmec already said, NOS or good second hand is my preference if its my own gear. I dont believe much of whats claimed by the brand names that are aimed at musicians for ridiculously high prices. Even 30 or 40 years ago there were firms that bought in bulk and would screen print whatever brand name you wanted, ie they came mainly from the same few factories anyway. After all, worldwide, how many plants are there turning out ECC83s and EL34s to sell to what must be a small and well diminished market. Chelmer Valves (CVC) seem as good as any nowadays tbh, and helpful. The have been around for donkeys years and their own brand stuff is as good as anybody elses. [url="http://www.chelmervalve.com/electron-tube.php"][color="#0f72da"]http://www.chelmerva...ectron-tube.php[/color][/url] [/quote] + 1 on Chelmer and Langerex they still supply the military with valve for their EMP resistant stuff ad they arent going to buy any crap!!!!

How about an Art MP/C tube preaamp very good at adding tube warmth and the mpc has got a tube vatrol compressor on it will add nice tube preamp warmth, and add a bit of delicate amount of tube compression only £100 they sound nice, but you will not get the output tube harmonics and warmth which it is all about. Way i do it is an ashdown lb30 and a lb112 and di to FOH stage monitors the lb has a di which comes out of the output transformer. Sound is lush through a pa as it sounds deep, defined, you can hear the note, the tubes control the low end very well, no mud just tight warm and punchy, no pedal can do that and i carry the lot in one trip incl my bass

[quote name='pete bigmatch' timestamp='1352015108' post='1857755'] Looking to buy a mini rig which will consist of two 1x12 cabs and a small / micro head. Thinking about the Genz Benz focus or the Ashdown mibass. The head of choice will be the ashdown mibass 220. Also have the ashdown superfly which I will keep as a backup and might use every now and again. So what are your thoughts on the choice of cabs (not the superfly , I like it anyway ) [/quote] Dont think you can go far wrong with he Mi12 cabs, genz cabs are also lovely but expensive due to import duty racket as they are made in usa

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1351415605' post='1850859'] Well I don`t know what model it is, but local band I go to see, the bassist has a Behringer amp & 410 - may well be the Ultrabass. He sounds amazing - uses a 77 Jazz through it - and they are a regularly gigging punk-type band, so it gets put through its paces. He told me it bought it, unheard, from Thomann, and has been very pleased with it. I know some slate Behringer, but I`m yet to use a piece of their kit that I don`t like. For me, I reckon a lot of it may be the old cheap has to equal rubbish syndrome. [/quote] i have used a behringer ultra bass at survival rehearsal studios in acton it sounded quite ok a bit of a suprise in fact, but then again the original amp its possibly based on is a fantastic sounding amp, which they did not make! lets see who can be the first to guess which amp that is......... this is why i dont like behringer or bugera, they are perhaps imitators rather than innovators a copy is never perhaps as good as the original!!! esp if low cost is your primary motivation

[quote name='Walker' timestamp='1351781967' post='1855315'] This was my experience this afternoon - passionate about his subject and I don't doubt his expertise and he was a very experienced bass player and Ampeg user too. [/quote] let me guess he recommended his brand as they are lower gain and less fizzy in the top end, i used to have an svt if you put lower gain ecc83's or 5751 in v1 it blows the top end i.e rolls it off, those lower gain dudes are better for modern over blown high gain circuits the svt is best with 12ax7 with a drive of 100 what it was designed for

do you really need to revalve the pre? i have a 1970s bassman it has the same pre valves in and they sound good i swapped them out with different ones just to see i only change the Phase inverter regularly with the power valves thats pre that gets nailed!! even then the original 6l6s are still about they work good but i took them out as they are probably worth more than the amp as its the crappy drip edge silverface 70 version, i only change preamp valves if they sound crap i.e go micro, or squeal like a pig, good pre valves last a long time, trouble is there are a lot of sh*te about

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1351847284' post='1856042'] I put some JJ output valves in my LB30 no prob. Slightly tighter bottom end, but don't like the highs so much for some reason. All very marginal though. [/quote] I agree, I think it depends with version you have, the jj 's sound best in the uk version, the chinese version sounds best with shungangs either from tad, groove tubes or ruby tubes, i tried jjs in the chinese one and they were far to bassy , it has enough bottom already, puts all those digi amps to shame, except the streamliner and mibass! they also roll of the high to much!

[quote name='Matte_black' timestamp='1350636934' post='1841452'] Mine is made in PRC, in fact [/quote] Nothing wrong with that I have a UK one and a chinese one and I cant tell the difference really if the same valves are used!

The 12ua7/ Ecc82 is the phase inverter and it must be balanced ie the left and the right halfs, you should not use any old Ecc82 Are you sure you have a uk one, the chinese ones have rubys and the uks jj's the rubys are good valves

you could change v1 the 1st preamp tube on the left to a lower gain ecc83/ 57xx etc it will lower the gain through the preamp but I found it tends to darken your sound, it wont sound muddy as the lb has the girth to carry it off. if that your thing try it, it rather like turning both volumes down on a jazz, you get an aston family mann type tone. i would check that you have got a balanced '82 in V3. I have tried loads of el84 in mine real mullards, sovteks, mullard reissue, genelex reissues, even russian mil nos. the jj's work the best with these amps, they perform the same as the russian mil nos, but are cheaper, they have far more power and clean punch than any others. thats not to say that the others arent good, the mullard reissues are nice they give a midrangy growl perfect for rock. But thats the whole point of this amp, changing the tubes changes the tone and character, have fun, i have a shoe box of full of tubes for this amp! its a real journey

They sound lovely and the cabinet looks nice, but I am afaid after looking inside one, its not really that good, its designed to be cheap by someone who doesnt know/care what constant thermal cycling does to pcb, joints and components and with all that heat valves produce I am not certain it will be long term reliable. For the money they cost they should last a playing career, I dont think they will! but maybe when it dies you can get matamp to put a gt200 in there for you............. I would be looking at the ashdown valve stuff, its really well made, they are just about to launch a ctm100 for about the same money, if you have a good cab its plenty loud enough and it has a transformer derived di, so that nice noise comes out of the pa. Another choice would be the Matamp, as others have said. Leftfield would be a traynor yba200 better build quality and £500 from thomann 2 for the price of one! so two of em should get you a few years playing! for me there only one choice a CTM they are perfect in everyway. quality, sound, versatility, and very easy to maintain you can change valves and bias them yourself.

The phase inverter the third preamp valve to the right should be an ECC82 and should be balanced i.e. both halfs matched, if it not the power valves wont like it! I have found that the best combo to be as is, as adding lower gain ecc83 like mullards, tends to knock off the top end and reduce the efficacy of the tone stack as it it needs quite a bit of juice to drive and and yes they are flipping loud for what they are. Esp with the LB/VS cabs as they are very sensitive. The trick with these is to play around with your vol and tones on your bass! and make up the treble bleed you loose with turning up the treble on the amp. Although I have never used an active bass on mine. Dont bother swapping out the jj power valves they are defo the most powerful EL84's, other brands i tried the output defo dropped. The best bit is the output transformer derived di. Its the rollocks, you will impress everyone with your tone!

I have gigged my LB a lot I use the LB212 it came with. Plenty loud for onstage monitoring and using the transformer derived di it gets the great tone foh. But I have gigged without di but I have used the Cl610 (ashdown) that came with my CTM300 it was supprising loud but really an experiment as it hardly practical! the CL610 is a huge heavy cab for very big venues. if you want to gig that LB you need a big sensitive cab have a look at the 69er from bare faced. But really the lb is designed to give a lovely valve tone in a small footprint, a valve engine if you will, with a di so you can poke it FOH and through on stage monitoring. If you cant do that, think of upgrading your pa with good FOH and On stage monitoring. The bigger ashdowns the CTM 100 and CTM300 can easily be made to sound the same, but are serious beans. you can upgrade your pa for a lot less, or even get yourself a bergantino powered cab you can run that from the di in conjunction with your normal speaker

Ha ha I will be I wont be able to resist this one!! Best Idea I have seen this year! If it follows the design of the CTM 300 and LB30 and with the over speced transformers it will be well loud enough for most gigs that people do and with the ot transformer derived DI you can have that sweet tone in the PA. These new valve amps from Ashdown are so easy to look after, my lb is used probably about 20hrs per week for over a year know, in and out of the car, it has never missed a beat! The CTM has done around 20 plays now and is sounding better and better as it burns in Ashdown have really worked hard on their core range of products, valve ABM, TE haha! MAG and Dual Tube MIbas there is something for everyone, the designs are also evolvable. I can see the the evos on these products having compressors etc,tube compressor on the Spyders cool, Mibass with the dual band compressor, anyone? that would be cool. And the cabs they are making, the VS, CL and now the Mibass cabs are up there with high end stuff, but at a good price level.

Ashdown just launched a CTM100 UK made. The amp to fill in the gap in my amp collection at least between my LB30 and CTM300! Yay I want the first one!