brensabre79 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 OK So it seems Mesa have priced themselves well out of my range with the new all-valve lightweight heads (starting at about £2k!). Such a shame. I've been looking at alternatives, petitioning manufacturers and trying to find my own solution. I'm slightly fussed about the weight issue, but more fussed about the cost and size issue too. The thing that appealed about the Mesa Prodigy was its compact package. My speaker Cab is only 19" wide. Perfect for rackmount gear. not so good for most all-valve heads which are generally wider than that. I love the pre-amp on my Carvin, but the valvey bounce is missing for me. So I was thinking I could combine the pre-amp of my Carvin with a valve slave amp and make my own perfect head. Carvin do make an all-valve slave amp, the TS100, and it's about £650, unfortunately its a stereo 50w/50w and while it can be bridged to get 100W it'll only go down to 8 ohms, I need 4. They also make a 100w all-valve guitar head in a lightweight and compact package (about £1k), it looks good, but it has 3 channels for guitards and I don't really need the pre-amp section at all as I've already got one! Can't help feeling like I'm paying a lot for stuff I don't need there... So, does anyone know of any all-valve 100w - 200w @ 4ohm no frills power amps that is 19" wide or less, preferably doesn't weigh [i]too[/i] much (I appreciate big iron is best, but come on it's 2013), and isn't extortionately expensive...? I know it's possible, I just havent found one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedave Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 You should keep your eyes peeled for an old Orange or Matamp slave. They are pretty cheap too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTypeV4 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 (edited) Sound City used to do the 'Energizer 120' which was a 120w power amplifier. 6 x EL34 and will work at 4, 8 or 16 ohm plus 100v line. Very powerful amplifier, used to use one for synthesizer. Reasonably narrow although probably not quite 19" and I'd be lying if I said it was lightweight.. Thunderous when worked hard tho! Edited November 23, 2013 by VTypeV4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Peavey had some valve powerblocks.. classic 120 or something? However I don't think you are going to get that 'bounce' from switching poweramps. That's gain stage stuff right there, as poweramps are generally designed to just make it louder. .... Found a pic: [IMG]http://peaveyguitar.net/files/2010/07/-13231904223046000.jpg[/IMG] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 [quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1385189817' post='2285410'] However I don't think you are going to get that 'bounce' from switching poweramps. That's gain stage stuff right there, as poweramps are generally designed to just make it louder [/quote] Really? How come hybrid amps sound so different to all valve amps then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Because they can. Because they come from a different era with more choice in electronics and engineering, and different ideas on what sounds good. And because marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 I'm with RR on this one. I've tried all sorts of valve pre-amps, pedals etc. I can get the tone, just not the bounce or the weight of sound. I play my Hybrid head with the gain wound right up and the master vol barely on. It's stupid loud, but no weight, even if there is lots of bass. Through the Sound City amp at the practice room it feels like someone has dropped a 1 ton bouncy ball 2 ft behind me when i hit a note, same cab. There's no way I'm lugging that to gigs though, it's a PA head for a start, its wider than my speaker cab and it has a penchant for spontaneous combustion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 [quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1385189817' post='2285410'] Peavey had some valve powerblocks.. classic 120 or something? However I don't think you are going to get that 'bounce' from switching poweramps. That's gain stage stuff right there, as poweramps are generally designed to just make it louder. .... Found a pic: [/quote] Thanks for this. Looking for new ideally but i'll see if i can source one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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