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Looking for tube amp


Faithless
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So, for now I have Laney RB8 amp - it's "transistor", and I'm not happy with sound. It's sort of hard, harsh, (I play rock music, so most say, it fits) but I want way more "softer, burring" sound - sound, that shrouds "everything", herewith, it's still a deep bass.

That is to say, I'd like something similar to Metallica bassist's, Robert's sound ( especially, on St.Anger DVD) - so If you know, how it sounds there, you know, what I, more or less, mean.

When I was in shop, and told about the sound, which I want, I was told, I need a tube amp( or cabinet? :) ) with pre-amp.

So, Simply, I'm looking for a thing, that wouldn't be madly expensive( would I find something "normal" for about 500-700 euros?...) In fact, I'm not going to buy tube before long, just checking, so, maybe I would gather more money for a serious thing in future.

All advices about noteworthy amps are welcome.

Cheers

Edited by Faithless
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You could either get a tube combo, or a tube amp head + cabinet (the cabs don't have tubes in them), or a tube preamp + power amp (either tube or transistor) + cabinet.

I think Rob Trujillo of Metallica uses an Ampeg of some kind. I'll do some research and find out.

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You could get your hands on a Sound City 120, 150 or 200 off Ebay if you keep your eyes peeled. That's a lot of oomph for the dosh and you'd probably have a little change left over. Some of the other 70's tube amps like Fender Bassman, Burman and Simms Watts might be worth considering but they're rarely over 100-150w in power rating. You'd need multiple cabs to make the most of them. Hiwatt would be worth looking at too but I've seen them so rarely that I don't have much of a handle on what they're likely to go for - maybe up to £500?

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You could also look for amps with tube pre-amp and solid state power sections (I could well be biased here because of my love affair with Mesa)..... They sound awesome and still kick ass in the wattage dept!

Mesa arent the only make to use this combination....may be worth a look for you to expand your shopping options?

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Thanks for suggestions, guys.

You see, there's low assortment of amps and cabs here, in Lithuania, other thing, I've never dealt with eBay, but, as far as I can see, 1st time is coming...

I've seen Funk's suggestions about various types, thanks to you, though, yet I don't "understand" all of them, I'll try investigate deeper.

By the way, I was thinking about Ashdown products - what about it?

And, one thing about the power - it seems, that tube amps are waaay more powerful, than transistor ( I've compared it on my friend's, guitarist's amps - 50wt tube and 125wt), so, if remembering Kiwi's suggestion about 100/150+ wt amps, so is there a real need to use multiple cabs?

Truly, I would like to "get" a huge dose of sound :) but... So what about those tubes?

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For bass you need more power than guitar because it takes more power to produce low frequencies cleanly. The general rule is to have four times as many Watts as your guitarist. So if your guitarist has a 50W amp, you should have a 200W amp.

What brands do you know are available in Lithuania?

Edited by The Funk
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Yeah, I know this. My amp is 260wt, so it's quite enough for now.

Mostly available are Laney and Ashdown products, also Hiwatt and Peavey. There are also few other brands to choose in our capital's shop, but I don't know them to be used widely.

In fact, I didn't decide to choose only between those brands, that exist in Lithuania - if I'd find something serious, I could subscribe it at shop to bring it from another country, or even to buy on Ebay.

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[quote name='Faithless' post='33287' date='Jul 17 2007, 09:32 PM']By the way, I was thinking about Ashdown products - what about it?[/quote]
Mark Gooday deliberately went for a certain flavouring to the sound, some people like it and others don't.

[quote name='Faithless' post='33287' date='Jul 17 2007, 09:32 PM']And, one thing about the power - it seems, that tube amps are waaay more powerful, than transistor ( I've compared it on my friend's, guitarist's amps - 50wt tube and 125wt), so, if remembering Kiwi's suggestion about 100/150+ wt amps, so is there a real need to use multiple cabs?[/quote]
There were a few posts around on perceptions of loudness compared to power when it comes to comparing valve amps to solid state. There are more variables than might first appear.

In my experience with playing my Alembic Series 1 through my 100w Burman head and two Ashdown cabs (2x10 and 1x15) I had no problems drowning out the guitarist who was using a 100w Fender Twin. :)

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Get Either a SVT-CL 2nd hand-thats what they used on ST ANGER(old ones tho-'70's) & BOB ROCK played bass on the album, didn't he? Trujillo wasn't there yet-joined just after- Tho I haven't seen the DVD. Hard 2 go wrong with either a SVT-CL/VR or a Marshall VBA400 or a Fender Bassman 300PRO or at 100w-the Ampeg V4BH is an AWESOME amp! & LOUD enough thru a good cab or two.

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[quote name='EBS_freak' post='34607' date='Jul 20 2007, 01:02 PM']worth considering - big bang for buck - [url="http://www.george-dennis.cz/pages/bassamp"]http://www.george-dennis.cz/pages/bassamp[/url][/quote]

:) Those amps have a control knob in the EQ section called BALLS. Superb!

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[quote name='NJW' post='34616' date='Jul 20 2007, 03:13 PM']its funny that the 'live' DVD sounds a whole lot better than the album itself. Worst sounding rock record ever made?[/quote]

Well, I wouldn't say it's "Worst sounding rock record ever made"... :) It's quite good, but, when played with Robert.. it simply sounds Different.
And it's normal - Bob isn't a bassplayer, he's producer, so everything's regular :huh:

Btw, we went to off-topic, but I'm too exhausted to talk about amps today... Goodnight

Edited by Faithless
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