Valve Amp - who’s still using them?

[Reggaebass]

On 03/02/2025 at 19:53, SurroundedByManatees said:

As I've sold my big amp stuff when the band quit, I had to shop for something nice since we are getting to play together again.

 

This EBS popped up semi-local, so I'd went to check it out:

 

 

I never even knew these existed until last week. It's a T90, full tube 90s watts. Made in China.

 

This head sounds amazing. It has the warmth, the clarity, the grunt.... I like it even more than my former '77 Ampeg V4B. It's a good bit smaller and lighter too. 

 

The deal consisted of this head, a matching Classicline 410 cab and a flight case for the amp. All in for €650. It's a good deal I think. I'm happy with it.

 

Really like that, it looks fantastic, it’s an amp that I wasn’t Really aware of to be honest and I haven’t seen many of them , there’s some good pictures and info in this article , I definitely don’t need any more amps but I’d keep an eye out for one of them 

 

 

Edited February 9 by Reggaebass
Article not very informative

[SurroundedByManatees]

Thanks for the link, it was fun to read

 

[Reggaebass]

Quick question for you valve amp users, these days I’m abroad a few months at a time when I can , do you think I need to get someone to turn them on and move the knobs and switches for me to keep them in use, or are they ok just left a while, it’s mainly my V4B, PF50T and Ashdown LB , thanks 

[Chienmortbb]

My Valve amp (100Watt Sound City) was stolen in 1971 and was replaced with SS. I could not even lift a valve amp now. 

[stewblack]

4 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Quick question for you valve amp users, these days I’m abroad a few months at a time when I can , do you think I need to get someone to turn them on and move the knobs and switches for me to keep them in use, or are they ok just left a while, it’s mainly my V4B, PF50T and Ashdown LB , thanks 

No. I leave mine for months at a time untouched and they are always fine when they get an airing.

[Chienmortbb]

3 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Quick question for you valve amp users, these days I’m abroad a few months at a time when I can , do you think I need to get someone to turn them on and move the knobs and switches for me to keep them in use, or are they ok just left a while, it’s mainly my V4B, PF50T and Ashdown LB , thanks 

I would suggest leaving them off. Much of the "dust" inside pots is actually bits of carbon that are dislodged from the track, so excess movement will cause more dust. 

[Reggaebass]

6 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

I would suggest leaving them off. Much of the "dust" inside pots is actually bits of carbon that are dislodged from the track, so excess movement will cause more dust. 

That’s great thanks, I do cover them over when away 

[Beedster]

On 21/01/2025 at 16:15, Beedster said:

I gigged my Ashdown 200 Drophead for the first time on Saturday and could not have been happier. Tone was fatter and smoother than I'd get for the same volume with SVT but could still bit like an angry Jack Russell when needed. And I have to say, of all the big tube heads, I thing Ashdown take the prize for best aesthetics also, especially mine....

 

 

Gigged it again last week in a very different set, much more presence required, and again it was as good an amp as I could have hoped for. I kept it on the edge of break-up most of the time, occasionally pulling back into Motowny thump, but at other times unleashing the full

visceral power of the power tubes. Even my Mesa M-Pulse can’t do the latter, it gets very close, but…… 🙂

[stewblack]

On 21/01/2025 at 15:54, kuetsum said:

Would any of you valve enthusiastic share the the thoughts on ashdown compare to other full tube amp? Such as ampeg svt classic ?

I have an Ashdown CTM 100 and an SVT CL 

The main and massively important difference is weight. The SVT is a heavy, heavy beast.

Sound wise, and this is just my opinion, nothing on earth compares with an SVT. It has to be that good or no one would ever bother to lift one. 

It's a bigger, louder amplifier than the CTM but there is a bigger CTM you can buy. 

The Ashdown is a beautiful amp, but the SVT is an experience.

[BassmanPaul]

I like tubes. When I went to Engineer School they were current technology. If I had a choice I would still be using full tube amps. BUT age crept up on me and my tube amps just got to be unmanageable. Something had ti give. The route I followed was a 2KW capable class D Stereo power amp to drive my Acme Sound B2 2x10 three way cabinets. I usually use two in a vertical skinny stack at 4Ω per channel. If I want more I can run all four for 2Ω per channel. I designed and built a two channel tube pre-amp to drive the power amp and the whole system sounds very good.