Question about the THD BiValve

sile2001 · #1 10-14-2005

This question is primarily for Outlaws since I know he has one, but I also wanted to open it up to anyone else who has played either a UniValve or a BiValve. I know they have slightly different tonal characteristics, so if you reply, please say whether it was the UniValve or BiValve.

Ok, the question. I know that each amp has its own sound, and the THD amps are even more wide ranging because of all the different tubes you can use in them. However, on some base level, there is a character of the amp itself. If you were to stick a UniValve or a BiValve right in the middle between (for example) a Marshall JCM900, a Fender Twin, a Vox AC30, and a Mesa Dual Rec, which direction do you think the tonality of the THD would lean?

On a side note...anyone with experience with Orange AD30 or Matchless DC30 amps?

Outlaws · #2 10-14-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by sile2001

This question is primarily for Outlaws since I know he has one, but I also wanted to open it up to anyone else who has played either a UniValve or a BiValve. I know they have slightly different tonal characteristics, so if you reply, please say whether it was the UniValve or BiValve.

Ok, the question. I know that each amp has its own sound, and the THD amps are even more wide ranging because of all the different tubes you can use in them. However, on some base level, there is a character of the amp itself. If you were to stick a UniValve or a BiValve right in the middle between (for example) a Marshall JCM900, a Fender Twin, a Vox AC30, and a Mesa Dual Rec, which direction do you think the tonality of the THD would lean?

On a side note...anyone with experience with Orange AD30 or Matchless DC30 amps?

Well, its not a JCM900. .....at all. A JCM900 has a lot of preamp gain. The Uni and the Bi are both Non-MasterVolume amps with very little preamp distortion at all...its almost all powertube saturation for distortion.

AC30? .....eh.....not the two AC30's I played. THose were both great sounding amps but I don't get that feel from this.

Fender Twin? I personally like the clean with my Tele. You can get really clean sounds, but you can also get that nice 'shimmer' of the DeluxeReverb a bit more.

Dual Rec? I haven't played that long enough or recent enough to really compare. I just know I hate the Triple Rec for the sake that everyone needs to hate something.

oh....then there is the 'boutique' section....

Matchless?

As much as I would like to say yes, this is a matchless, all I can say is that a Matchless is one hell of a blues rock amp. Think Wallflowers or Tom Petty. ...or even Aerosmith or AC/DC. And my BV has tiptoed around all of those sounds a little, and even stepped on AC/DC.

AC/DC? Damn right. It sure doesn't remind me of my old JCM900, but it sure as hell does one great immitation of Angus. Remeber those old Marshall's without Master Volumes that needed to get turned up until your ears were bleeding to get that sound of the Rock Gods? Well it works for me with a LesPaul.

Don't get me wrong......it WILL NOT sound antyhing like that when play at bedroom volumes. The attenuator is nice and all, but ti does affect tone a bit. -and its enough to take you out of a stadium and back to your bedroom. But when you do crank it, it can and will, hit it.

A lot of the sound is the speakers moving. Sometimes it just has to be loud.

Its still nice at bedroom volumes, but since I have never used an attenuator on a Matchless, Mesa, Marshall, or Vox, I cannot say how they would react and sound at those volumes.

But at full volume with some humbuckers, I would say its like an old 70's non-master volume Marshall, and when not cranked all the way, just enough to start breaking up, its got some characteristics of a Fender DeluxeReverb.

I have gotten fantastic country clean and distortion with my Tele. I have gotten a viscous bark from my Tele also (once of my favorite sounds yet). I have gotten some good cleans with my LP, but lets face it, after 20 minutes with a LesPaul, if you are knee-deep in sustain you bought the wrong gutair.

Tube changing is nice, but its more like a fine tuning mroe than a night and day difference. Think of a color with a gradient to it. Now swap the powertubes. You now get a little shift in the gradient, not the color. They will all distortion, some a hair more than others, but some more smoothly than others. After really getting used to a tube, you can hear a nice differnce if you get a tube that does what you were lacking in the previous one. The preamp tubes are a bit more noticeable since they will greatly add/subract distortion and overall volume.

sile2001 · #3 10-14-2005

Thanks for the info man! The nearest THD dealer is about an hour and a half away and I just needed a reference for the general sound the BiValve has before I decide to go and try one out myself. Appreciate the help!

Outlaws · #4 10-14-2005

Everywhere I used the term "master volume', replace that with "non-master volume'

lol....I had just woke up. Sorry.

....ok...I edited the post.

Clive Hugh · #5 10-16-2005

I always thought a bi-valve was a shellfish.

punkin · #6 10-16-2005

I've got the Uni...and very pleased with it.

It really does take some tweaking but you can squeeze all kinds of sounds out of it. A five minute test run won't reveal that however. I have not played the BiValve but I'm told that in addition to having a lot more power out, it also has considerably more clean over-head. The Uni is very sensitive to guitar pickup type, input level(volume in) and pick attack. It will play some very nice clean sounds and when you hit the input valves, it will crunch up very nicely.

The input tubes seem to have the biggest effect on over all distortion and sound color (to me anyways). The output tube changes are a little more subtle. I have found combos and setting which are dead ringers for early EVH, Angus Young and John Petrucci (all rise!). My favorite tube selection so far is 12AX7 Mullard (input), 12AX7 (NOS) and 6CA7 (the real one...not the EL34 knock offs).

I'm also finding that as far as effect pedals go,...a little goes a long way. I'm right on top of the JCM sound with my Hughes and Kettner Tube Overdrive pedal. And what Outlaws said, speakers play a big part in how it's going to sound. My favorite cab combo for recording is an open back 2x12 with one Celestion Vintage 30 and one Celestion G12H30.

This thing will keep you tweaking and looking for "your sound" for quite awhile. The built in hotplate and line out are nifty features too. I'm already deaf in one ear (stereo sucks btw), being able to park the Mesa and work at reasonable levels has been a real treat. Check out the THD Website and the Univalve.net forums...there are quite a few sound clips to be had which can give you a pretty good idea what you might be able to get out of it. I've had no regrets...I'm a fan of vintage rock early EVH, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Satriani, Vai (before he went over to the dark side) and metal. I find for that hard palm muted chuggachuggachugga sound the input gain really needs to be driven hard to get the input amps fired up. I clean up from time to time with some tasty jazz too...this amp can do most of it but you'll be playing with it to get the sound out.