Bass Amp Idea's

M

MrStitch

New member
In one of my previous threads, I'm all grinning ear to ear about the tube amp I just got. While I was at the store, I asked the guys if the tubes were good, because this would be the first tube amp I ever used, thus... wouldn't have a clue on what to listen for.

He says something about the low end, and if it's non-existent, then I need to replace the tubes. Maybe that was a 'tubes for dummies' explanation, but it sounded good to me. But later on it got me thinking....

If the low end is suppose to stick out a little more on these tube amps, then what would that do for a bass amp??

Is it the same thing with bass amps, where a solid state is total trash compared to tube amps?
 
Solid state amps can handle the low frequencies from a bass better than tube amps. This isn't to say either one is better than the other, but do remember that in the early days of electric guitars and basses, it was ALL tubes. More likely, there are probably certain tube values out there that can handle the low frequencies better than others. Although probably not as big as with solid state bass amps, there's still a market out there for the tube bass amps, or they wouldn't be producing any, these days.

Matt
 
MrStitch said:
Is it the same thing with bass amps, where a solid state is total trash compared to tube amps?
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Not at all....not in my experience. My favorite bass amp is the MarkBass LMII, which is all solid state.

In general, bass players are much more open to new ideas and new technology. For whatever reason, guitar players in general want everything to be old-school, and resist most anything new....except pedals. :)

I might as well add that I don't think solid state guitar amps are all total trash compared to tubes either. It just depends on the amp. Admittedly, all my favorite guitar amps are tube amps, but I've heard very usable SS as well.
 
Consider this:

THE Classic rock bass amp is the Ampeg SVT. That's all tubes baby.....that being said, there ain't no best, ain't no worst, it's all just a matter of taste.

I love all 3 of my bass amps: Mesa Boogie Scout, Mesa Boogie Venture (both tube font ends with SS power blocks) and my lil Fender BXR 35 which is totally SS and, while not very powerful, has a sweet, sweet tone....
 
yert33 said:
This needs a citation. Very doubtful as to the veracity of this statement.
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I think what was meant, or at least what I took away from that statement, was it takes more power to reproduce the lower freq. of a bass guitar at a usable volume. This amount of power is more easily had with ss amplification than with a tube amp. more power means more headroom means less distortion means you can hear the bass. same reason no one uses tube pa's anymore. but guitarists want distortion, which means they can use a tube amp to the "that" sound better than with ss because of the harmonic reproduction inherent to either technology.
 
After years of playing a '63 Ampeg B15N, I converted to solid state.

I like the tighter bottom end that the solid state amps I have owned, compared to the tubbier B15N; I much prefer the 65 lb/100 watts of the B100R I spent a couple of years gigging with, versus the older one's 100 lb/40 watts; and, best of all, I really like not spending a fortune retubing the old darlin', not to mention the trips to the shop when it turned into an electric space heater or when I got a shock from turning the toggle switch to "on."

Weight, power, bottom end character, and low maintenance all steered me to solid state.

My current rig is a Hartke HA2500 head with 115 and 210 cabinets: I can stack 'em up for bigger venues, or just take the head and the 210 for smaller spaces (one coming up this Saturday).

BUT if I could justify spending so much money, I'd duplicate my buddy's Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0/210T: 41 lb, a gazillion watts, and a tight bottom all the way down to low B.

It's solid state.

Tubes have the advantage (ordinarily) for guitars, but I also have a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, which I A/B'd with a friend's '67 Super Reverb, and the JM only lost points with the reverb. AND it's 25.6 lb (with the speaker cabinet) with 250 watts. The best solid state guitar amp I've ever heard, and my first in 35 years of electric guitar playing.

The REAL advantage tubes have is that Leo Fender tirelessly tinkered with his circuits until the original "hi-fi" schematics turned into killer-tone guitar amps. Without Leo. tubes would be history by now./
 
lpdeluxe said:
After years of playing a '63 Ampeg B15N, I converted to solid state.

I like the tighter bottom end that the solid state amps I have owned, compared to the tubbier B15N; I much prefer the 65 lb/100 watts of the B100R I spent a couple of years gigging with, versus the older one's 100 lb/40 watts; and, best of all, I really like not spending a fortune retubing the old darlin', not to mention the trips to the shop when it turned into an electric space heater or when I got a shock from turning the toggle switch to "on."

Weight, power, bottom end character, and low maintenance all steered me to solid state.

My current rig is a Hartke HA2500 head with 115 and 210 cabinets: I can stack 'em up for bigger venues, or just take the head and the 210 for smaller spaces (one coming up this Saturday).

BUT if I could justify spending so much money, I'd duplicate my buddy's Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0/210T: 41 lb, a gazillion watts, and a tight bottom all the way down to low B.

It's solid state.

Tubes have the advantage (ordinarily) for guitars, but I also have a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, which I A/B'd with a friend's '67 Super Reverb, and the JM only lost points with the reverb. AND it's 25.6 lb (with the speaker cabinet) with 250 watts. The best solid state guitar amp I've ever heard, and my first in 35 years of electric guitar playing.

The REAL advantage tubes have is that Leo Fender tirelessly tinkered with his circuits until the original "hi-fi" schematics turned into killer-tone guitar amps. Without Leo. tubes would be history by now./
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Oh, I gig with a SS amp now. It's not because SS amps handle low freqs better than tubes, it's because my SVT, though I love the sound of it, is such a PITA to move around. A SS amp with the juevos to push a lot of bass is certainly CHEAPER and LIGHTER than the equivalent tube amp.
 
ggunn said:
Oh, I gig with a SS amp now. It's not because SS amps handle low freqs better than tubes, it's because my SVT, though I love the sound of it, is such a PITA to move around. A SS amp with the juevos to push a lot of bass is certainly CHEAPER and LIGHTER than the equivalent tube amp.
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I don't know about that: I just know about the experience I've had with my amps (and I left out my practice rig -- too heavy to haul to gigs -- which was a Music Man HD 130 head , which, despite its solid state pre, was a monster, + a Hartke 410XL cab).

My point was more that there's no inherent advantage in using tubes, and several disadvantages, relating to frequency of maintenance as well as weight. Note that I love my tube guitar amps, but they are built to a different scale from the bass models, and are manageable (and I've traded off all of THOSE that were more than 50 lb).

My experience as to the SOUND of one style of bass amp versus the other is based on two B15Ns, the B100R, the MM/Hartke rig and the current all-Hartke set up. At my age, if I can only get the last increment in tone by going over 50 lb, well, I'll do without...but the lightweight GB has killer tone, so what are ya gonna do?

Keep spending money, apparently.
 
Aaron Cheney said:
In general, bass players are much more open to new ideas and new technology. For whatever reason, guitar players in general want everything to be old-school, and resist most anything new....except pedals. :)

I might as well add that I don't think solid state guitar amps are all total trash compared to tubes either. It just depends on the amp. Admittedly, all my favorite guitar amps are tube amps, but I've heard very usable SS as well.
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A sweeping generalization if ever there was one. I would say the reason guitarist are more fond of tubes, whereas bassist are just fine with SS, is that tube amps produce more pleasing sounds WHEN DRIVEN TO DISTORTION- regardless of whether the guitarist is playing "clean" or "dirty." ("Clean" amps derive some of their tone from the same physics that are emphasized in "dirty" playing.) Bassist rarely use distortion, and then usually only for special effect- bassist are mostly clean players- as are keyboardist, vocalist, horn players, etc. In fact, the only group of musicians who often-enough prefer distortion are harmonica players.

And so you know that I am not aiming to bust your chops, here, I agree with you about SS amps- there are some good ones out there. Peavey Bandit 112, Gallien-Krueger 250ML comes readily to mind.
 
stevieb said:
A sweeping generalization if ever there was one. I would say the reason guitarist are more fond of tubes, whereas bassist are just fine with SS, is that tube amps produce more pleasing sounds WHEN DRIVEN TO DISTORTION- regardless of whether the guitarist is playing "clean" or "dirty." ("Clean" amps derive some of their tone from the same physics that are emphasized in "dirty" playing.) Bassist rarely use distortion, and then usually only for special effect- bassist are mostly clean players- as are keyboardist, vocalist, horn players, etc. In fact, the only group of musicians who often-enough prefer distortion are harmonica players.
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This
bass players are also more likely to go DI opposed to guitards wanting to mic their cab for the same reason.
I would much rather have a light ss head with 4 band eq for playing bass and it has to have direct output.
another good consideration would be to use a nice preamp like the Behringer Bass V-Amp Pro with a power amplifier which is what I currently use which helps to eleminate the amount of equipment I have to bring to a gig because the V-Amp has all the effects I need on board
however I have been eyeballing the Ashdown Little Giant 350 lately
 
For Bass it's all a matter of personal preference. I love the sound of my 65 Bassman as well as my Fender 200 solid state. For guitar, all I like are my tube amps, AC30, Princeton and Twin Reverb.
 
Tony-bobs said:
I think what was meant, or at least what I took away from that statement, was it takes more power to reproduce the lower freq. of a bass guitar at a usable volume. This amount of power is more easily had with ss amplification than with a tube amp. more power means more headroom means less distortion means you can hear the bass. same reason no one uses tube pa's anymore. but guitarists want distortion, which means they can use a tube amp to the "that" sound better than with ss because of the harmonic reproduction inherent to either technology.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tony-bobs! That is what I meant with my reply.

Matt
 
When I record bass, I almost always go DI. There are so many problems that arise from a room (especially, untreated rooms, where I find myself recording much of the time). It's like what Darryl Royal said about football passes: a lot of things can happen, and only one of them is what you want.

It's a lot easier to go DI and tweak later -- it's easier to bring out a frequency you like rather than spending all your time taming the ones you don't like.

Others may disagree.
 
Geddy Lee plays through Tech21 sansamp onstage and doesnt haul any amp arround.

That being said...I have a 1968 sunn 200s that the sundholm brothers assembled in thier garage...8 mullard tubes...I was thinking today what would make me more money...selling those tubes and replacing them with GT ones...or just selling the amp...with a sansamp I get that SVT tone with it.
 
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