sile2001 said:
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.
