Toobz vs SS - Bass Amps

[warwick.hoy]

I think Imma pass on it. My current rig is completely serviceable,...so,...I'm just being impatient with the whole save money sell a kidney thing.

[Gearmond]

i think for bass the difference can only be heard in the bedroom/basement.

dude with the roundest toanz i've heard uses SS

When I play my tube-amp, everything in the house shakes and the gain and master knobs aren't even past 3 both.. THose tubes aren't even really doing their job at that point

i get that on my SS without going past 2

but i remember somewhere someone had a massive post about how its not about the amp, so much as the speakers

[Adoom]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ta-8XD7Sc[/youtube]

Should this help you, Behndy. Not sure if it's yet been posted. If so, apologies, and will edit accordingly.

[behndy]

hurm. innnnnnnterrrrrrressssstinnnnng. thanks!

i think it's going to be a Be In The Room Feel The Difference thinger though. i'm a git. i was showing the other guys that share our practice space how to use the computer i set up for recording and i realized the other bass player has a toob amp. can't remember what model off the top of my head, but he's a super chill and good guy. i'll just let him know i'm setting his up for a hinute on my a rig and a/b with my cabs. DURP.

[Adoom]

I'd say so. It's incredibly hard to get anything from YouTube demos other than a rough idea with the sound. With bass being an instrument you can feel as well as see, I'd say it's impossible to gauge accurately without being in the room. Looking forward to hearing how it goes yo!

[dubkitty]

i tend to agree with the folks who have said that it's the tube power amps that are most important rather than tube preamp stages for the Big Tube Bass Sound. for example, many of the huge-sounding bassists of the 70s--Jack Casady, John Entwistle, Phil Lesh, Stanley Clarke--were playing Alembic or Alembic-customised basses with active pickups and internal preamps that ran into massive tube power amp stacks; Casady and Lesh used as many as 12 MacIntosh 2300s, 2400W!

[theavondon]

i tend to agree with the folks who have said that it's the tube power amps that are most important rather than tube preamp stages for the Big Tube Bass Sound. for example, many of the huge-sounding bassists of the 70s--Jack Casady, John Entwistle, Phil Lesh, Stanley Clarke--were playing Alembic or Alembic-customised basses with active pickups and internal preamps that ran into massive tube power amp stacks; Casady and Lesh used as many as 12 MacIntosh 2300s, 2400W!

That just hurts my head to think about.

[Gone Fission]

i tend to agree with the folks who have said that it's the tube power amps that are most important rather than tube preamp stages for the Big Tube Bass Sound. for example, many of the huge-sounding bassists of the 70s--Jack Casady, John Entwistle, Phil Lesh, Stanley Clarke--were playing Alembic or Alembic-customised basses with active pickups and internal preamps that ran into massive tube power amp stacks; Casady and Lesh used as many as 12 MacIntosh 2300s, 2400W!

That just hurts my head to think about.

It hurts the back just thinking about it if you ever moved enough stage equipment.

[jumbo_steelie]

hurm. innnnnnnterrrrrrressssstinnnnng. thanks!

i think it's going to be a Be In The Room Feel The Difference thinger though. i'm a git. i was showing the other guys that share our practice space how to use the computer i set up for recording and i realized the other bass player has a toob amp. can't remember what model off the top of my head, but he's a super chill and good guy. i'll just let him know i'm setting his up for a hinute on my a rig and a/b with my cabs. DURP.

That'd be you best bet man. I just finally asked the guys at an area music store if I could A/B an SVT4Pro (Tube/SS Hybrid) and an SVT CL(All tube). I knew I wanted to try out an all tube head. It has a roundess I haven't found with other heads. I wound up picking an Ampeg V4B locally for $600 Cdn, which I thought was decent. I definately love the tone and as you described "room feel" of tubes, but I played live with my ss GK1001 and recorded a ton with it, and it's not a noticeable difference.

As far as the reliability of tubes, you just have to be careful in moving it too much when the tubes are hot. If your patieint and gentle the damn things are no different then solidstate schtuff...

[Fuzz_Pi]

Just get a Mesa 400+ and call it a day.

It's the clearest tube amp you can buy. Loud enough to move furniture for you. Takes pedals like a champ. Has
the most monstrous break-up you've ever heard.

Ridiculously reliable. Scared of the price to re-tube tho, but honestly it's worth it.

Got mine for $700 on ebay, perfect condition.

Just do it man.

[behndy]

you ARE a persuasive gent there fuzzYpie. yah. i'm gonna give his a run (he's a HUGE Tool Fanboi (not at ALL in an annoying way)...... so what would that be probably?) in the next few days. when they were running through a song his shits WAS kinda poking me in the chest..... and i've seen them live a buncha times and kinda hate his tone, but there was some PRESENCE.

but if it tickles me way more than SS then i'll start figuring out what actual model i want. but i'll still probably have to pick up a sampler/trigger setup and a TimeLine before i change up my rig.

mooOOoOOOooOoOOo. why can't everybody just give me free gear?

[warwick.hoy]

Just get a Mesa 400+ and call it a day.

It's the clearest tube amp you can buy. Loud enough to move furniture for you. Takes pedals like a champ. Has
the most monstrous break-up you've ever heard.

Ridiculously reliable. Scared of the price to re-tube tho, but honestly it's worth it.

Got mine for $700 on ebay, perfect condition.

Just do it man.

What was the shipping on that sucker?

7 hundo seems way less then I was anticipating and way more of a reachable goal,...but at the same time,....maybe one of those unbelievable once in a lifetime deals that I shouldn't count on,...especially if I get in a bidding war with behndy.

Also if you get a Mesa Boogie 400+,...be prepared for nearly $300 worth of glass if you want to retube,...at least from what I've dug up in mah research.

Look at it,....



Friggen Glass Factory in there (12 6l6s!!!!). Glorious.

Also,...can you confirm for me that the label above the two mystery jacks (above the labeled 4ohm and 8ohm outputs) does indeed read "Minimum 2ohm load"? What are those mystery outputs? Is this a Stereo amp?

OH GOD I WANT ONE SOOOOO HARD,.....

I like that they are rack mountable which would give me the option of putting it in the middle of my rack and be able to vent both below and above it. I like that they are more powerful than most SVTs (AFAIK). And they aren't quite as ubiquitous as an SVT (no dig there,....I would happily rawk and SVT).

[behndy]

huh. that IS some steampunk/mad scientist lab sechsy thar.

how long do you have to let toob ampz warm up? how much does something like that bugger weigh? i was actually thinking of getting a second SWR AmpLite and having 2 400 watt channels in a 1 rack space 9 lb package. or one of those ultra light Peavey 2 space 'u s to replace my GX-5 before i got curious about Them Toobz.

[jumbo_steelie]

I was loosely looking for a 400+ this time last year and I saw a bunch that went for between 600 and 900 on evilbay. I think the $600 had some issues, but nothing a good tech couldn't fix. Anywhoo, yeah I would love to at least play one one day.

Dooder on talkbass that lives like 15 minutes from me sold his mesa buster head. That killed me to not raid the line of credit for it.....

[warwick.hoy]

I don't know how much the 400+ weighs,...but if you want a tube rig,...you are gonna have to kiss your days of super lightweight class D amps goombye.

I'm right there with you,....having a super light rig was a nice convenience but then I realized,....fuck it; we're only young once,...quit being lazy,...do it for the toanz.

We can carry around geriatric rigs when we are geriatrics.

@Jumbo Steelie,....I'm just in the squirrel away mode at the moment,....hoping that a local deal will pop up in the next 6 to 12 months and I'll have cash in hand ready to wheel and deal. Now if I could just stop buying other shit.

For reals I was figuring on saving up like $1600 there is a little more hope that I don't have to save up quite that much.

A quick check of fleabay just netted a Stategy 400 for sale,....hovering around $550 with about 3 days left on the listing.

No 400+'s though. QUIT BEING STINGY WITH THE GLORIOUS TOOB AMPZ AND COUGH THAT SHIT UP.