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Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:45 am
by frigid midget
I know this has probably been asked a zillion times before, but a quick google search didn't really bring up anything
Ceriatone/metro isn't an option for me, so I'm all out of ideas
A 1987x would seem like the obvious choice...But even a used one wouldn't be exactly cheap around here, and the one I played didn't AT ALL sound like what I remember from playing the real deal
My guitar tech says the difference mainly comes from the transformer, as well as couple smaller things (that I can't really remember, too techy for my small brain).
Modding one, and retro fitting it with the 'right' replacement transformer would end up costing me nearly as much as a vintage Marshall, which I can't afford :s
Nothing by peavey/laney that comes close enough? It doesn't HAVE to be 50watt, but anything more would be overkill, and less than 40Watt might fall short in the clean headroom departement...
I've got a Traynor YBA-1, and I'd really like a second, similar amp. As a backup, and to play stereo. Those Traynors are rare as hen's teeth in this part of the world thouhgh, and I wouldn't mind my second amp to be voiced slightly different...
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:53 am
by frigid midget
Btw, what about the Laney AOR series 2? They're more gainy, JCM flavoured, right?
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 9:24 am
by Disarm D'arcy
Bugera plexi thing with two tubes pulled out?
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 9:33 am
by Iommic Pope
AOR will cover it.
Channel two on a sovtek Mig 50 is pretty much a plexi.
Jumping both channels takes you balls deep into awesome town.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:07 am
by MEC
Iommic Pope wrote:Channel two on a sovtek Mig 50 is pretty much a plexi.
Jumping both channels takes you balls deep into awesome town.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:52 am
by frigid midget
Those Sovteks arent too pricey or scarce, but dispite the many raving reviews on the net, there seems to be a lot of complaints about shitty qc, inferior parts, etc...
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:56 am
by bigchiefbc
I play the Bugera plexi clone and fucking love it. It's 100 watts, but you could just pull two tubes, I ran it like that for a while and it was fine. Mine is the older, non-master-volume one, and I love the shit out of it.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
by HeavyXIII
I was going to suggest the Bugera thing, but I believe they're supposed to be 150W or some shit. I love my AORs, and would definitely suggest looking for one despite their JCM flavoring. The 6 knobs ought to be the closest to Plexi of the lot.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 12:06 pm
by bigchiefbc
HeavyXIII wrote:I was going to suggest the Bugera thing, but I believe they're supposed to be 150W or some shit. I love my AORs, and would definitely suggest looking for one despite their JCM flavoring. The 6 knobs ought to be the closest to Plexi of the lot.
They're not 150, I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Just by looking at the schematic, it's basically identical to the 1959 Super Lead, which is 100W. Bugera claims that the 150 has something to do with the tubes they come with from the factory, but I'm skeptical. And I'm just running 4 standard EL34s in it, so it's 100W.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 1:10 pm
by HeavyXIII
bigchiefbc wrote:HeavyXIII wrote:I was going to suggest the Bugera thing, but I believe they're supposed to be 150W or some shit. I love my AORs, and would definitely suggest looking for one despite their JCM flavoring. The 6 knobs ought to be the closest to Plexi of the lot.
They're not 150, I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Just by looking at the schematic, it's basically identical to the 1959 Super Lead, which is 100W. Bugera claims that the 150 has something to do with the tubes they come with from the factory, but I'm skeptical. And I'm just running 4 standard EL34s in it, so it's 100W.
I see. Typical marketing BS.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:07 pm
by frigid midget
To each their own, I'm sure some will call this prejudice...But given the choice between a Laney AOR or a Behringer clone amp that's made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes)...I'd personally rather go with the option that proved it's durable and solid enough to last 30 years
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:13 pm
by waltdogg
Sovtek MIG-50 or the Bugera 1960 if you'll take their power ratings with a grain of salt and know that you'll wanna mod the amp a bit to make it less noisy more reliable. Not like Sovtek isn't gonna need work to keep it running after 20 years of life for the same reasons.
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:17 pm
by tremolo3
frigid midget wrote:made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes):
TGP/10
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:28 pm
by waltdogg
ramonovski wrote:frigid midget wrote:made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes):
TGP/10
Almost every amp maker uses Chinese tubes somewhere in their amps these days.
At least Bugera/Behinger has their own factory, while everybody else just uses contract factories that make everything from light bulbs to dildos.
The caveat with Bugera/Behinger is that they straight up clone shit but build it with the cheapest parts possible, supposedly they're getting better...
Re: Poor man's 50W plexi?
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:46 pm
by waltdogg
Oh and my MIG-50 was one of those that was suffering from inferior pots, an unstable bias network and failed cans.
If a Ceriatone or Metropoulos is out of the picture what about one from Mojotone? Or TubeDepot if/when they get more kits in?