another tube amp thread

marshal · 05-06-2003, 02:26 PM

Okay, after listening to everybody in my other amp thread, I have decided it would probably be worth it to just save more and buy a tube amp(although I'm gonna have to work all summer to save enough). I really want to get a marshall . . . (my name is marshal, how cool is that??) so what would be the best thing to try? I was thinking a DSL50 or DSL100 halfstack . . .

and by the way, the first thing ill be using this for is to play the national anthem(jimi style:kgrin

at our high school's home football games

nate95366 · 05-06-2003, 02:55 PM

Sounds Great :kcool:

I lean more toward the smaller, lower-powered tube amps and away from the big stacks and such because it's easier to get that classic tube tone at less ear-piercing volume. Even with that, my little 22-watt Mesa Boogie Studio amp can pierce some ears if it wants.

Nate

R2D2 · 05-06-2003, 03:13 PM

I agree with Nate: unless you're going to be selling out big concert halls, a half-stack is going to be more power than you need - so much power, in fact, that you won't be able to get the tone you want with out turning it up past how loud you'll want to go.

Definitely save up for a tube amp though, I would just make sure to keep it small. If you're interested in something besides a Marshall, I'd highly recommend you look into a Rivera. Paul Rivera used to work for Marshall, and his amps are pretty unbeatable. They generally have a Marshallish channel and a Fenderish channel.

marshal · 05-06-2003, 09:11 PM

But will a small tube amp do something like ballgames at a large outdoors stadium?

R2D2 · 05-07-2003, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by marshal
But will a small tube amp do something like ballgames at a large outdoors stadium?

It sure will if you mic it, which I would think you would want to do anyway. Sure, a larger tube amp might get you enough power for a large outdoor stadium, but if you're going to crank it up that high, it'll be loud for your ears on stage.

5L. · 05-07-2003, 12:21 AM

You'll also need to consider transportation issues. I'm already getting annoyed when moving around my amp which is relatively small (~20Kg)

If you really want a Marshall, maybe you can go for one of those DSL or TSL combos.

By the way Nate, on the subject of classic tube tones, do you usually have to CRANK it hard?? I'm beginning to think that the reason I can't get this classic tone is that I'm not playing loud enough lol

nate95366 · 05-07-2003, 06:08 AM

To get true power-tube saturation on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22, set the gain to 3-ish and the master up above 7 somewhere and stand off to the side, 'cause it's loud. But that's true, classic tube tone - the power tube saturation.

To get very nice sounding pre-amp saturation, which technically isn't classic tube tone but it's the tone that Mesa Boogie is famous for developing, set the gain b/w 3 and 4 and the master in the same place. Bingo. 4 - 4 is one of my favorite places to play, although it still can get kinda loud if you're right in front of the amp.

Nate

Nate

5L. · 05-08-2003, 06:25 AM

Off topic for a sec, sorry.

So with the Tube screamer, is that suppose to help you push the valves into saturation at a nice, low, soft volume? If so, how does it work???

nate95366 · 05-08-2003, 01:21 PM

I think I'd like to use a TubeScreamer with my Boogie sometimes because you can get some pre-amp tube saturation while maintaining a more controllable volume. At least on my Studio .22, there's a very sizable distance in volume in between "rhythm" mode and "lead" mode. If I were to use a tubescreamer, I'd set things up so that I was in one of the two modes all the time, but I'd step on the tubescreamer to bring the gain up "just a notch or two" instead of the amount that changing modes would inflict.

The tubescreamer, btw, works by using a device called an "op amp" to "overdrive" your signal into clipping, and then has a "level" knob so you can control how much of that new signal is coming out - I'd probably control my level so that it was just a shade or two higher than my "rhythm" mode...

Nate

5L. · 05-08-2003, 05:16 PM

Oh I see.

Yeah, I also have that big volumn difference with my amp.

BTW, would you recommend getting a TS9 with those 808 mods?

marshal · 05-08-2003, 07:11 PM

does anyone know about the marshall AVT series?

MisterAgreeable · 05-08-2003, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marshal
does anyone know about the marshall AVT series?

I played one of those a while back. I thought it was overpriced for a solid state amp. (It's got a tube in the preamp, but it's still a SS amp.)

The clean channel was ok. The overdrive channel however, sounded like a Marshall. I laughed out loud - it just had something very reminiscent of a cranked Marshall sound. It wasn't perfect, but they clearly worked very hard to make that SS amp sound like a Marshall.

In the end, I decided:
A - I wasn't looking a Marshall anyways, so it wasn't for me.
B - I could get a used Mesa Boogie for the same money, which to me was a far better choice.

It wasn't versatile. It had ok clean sounds, and a pretty good high gain sound, and not much else. If I refused to look for a used amp, really dug that high gain Marshall sound, and couldn't afford a tube model, I might have bought it.

I don't remember the specific model though. It was probably two years ago, so they may be a bit more versatile now.

nate95366 · 05-09-2003, 06:35 AM

Quote:

BTW, would you recommend getting a TS9 with those 808 mods?

Only if you have a chance to listen to one side-by-side with a "normal" Tubescreamer and you like the modded one better. The mod is supposed to make it sound "more like it did back in the day..." One thing I would recommend is not getting the el-cheapo TS (the one with the push-in knobs - those are the nicest thing on them b/c the pedal sounds bad). Get the real thing if you get one.

Nate

5L. · 05-10-2003, 01:55 AM

Ok cool, thanks.

How's the amp hunting going, marshal?

marshal · 05-10-2003, 08:19 PM

Its going . . . right now I'm weighing the ups and downs of buying my dream amp head which I've found on ebay . . . a Slash Signature Marshall 100 watt head, which would be an insane amount of power but it would have killer tone and Slash happens to be my guitar hero. But I'd have to have a power brake or something . . . are those good for the amps???

If not that I'm thinking of (it'll be the end of the summer before I have the $$$)

A: buying a marshall 50 watt head & cab on ebay
B: buying a GNX3 pedal now that they've gone down in price and waiting till I get in a band before buying a bigger amp, but then it'll take a while to save the money. I'm only 16 so I have plenty of time to find a band.