Tube Amp

Welcome to the forum. I think that the Peavey Valve King might definitely be an option worth considering, trying and buying, if it meets your needs.

Traynor might have something too. We've talked about Bugera with mixed opinions and precautions, and I would add some precautions, if not serious reservations about Randall.

I truly have seen modern-day Traynor's fall apart too, but they are decent and have an adequate service plan. I also got inside info from a former worker at Traynor, that there's alot of cost-cutting and shortcuts.

I'm not putting any one company down intentionally, but the old truth seems to apply, you get what you pay for. And if it means anything, Marshalls are pricey but pretty awesome and reliable, great for hard core use, and sometimes abuse.

I'm looking to pick up a new half stack in the upcoming weeks. I'd really like a nice tube amp. I'm fairly naive with all the current models and just looking for some input.

Why a half stack? They're bulky, take up tons of stage real estate, and most of 'em are WAY overpowered for the majority of clubs if you wanna take advantage of power tube saturation.

That being said . . . I'm saving up and trying to sell gear so I can get this "half stack"

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Egnater-Rebel-Half-Stack?sku=580855

Plus, I already have (and gig!) this one:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Jr-HalfStack?sku=481475

You gig with an Epi Valve Jr?

What kind of stage volume are you getting? I know they're loud for 5 watts, but I would have thought they were quiet for gigging. Or are you using a mike?

Best,
Ande

You gig with an Epi Valve Jr?

What kind of stage volume are you getting? I know they're loud for 5 watts, but I would have thought they were quiet for gigging. Or are you using a mike?

Best,
Ande

Our drummer used an electronic kit, so it was actually louder than it needed to be on stage. I generally used it when we did a straight-up blues gig. I set the volume somewhere between 11 'o clock and high noon, then use an attenuator to take about 30% of the volume off. Plug a Tele in, mike it, and rip. :)

My "high powered" stage rig right now is a Blues Jr. I use that one if I'm doing stuff that needs a decent clean (more headroom), and use a Bad Monkey and/or MXR Distortion+ for dirt. Again, I attenuate to a sane stage volume, mike 'er up and let it rip.

You can buy a 900 watt powered mixer with 12 channels, two main speakers, two monitor speakers, mics and cables for less than a grand. That's enough power to hurt people in a small club :twisted:
With the availability of gobs of power for a stupid low price, in an awesomely small package,it really doesn't make sense to lug a behemoth of an amp designed to fill arenas to local club gigs nowadays.

Just get a low powered amp you can run in the "sweet spot" ALL the time. Your back will thank you when you do a frat party, and realize you have to load in up a 5-story fire escape.

Thanks for the welcomes guys...

Definitely have my mind set on the half stack. I've have/had a few setups already and just looking for something newer/more reliable. My first stack was an old historic tube amp that I had acquired in a trade, since then I've rocked a Hartke (head/cab) and then a crate cab with some crappy Marshall head. I still have all these amps and cabs but they're beat and I hate them lol

I guess I'm just looking for some insight on maybe finding a quality tube head head for around 500-1,000 bucks and possibly mating it with the crate or Hartke cab until I can collect adequate money to put it on a more competent cabinet.

BUT as of now, I'm learning towards just picking up the Valveking amp and cab.

Are they're really no good Line6 tube amps that don't have all the stupid kiddy effects on them?
AND..
am I delusional in thinking that i could find a Marshall tube head for around a 1,000?

My first generation Epi Valve Junior combo is at maximum volume and starting to break up around 12:00-1:00 o'clock, depending on the pickups. (If the guitar volume's all the way up.) Further turning of the knob just increases the distortion. It's loud enough that I seriously can't hear my wife in the same room screaming at me to turn it down.

I guess I'm just looking for some insight on maybe finding a quality tube head head for around 500-1,000 bucks and possibly mating it with the crate or Hartke cab until I can collect adequate money to put it on a more competent cabinet.

I'd give these a look . . .

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Blackheart-Hot-Head-BH100H-100W-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head?sku=488005

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Engl-Thunder-50W-Guitar-Amp-Head?sku=481523

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Egnater-Renegade-65W-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head?sku=620076

am I delusional in thinking that i could find a Marshall tube head for around a 1,000?

How about a full Marshall stack? I tried this in the store, and it sounds really nice.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Marshall-Haze-MHZ15-Full-Stack?sku=581922

Stuff, welcome to the asylum! The guys have a point regarding the size/power amp. We could do our best on a recommendation with more information. What style music, what size venues will you be playing, and what type of rig are you using now? Are you mic'ing the instruments at gigs?

I gig in a 5-piece with a 20 watt head and a 2-12 cab playing blues & classic rock styles. That 20 watts through two ceramic 12s is plenty loud enough to cause the club owners in any of those places to tell us to turn down. I rarely truly push the amp playing a club. It's plenty to cut through another guitar and a horn, as well as a manic drummer and power-mad bassist.

Since the typical gig setup has everything mic'ed through the PA, unless you're playing death-metal or similar in larger venues, an amp over 30-40 watts, 50 at most if you only play larger clubs, is overkill and actually hampers achieving a good stage mix and a good frontal mix.

Consider carefully, as choosing the size & power of your amp is a major and critical part of how you sound tonally and how well you fit in the mix out front. Too small, and of course you're lost in the mud and/or you simply don't have enough clean volume before the amp breaks up. Too large an amp means a very difficult time in finding the "right" volume for a particular venue without destroying the on-stage mix. Plus, all the grind & crunch will have to come from a pedal or processor, or from pre-gain/master volume preamp distortion.

You also want to choose an amp (particularly a tube amp) size and power such that you can actually push the power output section of the amp, as most blues/rock tones benefit when at least some of the grind and crunch comes from the power tubes being pushed. Scooped-mids metal sounds are a different matter. In that case nearly all the crunch & grind comes from either a pedal/processor or an amps' preamp stage and amplified through a powerful, clean output section that can cleanly handle the transients from low-register palm-muted "chunk-ing".

Another rule-of-thumb to keep in mind when amp-shopping is that a tube amp rated at a certain wattage sounds much, much louder than a solid-state amp rated at the same wattage, all else being equal.

Strat

It depends on the type of amp, too. A single ended Class A power amp pushed into distortion sounds very much like a "preamp" stage (also a single ended Class A amplifier) being overdriven. Both are clipping on one or both of the peaks of the waveform. A fixed bias Class AB push-pull power amp being overdriven clips the peaks a little, but as it begins to draw grid current on the peaks the negative bias voltage goes up and the paired tubes are driven into cutoff earlier so there's not a smooth transition from one tube conducting to another. The glitch in the waveform at baseline crossover between the peaks is what produces the coveted sound of a cranked push-pull amp. Class AB push-pull amps were brought out to allow greater power outputs, and higher power amps are still their niche. That's largely why people who like that cranked tone keep buying amps too big for their needs and cranking them much too loud. Overdriven single ended and push-pull amp sounds are just two different things. If you like the single ended distortion, you'll be fine with the gain turned up, or with an overdrive and the master volume at a moderate level. But if you've got to have that crossover distortion of the push-pull power amp, you'll want an overpowered amp and attenuator.

^^^ Thanks guys, I'm glad I stumbled upon this sight. Seems to be some great people/info here!

Well, basically I found myself to the point of information overload and impulsively bought the Peavey Valveking amp and cabinet lol After getting it home and tinkering I've fallen in love so far!

I'm semi naive when it comes to the technical aspects of everything and the 100w, like previously stated, is MORE than enough. After playing with the rest of the crew, it seems that playing at about ~5 volume wise is a perfect compliment to the other instruments without being over bearing. The texture variation between A & B is great as well.

So far I would highly recommend this amp!

I use a Peavey Valve King 100H Head and a Kustom 4x12 cab. A half stack is a bit much unless you really need the headroom of a big powerful tube amp. The Valveking is a great amp for any playing style and it is pretty cheap to pick one up. You might consider a Hayden MoFo, it's a 30 watt all tube hand wired class A head that you can switch down to 2 watts for home/studio use. Nice and small for transporting around and It has enough power to drive any cab, it's pretty damn loud! I Tried one at Gamlins music store in Cardiff and almost bought it on the spot. I have seen them brand new on ebay for £370 with carry case.

to be honest you don't have a lot of options if you want an all tube but can't afford to splash out too much cash. And Line 6 amps just don't cut it for me.