Recommended Gear Thread

[james90]

Originally Posted by haze015

ok, does the biasing affect the volume? i've only ever halfed the power of the amp, know fuck all about tubes.

actually, I'm not sure if it does...it might affect the volume, but only a little.

[haze015]

Originally Posted by james90

actually, I'm not sure if it does...it might affect the volume, but only a little.

cool, just wondering because i could like set the amp to whatever volume i use it at and then bias the amp for the amount of break up i want.

[coffee_and_tv]

can anyone reccomend me a decent (read "cheap") poweramp and/or a decent/cheap 2-speaker cabinet?

cheers

also, does anyone know if general-use power amps (like this) can be used as power amps for guitar?

im planning on using my zoom g7 as a preamp, running that into a poweramp then a speaker cab

cheers
coffee

[the_man361]

Originally Posted by haze015

i don't have a gain knob

beehotch

[james90]

Originally Posted by haze015

cool, just wondering because i could like set the amp to whatever volume i use it at and then bias the amp for the amount of break up i want.

Yeah, and you could put tubes that will break up earlier in without biasing it...except that would require knowing where the bias is set now.

so, unless you want to take it to a tech, this is what you have to do....

get a matched quad of EL-34's (if that's what your amp uses) I would get electro harmonix's, they're the cheapest and they still sound great.
get a DMM (digital multi meter) to read what the plate voltage is and the mA etc. I use a weber bias rite.
open up the amp and find the bias trim pot
adjust the pot to where ever you need it (it has to be within a certain range though, or you could ruin the tubes)

Originally Posted by the_man361

beehotch

well his amp has a volume knob which goes to 11 instead of a gain control

[the_man361]

Originally Posted by james90

well his amp has a volume knob which goes to 11 instead of a gain control

i dont care, my gain goes to 20.

[james90]

Originally Posted by the_man361

i dont care, my gain goes to 20.

ah, but your JCM 900 isn't a SL-X

[the_man361]

Originally Posted by james90

ah, but your JCM 900 isn't a SL-X

haha damn you :P

[james90]

Originally Posted by montgomery

get on ebay and find some nationals. they're my favorite preamp tube. period.

Never heard of those, but I have a feeling they're expensive.

Originally Posted by the_man361

haha damn you :P

hahaha

I used to have one, that thing had too much gain.

also, about the chinese tubes...They're unreliable crap, but ones that work sound perfect in my Marshalls.

I'm talking about the pre amp tubes, NEVER AGAIN will I use their power tubes.

FYI all TAD tubes are made in china btw

[the_man361]

Originally Posted by james90

also, about the chinese tubes...They're unreliable crap, but ones that work sound perfect in my Marshalls.

I'm talking about the pre amp tubes, NEVER AGAIN will I use their power tubes.

FYI all TAD tubes are made in china btw

hmm, thats funny. im impressed by my TAD tubes. but as i say, i was just going on what the tech guy said.

why is this?

[six_minutes]

"Ultra-low total harmonic distortion"

coffee + tv: nah, that's not what you want. it's almost the exact opposite. even-order harmonic distortion is exactly what you're after. get a tube power amp. some to think about: marshall el34 20/20, mesa boogie 20/20, peavey classic 50/50. the peavey will be the cheapest of the bunch, sounds ace, and you can pull tubes to run it at 25w a side if you want. or use the power ection of your valve amp. or run your pedal into the front of any nice valve amp. my guitarist runs a gt-6 into the front of a fender twin and a mesa cab and has the sickest tone you've ever heard.

but, to be be honest, you might as well just get an amp for the money you'll spend. because you'll need a cab too.

[james90]

Originally Posted by the_man361

hmm, thats funny. im impressed by my TAD tubes. but as i say, i was just going on what the tech guy said.

why is this?

no idea, but I've found the 'regular' chinese power tubes to be complete garbage. (when I say regular, I mean the ones designed by them, and not big tube companies).

TADs are designed in germany and made in china.

[coffee_and_tv]

Originally Posted by six_minutes

"Ultra-low total harmonic distortion"

coffee + tv: nah, that's not what you want. it's almost the exact opposite. even-order harmonic distortion is exactly what you're after. get a tube power amp. some to think about: marshall el34 20/20, mesa boogie 20/20, peavey classic 50/50. the peavey will be the cheapest of the bunch, sounds ace, and you can pull tubes to run it at 25w a side if you want. or use the power ection of your valve amp. or run your pedal into the front of any nice valve amp. my guitarist runs a gt-6 into the front of a fender twin and a mesa cab and has the sickest tone you've ever heard.

but, to be be honest, you might as well just get an amp for the money you'll spend. because you'll need a cab too.

feck

cheers for the advice though.

the thing is.. i dont want to be buying an unnecessary preamp, as if i bought a new amp, id just be plugging straight from the zoom into the FX return (i.e. into the poweramp, and bypassing the preamp). i already own a giggable amp (roland cube 60), but there is no fx loop, and therefore no way short of opening the amp up to bypass the preamp. at the moment i either plug the zoom into my hifi or into the clean channel of the cube w/ a flat eq. having played it through the poweramp of my mates 100 watt marshall mg combo, i realise just how much difference there is in tone, and how much better it sounds without a preamp fucking round with the tone.

i have seen those tube poweramps, but theyre far too expensive for me. are there any solid-state ones around?

i realise that id need a cab as well, which was why i asked for advice on the good 2x12s around the place.

cheers
coffee

[donbenjy]

Originally Posted by haze015

cool, just wondering because i could like set the amp to whatever volume i use it at and then bias the amp for the amount of break up i want.

the superbass is class A i presume? cba to check for now! halving the tubes will cut the POWER in half, but shouldn't mess with the volume as the signal that would be shared across 4 tubes, now goes between 2, so the main guitar signal into each tube doubles. This means you should get breakup sooner.

[cheddatom]

Originally Posted by coffee_and_tv

i have seen those tube poweramps, but theyre far too expensive for me. are there any solid-state ones around?

i realise that id need a cab as well, which was why i asked for advice on the good 2x12s around the place.

cheers
coffee

You might be able to bypass the pre-amp in your cube if you open it.

Why not try a used PA or one of these old keyboard amps you get in the paper?

We bought quite a loud PA for the band off Ebay for £80