Price check: Fryette CLX 100

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andiggity

andiggity

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Working on a local deal for one. The only one that sold on ebay way for 1800. What should I pay?
 
you can buy them brand new now from musicians friend for 2800. They had a drastic price drop the past year
 
Something like that won't come around often. It will depend on who's selling and how bad you want one. Completely random. Just go with how much it is new and what you feel is fair for it's age and condition. I see UL's go for 1500-1800 but the CLX is a lot less common on the used market. Definitely an amp I've always wanted to try because of the 34's.
 
So, are all the CLX-100 models after the name swap from VHT considered 'Masterbuilt"? Always been curious what separates them from past models under the VHT name. Were there any notable changes between then and more recently?
 
xXDaveyJonesXx":3cegumoz said:
So, are all the CLX-100 models after the name swap from VHT considered 'Masterbuilt"? Always been curious what separates them from past models under the VHT name. Were there any notable changes between then and more recently?
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No, it's still the same.
 
Same amp, same everything. Masterbuilt just means that one guy built it from beginning to end IIRC.

I had a CLX, and traded it strait across for a UL, best decision I could have done. THe CLX was not all that tight, surprisingly. I didn't like that amp much at all, the UL is where it's at for that VHT sig tone.

I wouldn't put any extra value on the CLX over a UL myself. Infact, I'd under value it compared to a UL, but again I thought my CLX sucked so maybe I'm just sour on that amp.
 
So the clx isn't tight? I know it has a more vintage tone in comparison to the ul. How does it compare tone wise?
 
andiggity":1oc6sdav said:
So the clx isn't tight? I know it has a more vintage tone in comparison to the ul. How does it compare tone wise?
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Supposedly, the preamps are the same. The UL has KT88s and 2 tubes in the PI. The CLX has EL34s and 1 tube PI.
 
The one I have a potential deal for has been modded to take el34 and 6l6.
 
andiggity":20m0hxt5 said:
The one I have a potential deal for has been modded to take el34 and 6l6.
Click to expand...
You can dig around for info at the fryette-users forum. If I remember correctly, some of those amps came from the factory that way. If it was modded later, I'd stick with the EL34s. From Mr. Fryette...

What about swapping out different power tubes in amplifiers designed for a specific type? Since the question keeps coming up, we thought it would be beneficial to have this as a sticky.

Q: Will they physically fit?
A: Yes, in most cases.

Q: Does that mean the amp will operate correctly with the incorrect tube type installed?
A: No, speaking strictly from an engineering standpoint.

Q: Will flames and sparks ensue?
A: No, assuming the tubes are good. EXCEPTION: Two/Ninety/Two power amp.

Q: Is it safe to try it?
A: Generally speaking, yes, if you know what you’re doing. EXCEPTION: Two/Ninety/Two power amp.

Q: Will I like the sound?
A: Maybe. You may believe that the different distortion character is the signature of the substitute, and that may work OK for you. In reality what you’re actually hearing is the sound of the substitute tube trying to function under a pretty significant handicap.

Q: Who do I contact if I can’t get the bias set properly or don’t like the results?
A: Contact the companies who promote this practice as a legitimate feature and ask them to explain why they promote something that every experienced design engineer on the planet will tell you is false.

Q: Why are you guys so adamant that this is a bad idea when so many other amp companies promote tube switching as a design benefit?
A: Because we feel we can deliver legitimate design benefits through superior design and engineering, as opposed to pitching a proven false concept that may sound good on paper but doesn’t really deliver.

Q: Are you saying that other designers I respect are liars?
A: No. Tube switching can be claimed to be a useful feature within a very broad (loose) interpretation of functionality:
1) The operating parameters of the tubes in some designs may be such that no tube actually performs to its optimum potential. In that limited context, any type will “work”.
2) They don’t really know. Many “designers” lack the engineering chops to know better or simply clone other company’s designs that make this claim.
3) Herd mentality. This idea is now so universally engrained in the general discourse that they feel it is impossible to swim against that current – and justifiably so. If you don’t have the skill, knowledge or the stomach to fight it, you’re going to join in on the justification that “everyone else does it”.

If you own a particular amp and wish you could hear it in a different dress so to speak, that’s perfectly understandable. If we were to tell you “yes, putting EL34s in a KT88 designed amp will get you 80% there”, we’d be lying. It’s more like 60% and the results would be so skewed that you wouldn’t know what changes are attributable to the tube character and which are due to flat out incompatibility.

Someone might claim that their output transformer is designed to be compatible with several tube types. Unfortunately, transformer design criteria demands that such a transformer cannot be compatible with any one tube type. Since this is basically true for all tube amplifiers, there is no universally applicable response which justifies tube switching and at the same time explains away the complications.

smf
 
Kelly":2t377cap said:
andiggity":2t377cap said:
The one I have a potential deal for has been modded to take el34 and 6l6.
Click to expand...
You can dig around for info at the fryette-users forum. If I remember correctly, some of those amps came from the factory that way. If it was modded later, I'd stick with the EL34s. From Mr. Fryette...

What about swapping out different power tubes in amplifiers designed for a specific type? Since the question keeps coming up, we thought it would be beneficial to have this as a sticky.

Q: Will they physically fit?
A: Yes, in most cases.

Q: Does that mean the amp will operate correctly with the incorrect tube type installed?
A: No, speaking strictly from an engineering standpoint.

Q: Will flames and sparks ensue?
A: No, assuming the tubes are good. EXCEPTION: Two/Ninety/Two power amp.

Q: Is it safe to try it?
A: Generally speaking, yes, if you know what you’re doing. EXCEPTION: Two/Ninety/Two power amp.

Q: Will I like the sound?
A: Maybe. You may believe that the different distortion character is the signature of the substitute, and that may work OK for you. In reality what you’re actually hearing is the sound of the substitute tube trying to function under a pretty significant handicap.

Q: Who do I contact if I can’t get the bias set properly or don’t like the results?
A: Contact the companies who promote this practice as a legitimate feature and ask them to explain why they promote something that every experienced design engineer on the planet will tell you is false.

Q: Why are you guys so adamant that this is a bad idea when so many other amp companies promote tube switching as a design benefit?
A: Because we feel we can deliver legitimate design benefits through superior design and engineering, as opposed to pitching a proven false concept that may sound good on paper but doesn’t really deliver.

Q: Are you saying that other designers I respect are liars?
A: No. Tube switching can be claimed to be a useful feature within a very broad (loose) interpretation of functionality:
1) The operating parameters of the tubes in some designs may be such that no tube actually performs to its optimum potential. In that limited context, any type will “work”.
2) They don’t really know. Many “designers” lack the engineering chops to know better or simply clone other company’s designs that make this claim.
3) Herd mentality. This idea is now so universally engrained in the general discourse that they feel it is impossible to swim against that current – and justifiably so. If you don’t have the skill, knowledge or the stomach to fight it, you’re going to join in on the justification that “everyone else does it”.

If you own a particular amp and wish you could hear it in a different dress so to speak, that’s perfectly understandable. If we were to tell you “yes, putting EL34s in a KT88 designed amp will get you 80% there”, we’d be lying. It’s more like 60% and the results would be so skewed that you wouldn’t know what changes are attributable to the tube character and which are due to flat out incompatibility.

Someone might claim that their output transformer is designed to be compatible with several tube types. Unfortunately, transformer design criteria demands that such a transformer cannot be compatible with any one tube type. Since this is basically true for all tube amplifiers, there is no universally applicable response which justifies tube switching and at the same time explains away the complications.

smf
Click to expand...


No offense here but just because it was designed with something certain in mind does not mean that it should be the end all be all.

I had a VHT for a while and to my ears the absolute best sound I got out of it was with only 1 "factory recommended" tube in it out of the 7 or 8 that the amp had.

Although I respect and think VHT has some of the best amps ever made I rally disagree with them on this topic.

Scientifically it may have not been optimal and according to Fryette, a handicap.

But my ears do not lie to me and if it takes a handicap to get an amp to where my ears are pleased than so be it.

My car was designed with a 1.5" pipe. I ripped that off and put a 2.25" pipe on in. The result was more air flow. :rock:
 
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