Tube amps for Family Home Use?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ibanez4life SZ!
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ibanez4life SZ!

ibanez4life SZ!

Well-known member
Hey guys,

Kind of a different question that usual, but I'm sure a bunch of you have some experience in this sense, so I'd really appreciate the insight.

I've been playing an Axe FX through a pair of studio monitors for a few years now. I've gotten some great use and tone from it, though I've been missing the tube amp liveliness and response for a while now. This isn't meant to be a 'tube vs. digital' argument...both are fantastic ways to get sounds, but IMO, the tube amps still have an upper hand in the feel department, that gives playing something extra special.

I'm recently married, and we just settled down in our new house, where I have a room dedicated to my guitar stuff. I had planned on switching to a tube amp once we got to this house, but I'm starting to have second thoughts on it. I now work 5 days a week, and don't get home till after 6PM, so my playing is confined to later hours. We also want kids, so there is also the consideration of little ones sometimes in the relatively near future.

So, to bring it all together- how do you guys work with tube amps in a family home environment? Are you able to get the volume low enough to work around restrained hours and not disturbing family members? I remember the volume jump in most tube amps between quiet and choked to blaring loud being essentially inexistent.

Given all this, Im beginning to think that staying digital may be the best way to get playing time in, but let's hear your thoughts!

Thanks,

Eric
 
Dude I live in an apartment and have neighbors...gone thru 5 amps in the last few years trying to get a decent low volume sound, going successively smaller in watts. It worked for the most part but I couldn't ever really turn any of them up above 1. They were just too loud. Last one I had was the best; FJA modded 50 watt Single Rec with a built in gain boost. That on the Modern setting at 1 was the best solution I tried...but it was still a tube amp on 1. I recently sold it, and snagged an Apogee Jam and JamUp Pro; I don't have near the funds for anything else at the moment. I just couldn't get what I was looking for at lower volumes. My .02
 
Have you tried the Two notes torpedo live? its enable me to keep my 100 watters exactly as they are set whether on quiet nights in or rehersal or gigs.
 
if you can find a Peavey Classic 20, grab it - perfect low volume tube tone
 
I play my VH4 pretty quiet after hours. Even during the day at weekends I can't turn it up any way near to a volume that would do the amp justice.

That being said, she still sounds great. While the AxeFX sounds amazing, I too traded one in for a tube amp again. I guess the good thing about the AxeFX is that you can use headphones while still getting the whole poweramp simulation thing going on.

I'd say the AxeFX is the best option for you if you want great tone without disturbing any babies. If you're anything like me though, you're finding the AxeFX a bit uninspiring. I was relieved to be playing through a tube amp again. Difficult decision.
 
I picked up an Aiken Tomcat and use it for quiet practice/jamming. It's 12 watts with a built-in attenuator that works amazingly well. I can run the Volume on '10' and attenuate it down to bedroom levels. I'm very impressed with it.
 
Similar situation here. Tube amps can work fine though. I second the Two Notes Torpedo Live suggestion. I have a similar setup running using a load box and DI, then running that into a computer running the Two Notes plugin. It works well, and should be a nice contender against the AxeFX when comparing on studio monitors.

I still like playing through a cab though. Even at low volumes, it's worth having as well. Keep one on hand for the moments the family is away and you can crank it a bit higher. And you may find friends to jam with. You'll want an amp/cab in that case. If nothing else, it makes for a nice place to set your 100W tube head on top of. :D

I wouldn't go the route of lower wattage tube amps. You can find the math on it elsewhere, but cutting the wattage down to even 10W doesn't make enough of a dent in the volume. If you like the tone of a certain 100W amp, get that one. By all means, if there is a lunchbox tube amp that has the tone you're looking for, go for it. But otherwise it's not worth the change in tone to try to chase lower volume using a lower wattage head. The volume drop just isn't enough. A 10W amp is still loud.

So my vote goes for the Two Notes Torpedo Live as an all-in-one solution. Or get a load box and DI, and use plugins to do the cab sim. I'm enjoying that route. It's basically the same as using the Torpedo Live.

So... get a tube amp if you want one! It can work at low volumes. Get a cab too. You might need it for playing out. You might have the chance to crank it one afternoon, and it's worth the smile you'll get for that short while. But look towards a cab sim/load box (or Torpedo Live) as the primary way to make the tube amp workable at low volume. I think there's a place in this world for high quality digital units like the AxeFX and Kemper, but don't give up the tube amps. Good luck! :thumbsup:
 
ibanez4life SZ!":3nbo7ugz said:
I've been playing an Axe FX through a pair of studio monitors for a few years now. I've gotten some great use and tone from it, though I've been missing the tube amp liveliness and response for a while now.

Eric
Click to expand...

Do you own an Axe-Fx II ? If you do & can't get tube amp feel & tone then something is wrong dude....

I own a BE100, Mark V, JVM Satch & a Quickrod. I still play my Axe II 90% of the time in my mancave where I can blast the tube amps at any volume I want, but the Axe hangs right with them. I literally can set the knobs on the models exactly like on my real amps & get the same tones.

If you have the Axe II running FW10 or 11b & you're not happy, then I'm surprised. If you don't have the 2 then get one :yes:

But own at least 1 good tube amp/cab as well just because.....
 
I use a Blackheart 7 watt head through a killer ported 2x12. Wampler Triple Wreck and a Boss DD-3. Sounds incredible at TV or lower volume. Nice clean tone and if you've ever heard the Wampler its an absolute shred fest on the Vintage switch and a really heavy wall of heavy on the modern side.
Not sure how it wouldn't be useable for any rock or metal player.
The Blackheart is set real neutral and clean. :rock:
 
This may seem counterintuitive, but with less time available for louder practice, I make sure to use a tube amp. A dirt pedal into a tube amp with a fair bit of volume works. I have a Yamaha THR for quiet jamming, and I plug my iPod in it to get my jam track.

I work 60-70 hours on a demanding project week and may take a few days off on the slower weeks. I can relate to the pressure of work and family. I am on the back side of that with my daughter thru college and married.

But to me guitar and music was my creative breath of life. I may not be able to have the high quantity of great tube amp loud jamming time, but I was not giving it up. So I used a little tweaker back then, like some Crate POS or what not, but I had a Mesa Boogie that got cranked on the weekends and when our little pick up group played out.

Congrats on the family and steady work. Lots of people want what you have.

The Bogner New Yorker is my low volume tube amp. Amazing amazing cleans, down to 1 watt, and takes pedals like a good little slut. Sounds huge with a Triple Wreck Pedal or Bogner Red.

Brad has the head on sale I think. A good bit cheaper than what I paid.

But on the up side, my wife always liked rock and metal. Now I have a half stack for practice in the large family room. So it is like playing a small bar. The cool wife is priceless.

Peace
 
Any amp is gold, just get a decent attenuator.

And ya, the TNTL is a terrific solution for silent recording and the like. But to get the "feel" at low volumes, just sort out a good attenuator.

Friedman is working on a new product, the STFU 2 channel attenuator. And outside of this, back to Two Notes, they're releasing their "Re-Load" attenuator this September.

Peace,
Mo
 
I'm in a similar situation though I get home later and already have kids. I've gotten by with a VH4, SLO, and Marshall 2204. I'm wanting a Dual/Triple Rec too. All have worked out fine. I prefer them to the AFxII I had for a bit.
 
+1 for not focusing on lower-wattage amps. They're all loud as hell. I have an attenuator (Weber MiniMass). It's good, but does suck tone. Fortunately, I'm able to get good tones out of my 50-watt Granger Lead Overdrive (yet another SLO-100 hand-made ripoff). It's not the same as cranked tone. There just is no sub for compressed air, pissed off speakers, clipping power tubes, etc. However, it turns down far better than any other amp I've owned (Marshall DSL100, Laney AOR, Orange Dark Terror) due to the tone originating primarily from the pre-amp circuit. Unlike those other amps, it doesn't get that cheap fizzy/buzzy characteristic to the overdrive when turned down. I'm a high-gain guy, so this is by far the most important factor for me to find good tone.
 
Get whatever amp you want and get a guitar amp isolation box or build your own. Then you can crank the hell out of it and bring the live/recorded feed out of your monitor speakers.

- Nothing like a speaker moving some air around IMHO.
 
As silly as this sounds.... I picked up a
Mesa Mark V as a "practice"/"low volume"
amp and it does great.
 
I dunno, but to me a tube amp is meant to be loud. I have a two-notes live and that's good if you already have a tube amp and you want to play and record quietly. But honestly this low volume stuff like two-notes and attenuators doesn't do it for me. I'd much rather play a tube amp and hear it through speakers. People don't realize the most important thing isn't just the "tubes" its the transformer/speaker interaction that make it what it is.

If you can't play loud I wouldn't bother getting a tube amp. If you can fix up your basement, sound proof it or insulate it as best as you can, then get a tube amp and then ignore the other family members.. :D
 
I've always used the amps that I use for playing live, at home too. Never had to crank to get the sounds I want, so it's never been an issue. The easiest way (I found) to deal w/ wanting ex. a CRANKED non-master volume plexi tone (at easy listening levels) is, to load the head down w/ a Hot Plate, and reamp it through a power amp-- and use the power amp level to adjust listening levels. :yes: :thumbsup:

For me, from '81 to now, I've been using a MK series Mesa/Boogie amp (MKIIB's, and MKIII Simul-Class amps), which get huge amounts of gain, if you want it, at any listening level. I love my 180 Watt MKIII Coliseum (original owner since I got this one new in '86), because it sounds great, at any volume.

Bedroom levels in this video are not a result of using a hot plate. The amp just sounds great any whisper volumes too:



Various incarnations over the past 20+ years

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You should check out the Rivera Rock Crusher. Great tone at any volume. Love mine.

 
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