Wanting to go tubeeeee!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frolid
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Frolid

Frolid

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Ok guys listen. I realllllly want to go from solid state to tube. I need some words of advice. How much back up money should i have, and what are some things I should know.

P.S. sorry if i come off as a noob.
 
Audioholic":3gsjcr9g said:
backup money?

are you reffering to your overall budger?
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That and what money I would need extra (like after I spend it on the amp) for tubes, maintenance, etc.
 
well

first you have to figure out your purchasing budget, and then its possible to make suggestions. As far as additional expenditures, it really can be up to you. I mean you really don't need to change the tubes unless one goes bad, or you want to experiement to get a slightly different sound. Preamp tubes are usually not that expensive, depending on what you get, 10-25 bucks. Power tubes are a bit more as you need to buy in pairs or quads, but once again you don't "need" to get any of these unless they either brake, go bad, or you want to experiement. Tube amps usually can be quite rugged. Heck, a tube head of mine fell hard onto a hard wood floor, after reseating the tubes, it worked with no issues whatso ever.


with any amp and tone quest, you can spend as much or as reasonablly little as possible
 
The best thing to do first is decide how much you can spend up front. There are good products at nearly any price point. Consider if you're looking for combo or head plus cab.

Then we'll have suggestions based purely on purchase price for you. After that you can tell us what sort of bands you want to sound like, and we can push you in the right direction again.

After that, maintenence costs aren't that much. I'd say unless you buy something with old tubes, you would only pay if something broke or you were looking to change your tone.
 
What kind of music do you play? Where do you play it and how loud do you play?
What's your budget?
 
I'm going to be a tad different then everyone else here. I replace output tubes BEFORE they go bad. I don't mess around too much in that department. I'm pretty sure there's no risk in letting a pre-amp tube go bad before you replace it though, but don't quote me on this. I'f you played 5 hours/night, 4 nights/week, you should replace the output tubes every 6 months IMO to be safe. Once a year is usually overkill for most people though. The only reason I'm telling you this is that I have personally cooked an output transformer by playing the amp with old tubes in it. It was $450 to replace the OT not counting tubes, and that was 20 years ago. Depending on which type of output tubes the amp uses and how many it has (generally 2 or 4) you can expect to pay $60-200 to buy the tubes and have a tech install them. If you budgeted $100/year, I think you would be more than safe. You should generally have 1-2 preamp tubes on hand "just in case" as well as a couple of fuses. Pre-amp tubes are about $10-15 each so it's not a big expense. One more thing to think of. IF one of my amps blows a fuse, I replace it. If it blows the second one, I assume there's a problem. It's USUALLY a bad tube. FWIW, I'm done with solid state/digital crap after my Line 6 experience. I have a nice 1/2 stack, and now a little combo. Both are all tube, and I'm happy as a clam.
 
Mudder":2s3q49ir said:
The best thing to do first is decide how much you can spend up front. There are good products at nearly any price point. Consider if you're looking for combo or head plus cab.

Then we'll have suggestions based purely on purchase price for you. After that you can tell us what sort of bands you want to sound like, and we can push you in the right direction again.

After that, maintenence costs aren't that much. I'd say unless you buy something with old tubes, you would only pay if something broke or you were looking to change your tone.
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I want a head and cab. I really like mesa boogie, ENGL, and peavey.
 
Well, those brands can be had from cheap to spendy. For example, a great cheap head is a Peavey VTM. I have a 60 that rocks. Add a boost in front and it can do modern rock and metal. Normally you can find these under $300, they would probably need new tubes, so factor that in.

Move to the $500-800 range and you can add the 5150, JSX, Mark III, Single/Dual Rect, Engl Thunder, and maybe others if you're a clever shopper.

After that you may as well consider going up to $1500 for anything Engl, Mesa MkIV, Roadster (maybe...prices on all of these will fluctuate in the used market).

For a cab I'd say Avatar and Lopo are your two best cheap but good options.
 
Frolid":3m7w1dus said:
I want a head and cab. I really like mesa boogie, ENGL, and peavey.
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If your looking for hard rock/metal then Peavey is the best place to start. You can get a nice head (5150/6505/XXX) for around $500 to $800. (Keep your eyes peeled, I scored a XXX and 5150 for $500) You can nail a Peavey cab for even cheaper, or if you want a nicer cab look for Avatar.

Edit: Good damn, mudder just said everything I did before I got the chance :lol: :LOL: Great minds think alike
 
Mudder":1xoqdgow said:
Well, those brands can be had from cheap to spendy. For example, a great cheap head is a Peavey VTM. I have a 60 that rocks. Add a boost in front and it can do modern rock and metal. Normally you can find these under $300, they would probably need new tubes, so factor that in.

Move to the $500-800 range and you can add the 5150, JSX, Mark III, Single/Dual Rect, Engl Thunder, and maybe others if you're a clever shopper.

After that you may as well consider going up to $1500 for anything Engl, Mesa MkIV, Roadster (maybe...prices on all of these will fluctuate in the used market).

For a cab I'd say Avatar and Lopo are your two best cheap but good options.
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Yeah i'm looking for a good death metal tone. but with melodic solos of course.
and wow, i didn't know ENGL went that low of price :lol: :LOL:
 
Well, the Thunder isn't a popular model, and used prices vary on the others. You can find Fireballs and Screamers lower than you might think, provided you're patient.
 
Mudder":3530crv8 said:
Well, the Thunder isn't a popular model, and used prices vary on the others. You can find Fireballs and Screamers lower than you might think, provided you're patient.
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I've been looking at ENGL and I really like their tone. So i might be able to find a fireball or power ball around what type of price range?

a cheap used one that is.
 
I've got a Mesa single Recto just sitting. But you'll need a cab.
The Mesa can get you a good death metal tone, rock and it has a decent clean channel.
Plus they are easy to maintain. You can re-tube it yourself. It doesn't need to be biased. And it's a 50 watter so only two power tubes.
Plenty loud for 50 watts. You can get it in to the sweet spot before you lose your hearing.
PM me if you're interested.
 
hmmm, I do like mesa single rectos. I like their tone as well. I know a whole hell of a lot of bands use them, most hard rock/metal.

but as i will be in a hardcore/death metal band soon, I will need a good death amp for the tone.
 
Frolid":q41b9o1q said:
hmmm, I do like mesa single rectos. I like their tone as well. I know a whole hell of a lot of bands use them, most hard rock/metal.

but as i will be in a hardcore/death metal band soon, I will need a good death amp for the tone.
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Boost that amp with a tubescreamer and it will do tight death metal in spades.

-Joe
 
Frolid":wgurmdxq said:
hmmm, I do like mesa single rectos. I like their tone as well. I know a whole hell of a lot of bands use them, most hard rock/metal.

but as i will be in a hardcore/death metal band soon, I will need a good death amp for the tone.
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Peavey 5150 or 6505! Those will get you there fairly cheap, but they're really good amplifiers.
 
Its a good time to pick up a Mesa Rec, they seem to be a little easier to find now-adays used, and for usually a decent price.
 
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