Conference napalm::guitar

    
    Being one of those "bass-types" I'm not really up on the
    latest & greatest guitar amps, but I believe there are 
    many amps available now with tube pre-amps and solid
    state post-gain amps. I know there are many quality bass amps
    available with selectable tube/solid state configurations...
    
    my 2 cents,
    
    Billy_K
    

    Well, personally, I'm starting to think that it's the power amp tubes
    that give the sound that I really like.  I've heard amps like Music Man
    that had solid state preamps with tube power amps and they sounded
    great to my ear, but I've also hear tons and tons of amps with a tube
    or three in the preamp that sounded like utter crap to my ear.  In
    fact, I'd even go a little farther and say that I don't think I've ever
    heard a "tube preamp" that had the total package sound of an all tube
    head.  
    
    Sure, some of them sound good and have a lot of good usable sounds, but
    there's one sound that I really like that's always missing.  And, I've
    heard solid state preamps that sounded just as good.  
    
    I think it's the power tubes...
    
    Greg

    I've had the same solid state Peavey amp for 12 years now.  Great tone,
    great features & best of all, I haven't had to sink a dime into it from
    day one, and it was gigged very hard for the first 6 years I had it.
    I'd say play all the solid state amps you can find in the stores and pick 
    the one you like best.  I know guys that spend big bucks replacing
    tubes twice a year or more.  No thanks, mine sounds just as good and I
    don't have to wait for mine to warm up.  I also noticed that my friends
    with tube amps tend to blow fuses quite often.    

>    All I can say is the H&K puts the Marshall _all tube_ amp to shame.
    
    Perhaps to your ear, Larry, certainly not to mine.  From your
    submissions to the past Guitarnotes tapes, I'd guess that your taste in
    guitar tones is very different from what I like.
    
    Greg

    
    	I've had a couple "Solid State" amps, a few of all-tube amps, and
    a hybrid (solid state pre-amp, tube power amp). 
    
    
    	I'm one of those people that swears by tube amps. When it comes to
    combos, I've never heard a solid-state one that compared to the rich,
    beefy sound of an all-tube model. The best sounding solid-state amp
    I've ever played thru was a Roland Jazz Chorus; it had a shimmering,
    crisp clean sound and the built-in stereo chorus was quite nice. But
    it had no "balls" and the built-in distortion sound was pathetic.
    
    	I'm not one of those guys that changes tubes every year; I've had
    amps that gigged pretty heavy for a number of years without changing
    tubes. No doubt, though, it is expensive to replace tubes. But you
    don't have to change them constantly. (I'm also one of those guys 
    that changes guitar strings infrequently, too, so whatta I know?)
    
    	I own a Twin, too, so I know how you feel about lugging a load
    like that around. My suggestion is that if you're looking for a 
    cheap way out, go with something like a Peavey Classic 30 or Classic
    50; an all-tube combo that has a vintage tone with some modern features
    and is very reliable. I have a Classic that I use for small gigs and
    jamming that I really like alot. 
    
    	As always, play as many amps as possible and make up your own mind
    in the end.
    
    
    Brad
    

    If I had the cash, I'd pop for the Peavey Classic 50....all tube
    warmth, Peavey reliability, great tone.......etc.
    
    just my opinion.....
    
    P.S.  I used all tube amps for years in the 70's (Fender Showman
    mostly) without changing tubes more than every 3 years or so....
    
    steve

I'd second the nomination for the PV Classic 50 - Either the
combos, or the heads - nice sounding units for a lot less!

    
    
    re: Tubes vs Solid State
    
    I've been playing through an RP1(full midi), into a Carver 1.5, into a
     Bose C-series 715 (stereo cab) for over a year now, and can't seem to
    find any flaws.
    
    I was a die-hard Marshall user (abuser?) for years, even had a pair of
    JCM 900 stacks on stage......
    
    The RP1 is phenomenal as a controller/pre-amp! 5 different speaker
    simulators (w/EQ on each) and fully MIDI to boot.
    
    The Carver speaks for itself.
    
    The Bose cab is loaded with 12s and can handle 240W per side.
    
    The whole set-up fits in my trunk and I don't have to pay two extra
    guys to load/unload for me.
    
                         ALL WITHOUT A SINGLE TUBE!
    
    Mind you, I miss that "hot tube" smell that I used to get with the
    JCMs, and I have put on a few pounds since I stopped carrying them
    to gigs. Oh yeah, my groove tube dealer has since closed up shop.
    
    I'm not slamming tubes, they can't take the abuse........
    
    But I do remember those old tweed twins. 
    
    (Of course I was a fetus at the time.)
    
    
                                               They don't call them "Solid"
                                                    for no reason!!!
    
                                                          <EADGBE>

    As far as tube reliability, I changed the tubes in my Marshall JCM900
    for the first time about 3 months ago.  I'd had it for 3 years, and the
    new tubes really didn't change the tone much.  I'm keeping the old ones
    for spares.
    
    Greg

    re: .11 (among others)
    >The whole set-up fits in my trunk and I don't have to pay two extra
    >guys to load/unload for me.
    
    I haven't conducted wide-scale experiments with other valve amps, but I
    have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the weight of my
    recently acquired Vox AC30. Sure, I wouldn't want to lug it three miles
    down a country road, but it's perfectly manageable nevertheless.
    
    Fact is, I reckoned that reducing the weight of valve amps is something
    the constructors would have worked on a lot over the last 30 years.
    Well, my AC30 is a vintage model, but it certainly didn't seem to weigh
    significantly more than the modern valve amps that I've had the
    opportunity to use (Soldano springs to mind).
    
    And given the tone, I'd have bought it anyway!
    
    DOm

    I owned a Roland Jazz Chorus-77 for a few years. I got it because it
    was light to carry around (you'd appreciate this if you owned a Ampeg
    VT-48, which are tanks) and the clean sound was good (distortion on 
    it was terrible). Used a pedal for distortion. But then I tried out
    a Peavey Classic 50 (two 12" speakers, tweed covering, all-tube) and
    loved it. I checked out the Fender Twins, but they go for about 
    $1300 Cdn.. I sold the Jazz Chorus and purchased the Peavey Classic
    50 for $840 Cdn. The sound on the Peavey Classic is close to the
    distorted sound of a tweed (I've tried an old Fender Tweed) and
    the tone is most excellent. For the extra weight of carrying the 
    Peavey Classic around (not much extra) and the price/value, I'd
    really urge you to check out this amp.
    
    See ya later

     I recently played a Fender Blues Deluxe and was really impressed with it. 
     It's a single channel Tube amp, 40W, 1-12" spkr, foot-switchable drive
     w/master volume. It has volume, treble, mid, bass, presence, drive, master,
     and reverb controls. Very much a Fender in clean mode, and goes from a
     Fender bite to Marshall grind in drive mode. The master works in drive
     mode only. The reverb is much improved from the usual boingy-sproingy 
     'verb in older Fender amps. Sports 3-12AX7s, and 2-6L6s. Wurly's has them
     for $459.

     Neal

    Why not check out one of the higher wattage Marshall Valvestate amps?
    I tried one out and found it to have one of the best distortions of
    any amp I've heard! They're not really heavy, either.....
    
    Mike

>    Why not check out one of the higher wattage Marshall Valvestate amps?
>    I tried one out and found it to have one of the best distortions of
>    any amp I've heard! They're not really heavy, either.....
    
     Mike,

     There's way too much solid state stuff in the signal path, and they're
     over-priced. I like toobs.

     Neal

I bought a solid state 100w 2x12 combo (Yamaha) in 1980.

Played out *A LOT* with this amp, (on the average, 25 to 30 weeks
a year..)

Not once, has this amp even farted the wrong way..


Prior to that had a few Ampeg V4 (tube amp) had to see mr. Repair
guy quite often....

Having the chance to do this again, I'd buy solid state....

    >> Not once, has this amp even farted the wrong way.
    
    
    I suppose you infer that your amp *always* farted the *right* way?
    
    steve

    Gave one of them Blues Deluxe amps a visual at Wurly's Framingham.
    Looked very nicely done, construction and layout, that is. I'd like to
    give it a test drive but only with one of my own guitars.

    They also have a used Peavy Classic 4x10 ext speaker cab for $199 I
    think, in case anyone's interested.

  <  I suppose you infer that your amp *always* farted the *right* way?


Ab-so-toot-ly...

    >>Ab-so-toot-ly..
    
    
    8*)

    Re: .0
    
    A lot of the weight of a Twin is in the speakers themselves. The rig
    you describe will not be that much more compact, although being in two
    pieces might be easier to move (will you have casters on that 2-12?).  
    If the main complaint with the Twin is not enough sounds readily
    available, you might want to try getting just the preamp and use the
    Twin as power amp and speaker cab.  Much cheaper solution.
    
    The rep of solid state for blowing up is undeserved; while some early
    (mid-60s) transistor amps were prone to thermal runaway damaging the
    power stage, this is not a common problem anymore.  Many high power
    solid state amps have thermal protection circuits built in.
    
    							Brian

    >If the main complaint with the Twin is not enough sounds readily
    >available, you might want to try getting just the preamp and use
    >the Twin as power amp and speaker cab.  Much cheaper solution.
    
    Interestingly enough, when I bought a Digitech GSP21 3 years ago,
    I ran into the district Texas rep for Digitech.  He said that the
    pre-amp would sound better (clearer) if it was plugged into the
    front pannel of the Twin, rather than introduced in the the
    FX loop, which I assume bypasses the pre-amp stage.  I tried this
    and did get a more manageable sound than trying to run the Digitech 
    inline.
    
    Bill

    Okay - I gotta have a say too.
    
    I have played happily thru a Fender Stage 185 combo - Solid State 160
    watt 1x12 for years.  With humbuckers the thing will sing it's head
    off on overdrive, or on clean give a completely bright and clean 
    undistorted sound.   No problems to run, no faults, no valves BUT put 
    a single coil thru it and it would be a bit weedy. . thin and the 
    distortion just a tiny bit 'fizzy' at the very top end.
    
    I have recently also bought a Meza Boogie DC5 - All valve, 1x12 and
    quite heavy but ooohhhhh what a gorgious sound with a strat (or single
    coil).  Warm, creamy, plenty of harmonics and a great, full clean sound
    - BUT, with the humbuckers, it seems to lack cut. It still has great sound,
    & tons of gain but with a gibby and the band at full crank I just can't seem
    to get the lead to cut thru, and that's with Pres and Treb on 10 and
    the graphic fully boosting the top end!!
    
    Given the choice the boogie has the best distortion and the fullest
    sound, will probably be a bit less reliable and weighs more - but I
    think it's worth it at the end of the day.  Overall I think the amp is
    a bit more flexible, has a fatter, warmer sound, lacks a bit of cut
    (with the Gibby) but is overall the better sound.
    
    Also I've noticed that cutting volume on the tube amp just cuts the
    gain making the Vol knobs very useful on the guitar (I'd
    almost forgotted about them!).  On the solid state amp cutting the
    guitar volume control would result in nasty broken-up distortion and
    loss of tone - so always check this on any amp!
    
    I'd go for the tubes!! 
    
    Good luck - a hard choice - let us know the outcome!!
    
    Ex Solid State Slayer now Twisted Tube Tyrant!
    
    Dusty Miller
    London
                            

>    I have recently also bought a Meza Boogie DC5 - All valve, 1x12 and
>    quite heavy but ooohhhhh what a gorgious sound with a strat (or single
>    coil).  Warm, creamy, plenty of harmonics and a great, full clean sound
>    - BUT, with the humbuckers, it seems to lack cut. It still has great sound,
>    & tons of gain but with a gibby and the band at full crank I just can't seem
>    to get the lead to cut thru, and that's with Pres and Treb on 10 and
>    the graphic fully boosting the top end!!
    
    I played one of these at lunchtime, very Boogie sounding, I liked it a
    lot.  I did my demo with a Les Paul and noticed that the lead channel
    mushed out when the gain was turned all the way up.  With the lead gain
    on 5, the gain level was similar to my Marshall JCM900 cranked all the
    way up.  6-7 was about all I'd want to use with that guitar 'cause it
    got all compressed, noisy, and sloppy sounding after that.
    
    Greg

    If I set my Mk IV with the treble, presence and graphic to full treble
    and plug Lucille into it with the pickup selector in the middle and
    equal amounts of both pickups mixed in, I can slice a watermelon in two
    from 20 meters away :-)
    
    You may want to turn the drive down a bit. 
    
    Danny W.

    The tone controls on the DC-5 are nowhere near as sensitive as a MkIII
    or MkIV.  I found it a lot easier to control because of this (but
    perhaps a bit less flexable).
    
    Greg