My first tube head

I'm looking into getting my first tube head. I currently have a Marshall AVT50, but it's just not cutting it anymore. Our bass player has moved to synth and his amp is destroying mine. Also, my drummer has recently admitted that he can't hear me at all during shows, let alone at practice.

I play really bass heavy guitar (I actually have the bass knob on my current head turned up all the way with the mid and treble around 4). I like really dirty, jammy sounding tone and a decent amount of distorted. I just bought an equalizer pedal though, so I can modify the sound anyway.

I know Orange has a dirty sound I'm looking for I believe, but I've come across http://www.AdamsAmps.com and am interested in those. Anyone ever use or hear anything about his 100 watt heads? The only concern I have is if I don't like the sound, I may have trouble selling it since the brand isn't well known.

I've played and heard Marshall JCMs (I think that's what is was) and find them too crunchy and trebly for my taste.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be awesome. I know tube heads are expensive, but any recommendations would be appreciated, I could always save up.

-Adam

How about an amp with a direct out? You run it through a speaker cab and run the line out into the pa?

I'd get a 1970's Marshall JCM master volume with 6550's for output tubes- there FAT, LOUD, and sound great between dirty and clean- dirty with an edge- kind of like the ladies and gents at some of the establishments I used to play in..............................

also AIMS is an amp brand from the 70's that uses 6550's I bet they can be had for a song- a small US company

I've owned just about everything. For years I used an AB box with a marshall for dirty and a fender for clean, until I started playing Orange amps. They're not cheap, but they have the clean and dirty sounds that I was looking for.

Anything will be better than the AVT, an all tube head will definitely be the cure for the underpowered thin sound of a solid state amp (okay, it's technically a hybrid)

Laney is another heavy sounding yet affordable British tube amp.

I suggest that you look at the new Traynor head YCS100H. I have not played one, but it looks very versatile with three independent channels. It gives an alternative to the Marshall sound. You can find it on http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=1&cat=60&id=357

I have two Traynor combos that I just love. They replaced a Marshall AVT50 amd AVT20.

breedercreature,

this is a very complicated topic, because it is not only abut the amp, but also about the cabinets/speaker/fx/cables and the guitar.
1. do you want to keep your cabinet, if yes, what is it? brand speakersize/number?
2. when you say bassy sound do you mean bass like a bass or low mids? I suggest your marshall only has not enough power, that is why you put the lows so high: to get more pressure.
too much bass in a guitarsound usually makes the bandsound very muddy, but thats personal taste, too. my 2cts.
3. please give or look for soundfiles of your sound or sounds of other guitarisst you like.
4. when you find guitarsounds of other guitarists you like, check what equipment they use.
5. not every amp sounds good with every cabinet. but also check 1x 15" guitarcabinets like on some fender or boogie mark 1-3 combos/cabinets.
an old boogie mk3 would be my suggestion for you, some fiddling with the knobs once, but then (use it with 2 1x12" thiele cabinets!).
6. custom amps are great (have one myself) but low resale price when your taste changes.
7. check every amp in a band situation.

EDIT:
Adam, when I listen to the songs on your myspacesite, the guitar doesn't sound bassy at all, a little thin for my taste and few low mids but not bad in the context.
when I listen to you examples, an old 15" fender prosonic (? correct model, can't remember) combo could also be a suggestion. marshall? not really, Orange? give a try to an 70's OR 120. also an old Hiwatt Top (old pete townsend sound). maybe boogie is not the right choice.
and what about a VOX AC-30? don't worry, it is LOUD 30 Watts.

I have a '72 or so Fender Bassman 100 that you can hear on the Daleks myspace page. http://www.myspace.com/davrosandthedaleks

I'd say I get plenty of bass response from a slant-front 4x12 cab and it keeps up with pretty much anything else I've played with. I had to put the original matching projection cab in storage because it was great for micing, not for stage volume (not to mention it was enormous). I just added you guys up a couple days back, maybe you'll have a chance to check out the way my gear sounds. I run my '73 S-90 through the Bassman 100 or a Blackface Bassman Amp with nothing more than a DS-1. The tone is thick enough for my taste on the rockier songs we play and the natural distortion on the clean tone is neat in my book as well. Dreamlander just bought one last year sometime for about $400, and you can get a 4x12 for around $200-300 with stock speakers. Speakers, of course, are an entirely different and more complex ballgame. Amps are so subjective to pick out, but like Krysh stated, you really have to find out what you're looking for before you can really look for it.

I'm playing through a Marshall 1960 300 watt 4x12 slant cab, which has a lot more crunch and treble than my previous cab (too much for me honestly), but I figure with an Orange head (which I'm pretty set on I think) it'll even out nicely.

I turn the bass knob on my head all the way up and the mid and treble knobs to 4. The recordings my band has up are nearly 6 months old and my live sound is much different than my recording sound since we have no bass player, just drums, guitar, and synth.

I've noticed that most of the guitar players in the bands I listen to use orange gear, so I figure I'll go with that. I tried one out at a music store the other day and it sounded awesome.

The only question I have now is wether to get the Rockerverb 50 or 100 head. I know 50 watts is really loud, but I don't want to get into a situation where it's not loud enough (much like what's been happening to me now). On the other hand, I don't want to buy a head that's too over the top and not necessary. Would 50 watts be good enough through the Marshall 1960 for touring?

Thanks everyone!

I'd pick up the 100 and get a Weber Mass 150 to go with it. Using a power attenuator will let you get the full emphasis of the 100 watts where not all 100 are needed. That way you have the power when you need it, and you don't when you don't.

Remember, 50 watts of tube power is a hell of a lot more powerful that 50 watts of solid state.
Like the others said, a/b the amps if you can. Also, I'd suggest renting the amp in question for a gig and see how you like it and how well it blends with the band.

Unless you're playing a lot of arenas or outdoor gigs, I'd lean toward a 50. If you do outdoor shows, yeah, go for the hunnert.

Default said:

Remember, 50 watts of tube power is a hell of a lot more powerful that 50 watts of solid state.

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Explain please? There is certainly a way of looking at things where a watt is a watt regardless of how it is generated. Are you saying something about the way things are rated? For example, an amp could be rated at 50 watts RMS at .05% THD (total harmonic distortion) into an 8 ohm load. However, since I want and will accept distortion from a tube amp, the same amp might also have a rating of 125 watts at 1.0% THD into an 8 ohm load. That may be a more realistic rating for the way I would actually use the amp. If you are suggesting that tube amps are normally used at a distortion level higher than the published spec then I understand but otherwise I could use some help to figure out what you are saying. Thanks.

danerectal said:

I'd pick up the 100 and get a Weber Mass 150 to go with it. Using a power attenuator will let you get the full emphasis of the 100 watts where not all 100 are needed. That way you have the power when you need it, and you don't when you don't.

Click to expand...

So what this would do is allow me to get the tone of a head cranked at 100 watts, when it's not? That'd be perfect

Default said:

Remember, 50 watts of tube power is a hell of a lot more powerful that 50 watts of solid state.
Like the others said, a/b the amps if you can. Also, I'd suggest renting the amp in question for a gig and see how you like it and how well it blends with the band.

Unless you're playing a lot of arenas or outdoor gigs, I'd lean toward a 50. If you do outdoor shows, yeah, go for the hunnert.

Click to expand...

I doubt I'll be playing any arenas ever haha. Maybe some outdoor shows though? I kinda want this to be my last purchase for a head, I've been doing that recently, thinking of my music purchases as the last ones since if my band starts playing out more, the likelihood of me having any money at all is very slim. I'd give the A/B amp idea a shot if we had a bigger trailer haha. We just got a 4x6 and although my drummer seems confident everything will fit, I'm a bit worried. He's usually right about things like this, so it'll probably be fine

fronobulax said:

If you are suggesting that tube amps are normally used at a distortion level higher than the published spec then I understand but otherwise I could use some help to figure out what you are saying. Thanks.

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You've got it. Transistor amps also have a limit to how much output they have. If I graphed it, transistors would have a clean range of say, 95% up to 50watts .05% THD and a dirty range up to maybe 55 watts before it won't go any louder. With the tube amp, you might have dirty range that's considerably louder, maybe 75 watts. I don't have data in front of me, though.

Bc, I'd rent the head and do a weekends worth of gigs with it. I've made enough purchases that were just...not...right... after I had a chance to live with them. (cough,cough,countrygentleman,cough,cough)

Default said:

Remember, 50 watts of tube power is a hell of a lot more powerful that 50 watts of solid state.
Like the others said, a/b the amps if you can. Also, I'd suggest renting the amp in question for a gig and see how you like it and how well it blends with the band.

Unless you're playing a lot of arenas or outdoor gigs, I'd lean toward a 50. If you do outdoor shows, yeah, go for the hunnert.

Click to expand...

Those who doubt the power of tube amps - put any 15 watt solid state amp up against a Pro Junior, Blues Junior or Ampeg Jet and it will get left in the dust. The tube amps will allow you to play with a drummer while the transistor amps sound thin and weak.

Try that with the valvestate 50 vs. a 50 Watt tube amp. No contest.