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Title: I need some help picking a tube head Post by: Hooked On Mids on October 03, 2013, 01:43:31 PM I feel strange asking for help picking out and spending $1000 + on tube head without having any clue as to what I need. But here it goes:
I play dirty, junked-out rock n roll (johnny thunders, sex pistols, new york dolls etc...) And I don't use a whole lot of gain, instead I just get whatever I am using to the point of breaking up, and then EQ it to sound mean and dirty. I can't stand a smiley face EQ sound and as my name suggests, mids are my happy spot. I am currently playing out of an old ampeg vt40 that i dearly love. The rocker switches on it are amazing and it gives me a lot of options to cut through and get a very colored, unique tone, but it takes strange old tubes, and smells kinda funny when i run it, so the wife is a little worried and truth be told, i like amps, and i like trying something new. I would like something with a master volume running at 45 or 50w. I have a good avitar 2x12 cab with vintage 30's. Also, I have demos on soundcloud of my songs were doing at the moment, which this amp would be used for and I'll post them here: https://soundcloud.com/chord-caveman/the-golden-age-of-planned-2 Title: Re: I need some help picking a tube head Post by: Joe L on October 04, 2013, 08:49:09 PM We played Ampeg V4s in the '70s through Marshall stacks so I am very familiar with the versatility of them.
The distorted sound you are getting is easily matched by one of the older designs like the JTM45 and the '57 Fender Bassman. But that loud, full clean sound of the Ampeg is hard to match. Especially if you use a MV to cut down your stage volume. The right pedal in front of a Hiwatt might also be a good compromise. The pedal for the dirt sound and straight for the loud clean. ..Joe L Title: Re: I need some help picking a tube head Post by: Hooked On Mids on October 05, 2013, 09:41:14 AM We played Ampeg V4s in the '70s through Marshall stacks so I am very familiar with the versatility of them. The distorted sound you are getting is easily matched by one of the older designs like the JTM45 and the '57 Fender Bassman. But that loud, full clean sound of the Ampeg is hard to match. Especially if you use a MV to cut down your stage volume. The right pedal in front of a Hiwatt might also be a good compromise. The pedal for the dirt sound and straight for the loud clean. ..Joe L Thanks Joe. That JTM45 is 30W. correct? That would be perfect to crank since there's no MV. The Ampeg's 60w. and theres no way i can crank it in my band. i dont know what it is, but the thing is just as loud as any 100w. head i've heard. Title: Re: I need some help picking a tube head Post by: Joe L on October 05, 2013, 07:31:35 PM Those Ampegs were very underrated when it came to power output. The power supply voltage was speced at 565vDC and with todays higher wall voltages, I would think it is close to 600v! I wouldn't be surprised that with fresh tubes your amp doesn't start to clip until 75-80 watts. And a 4-10 cabinet can move a lot of air.
That must be one heavy MF! Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what the power output is on the JTM45. Looking at the design voltages with a tube rectifier, I would estimate between 35-40 watts at clipping. But pushing it harder will make the HV sag due to the rectifier tube where that Ampeg will just keep getting louder! I have no doubt that I have tinnitus and hearing loss due to running my V4 flat out with the channels bridged through a full stack of Marshall cabs. I tried a half stack and toasted the voice coils of the greenbacks in 3 weeks. ..Joe L |