Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 02:22:22 AM

Title: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 02:22:22 AM
I jus got a pair of BKP 7s but my amp and pedal is just not up to the job.
Is it possible to get a decent tube amp for cheap? Something that'll do the br00tals well and have bearable cleans?
Maybe an amp + pedal combo?
My budget is around $500 USD, anymore and I'll have to feed off the sound waves instead of food next month...
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Lazy_McDoesnothing on October 31, 2008, 02:59:50 AM
This might be slightly out of your price range unless you can find a decent used one for cheap but I suggest a Peavey 5150 of some sort.  Keep checking ebay and craigslist for good deals and in the meantime while you search you can save up some more $$$.

Just read the part about bearable cleans.  I guess they're bearable....barely.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Roobubba on October 31, 2008, 03:16:48 AM
I don't know whether you can get a Peavey 5150-II or 6505+ (the same thing, just re-branded when EVH went off to Fender to develop the Mark III) second hand for that kind of money, but at least in the US it'll be as cheap as it'll be anywhere so you stand the best chance... There is a combo version, and I guess this is cheaper than Head + cab.
The Mark II version has better cleans.

Roo
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 03:25:29 AM
I'll keep an eye out for that. I did hear that bugera's 5150 clones have better cleans, but I'm not sure I wanna spend that kind of money on cheap chinese made stuff.

How are used laneys in this price range? I always liked their distortion sound. :)
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Lazy_McDoesnothing on October 31, 2008, 03:28:41 AM
Where are you located?  I've seen a few go for good prices but a lot of times it's "pickup only" or on craigslist which is usually just local sales.  Here's one(pickup only):

http://cgi.ebay.com/Peavey-5150-EVH-Combo-Amp-60watt-LOW-PRICE_W0QQitemZ180302177000QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180302177000&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A1|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 03:38:15 AM
Toronto...
unfortunately ebay.ca has shite-all for sale compared to .com
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: MrBump on October 31, 2008, 06:47:55 AM
I guess that it depends what you want the amp for.

I mean, are you after a 100 watt monster, or a 5 watt home amp?  I have both, and I have to say that the 5 watter is loud enough to make my wife angry.  And it sounds damn good.

There are a lot of great low watt amps out there at the moment, it seems to be a growth area.

Mark.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: dave_mc on October 31, 2008, 12:38:54 PM
brootalz is the problem... you can get cheap decent-ish tube amps for classic rock, blues and the like, but they won't really handle the heavy stuff. i'd agree with roo, if that money can get you a 5150, that might be the way to go. or maybe a xxx if the cleans are important.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 03:00:55 PM
I guess that it depends what you want the amp for.

I mean, are you after a 100 watt monster, or a 5 watt home amp?  I have both, and I have to say that the 5 watter is loud enough to make my wife angry.  And it sounds damn good.

There are a lot of great low watt amps out there at the moment, it seems to be a growth area.

Mark.

I don't need a monster, as long as it sounds good and can pull off very small gigs at half filled bars I'll be fine, lol.

brootalz is the problem... you can get cheap decent-ish tube amps for classic rock, blues and the like, but they won't really handle the heavy stuff. i'd agree with roo, if that money can get you a 5150, that might be the way to go. or maybe a xxx if the cleans are important.

I'm keeping an eye out for those 2 items at the moment, but I'm considering selling some gear and just get a engl screamer, but havn't seen any 2nd hand ones yet.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: TomAwesome on October 31, 2008, 04:10:43 PM
+1 for a 5150. They can often be had for somewhere in the area of your $500 budget, and they dole out the br00talz with ease. The cleans aren't that great, but you could probably get it to work well enough. A lot of people use modelers in place of the preamp for clean tones with 5150s. You could also look into Bugera. One of my friends has whichever model is supposed to be like a 5150, and he says it's great.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on October 31, 2008, 07:14:42 PM
+1 for a 5150. They can often be had for somewhere in the area of your $500 budget, and they dole out the br00talz with ease. The cleans aren't that great, but you could probably get it to work well enough. A lot of people use modelers in place of the preamp for clean tones with 5150s. You could also look into Bugera. One of my friends has whichever model is supposed to be like a 5150, and he says it's great.

sounds like 5150 or a bugera clone is the way to go?
I kinda wish I picked 1 up when they first hit stores in north america, they were so cheap then. :/

nice avatar btw.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Alex on October 31, 2008, 11:47:46 PM
With combos the two best deals IMO are probably the Laney LC-50 or the Peavey Valveking.

With heads I dunno, but I think the Peavey Windsor is a great one.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: QS-Nalle on November 01, 2008, 03:38:02 PM
I jus got a pair of BKP 7s but my amp and pedal is just not up to the job.
Is it possible to get a decent tube amp for cheap? Something that'll do the br00tals well and have bearable cleans?
Maybe an amp + pedal combo?
My budget is around $500 USD, anymore and I'll have to feed off the sound waves instead of food next month...


No, it would be like having Rock'n'Roll without noise, there is no such thing.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 01, 2008, 04:34:35 PM
I gotcha, I'll probably end up saying $%&# it to the cleans and just pickup a used 5150 then.
"Clean" IS a relative term, right?


There's this that I found on craig's list
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/msg/867917299.html

Sounds interesting, a JCM800 clone that sounds good at 1/3 the price?
The discontinued tubes could be a problem though.
Anyone know anything about these?
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 01, 2008, 10:32:14 PM
woo, this one looks pretty nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LANEY-GH50L-50-Watt-Guitar-Amp-Head-with-JJ-6L6-tubes_W0QQitemZ190263724264QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190263724264&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Ted 'N' Leo on November 01, 2008, 11:13:03 PM
Ooh a Laney GH50! I've played one of those before, thought it was quite nice.

I'm sure theres someone on this forum who has one...
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Lazy_McDoesnothing on November 01, 2008, 11:25:13 PM
Keep in mind you'll have to save enough money for a decent cab if you buy an amp head.  4x12 if you play large gigs or a smaller one if it's for home use or practice.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: _tom_ on November 01, 2008, 11:26:36 PM
Yeah I have a Laney GH50L, it's great especially for the money. If you need versatility/ease of changing between different of sounds its probably not the best seeing as its a single channel amp but its good enough for me, playing a lot of different stuff, just needs to be set up a bit differently but it does most things I play well enough (rock, metal and I guess what people would call "alternative/modern rock"). I did recently compare it to my mates DSL50 and preferred the DSL50 but I think the GH might just need some good preamp tubes. It's not quite as tight/punchy as the DSL but sounds bigger somehow. Heres a clip showing it doing some cleans and distortion.

http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=26424

Same amp settings for both sounds but the distortion was with the gain boost on and bridge pickup on full, the cleans were the gain boost off and the volumes rolled down a bit, on the neck pickup I think.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 02, 2008, 03:36:52 AM
As I was putting my amp up for sale, another idea came to me,
would it do me any good to replace the tubes in this thing with some hi gain ones and use that as the bandaid solution until I get a job?
I can't find any information on what kind of tubes are in this thing and what it'll take.

This is the amp
http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?submit=View_PLU&PLU=32

What do ya all think?
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: gingataff on November 02, 2008, 03:48:46 AM
^
As far as I know your Carlsbro is a transistor amp, there are no tubes in it.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 02, 2008, 04:06:19 AM
Hmm, sorry for being a retard, I don't know why I had the impression that they were tube amps...
Oh well, there goes that route...
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: _tom_ on November 02, 2008, 09:32:31 AM
By the way, I've heard the solid state JCM800s (5210) are actually pretty good. Have a look at this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNz9gPzIBww

Not bad at all imo.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 02, 2008, 03:10:09 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/Crate-Stealth-Guitar-Amplifier-Head-All-New-Tube-Amp_W0QQitemZ270294248576QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270294248576&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

omg, tube head for 150 o.O


http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2138372

this valveking is tempting too
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 04, 2008, 09:11:41 PM
found a Engl E520 tube preamp on ebay for about $200 US,
anyone have experience with this amp?
I'm considering getting it and plugging it into a hi-fi or headphones for practicing right now, and buy a power amp + cabs later when I have more funds. But I've heard almost nothing on this, I did hear good things about the E530 though.

Thanks for any information on it!

Cheers
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: MrBump on November 05, 2008, 07:06:51 PM
Keep in mind you'll have to save enough money for a decent cab if you buy an amp head.  4x12 if you play large gigs or a smaller one if it's for home use or practice.

Not sure that you necessarily NEED a 4x12... even for larger gigs...
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: Lazy_McDoesnothing on November 05, 2008, 09:32:12 PM
True, you could get by with a 2x12 and mic it if it doesn't project enough.  My main point was that he should be careful of blowing his whole budget on just a head and having nothing to play it through.
Title: Re: Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?
Post by: silentrage on November 05, 2008, 10:31:30 PM
You're right, I'm looking at this peavey XXX locally, and it's $365 USD
it's very tempting, but I'll definitely end up with no cab to play it through for a while...

Decisions ...decisions...