In praise of small Tube Amps!

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Larsongs
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Larsongs » Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:50 pm

On Led Zeppelin’s first Album Jimmy Page played a Tele thru a Champ.. Everyone thought it was a Les Paul through a full Stack Marshall Amp.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Wed May 11, 2022 3:28 pm

Larsongs wrote:
Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:50 pm
On Led Zeppelin’s first Album Jimmy Page played a Tele thru a Champ.. Everyone thought it was a Les Paul through a full Stack Marshall Amp.
I thought it was a tele through a small Supro?
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Wed May 11, 2022 3:41 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 3:28 pm
Larsongs wrote:
Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:50 pm
On Led Zeppelin’s first Album Jimmy Page played a Tele thru a Champ.. Everyone thought it was a Les Paul through a full Stack Marshall Amp.
I thought it was a tele through a small Supro?
Yep, a Supro Coronado from memory.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Larsongs » Wed May 11, 2022 8:52 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 3:41 pm
hulakatt wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 3:28 pm
Larsongs wrote:
Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:50 pm
On Led Zeppelin’s first Album Jimmy Page played a Tele thru a Champ.. Everyone thought it was a Les Paul through a full Stack Marshall Amp.
I thought it was a tele through a small Supro?
Yep, a Supro Coronado from memory.
I stand corrected.. It was a Supro Coronado.. My original point being small Amps can do big things… At least in the Studio…

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Thu May 12, 2022 4:45 am

I mean, Champs are responsible for a metric shit ton of great guitar tones, from a lot of later Rolling Stones to Joe Walsh to quite a bit of Eric Clapton's output over the years.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Thu May 12, 2022 4:05 pm

Larsongs wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 8:52 pm
Veitchy wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 3:41 pm
hulakatt wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 3:28 pm


I thought it was a tele through a small Supro?
Yep, a Supro Coronado from memory.
I stand corrected.. It was a Supro Coronado.. My original point being small Amps can do big things… At least in the Studio…
No argument from me.

Honestly, even live it seems to be the way the wind is blowing even for more 'analog' bands.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Thu May 12, 2022 4:06 pm

Double-post.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by JSett » Thu May 12, 2022 9:11 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Thu May 12, 2022 4:45 am
I mean, Champs are responsible for a metric shit ton of great guitar tones, from a lot of later Rolling Stones to Joe Walsh to quite a bit of Eric Clapton's output over the years.
Truth.

My new band just recorded our first EP. I double tracked the guitars in places and for the main guitar I used my Bassman and VibroChamp in stereo, and the doubling parts were VibroChamp and Orange AD5. The main guitar we ended up using almost entirely the VC signal, and a 50/50 blend on the doubling one.

The small amps recorded so much better that next time I wont even bother with the Bassman
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Fri May 13, 2022 6:06 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu May 12, 2022 9:11 pm
hulakatt wrote:
Thu May 12, 2022 4:45 am
I mean, Champs are responsible for a metric shit ton of great guitar tones, from a lot of later Rolling Stones to Joe Walsh to quite a bit of Eric Clapton's output over the years.
Truth.

My new band just recorded our first EP. I double tracked the guitars in places and for the main guitar I used my Bassman and VibroChamp in stereo, and the doubling parts were VibroChamp and Orange AD5. The main guitar we ended up using almost entirely the VC signal, and a 50/50 blend on the doubling one.

The small amps recorded so much better that next time I wont even bother with the Bassman
From doing audio engineering for a long time, I still think that it's hilarious that the reason why a lot of guitar players don't like the little amps is the same reason they sit so well in the mix, it's the midrangey EQ and weaker bass response. Add to that the fact that they are easily pushed into running pretty hot (not even overdriven, just really hot) and that makes them sound loud as hell in the mix.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sat May 28, 2022 3:48 am

My modded Fender Blues Junior with BillM/Fromel mods, Deluxe Reverb tone stack & a solid pine cab. It runs either into a 90's vintage Celestion G12H-100 in the cab, or a separate Peavey Classic 115 cab.
Image

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Larsongs » Sat May 28, 2022 9:27 am

I’ve gone the same route… From big to small.. I almost exclusive Play & Record with a slightly modded 65 PRRI & or heavy modded Vox AC10C1…

They’re excellent for most situations & in many cases are better than Medium & Large Amps..

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Sat May 28, 2022 2:47 pm

Heh, I went from big to small and back up again but I was smart enough to keep some small amps around. Different tools for different jobs.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by jthomas » Sat May 28, 2022 5:23 pm

Careful about saying anything good about a Blues Jr. Haters love to hate.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Sun May 29, 2022 2:54 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Sat May 28, 2022 3:48 am
Did you mod it a while ago? I've been wondering if the BillM mods are compiled somewhere. Since his site went down I've been piecing together the info from other's posts about their experience with the mods.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sun May 29, 2022 3:45 am

I had it done a couple of years ago, by Rootbeer Audio in Philly. you can find his website on the internet archive.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200422142 ... page_id=65
https://web.archive.org/web/20191229060 ... com:80/wp/

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