In praise of small Tube Amps!

Make it loud here.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by garyfanclub » Thu Apr 21, 2022 4:33 am

Jonesie wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 3:02 pm
garyfanclub wrote:
Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:57 am
Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

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So I love Ampegs and have an old jet myself. But I need to give props for the Rose Foods tote bag. Holy fucking shit their bagels.
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hexes wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:55 pm
Funny, I was just simulating tone stacks and wanted to try something very similar to that traynor while I build a princeton reverb for a friend. I haven’t had many el84 amps.

I do love my V series ampegs. I did use my V2 as a bass amp when recording with a surf band for that growl. v4 and vt40 on guitar were used primarily for loud surf music, or effects heavy big loud instrumental space-rock. lately I’ve gotten back into the blue diamond era stuff and I play much differently these days. my love of small amps is a recent one.
Go for it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Seems like we’ve got similar tastes tonally, so I think you’ll like the midrange vibe on this amp. Not really the same as an old Ampeg, but a nice variation of muscular clean.

Mine’s got a replacement Pyle driver speaker, so not sure how that’s impacting how it’d sound otherwise, but I dig it. Some have mentioned having to use bizarre EQ setting to get it to sound good, but that hasn’t been my experience; I’m just rolling with noon on treble and bass.

That said, I’ve barely used the treble boost circuit, which absolutely peels paint off the walls (no go for me), so who knows, YMMV.

I’ve held off on buying a VT40 a couple times, back when they were like $400, and only *kind of* regret it. Realistically there’s absolutely no where I’d be able to use that nowadays, hah! The VT-era Gemini is already brutally overkill for almost any band I’m playing with now, but they all just look *so cooooool*.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:25 pm

Just got in this little guy! I've been in the mood for some amp tremolo and realized I no longer had any amps with any on board effects anymore so I hunted around and picked up this Supro 16t! Years ago I had a Supro Super and regrettably sold it right before prices skyrocketed but I've missed it ever since and always kept an eye out for another. The 16t meets both desires as it's largely a 1606 Super with trem and a tone control. Spent some time with it this afternoon and the pine tele (loaded with some pretty low output pickups) and it was a good way to spend some time :)

The only issue is that the previous owner put on a 3 prong plug... but didn't change the 2 wire power cord with it for some reason? Anyway, a new 3 wire cord from Antique Wire Supply is on it's way to rectify that issue.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:34 pm

I've gone a bit nuts this past week or so. I just bought the above Supro and now have a 2nd Zvex Nano on it's way to me. I got an idea in my head about using the pair through a 2x10 cab wired for stereo to have fun with some stereo effects I have that I don't play with as much as I'd like. Maybe once this one comes in, I'll send my first one back to Zvex for repair to replace the non working speaker in it.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by JSett » Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:17 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:25 pm
Oooooh, very nice. I've had a few of these on my watch list and the prices have been all over the place. They look like a lot of fun.

Congrats
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:58 am

Just noticed this small Selmer in my beloved Syd Barrett's pad, and managed to identify it as a Selmer Mercury 5. With tremolo, even!

Looks like it sits somewhere between a Champ and a Princeton, sadly without reverb. Anyone seen one in the wild?

Image

Edit: Oops! - a deeper dig reveals the '68-'69 Mercury 5 was a solid state amp. ???

The croc-skin-era (valve version) looks fab, though....

Image

http://www.fretandnut.co.uk/uploads/7/3 ... 9_orig.jpg
Last edited by UlricvonCatalyst on Fri Apr 22, 2022 11:01 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by garyfanclub » Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:21 am

hulakatt wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:25 pm
Just got in this little guy! I've been in the mood for some amp tremolo and realized I no longer had any amps with any on board effects anymore so I hunted around and picked up this Supro 16t! Years ago I had a Supro Super and regrettably sold it right before prices skyrocketed but I've missed it ever since and always kept an eye out for another. The 16t meets both desires as it's largely a 1606 Super with trem and a tone control. Spent some time with it this afternoon and the pine tele (loaded with some pretty low output pickups) and it was a good way to spend some time :)

Image
Damn, that looks amazing - would love to try one of those one day.

Had the opportunity to buy a 65 Tremoverb a while back and passed because I didn’t really have the cash. Now I’m bummed I didn’t make room by moving something else.

Time to go watch some videos on these!

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:45 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:17 pm
Oooooh, very nice. I've had a few of these on my watch list and the prices have been all over the place. They look like a lot of fun.
The Nano heads are really something different and worthwhile. I've long had mine on my work bench plugged into a small Orange ppc118 for testing wiring on pedals and guitars but also for playing at night when my lovely wife and girls are all catching up on beauty sleep. My workshop is right below the bedrooms and, playing through it clean, they have yet to be awoken by it. Turning it up, you can either get that cranked NMV Marshall thing going on or that old 40's octal amp on edge sound, depending on settings and pickup output. I love making sound like an ancient ragged amp from the very early days.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:49 am

garyfanclub wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:21 am
hulakatt wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:25 pm
Just got in this little guy! I've been in the mood for some amp tremolo and realized I no longer had any amps with any on board effects anymore so I hunted around and picked up this Supro 16t! Years ago I had a Supro Super and regrettably sold it right before prices skyrocketed but I've missed it ever since and always kept an eye out for another. The 16t meets both desires as it's largely a 1606 Super with trem and a tone control. Spent some time with it this afternoon and the pine tele (loaded with some pretty low output pickups) and it was a good way to spend some time :)

Image
Damn, that looks amazing - would love to try one of those one day.

Had the opportunity to buy a 65 Tremoverb a while back and passed because I didn’t really have the cash. Now I’m bummed I didn’t make room by moving something else.

Time to go watch some videos on these!
Apparently somewhat rare and not much info out on these, at least nowhere near as much as on the more popular models. Just about the perfect amp in my living room too :D and it sounds better at lower volume than I remember the Super sounding, that Super needed to be cranked to sound good but when it was, it was glorious! The only remote quibble is I wish there was control over the trem depth and not just speed, I like my trem a bit shallower. I haven't played any of the new Supros but the old ones are something a bit different and kinda special. They deserve to be reissued in more than just name.

BTW, I've tried many times to like teles with little success. This pine partsocaster is the only one I've kept and it's one of my favorite guitars. No name eBay body, Fralin baseball bat neck, Glendale hardware, Callaham pickguard, Gretsch strap locks and crappy GFS '52 pickups. Somehow, everything just works perfectly and, through a low watt amp, it kinda sounds like an acoustic guitar with just the right of bite to the treble. I even bought a set of Mare Don0caster pickups to "improve" it but it's so balanced now that I've never bothered to put them in. It's the perfect blend between an acoustic and a Les Paul.

The only other Tele I really connected with was a Joe Strummer Sig that someone else bought while I was at the ATM getting cash :(
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:14 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:49 am
It's the perfect blend between an acoustic and a Les Paul.
You just summed up a lot of what I love about Teles in a way I never thought of it before. I love that comparison - thanks. Bill Kirchen call them The Bicycle of Guitars, which I think is great too.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that Leo settled on a 25.5 scale because that's just about what Martins used and those were the guitars the dudes in the western bands he was courting were using. Not sure if that contributes anything to the sound in that way, but [shrugs].

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:16 am

hulakatt wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:45 am
johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:17 pm
Oooooh, very nice. I've had a few of these on my watch list and the prices have been all over the place. They look like a lot of fun.
The Nano heads are really something different and worthwhile. I've long had mine on my work bench plugged into a small Orange ppc118 for testing wiring on pedals and guitars but also for playing at night when my lovely wife and girls are all catching up on beauty sleep. My workshop is right below the bedrooms and, playing through it clean, they have yet to be awoken by it. Turning it up, you can either get that cranked NMV Marshall thing going on or that old 40's octal amp on edge sound, depending on settings and pickup output. I love making sound like an ancient ragged amp from the very early days.
I asked this in the Garnet Herzog thread but I don’t think anyone answered it: can the Nano be used as a preamp to drive the input of another amp, or act as a tube dirt box?

I know some people like power tube distortion, but the Herzog distorted the preamp tubes, didn’t it? Or was it more of a tube fuzz box?

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Sat Apr 23, 2022 3:06 pm

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:16 am
I asked this in the Garnet Herzog thread but I don’t think anyone answered it: can the Nano be used as a preamp to drive the input of another amp, or act as a tube dirt box?

I know some people like power tube distortion, but the Herzog distorted the preamp tubes, didn’t it? Or was it more of a tube fuzz box?
The Nano is just a pure 1/2 watt amplifier, it can not be used to drive another amp.

The Herzog is basically a gained up tweed Champ and the whole output is reduced to instrument levels after the power amp stage. Yes, it includes the power tube drive! The Herzog can also be used as a standalone, 5 watt amp with a Tone knob and master volume. It's kinda of a preamp and kind of a tube based fuzz.
Last edited by hulakatt on Thu Dec 08, 2022 7:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Sat Apr 23, 2022 3:07 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:14 pm
You just summed up a lot of what I love about Teles in a way I never thought of it before. I love that comparison - thanks. Bill Kirchen call them The Bicycle of Guitars, which I think is great too.
I've heard that the best teles can stand in for a Les Paul and the best Les Pauls can stand in for a tele.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by Veitchy » Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:46 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Sat Apr 23, 2022 3:07 pm
Veitchy wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:14 pm
You just summed up a lot of what I love about Teles in a way I never thought of it before. I love that comparison - thanks. Bill Kirchen call them The Bicycle of Guitars, which I think is great too.
I've heard that the best teles can stand in for a Les Paul and the best Les Pauls can stand in for a tele.
"Tele on steroids" is a consistent descriptor of 50s Les Pauls I hear.

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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:57 pm

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:58 am
Just noticed this small Selmer in my beloved Syd Barrett's pad, and managed to identify it as a Selmer Mercury 5. With tremolo, even!

Looks like it sits somewhere between a Champ and a Princeton, sadly without reverb. Anyone seen one in the wild?

Image

Edit: Oops! - a deeper dig reveals the '68-'69 Mercury 5 was a solid state amp. ???

The croc-skin-era (valve version) looks fab, though....
Don't let the Solid State-ness of it deter you! I have an old Ampeg G-18 SS amp and it sounds really good! Yeah, it's not tube and doesn't sound like a tube amp but it's got it's own thing going on. I've heard and player far worse tube amps.
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Re: In praise of small Tube Amps!

Post by hulakatt » Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:59 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:46 pm
hulakatt wrote:
Sat Apr 23, 2022 3:07 pm
Veitchy wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:14 pm
You just summed up a lot of what I love about Teles in a way I never thought of it before. I love that comparison - thanks. Bill Kirchen call them The Bicycle of Guitars, which I think is great too.
I've heard that the best teles can stand in for a Les Paul and the best Les Pauls can stand in for a tele.
"Tele on steroids" is a consistent descriptor of 50s Les Pauls I hear.
I've heard the thing about teles and LP's before a few places but I will argue the same comparison applies to SG's and Strats, for the most part.
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