Amplifier Worship - IT'S A SERIES OF TUBES - The Something Awful Forums

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Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

I'm not sure if this is the thread for this, but I had a question about daisy chaining. What I'm trying to do is Guitar > Laney VH100R > Laney to a Fender M80 Chorus for power, then out of the M80 to the cabs. But I can't figure out how to get it to work. I was trying to do from the speaker output on the Laney to the guitar input on the M80 and I learned this is BAD NEWS BEARS. I talked to an amp tech and he said to go from the Preamp Line out of the Laney to the Line In of the M80 and I tried that and it didn't do anything. I also googled the poo poo out of it and tried to old school way of daisy chaining (guitar in to amp 1 input1 > amp 1 input2 to amp 2 input1) and that didn't do anything either.

What am I doing wrong and how do I make this work

# ¿ Jul 19, 2010 19:27

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 14:19

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Catastrophe posted:

I've always regretted selling mine. I've owned a bunch of high gain amps over the years but I'd buy back a 5150 in an instant if I needed a modern metal amp. They are not good bedroom practice amps but sound RIDICULOUS at full band volume. Sooo good.

Personally, I waffled around with about 10 amps before settling on something that nailed exactly what I had been looking for all along. I got tired of smooth, modern, tight, predictable sounding amps and wanted something vintage, snarly, raspy, and angry sounding instead. I went through a Matamp Roadster 120 that I ended up selling and immediately regretted as well since I only sold it to fund the purchase of a Matamp GTL and then the seller for that backed out days after I sold MY Matamp. It took me a year after that to find one of these for sale. I immediately sold my Mesa/Boogie Mark III head and snatched it up as soon as I saw it. To this day, I will stand by it as being the best musical equipment purchase I've ever made:

With the volume only halfway up, it will literally shift items around in your room. I've had things rattle off of shelves and dressers after playing it for only a few minutes. Some others I know with Electric heads just cut out a big piece of foam to set their heads on on top of their speaker cabinets because they will actually vibrate themselves off of them onto the ground if you aren't careful. Absolutely monstrous amplifiers. Even though they aren't modern sounding, they are the most aggressive amp I've ever heard. Super angry and tons of gain available. The cleans are 'meh' but work. No effects loop, no 2nd channel, no footswitch, etc. Just a simple hand-wired, point-to-point, beefy amp capable of shattering windows.

FYI they work great for bass, too. Al Cisneros (Sleep, OM) uses one.

After owning this, I don't know that I could ever go back to Orange or Matamp amps even though some of them can cop a similar sound... Maybe an old early-70s Orange OR120 could fit the bill even though it has nowhere near the gain of an Electric. For high gain tones, I currently use an Engl E530. A little sterile but it works.

Jesus christ, I've been looking at these for the last 3 weeks. I want one so loving bad. Did you have one custom built for you or did you buy one used? I've got walls of amps and have tried literally everything but this right here is my dream amp. I want the Master Volume and Power unit but I have no where near the cash for that kind of investment. I could do with a 6x12 too. TELL ME ABOUT THIS AMAZING PIECE OF AUDIO EQUIPMENT

Sirius Sam fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Aug 3, 2010

# ¿ Aug 3, 2010 03:37

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Three Red Lights posted:

They've got tonnes of those at the place where I practise (Enterprise London) I dont really like them.

To me the most important factor in an amp is midrange, lots of amps can get loud, or have lots of bass and treble but you know you've found something good when the midrange has that awesome bite to it that cuts right through the full band. Thats where solid state and hybrid stuff tends to lack IMO, you can eventually dial it into something Ok sounding but if you plug into something like an Orange then that sounds amazing straight from the get go and even better as you start to tweak the settings.

I should be seeing a guy about a secondhand Laney VH100 this week, provided I dont get scammed/murdered I'll be reporting back.

I've got a Laney VH100r and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet. It's an amazing amp and both channels are great, but the tone controls are as responsive as I (personally) want. And I've been having all kinds of problems with it blowing fuses that I can't for the life of me figure out. Depending on what kind of a sound you're going for though it's a great amp.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2010 02:14

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Are you sure you're not thinking of the GH100L? Because the VH100R only comes as a 2 channel head.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2010 04:33

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Three Red Lights posted:

Yeah the gh100/50 is a one channel amp, it doesent have a "real" clean channel, just a switch that brings in an extra gain stage. The VH100 has two seperate channels.

e: also looking at the specs its like 5kg heavier which I'm not looking forwards too.

hurf durf yeah, I just re-read your post and realize I misread it :downs:

Honestly I wish I had gotten the GH100 because I only ever use one channel. For some reason though I could only ever find the VH100 cheaper than the GH100 v :shobon:

# ¿ Aug 18, 2010 17:01

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

I don't know much about Ampeg amps but I do know that's a pretty good price for it. The way I look at amps is if the glove fits...

Does the glove fit?

# ¿ Aug 19, 2010 22:28

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Three Red Lights posted:

Welp I got my Laney VH100.

First impression were a mixed bag, It was second hand and the low gain input and reverb (two features I will never use but It would be nice to have) were hosed right from the get go. I can see what the guy who posted earlier meant about only using the one channel too, I'm pretty certain high gain+boost is going to be my primary channel, leaving the other 3 settings kind of superfluous.

It does have a lot of treble, the guy who sold it to me said he'd put in 6l6's for "clearer treble" which pretty much makes him a moron. The crunch is nice, although darker in the midrange than any marshall I've played.

I was A/Bing it with a friends Blackstar for a bit and the Blackstar felt a lot better in all respects, then like an idiot I realised that the reason the Blackstar was kicking it's rear end so severely was becasue it comes with a built in attenuator kicking it down to 20 watts, turn that off and the response was about par.

I was that guy. Let me know how you feel about it in a week or two. I'm kinda glad I have it, but then part of me really wants to sell it and either wait for a vintage Laney or just get something else entirely.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2010 16:21

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

I play in doom bands or hardcore bands and I use the loudest amps and rigs and highest gain I can get and I would even consider getting a Tiny Terror. It's definitely a worthwhile investment, I say go for it.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2010 02:22

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Catastrophe posted:

I require more info. Please tell me about your loud, high gain amps used for doom and hardcore.

Forgive the lovely cellphone quality picture.

Going from left to right:
Sunn Penetrator on top of two Sunn 412s loaded with Eminence Legends
Laney VH100R (that I really want to get rid of), on top of a Peavey VK100, on top of a Fender M80 Chorus (a tone machine with almost 0 recognition)
Mesa Rect with Vintage 30s
B52 open back with stock speakers, great low end
Emperor 4x12 with Jensen Electric Lightnings

Not pictured:
Sovtek MIG 100B Bassov Blues Boy
Sonic 4x12 loaded with Celestion G10 Greenbacks

Right now for my hardcore band I'm daisy chaining the Sunn into the Sovtek to the Emperor and Mesa, and for my drone doom project thing I'm running pretty much all of it together.

I really really really want to get rid of my Laney and get a Laney Pro Tube 100 or something. I bought the VH100R without doing any research and I just can't get the tones I want out of it

# ¿ Sep 28, 2010 06:07

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

the wizards beard posted:

Hailz. Just finishing up a powerviolence band, I had the 140W Orange I posted earlier and a 70s HH 4x12. I need something to use for new bands now, what does that Fender sound like? I like loud and bassy and I could chain a couple of distortion pedals up front if it doesn't get filthy enough. I'm sure I could ebay one of those.

Well unfortunately the Fender is a solid state, 60w. It can get pretty dirty straight into it but the distortion channel takes pedals really really well and that's why I still have it around. Really I think the reason I like it so much is it's sentimental value. I'd rather have a 140w Orange tbh :v:

If you ever find one on ebay or something don't expect to pay much more than 100-150 bux for it, it's cheap as hell.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2010 21:12

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

answersyouseek posted:

Despite the fact that V-4B's totally rule. V-4's aren't great live amps for guitar because they aren't that loud. Sovtek Mig 150H's though are great. They are essentially the discount version of a JCM 800 but they are built way more robustly because they use Russian military grade parts.

Sovtek never made a MIG 150H. In fact they never made an amp higher than 100w. However their 100 watts is mindblowingly loud. I have the MIG 100B, the bass/rhythm head. I want a 100H but the clean headroom on the 100B is just amazing, takes pedals better than any of my other amps by far.

Also Sovteks are made entirely of russian tank parts, except for the input/output jacks, which are made of plastic. Yeah, I don't get it either.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 18:05

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

It has two inputs so you can chain two together (if you did that you would use the 8ohm output from your amplifier if you didn't know).

I'm going to assume they're both input/output jacks.

Sirius Sam fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Feb 2, 2011

# ¿ Feb 2, 2011 19:59

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

rt4 posted:

The preamp has gone bad I guess?

That sounds about right, seeing as how when you bypass the preamp section of the amp it works fine. I would take it to an amp tech because chances are it's not gonna be something you can fix yourself.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 02:06

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Handen posted:

Has anybody done any mods to their Blackheart BH5-112? I swapped the Eminence speaker for a Pre-Rola Celestion G12M and it already sounds less like barf and more like sex, now I'm wondering if swapping the tubes could give me a little more crunch.

It's got a 12AX7 pre-amp tube and an EL84 power tube, unsure of the brand but since the amp is made by Crate I wouldn't imagine it to be anything too special. What are some popular replacement tubes for this?

Not sure what brand of EL84 comes stock in Blackhearts but I know a popular replacement for EL84 type tubes is the JJ EL84 or the Mullard EL84 depending on what type of sound you want out of your amp. The JJ is just a great all around tube where as the Mullard is a straight dirty as hell nasty aggressive tube if that's what you're looking for.

# ¿ May 18, 2011 19:47

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

burritonegro posted:

What's the story with attenuators? I don't crank my Music Man RD50 past 3, so should I buy one?

It depends on how badly you're chasing that tone you get from seriously cranking your tube head. When you crank a tube head way the gently caress up it overdrives the tubes to an insane degree and the full tonal power is unlocked. You'll get more grit and dirt. They're worth getting for amps that don't have a master volume knob if that's important to you (which it should be).

I have a Sound City 120 that has a MV knob and there's a huge change in tone when I crank the dirty channel all the way to 10 and then pull it back with the MV knob.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2011 20:13

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Sunn Model Ts are about $1500 on eBay. Matamps and Electric amps are $2100-$2400 depending on the model you get. I don't know what kind of sound you're going for but those amps, especially the Matamps and Electrics, are really designed for fuzzed out stoner rock. They're not really a jack-of-all-trades. The Model T is more of a jack-of-all-trades but it's still the same idea. It's loud as gently caress too.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2011 19:06

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

the Bunt posted:

I just got a used Line 6 Spider Valve MKii HD100 (Bogner) and while I love the clean tones I get from it, I cannot for the life of me get a good distortion tone. I play prog death metal, and with the terrible line 6 4x12 I have (don't know what model it is exactly. it's not very good though) I can't get a precise yet gnarly tone. I'm either constantly overpowered by my other guitarist's 6505 and same cab, or I'm overbearingly gainy to the point of incoherence and it seems no matter what I do the low-end is constantly muddying everything up for me. Is it more a matter of EQing, or does having a cheapo cab really hinder the tonal possibilities?

I'm looking for a different cab regardless but I have pretty much zero experience with them. Can anyone who's played the MKII weigh in on some good cab combinations? I'd like to get away from Line 6 if possible but I'm on quite a budget. I have heard good things about Avatar for the pricerange. Are those good cabs for a diverse yet mostly heavy death metal sound?

Almost anything would be better than a Line 6 cab. Avatar does indeed make great custom cabs if that's what you want. You can find cheap mesas if you look hard/long enough. It's almost hard to NOT be able to find an upgrade to a Line 6 cab honestly.

# ¿ May 23, 2012 18:31

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Jives posted:

Hey Amp fiends, I was wanting to buy MY FIRST TUBE AMP. I'm currently looking at buying either a night train, or tiny terror second hand. I can't really tell which is better to go for, currently leaning towards the night train.

Should I be avoiding amps that have been re valved? And are there other good choices of amp that I am failing to notice?

What kind of music do you play?

# ¿ Jun 8, 2012 17:23

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

HollisBrown posted:

So I didn't really know where to put this, so I might crosspost this is in he bass megathread too.

So anyway, I guy that runs a shop where I teach lessons met a guy here in Western PA that bought the rights to produce and sell the renowned Acoustic 360 Bass amp. I guess this used to be the bass amp that everyone played, John Paul Jones, Jaco, Flea
I have yet to meet this guy but appearntly he is a complete drunk who operates out of an old abandoned shoe store in Greensburg PA. So I've been told that it's falling apart, smells of mold and has a leaky roof. He contracts out the electrical work to local shop and he does a little but of the fit and finish work (not very well either). http://acoustic-360bass.com/About.html awesome picture of the home base of this and two awesome guys.

The story i guess goes that he bought the rights to produce and sell this from guitar center, who among tons of other things now owns Acoustic. I can't for the life of me figure out this arrangement but I guess he has to pay Guitar Center royalties on each amp he sells.

This can be yours for the cool price of $5,000.

It sounds amazing, it really fills up the space with sound without sounding "Loud". But the guy who builds them is such a trainwreck and bad with business that he can't sell them.

$5,000?

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 03:25

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

mr_package posted:

But none of these really get me where I want, tone wise, so now I'm saving up for an Electric Amp.

That really is how it happens. Green Amps are truly the holy grail of the stoner tone and a lot of different amps and pedal combinations can come close, but none can truly match what Green can do. It sucks too because they're so goddamn expensive.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2012 20:43

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

the Bunt posted:

I'm kinda confused on how my Spider Valve head works.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ampl...ELAID=410758749

It's powered by tubes but obviously the tone modeling is digital. Is it considered a real tube amp or what? I'm having a ton of trouble finding a good distortion setting with my 1960 Marshall 4x12 (for death metal playing specifically) and my other guitarist's 6505 into a Line 6 4x12 just completely overpowers my amp in volume somehow.

The 6505 is going to blow most amps out of the water in terms of volume because it's a 120 watt all tube head. I'm not entirely sure how Line 6 stuff works either. I didn't even know they made anything with tubes in them. I just know that with all the digital stuff they have there's no way they're running like an all tube head would.

You're gonna have a hard time overpowering a 6505 with pretty much anything. They're VERY loud amps.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2012 20:25

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

I usually buy my tubes from eBay stores that specialize in tubes. Never had a problem and always have gotten the best prices.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2012 08:53

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

scuz posted:

There's a Mig100 on my local craigslist that comes with a Carvin 412 cabinet for $600. I wanna buy that thing and convert it into a 2x12 combo amp. Crazy idea or awesome idea? I've never done anything like this before, but I really like the amp itself and don't wanna plunk-down a grand to get a DIY kit.

I have 2 MIG 100s and they are by far my favorite amps. I would buy that in a heartbeat for $600 even without the cab. I can't comment on the 2x12 combo conversion because I don't know anything about it but I'd definitely pick up that head and cab.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2013 20:53

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

Schlieren posted:

I've spent three or four hours comparing different samples online and gee whiz, Jensen Blackbirds sound the best to my ears. $257 a piece

One thing that's always been annoying for me as a guitarist and gearhead is that the music I play is completely unlike anything anyone plays in those sample videos. I go between playing super loud "wall of sound" fuzzed out stoner/doom metal (think Electric Wizard/old Boris/Weedeater) to super grindy HM-2 type distortion in Drop A (think Trap Them/Black Breath/Magrudergrind etc etc) and I can never ever find samples of speakers, pickups or even amps used in a way like that on the internet. I'm sure I'm not the majority but it still bums me out that I have to find ways to try them all out in person which is basically impossible :sigh:

# ¿ Jul 15, 2013 22:40

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 14:19

Sirius Sam: Apr 12, 2005; BUTTCHEEKS

comes along bort posted:

Mojotone's pretty good, but I got some cane weave grill cloth for a cab a couple years back from them and it smelled like pussy. Like you'd get a big whiff of it from a few feet away.

Hell fuckin yea just like it should baby :whatup:

# ¿ Jun 22, 2016 22:32

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