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

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > Amplifier Worship - IT'S A SERIES OF TUBES

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

I am completely crazy about my Orange AD30TC. Blackstar HT5 is still a perfectly sensible practice amp, but it can't hold a candle to how good the AD30 sounds.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2010 03:01

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 23:09

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

iostream.h posted:

gently caress yes. I've been semi-tempted over one of those since getting my AD30 head, how heavy is it? Have you compared it's sound to a sealed cab? I just wonder about it being semi-open if that added any 'woof' at higher volume.

Haven't compared it to a sealed cab, I've had a hell of a time finding much Orange gear near me. I happened to find an almost pristine used AD30TC for a good price ($1300 with a road case).

When I was on my amp demo spree back in April, I found I hated Mesas (garish and shrill), thought Dr. Z's were a bit too bright, and would have considered the '65 London if I A. could have tried it (saw the Lil Elvis and the Tupelo, which were both not quite what I was looking for) and B. didn't see this Orange for $1000 less than what a London combo would have cost. I also tried a Rocker 30 and a Dual Terror, which were both very good. I probably would have bought the Rocker 30 out of everything I'd tried if I hadn't seen the AD30TC, which blew away everything else. If you want to sound like Boris, well uh yeah just go try one. Sadly, I still suck at guitar; I just bought this because I am going to be playing for a long time.

Also, the HT5 is what I use as a practice amp--don't get me wrong, it's a great little practice amp and I'm not going to get rid of it anytime soon.

(amusing coincidence: bought Amplifier Worship and Feedbacker yesterday, saw this thread today, and Boris concert next month :dance:

)

# ¿ Jul 7, 2010 04:46

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Anybody actually try the 65amps Ventura yet? I've got an Orange AD30TC right now but I don't particularly want the super Orange sound anymore, and the Ventura is looking really interesting as a replacement. I've seen it listed at a lot of places for sale, but none of them have it in stock (and the 65amps page still lists it as coming soon so I'm not sure).

(of course, if I had $4k to blow, I'd buy a Producer, but that seems like it would be COMPLETELY STUPID of me)

Professor Science fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jun 23, 2012

# ¿ Jun 23, 2012 22:18

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

You could get what I got on Wednesday (apologies for the remarkably bad picture)...

65amps Ventura. 20W, two channels--one very Fender Deluxe-ish, one much like a Marshall combo--shared volume/tone knobs, master voltage (amp sounds better at low volumes than with a master volume). It's also got this thing they call a bump circuit, which essentially feeds more power into the tubes to make things break up a bit more than usual. I bought the combo, and it has a Celestion 12" speaker.

It sounds absolutely fantastic. I've got a Blackstar HT5 as a practice amp and an Orange AD30TC that I bought when I thought I was going to make more stoner-type rock, and I'm getting rid of both of those. It also takes pedals remarkably well--my fuzz pedal is *way* more usable with this than with the Orange. I honestly don't know what sort of amp beyond this I would ever need at this point (considering I don't like the ridiculously high-gain stuff).

It's expensive ($1750 for combo), but holy god it sounds good. They were hard to find for a while (I had to wait 7 weeks for mine), but they seem to be in okay supply now.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2012 20:19

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Boz0r posted:

How is the Orange AD30HTC for glam rock/metal? It looks and sounds pretty cool on Youtube.

I've got one, I need to sell it. Every guitar I've played through it with any sort of gain sounds basically the same, with that Orange sound. Is that what you want? If so, it's a great amp. If not, don't buy it.

edit: oh, I've got the combo, not the head

# ¿ Jan 31, 2013 04:52

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

syntaxfunction posted:

Now my question. I notice no tube amps really have headphone jacks, which would give me the best of both worlds. But many (At least the Blackstars) have speaker emulated output. Can I use this to drive headphones? I'd really like to just deal with one amp, and if I can use headphones but still use it for small gigs (House parties or whatever) that'd be sweet as. IS this achievable?

yes, I used to use headphones when I had an HT5C. worked fine on that amp.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2013 08:16

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

if you don't need a 2x12, you should consider the 65amps Ventura. I have one, and it is ludicrously good.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2013 03:05

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Stayne Falls posted:

Oh my. That is a really delicious sound coming out of that tiny little thing. I don't suppose they make a 2z12 extension cab? This is going to be for touring so I really wanted to keep it down to one piece...but I could make an exception for that since the head is so small.

I think they make a 2x12 cab, but there's also the London Pro. I haven't tried it myself, but after hearing the Ventura, the Lil Elvis, and the Producer, I don't know that it's possible to go wrong with one of 65's amps.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2013 04:27

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Kilometers Davis posted:

Curiosity: what are some of the best low watt low volume clean amps being produced today?

I have not heard a low wattage amp I like as much as the 65amps Ventura, which is why I bought one :v:

# ¿ Aug 22, 2014 02:57

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

THR talk has made me wonder. I live in a shitbox with shitbox windows that leaks noise to an absurd degree (if you walk by my house I can hear your normal volume conversations on the street), such that my neighbors get cranky every time I play any amp in my house. As a result, I assume I have to use headphones. Would I be gaining anything by getting a practice amp with headphone out versus using Amplitube (I already have a decent interface and Amplitube and all that)? I can't think of any reason why that would be, but figured I should check.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2015 02:42

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

I keep meaning to set up my delay/reverb in an FX loop but am too lazy to deal with the cables. I have a goddamn TC Flashback Triple and I'm still too lazy. What's wrong with me.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2015 06:46

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Pokey Araya posted:

If you're west coast we're headed that way.

poo poo I'll probably show up to the SF show

# ¿ Jun 9, 2016 05:10

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Kilometers Davis posted:

I never realized that Fractal's AX8 is only $1,300. That's insane. These stupid modeling amps need to stop tempting me every 3 months!

I'm waiting another year or two before I go ham on one. Then again I did preorder the new Fender pack for Amplitube because I'm scum

# ¿ Dec 8, 2016 07:02

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Kilometers Davis posted:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/power-amp/powerstage-700

Thoughts on this? I've been thinking about putting together some kind of small form not real tube amp but not a modeler pedal based setup for a while. I love how that sounds.

At some point in the near future, I'm probably going to throw a Kemper/Axe and this in a rack and call it a day.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2017 20:33

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Got a 1x12 combo that buzzes like crazy when playing certain notes, especially through neck pickup on my baritone. Is this a sign that I should retube this thing?

# ¿ Mar 10, 2018 02:00

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Smash it Smash hit posted:

Tighten all the screws and nuts you can and check for debris inside particularly near or touching the speakers

Tried that, hasn't seemed to do anything. Guess I'll take it to a tech. Haven't used it much in the past few years, so probably time. Thanks for the suggestion, though--lots of screws were looser than I expected.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2018 06:09

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Smash it Smash hit posted:

Also try playing it in another room it could be something else rattling in the room

yeah, going to try that in a bit. found a couple other people complaining about tube rattle on this amp (65amps Ventura) who claimed that putting O-rings on the tubes reduced the rattle a lot, so getting some of those too. but oh well I'll just buy a separate cab at some point if this turns out to be unfixable, what's the worst that could happen

# ¿ Mar 11, 2018 00:19

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Smash it Smash hit posted:

Hm I wonder what it could be that is causing it to rattle. I had a custom amp have same issues and I had to replace the screws holding the sockets in because they were just a bit too raised to let the tubes sit flush - which was a lot more work than it sounds

Moved it around the room (it's a big room) because it was close to a wall and I wasn't entirely sure if it was the wall vibrating or the amp. It's definitely the amp. There are also two kinds of noises. One of them is definitely a tube-y rattling noise, a higher frequency ringing type of sound if I'm playing in the middle part of the guitar's register. The other is a lower frequency rumble? buzz? that shows up really prominently on certain notes. On my SG in D, F and G on the lowest string make it happen some; D, Db, and E are fine; Gb makes it go crazy. Can't tell if it's the wood resonating or the speaker is loose or what, but I would guess it's coming from the upper left of the cab. Tightened everything I could access with no effect, but there are a few screws on the speaker that I couldn't get to without taking everything apart, and I don't feel comfortable enough around large caps to do that myself.

I'll see if the o-rings do anything (maybe reduce the tube noise, I hope?) and then take it to a tech. This is really just accelerating my plans for buying more amps and a decent cab, oops

# ¿ Mar 11, 2018 19:25

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Mesa says it's OK to run a cab with a higher resistance than the amp's output but not the other way around. Makes sense considering running with no load destroys the output transformer.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2018 18:48

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

a good tube amp plus a reactive load box with good IRs actually does own extremely hard

# ¿ Jun 9, 2018 07:24

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

I mean, I'm doing a TC-100 (6V6 TC-100 actually sounds extremely good, EL34s sound like a fizzy mess to me) into a 4x12 and it's great for practicing during the day... just not feasible at night, though.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2018 07:32

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

The Muppets On PCP posted:

a miked amp will sound best but if you've got experience using cab sims you can get about 90-95% of the way there with the DI approach

disagree, I think the gap is that big only if the miked cab has a good room, good mics, good setup, good everything else. if you don't have all of that stuff, oh yes the reactive load + DI approach will sound better.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2018 04:28

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Iucounu posted:

Reactive load to DI using IRs will get you the best sound, almost always better than a miced cab unless you have a really pro setup and are really good at micing. Even then the difference is negligible imo. Keep in mind not all reactive loads are created equal, check the reviews to see if the DI sounds good or not. The Suhr reactive load is supposedly pretty ace.

there's a Suhr Reactive Load connected to a Mesa TC-100 ten feet away from me and yes it rules

# ¿ Jul 5, 2018 19:32

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

the rhythm part sounds like a Dual Rectifier or something like that, lead is a driven Plexi with a little modulation.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2018 21:47

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

what about the 20W JCM800 reissue?

alternately, PRS MT15?

# ¿ Feb 14, 2019 09:17

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Amplitube stuff can be made better with better IRs (Amplitube 4 + ownhammer IR works pretty well in my experience), but I don't think it's as good as the Helix stuff, which in turn is probably not quite as good as the Kemper or Fractal stuff. At the high end, though, it's splitting hairs--stuff is different but maybe not better or worse.

Neural and UAD stuff sounds pretty good too but is a lot pricier (especially the UAD).

(also you can get a VH4 pedal, plug it into a power amp, call it a day)

# ¿ Feb 19, 2019 01:44

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 23:09

Professor Science: Mar 8, 2006; diplodocus + mortarboard = party

Dang It Bhabhi! posted:

https://dunwichamps.bigcartel.com/product/da120-overdrive

The dude at Dunwich is the best it gets at designing circuits and especially at doing the tube to fet adaptations.

ugh if that pedal is ever in stock I must have it. that Dopesmoker sound....

# ¿ Mar 29, 2019 07:17

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