Guitar and Bass Combo Tube Amps on a Budget?

[dNA]

I wouldn't go for a hot rod series amp. they have a totally different character from what most people know as the signature Fender sound. For $600, you might be able to find a Super Reverb or a Twin Reverb. SInce Sonic Youth has two iconic guitarists, I'm not sure which side of it you're going for. But I don't associate their sound as much with tube overdrive as much as other bands - I would think you can get the sounds you're looking for using pedals in front of a Fender, and then you have that glorious fender clean tone with soupy silky reverb.


I have a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45. They sometimes go for $500-$600. It's got its own personality. Plenty loud - it has variable power amp wattage which is nice. Extremely flexible amp with 3 channels that each have different modes for fine-tuning what you're after. I think it's a ton of amp for the money. That being said, at times I've considered going for a Fender because I do find something indescribably appealing about the clean sound from Fender Reverb amps and I do a lot more clean playing than anything else these days.

 

[bagman67]

I recently picked up this guy:

GK MB115 combo, 200w.  Very lightweight, works pretty good at the price - ~$350USD.

 

[Damon]

I wouldn't go for a hot rod series amp. they have a totally different character from what most people know as the signature Fender sound.

Never said to get the Hot Rod for classic Fender sounds, just that it was worth considering. But dNA is right, it's not gonna give you that classic Fender sound. Still a solid amp, though. The Blues Deluxe has a more traditional Fender sound on channel 1, but don't expect to get good tones out of channel 2 unless you know how to mod your amp and are willing to fiddle with it until you get it right. Took me about 8 years of tweaking until I finally am happy with channel 2, but channel 1 has been great all along.

I have a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45.

Had an old bandmate with one of those. It was bit of a chore to dial in all three channels just right, but once you did it sounded great. +1 for that one.

 

[drewfx]

For inexpensive bass amps, I think GK's are pretty good for the money. I bought a GK head and cab (as an inexpensive additional or practice amp) because I liked it better than any of the alternatives I tried in my price range.

But you have to be careful with bass combos - there are exceptions, but the smaller inexpensive ones often can't really put out nearly enough low frequencies at higher volumes. And bigger ones can get too big and heavy to the point that you're better off with a separate head and cab.

I found the GK head + 2x10 cab I bought completely blew away all the (inexpensive) combos I tried. And when I tried it with a 1x15 in addition to the 2x10 it sounded way better, but that was too much size/weight/money for my purposes.

Most of the small, inexpensive bass combos I've tried are only OK for practicing or recording, not stage volumes where you're trying to compete with a drummer and loud guitars.

 

[jackthehack]

One amp to rule them all...

Just buy one amp, a '59 Bassman re-issue with 4x10 speakers; Buddy Guy plays guitar through a pair and they work fine for bass as well; should be able to find a used one in good shape for $700-800.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Carvin doesn't make an all tube bass head.  Their's have a single, bypassable 12ax7 preamp tube, and it does nothing for warmth.  Many do make an all tube bass head, but not many do combos, and none are under $600.

All tube bass heads are very expensive, very heavy, and modern slap playing kills the power section, which is why they're not in big rotation anymore.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Yeah the all tube ones, like the Classic Ampeg SVT, had six 6550's in the power section.  To power that, you needed some serious Iron in the transformers.  They weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 lbs for the head.  They sound wonderful for classic styles, just great.  Like STD Custom said, the modern bass styles do better with the hybrids or solid state.  Also the 15 is good for the classic sounds because the speaker distorts more than the modern 10's do.  That helps with the dirty rumble factor.  One amp that does well is the Fender Rumble.  It is not powerful enough for anything large, but there is a Direct Out on it that sounds quite good going straight to a board.  Just use it as a monitor.
Patrick

 

[jlegnor]

I am thinking about giving this one a try...
it is small, cheap and it has a effect loop... while most small tube amps never have that..

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/vht-special-6-ultra-6w-1x12-hand-wired-tube-guitar-combo-amp/h73575000000000

I'm kinda on the fence with mine.  I run my HB equiped guitars through a Vox Sacthurator into mine and as long as you can keep the volume up, it sounds great.  But lowering the volume with either the power switch or the watts control will make sustained notes kind of fuzzy.  But, I think it has great clean tones. 

I chaneged out my pre-amp tubes to something I really can't remember off hand at the moment.  I know if you're wanting to try taller power tubes, you'll want the seperate head and cab cause the speaker is in the way in the combo. 

But for the money I think it's a decent amp.  And like you said, the only tube amp in this price range with an effects loop.  And pretty loud for 6watts.

 

[Justinginn]

Try this for bass:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/ampeg-ba115hp-220-watt-1x15-bass-series-combo-amp

It's not tube, but honestly, for what you're looking to get out of it, you don't need tubes, and I'm as hardcore a tube fan when it comes to guitar amps as there is. But bass is a different beast. I traded in my old SVT-4pro half stack (tube pre, SS power) for the predicessor to this amp and it sounds every bit as good.

Usually Guitar Center has a couple of these in stock at any given time, so it shouldn't be hard to find one to try. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

+1, the one time I was a bassist in a band that's what they gave me to play and it sounded amazing.
For bass, is Gallien-Krueger any good at all? I'm not up on my bass gear, as I always play through the PA..

I like GK well enough, just always seem to come back to Ampeg for some reason. Never owned a GK, but have spent several hours noodling on them at GC over the years. They seem to growl a bit more for me than the Ampegs, which is great when that's what you want, but not so much if you don't. If I wanted a more overdriven sound all the time out of my bass, I'd likely play a GK.

 

[Jeremiah]

Ashdown make a small all-tube bass head . No idea how much they would go for in the USA, but I doubt it would be under $600, it is a head not a combo, and I'm not sure 30 watts would be loud enough for your needs.

(They do also make a combo version but it costs about 3x more because it is made in the UK instead of China.)

 

[reluctant-builder]

Six-hundred for each, or for both? If his total budget is $1,200, that obviously will provide more options. If it's $300 apiece, the options are far more limited.

There's a Bugera head at my tech's shop, which was rescued from the trash, repaired and stuck into handmade, albeit not so fancy, woodwork that shows the tubes and other guts. It's atop, I believe, a 4 x 12 cabinet and the thing smokes. Whenever I have work done on my guitars, I test them out on that amp. I can't remember into what I plugged my bass, when he set it up.

My tech keeps telling me I can pick up a Bugera head for cheap on craigslist, but I have yet to look. I do, though, really like the sound of the one in his shop. I don't know which model, but it has four tubes.

 

[Cagey]

Those Bugeras are a LOT of amp for the money. The amp snobs sneer at them, but I suspect a lot of that is due to frustration. They sound great, have the features you want, are built at least as good as the vast majority of amps out there these days, and you don't need a second mortgage to pay for them. In fact, many models you could buy on a whim, as they're surprisingly inexpensive.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The Bugera you may be thinking of has 4 preamp tubes and is a a 3600 watter.  Little experience is still experience, and a tube preamp on a bass amp without a tube power section is just about useless. 

 

[mayfly]

The Bugera you may be thinking of has 4 preamp tubes and is a a 3600 watter.  Little experience is still experience, and a tube preamp on a bass amp without a tube power section is just about useless. 

Is that a mis-print, or does the thing have transmitting tubes in it?

 

[bagman67]

The Bugera you may be thinking of has 4 preamp tubes and is a a 3600 watter.  Little experience is still experience, and a tube preamp on a bass amp without a tube power section is just about useless. 

Is that a mis-print, or does the thing have transmitting tubes in it?

I think it's a tube-pre, solid-state power-staged amp.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Yes.  Tube pre, SS power.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I think I saw a Peavey 6505 Combo amp for around $600, but can't recall the exact price.

 

[AprioriMark]

Those Bugeras are a LOT of amp for the money. The amp snobs sneer at them, but I suspect a lot of that is due to frustration. They sound great, have the features you want, are built at least as good as the vast majority of amps out there these days, and you don't need a second mortgage to pay for them. In fact, many models you could buy on a whim, as they're surprisingly inexpensive.

I agree.  I use a v22 all the time.  3 12ax7s and 2 el84s.  It's really well built, has digital reverb that's very musical (if you start pining after spring reverb, tour with it for years like I have and then get back to me), and it sounds great.  I use it anytime I don't feel like lugging one of my Super Reverbs, and I never regret it.  It's loud enough to keep up, smooth like you want a tube amp to be, and not a bad looker either.  The dream team for blues jams is a v22 and my alder bodied, rear routed h/h hardtail W strat with a figured mahogany/ebony neck, a Duncan 59 in the bridge and a Gibson Burstbucker 2 in the neck (both nickel covered).  It don't get no better.

-Mark

 

[Slylock Fox]

Bugera is a better Behringer.


If you have 600 bux to spend on a decent tube amp, I'd say something like a Blues Junior NOS.

I've played through a stock one and one that had a Celestion greenback in it, and OMG is it a killer little amp.  :headbang1:

I guess it also depends on if you would be gigging with it.  The Blues Junior is great for smaller venues, but if you play larger ones you may get lost in the mix.

If you're looking a for a big gig amp-Fender Deluxe, Twin Reverb, Egnator stack (though expensive.)

If you're looking for home and studio - Blues Junior, Egnator combos, Marshall Class 5, Marshall Haze, Princeton (if you can get one for the right price.)


If you want a good tube head -SOVTEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!