Bass tube head under 100w for home

[BluesyCat]

there are a few out there...you and everyone else recommends that amp! I've been reading raving reviews on the bassman series too. Decisions!

[lpdeluxe]

I think I promised to report back on the '65 Bassman head (50w into 4 ohm). Anyhow, I plugged my AV '57 P into it and connected the head to 2 10" speakers for the proper load. It was very loud, enough to be heard over our drummer and two loud guitarists.

My own opinion follows, and is of course worth exactly what it costs, but I personally believe all this talk about how much power a bass player 'needs' is academic at best. I have gigged over 30 years with a 40w Ampeg B15N, a 100w Ampeg B100R, a 250w Hartke head into 2x10 and 1x15 cabs, a 175w Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0-10T, and a 300w Mesa/Boogie in its own 1x15 cab and with 2 Genz-Benz 1x10 speakers, outdoor on flatbed trailers, inside theatres, and everywhere else you can think of, and I have NEVER not been loud enough. I sincerely think that most of the chatting about watts amounts to no more than "mine is bigger than yours." Yeah, I prefer to take the M/B to jobs, but that's because it's only 13 lb AND is the Killer Tone Machine. The Master Volume stays around 9 o'clock.

[biffonbass]

I have an Old School UL 260.
A great tube amp at 75 watts.
Very nice boutique bass amp at a price under $1500.
Great for the practice room or small to mid size gigs.

[Dave M]

An Ampeg V-4B or B25B sound great into a good cab. I've also played a Twin Reverb into an 8x10 SVT cab, and the tone works, but was a bit lacking compared to a proper SVT head.

[HowardMusic]

I used to play through both a Ampeg V4b and a Traynor YBA-1 - the Ampeg was really loud - I played it through an Ampeg 4x10 cabinet (HLF?) I can't remember, but it was a pretty huge cabinet. For home use, the Ampeg might be overkill.

The Traynor, since it was 8 ohms, I played through a 2x12 guitar cabinet, and didn't sound as full, for obvious reasons, but still sounded pretty decent. But maybe through a real bass cabinet, maybe a single 15 or a 2x10, might sound pretty good. It sounded pretty great on guitar - a very loud 50 watts !!

Both heads were around $500 or so, so a potentially economical solution for you. The Fender Bassman seems like another good option, and if you don't want a blackface, should be around the same if not less than $500 (at least when I was pricing these a couple years ago). But I suppose my suggestion would be to make sure and get a dedicated bass cabinet for the head and not run it through your guitar cab - in my case the 2x12 guitar cab didn't sound nearly as full as the Ampeg 4x10.

Have fun !!

[BluesyCat]

Originally Posted by HowardMusic

I used to play through both a Ampeg V4b and a Traynor YBA-1 - the Ampeg was really loud - I played it through an Ampeg 4x10 cabinet (HLF?) I can't remember, but it was a pretty huge cabinet. For home use, the Ampeg might be overkill.

The Traynor, since it was 8 ohms, I played through a 2x12 guitar cabinet, and didn't sound as full, for obvious reasons, but still sounded pretty decent. But maybe through a real bass cabinet, maybe a single 15 or a 2x10, might sound pretty good. It sounded pretty great on guitar - a very loud 50 watts !!

Both heads were around $500 or so, so a potentially economical solution for you. The Fender Bassman seems like another good option, and if you don't want a blackface, should be around the same if not less than $500 (at least when I was pricing these a couple years ago). But I suppose my suggestion would be to make sure and get a dedicated bass cabinet for the head and not run it through your guitar cab - in my case the 2x12 guitar cab didn't sound nearly as full as the Ampeg 4x10.

Have fun !!

Thanks. I have a dedicated Ampeg SVT-410HLF cab (see 1st post). I'm not in a rush and I am keeping my eyes and ears open...the thread is good for info!

[HowardMusic]

Oh right, the 410HLF, that's the one with the wheels in the back right? That's a great cab, but I think that runs on 4 ohms, and I cant' remember if the Traynor YBA-1 had a 4 ohm tap - I think it's only 8 ohms. Then maybe the Fender Bassman might be a good choice since it is 4 ohms. You might try a drip-edge, which is essentially a blackface but just cosmetically different, I think, that's what I was looking for when I was thinking of getting one - they were a lot cheaper than the blackface ones. Anyway lots of good suggestions all around here - good luck !!

Btw - I grew up in Torrance - went to North High - my folks still live there !

[BluesyCat]

Originally Posted by HowardMusic

Oh right, the 410HLF, that's the one with the wheels in the back right? That's a great cab, but I think that runs on 4 ohms, and I cant' remember if the Traynor YBA-1 had a 4 ohm tap - I think it's only 8 ohms. Then maybe the Fender Bassman might be a good choice since it is 4 ohms. You might try a drip-edge, which is essentially a blackface but just cosmetically different, I think, that's what I was looking for when I was thinking of getting one - they were a lot cheaper than the blackface ones. Anyway lots of good suggestions all around here - good luck !!

Btw - I grew up in Torrance - went to North High - my folks still live there !

yep, it's 4 ohms. I'm starting to hear a lot of good reviews about the new Fender Bassman 100T. I'd prefer not to buy something so "old". I know, I know, I know, the old stuff is golden. I get nervous just thinking about the old stuff. I know I definitely do not want anything with a loud fan...that's for sure. I already had that and it's no fun. I suppose the V4B's don't have a loud fan?? anyone know?


Re: Torrance....small world!

[walterw]

most old stuff won't have fans (until you get to the big dog SVT).

don't fear the old gear! old bassman heads and whatnot are simple, robust circuits; there's not a lot to go wrong other than tubes and maybe filter caps.

[dk123123dk]

Originally Posted by Robal

Try to find an old Ampeg B15 in good working condition. That's not too many watts and the tone can be excellant. When I am home alone and want to play, I go for the B15 more often than my higher wattage bass amps (ranging from 50 to 1000 watts).

I found one in the trash two years ago across the street.

All original, didn't make any sound, but fired up. Put it on craigslist and sold it that night for $700!

I didn't have money at the time, so it was going to be impossible for me to fixup properly.

I agree about the guitar amp into a bass cab trick. I rehearse with an older Peavey Classic dual 6L6 combo used as a head into a 1x15" bass cab. Plenty loud for a small room, but not a lot of clean headroom. Built in phaser sounds funky!


dk

[wumo]

for $700? wow

[mcknigs]

Originally Posted by Primakurtz

Traynor Bassmaster: great guitar amp, darned nice low-volume bass amp.

+1 Surprised it took 15 posts. The original 50 watt YBA-1 is a great all-around amp. A bassist I worked with used one into a modern 4x10" cab and it was my favorite bass sound of all his gear. It was plenty loud though. I would look for 50 watt Fender or Traynor bass heads and snag whatever can be picked up for reasonable $. I'm not positive but I think (unfortunately) that all the YBA-1s-are-Plexis-in-a-cheaper-package hype may pushed the prices up higher than comparable Fender heads.

I suspect just about any tube guitar head could be used as a bedroom bass amp if plugged into a cab and speakers capable of handling the bass frequencies.

Edit: If you see any sub-100 watt Sovtek or Univox heads on your local Craigslist, you might want to check those out also.

[torquil]

I wanted a 100W tube bass amp, and ordered a pre-built (built the headcase myself) Hiwatt DR103 "clone" from Ceriatone. Nik @ Ceriatone did some mods to improve it as a bass amp at no extra charge, by using some larger coupling caps in the preamp. I need it to go low, since my basses have six strings. Sometimes I run it as a 50W amp by yanking a power tube pair and compensate for the resulting impdance mismatch using the impedance switch. I'm very happy with it, and I also use it for guitar.

[dspellman]

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

My own opinion follows, and is of course worth exactly what it costs, but I personally believe all this talk about how much power a bass player 'needs' is academic at best. I sincerely think that most of the chatting about watts amounts to no more than "mine is bigger than yours."

Probably correct. It's like comparing...uh...oh...cars. Yeah, that's it. My 720 horsepower Ferrari will exceed 220 mph and hit 60 mph in 3 seconds flat. Your Honda Civic *might* exceed 120 and hit 60 in "whenever." Yeah, I realize that taking Muffy to school in the morning I'll never be allowed to exceed 30 mph in either car.

OTOH, there are times when it's nice to have the potential.

[dspellman]

What I'm confused about here is: why bother with a tube amp at all for bedroom use?

And...based on what I've heard recently in my odyssey of selecting my own bass rig, *other than the guitar,* the speaker cabs themselves seem to make a LOT more difference than the amp in the final sound of a bass rig. I'd put the tube vs. SS question at the very bottom of a bedroom consideration.