Should I sell my tube amp ?

[synthetica]

I strictly play at home, never gig (must be an age thing, as i'm getting up there) and don't plan to in the future. I find myself only playing thru lower end modelers into active monitors. I have a Mesa Mini Recto and 1x12 slant cab that sits in the corner gathering dust as I never use it anymore even though it sounds great but is just too loud for the bedroom playing. Been thinking about selling it and using the cash to pick up an Atomic Amplifire. Any reason this would be a bad idea?

 

[ejecta]

In my experience it's been a bad idea to sell an amp to fund a modeler.

 

[synthetica]

In my experience it's been a bad idea to sell an amp to fund a modeler.

Why is that if I may ask ?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

isn't the answer obvious?
you'll want to return to the tube amp

 

[Phnurt]

The maniacs that inhabit TGP have successfully talked me out of selling my rarely used tube amps a couple times in the last while. And I'm thankful they did! I'm even saving up for YET ANOTHER tube head (I love punishing myself with gorgeous tonez)!

Wait a few months and think about it. By the time you've made an intelligent and informed decision you'll have saved enough to buy the gear you wanted anyway and then you'll own both!

Wouldn't THAT be cool?

 

[Floyd Eye]

I strictly play at home, never gig (must be an age thing, as i'm getting up there) and don't plan to in the future. I find myself only playing thru lower end modelers into active monitors. I have a Mesa Mini Recto and 1x12 slant cab that sits in the corner gathering dust as I never use it anymore even though it sounds great but is just too loud for the bedroom playing. Been thinking about selling it and using the cash to pick up an Atomic Amplifire. Any reason this would be a bad idea?

Yeah, bad idea.

 

[Sloppyfingers]

Synthetica...I think you and I are in the same tribe..That being primarily home players who've done the bar band thing, got the t-shirt, etc.
Mind you, I do get out to occasionally jam.

Anyways, another approach that I personally bought into a few years ago was tube pre amp pedals with a Torpedo CAB speaker cabinet/power amp emulator.

It's a nice portable clean set up that's great for powered studio monitors, and it sits on both a desktop or board quite nicely. They work great on low volume.
You can even run a few of your fave effects pedals with this set up.
I push my Effectode's clean channel with a few dirt pedals for variety.

Below is a demo of one brand, but there our others..I personally own an Effectode Blackbird, and a Kingsley..Just google tube pre -amp pedals. The interchangeabilty is nice too.You can line a few of them up and have tons of tonal variety.

It's a fantastic set up if you are happy with a few solid tube tones that are portable. So easy to dial in, and you aren't lost in the option/info overload that modelers can get you trapped in.
Think of it as a hybrid approach between real tubes and digital..Whereas, digital is your back end with the Torpedo CAB.

A little pricey, to get started, but no different then a modeler. You already have the monitors.




.

 

[kiki_90291]

Are you okay with clutter? Do you mind having lots of stuff sitting around? If so, you should hang on to it. I like to simplify and actually get a little stressed out by having gear sitting around that I don't use. When I had a Mesa TA-15, I hated using the 5 watt mode because it only used one power tube (I'm not kidding!). So if you're a little OCD (like me) or if you really don't ever expect to use it again, go ahead and sell it.

On the other hand, I know people who have piles of gear and it doesn't stress them out at all to not touch something for years at a time - if you're like that, hang on to it - those are great little amps. Sometimes I miss my little Mesa (and then I think about that stupid 5 watt mode!)

 

[stevel]

Well, the question is this:

What if you sell it, then someone calls you up with a great gig. Will you have the money to go back and buy a tube amp at that point? If so, sell it.

Or, would you be comfortable using modellers instead? If so, sell it.

I'm a hoarder, and I've kept a lot of gear I've bought over the years (not that there was a lot of it bought though...) and I have had need to use some of it again - I completely resurrected some old gear for a recent band which was great - made me glad I kept it, and made me happy it got some more life - I anthropomorphize my gear too much...

Can you "loan" the amp to someone who needs it? Your church?

I know you want to fund something else with it, but do you have a niece or nephew who's learning to play guitar, or maybe going to get one for Christmas or something? Maybe you've got a neighbor kid who's playing on some crappy Gorilla or something who'd benefit from playing a "real" amp?

Or how about selling it to a kid who can't afford to buy it outright, but maybe can "rent to own"?

I think, if you're not playing it, then let it go to someone else who can love it and make music with it.

If you've got to sell it to fund your amplifire, then so be it. Just don't be a scrooge.

But if you can help someone else out, well, it is that time of year.

Based on the situation you've described, you probably won't miss it, but you know, regret is a powerful thing. So I agree - take a little time to think about it - that's why the loaner thing can work - if you loan it out but still own it, but then realize it's been 2 years and you haven't asked for it back, then you didn't really need it.

 

[jageya]

In my experience it's been a bad idea to sell an amp to fund a modeler.

i agree with this..

 

[Wirezz]

Sell it and commit.

 

[SilentScorp]

Don't sell

 

[talentless hack]

Without reading anything other than the thread title, my immediate answer is "yes."

 

[drew365]

I say sell it. I hate seeing good gear sit in a corner after I've moved on to something else. I'm in a similar situation as I bought a Helix and spend 95% of my time playing it. I have three nice tube amps that don't get used anymore and I plan on selling two of them. After that happens, the last tube amp will probably get put up for sale, as I'm pretty sure that I'll be deep into the Helix for the foreseeable future. I'm only hedging my bet because I do still play in a cover band and the Helix is great for that. But if I got into an originals band, I could see me falling back into a tube amp and some pedals.
A modeler is great for home use. Tone at any volume

 

[synthetica]

Thanks for all the great advice so far, My mind says hang on to it for a while, my wallet says sell it, but for now I think i'll hold off a bit, since I'm not really unhappy with what i'm using now, but like others Im subject to change my mind at anytime.

I like the idea of loaning it to a kid or a relative that could use it for a while (holiday spirit thing), but don't really know anyone right now that would be interested. I'll keep this in mind though.

Edit: I gave a cheap Stat and a small Fender practice amp to my niece a few years back but she lost interest and doesn't use it anymore.

 

[mattball826]

I sold several tube amps when changing over gear. I regretted it because each were unique. I looked at several versions of the same amp and not one of them had the mojo of mine. Perhaps it was me. I was able to rebuy 2 of them later when the same local guy listed on a FB musicians group. Now I have them back safe and sound. He was selling them after buying an Axe FX. Irony? lol

 

[jawgee]

I don't think it has to be a black and white decision...some pragmatism might be in order in your case.

While I'm not proud of it, I am a hoarder. Getting a Helix helped me with my hoardishness as I didn't have much cash to spare, but I did have stuff lying in my studio that I hadn't used in years and probably wouldn't for several more. So, I took inventory of what I had and made decisions on whether to keep or trade it based on different criteria.

Two of the tube amps you see if my profile picture are now gone: the Yamaha T50c and the Peavey Delta Blues. It was difficult for me to give up those amps, but the Yammie suffered some brain damage over the years and needed some work (I did love it when it worked properly, though).

Getting rid of the Delta Blues was another tough decision, great clean, edge of breakup sound, and good crunch tone when I needed it. I ended up getting rid of this because it's a relatively new amp (from the '90s) and I was delighted to find that I could get an almost identical tone to it in Peavey's Revalver amp modeler.

The other amps in the picture I still have and probably will be buried with me: a silverface Bassman head, a Musicman HD 130 head, and Marshall JCM800 2205 head.

Now I have more space in my studio and tones of toanz I did not have before A win-win situation - at least that's what I told my wife!

 

[dxtrinc]

I guess it's your call. I could say that you will get a million answers to the same question.

I sold my beloved Fender Super Sonic 22 (which sounded friggin amazing!) to buy an Amplifire and a powered monitor. When I first sold it I had some pretty serious buyers remorse. But now I could care a less. My guitar sounds great. I get compliments on my tone all the time. The built in effects sound great and I was able to make use of the Fender Mustang Floor I had laying around as a midi controller. It also gave me a bass rig and on top of that a great acoustic rig as well.

If someone calls you for a gig one day that you need a tube amp for rent one? It's not like its a ludicrous amount of money. To rent a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe here in Toronto is only $12 a day. And you could run the Atomic into the effects loop lol

Anyways. Good luck on your decision. It is never easy. I say clean house man!

dxtr

 

[Papanate]

Yes you should sell it..without question...to me. For a ridiculously low price too.
You pay shipping.

 

[kleydj13]

I personally don't see much use investing cash into gear that sits idle. If it isn't the right tool for your current job then move on to something that is.