Doesn't anyone make tube amplifiers anymore???

[freethought]

I am soon going to have my hands on a dream guitar. I have been looking in music shops and pawn shops for an amplifier. All that I have found are the electronic solid-state variety. I have owned one, that was enough. My first amp was a nice little Fender Superchamp tube amp. If I new then what I know know I would have kept that little amp.

(Sigh!!!!) Guess I will just have to keep looking!

[greyl]

1. Sure they do. :)

Here's a few new ones:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=tube+amp&tt=1&go=Go%21

You're right to be shopping for used ones, though.
Several years ago I had a small white Marshall stack - maybe 30 watts - that sounded great. I wish I new the model number - It sounded like a tube amp, but I'm not sure if it was.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Lots & Lots

In fact, Peavey just released a new line called the Valve King that are really cheap, and my friend (like me, a Boogie owner) bought one as a spare tube amp. The Boogie is in our little studio, so he wanted a spare at home. It's really quite good.

There's lots of expensive stuff, like Boogie, Cornford, Matchless, Marshall, and some high line Peavey like the Triple X or JSX. These things are all in the $800 to $3,500 range.

Check the Sam Ash or Musician's Friend website. There's lots of them there.
The Professor

[cleofus1]

3. solid state was a big selling point at first

now everyone wants tubes again...actually the romance with tubes has gone on for many a year...to the extent that some solid state have functions that mimic the tube "sound"

[freethought]

4. Thanks folks!

I'll keep looking!!

[SlavesandBulldozers]

5. check out guitarden.com

amazing site. pictures for everything. it's out of Orlando. they have some sick used/vintage amps.

[mitchum]

6. That's why my amps are 30, 38, and 42 years old...

75 Fender Twin
67 Fender VibroChamp
63 Gibson Explorer

My first amp was a 65 Fender Champ. and like a teenage idiot, I traded it away for a BIG piece of Peavey solid state junk. A TNT, if I remember correctly. Dumb move.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. How's The 63?

I was never much into their amps. They always had a nasally quality and if you cranked them up loud to distort, they seem harsh. Just wondering how that was.

I would guess you play super clean, because a mid-70's Twin didn't have much in the way of thickening, unless it was ear-bleeding loud.

Am i correct, or a fool?
The Professor

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. Gibsons are great, if you don't mind doing some work.

Every decade of Gibson amps are different. The early BR1 is nothing like the 1960's amps. I have had a bunch of Gibsons, and some need work to sound good. Others, like the BR3, will knock you flat on yer ass, despite how old they look.

[mitchum]

13. You're right...

the Gibson does have a nasally quality (and a terrible tremolo which I never use)
The Twin actually gets very little use these days, since my loudass rockandroll days are behind me. However, in those days, I used to run it pretty much wide open WITH a Rat pedal in front of it. Amazing that I have any hearing left.
You are no fool, Professor.

[freethought]

10. I can do worse than that! Get this!

My first real quality instrument was a Robin Strat style, humbuckers(not sure what make) in the bridge and neck positions and my trusty little Fender Superchamp. Sold them both.

My last guitar was Carvin TL-60 (telecaster style)and one of there solid-state amps. Guitar was well made, I can't fault them on that but I had a hard time playing it. Neck was to narrow, and the neck-through-body design wasn't a good fit for me. When you reach up into the high register notes the neck just seems to dissappear under you hands.

The amp was junk, never liked it at all. When I finally pawned it off the music shop gave me almost zip for it. I didn't lose a second of sleep over that.

I am convinced at this point that I should "invest" in some quality stuff once rather than keep buying and pawning off crap.

[Gold Metal Flake]

8. There are tons of boutique tube amp manufacturers.

Once I get my car shit squared away, I will start a series on this very same damn forum on how to build your own tube amp.

No shit!

Anyway, music shops are not the place to go. Get to the pawn shops, and look for older ones. Check every greensheet/pennysaver/classifieds in your town. Look for a Princeton or a Deluxe. Check any swap meets. Dig around. Once you find one, post again. Folks here will help you to get it working well.

I've been in the biz of repair and design of tube amps. There is no need for your bliss to go unfulfilled!

[freethought]

11. Thanks for the info, but I could use a little lesson on how

to recognize when a tube amp needs maintenence. How does one know when to replace the tubes and stuff?

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Let's say you scored a tube amp at a yard sale or thrift shop.

Add those locations to your list. I've found vintage tube amps at yard sales, thrift stores, church sales, ham swap meets (1974 Orange head, baby!), antique radio club swap meets (1965 pre-CBS BFDR, baby!), regular swap meets (all sorts of amps) and by putting wanted ads in local papers.

Okay. You just scored a nice early silver face Fender Princeton Reverb. When you get it home, you plug it in and turn it on. It powers up, but the controls are scratchy.

Easy. Use contact cleaner to clean the volume and tone controls and to clean the input jacks. I plan to make a post with pictures on how to do this.

On power up, there is loud hum or buzz.

Hum may come from old preamp tubes, or from a dirty input jack that is not grounding properly when something is not plugged in. Another cause for hum is failure of the capacitors in the power supply. Checking the jack is easy. Just plug in a guitar and see if it goes away. Checking preamp tubes (the little ones) can be done by swapping the same type ones around, and listing for the hum to change. If the hum does not change, it most likely needs new capactors, and you will need to take it to a tech.

Preamp tubes can get "microphonic" with age, meaning that they will will amplify mechanical vibrations. With the volume & tone controls turned fully up, tap on the little tubes and listen if the tapping is very loud or causes ringing.

If the tubes sound OK, the amp does not hum a bunch and it all works OK, just play it. At some point in the future you may want to replace the tubes, but first you want to egt to know the amp and have fun with it.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. All Very Good Advice

Another thing you should do with ANY old amp, whether it's tube or not.

Get a continuity tester at any hardware store (or a VOM if you have one or a friend does). Plug a guitar into one input, and then plug any cord into another amp. Check for any ground voltage with the tester between the bridge of the guitar and either the tip or sleeve of the cord plugged into the other amp.

The input capacitors of older amps tended to wear quickly and often had legs break off. If that input capacitor is not connected fully, the ground to the input is shot. So, the system will try to find a ground. If you're playing and go up to a microphone when an amp is like that, you can get zapped, but good!

So, any older amp should be checked to make sure you don't get hurt. Safety First!
The Professor

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. Input cap.

Tubes amps usually do not have a cap at the input jack. The input will be connected directly to the preamp tube grid through a resistor.

There is a cap that one must be aware of in vintage amps and other vintage gear. Your first clue is the power cord. Is it a three prong cord? If not, one should be installed.

In vintage gear, a capacitor is often placed from one side of the AC line to the chassis. It's a film cap, usually .1 or .01 mF. This cap will reduce hum depending on how you orient the AC plug in the socket. It can also leak due to age as the Professor explained and short the AC to the chassis giving the player the one way trip to the promised land. Amp techs call this the death cap.

Sometimes this cap is hooked to a switch so you can choose if you shock your ass with the supply or the return side of the AC line.

Any good amp tech can remove this and install a three prong cord. Many of the vintage Fenders had three prong cords in the 1960s, and the death cap switches usually had a middle "off" position.

Just a heads up.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Well, I Just Learned Something Extra!

Thanks. I'm not an electronics guy. I just want to use the tools! But, i know from experience that the input cap (it was a long time ago on an old Standell solid state) went bad and i got zapped. Fortunately, i was clued in a long time ago on how to check that without a meter.

I use the old "hold the guitar by the body, put your thumb on the brige and touch the mike with your pinky" technique. If there is current there, the natural physical reaction will be to cause the fist to CLENCH. That pulls you off the mike and guitar. No shock runs across the heart, either.

When i had that bad Standell, my fist balled up like i was going to punch someone! I have to guess that if that had been a mouth to hands shock, i would have been hurt pretty badly.

Like i said: Safety first!
The Professor

[smoogatz]

20. Short answer: when it sounds like shit.

Most older tube amps have pretty simple circuits, so the first suspect when an amp starts buzzing, honking or feeding back is almost always a tube issue.

[LifeDuringWartime]

17. tubes are everywhere!

all of these companies make amps that are either all-tube or partially tube based (and some SS too)


http://www.laney.co.uk/

http://badcatamps.com/

http://www.matchlessamplifiers.com/

http://www.demeteramps.com/

http://www.ampeg.com

http://www.fender.com

http://www.mesaboogie.com

http://www.orangeamps.com

http://zvexamps.com/

http://www.thdelectronics.com/

http://www.voxamps.co.uk/

http://www.marshallamps.com

http://www.philjonesbass.com

[petgoat]

18. TubeHead Kit Pre-Amp

http://www.paia.com/tubestuf.htm

I built the FatMan MIDI synth and I've been very happy with it.

http://www.paia.com/fatman.htm

[blues90]

19. I got a few of the newer fender tube series

I had a pro jr and a blues deluxe and a crate 15 watt vc series and a peavy classic 30 . Not all at the3 same time mind you but through 1904 up to last year . I sold all of them becuase I did not like the printed circuit board deal . I decided to learn and built a few of my own and they came out just as I wanted . I have a 73 champ that I repalced the electrolytic caps in and rebiased it so it is good for another 10 years and it has a weber alnico speaker in it and the original . This i am about to put on ebay because I need the money but i really hate parting with it .

I also built most of my own electric guitars , I have 4 strats I built right now but a few of these might have to go if I don't find work soon .

I always liked the older stuff and now this costs an arm and two legs and since I have been into wordworking for over 40 years and knew electrical I built my own . This is about all I am really proud of ever doing to play guitars and amps I built .

[smoogatz]

21. What's the dream guitar?

If we know what it is, maybe we can recommend an amp.