Tube Amps

Brad Bordessa

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I have always had an idea in my head of the ideal sound I would be able to get plugged in. And in my head, my amp of choice is a tube amp. Problem is, I've never tried one out. I've heard from several people that tube amps (like a Mesa Boogie) will fatten up an acoustic signal. Is that true?

Does anyone have any experience plugging an 'ukulele into a tube amp? Does it sound good?
 
I've got a tube amp, which was given to me for free. It's a vintage Peavey Classic 2x12 made in the USA. Reason I got it for free is that it's pretty much broken. It'll still make sound, but the tubes are near death. And that is the main problem that I have with tube amps. They're more fragile, require constant maintenance whether it's tubes or biasing (although you may not have to bias a Mesa Boogie), and you need to be careful with how you turn it on and put it on standby to maximize your tube life. It's just too much hassle for me.

Furthermore, tube amps are just too darn loud. You cannot play them quietly. Even at the Taylor Guitar Road Show, the experienced demonstrator was trying to set up the Taylor Solidbody/T5/T3 through a $2000+ Boogie amp, and basically, that thing was either really quiet or really damn loud. I love my solid state 2x12, because it can be played quietly, but can also be turned up if needed.

However, I think that an acoustic tube amp could work well if you really want the tubes. I don't think plugging into an electric tube amp would work well though. It'd just break up and distort the sound too much.
 
I've got a kanilea with a ribbon transducer and have plugged it into 2 tube guitar amps. One was an old marshall type clone that a friend made, I forget the other. I don't personally like the sound. I use a marshall acoustic amp, which I like a bunch.

IMHO, it's twofold. Most tube amps have larger speakers, 10's or 12's and my acoustic amp has 2 8's and a tweeter. This has a big influence on the tone. There's also the actual amplifier part of it. Tubes color the sound a bunch. When I'm looking for amplification of an acoustic instrument, I like it to be as pure as possible.

Your mileage will vary, I'd suggest to try out everything that you can. My opinion is that I don't like acoustic instruments through tube amps. It might be perfect for you, who knows?
 
Acoustic instruments sound best through amps designed for acoustic instruments. The typical tube amp is voiced for electric guitars, not electric-acoustic instruments. I can only bet that an acoustic-electric instrument will sound decent through a tube amp that has lots and lots of clean headroom - and even then will not sound as good as a solid-state amp designed for acoustic tones.
 
However, I think that an acoustic tube amp could work well if you really want the tubes. I don't think plugging into an electric tube amp would work well though. It'd just break up and distort the sound too much.

I just Googled acoustic tube amps, but it didn't turn up much. Are there any you know of off the top of your head?
 
I plugged in my uke (w/Mi-Si) into my Mack Gem combo, and with the gain set up high, it has a wierd pop with every hit of the strings.. and also has a quacky sound to it. Turn the gain down and it cleans up ok. If you wanted a fuller sound, maybe you could also try a solid state amp with something like an analog delay with some slapback or a tremelo pedal for that dreamy effect?.
 
I just Googled acoustic tube amps, but it didn't turn up much. Are there any you know of off the top of your head?

o_O

I just looked too. Maybe I lied and there actually aren't any. XD I thought there were...since I know that you can run your acoustic signal through a tube preamp to warm it up a bit more...

Hah, actually I managed to find one.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...x12-Acoustic-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=483090#used

But this amp is just using the tube as a built in preamp. Guess it's mostly solid state out there. And I guess there must be a reason for that. Solid State with some tube modeling can actually be very good.
 
I plugged in my uke (w/Mi-Si) into my Mack Gem combo, and with the gain set up high, it has a wierd pop with every hit of the strings.. and also has a quacky sound to it. Turn the gain down and it cleans up ok. If you wanted a fuller sound, maybe you could also try a solid state amp with something like an analog delay with some slapback or a tremelo pedal for that dreamy effect?.

I would guess that the weird pop and quack is your pickup - mine does the same thing minus the quack (from what I've heard).

I have a Boss ME50 multieffect and I do like adding some "analog delay" (modeled) and chorus, but the sound I have in my head is more reminiscent of Eric Johnson's lead tone.
 
it was my impression, after hearing some tube amps, that the advantage was for solid-body instruments, and that a lot of new amps that are solid-state are pretty good. Once you get the sound you want, a clean, transparent solid state amp will just make it louder.

I did have an amp from SWR, it was a bass "head" only - the Baby Blue. It had a tube pre-amp, but the power amp was solid state. Sounded great for banjo. Never did sound that good for guitar.

I think you should just shop around, my favorite acoustic sound was from a medium priced Fender amp that was made for acoustics (equalization, speaker choice, effects choice). Another good acoustic amp was octagonal and had a seat on top! It was made of wood and looked like a nice piece of furniture.

Also consider other things like chorusing or processing, for a great acoustic sound. Some guys I used to listen to in Chicago had the BEST acoustic sound ever, the guitarist had a nylon guitar mic'ed through some rack-mounted signal processors. That's getting pretty hard-core though.
 
Acoustic amps were not around at the time that tube amps were the standard. There are some great tube amps being produced today because they are far better than solid-state amps in many respects. They are not as fragile as Jon implies. Believe me, when I was playing in bands all the time, my tube amp received tons of use and got dragged all over creation in all kinds of weather. I never had a problem.

Acoustic amps use some great technology to reproduce acoustic instrument voices and they are optimized for that purpose. The closes to that prior to their invention would be keyboard amps.

I had a Fender Bassman (pre-CBS) with Blue Label Jensen speakers (2-12) and did run an acoustic guitar through it on occasion, but, those old amps were primarily made for "electric" guitars. I used mine with a bunch of gits, but the best was my Les Paul. I'd love to have that old amp again. Like a fool, I sold it in the early 1980s.
 
Epi VJ.

You can pick up an awesome Valve amp for a modest price. It's the Epiphone Valve Junior. Even here in the UK a head can be had for as little as £99 and I believe in the US they are around $150. The combo version is just very slightly more (or sometimes less from some stores).

Do a Google search and you will find a multitude of websites dedicated to getting the max from these things, they are very easily modified to a huge variety of tones. They are only 5 watts but, like an earlier poster said, valve amps are LOUD!! and the biggest problem you will have with a VJ is keeping the volume down, lol. Though actually maybe not as you will not be looking for that magical break up spot which guitarists are looking for. To give an example as to how loud 5watts is I can tell you that my son is a gig promoter and at the last gig he did the headline band turned up with nothing more than 5watt Blackstar HT5 combo's. They were on tour with Elliot Minor and that is what they were using on the whole tour and they were playing around 2000 capacity venues.

The Epi VJ is the amp which started the current trend for 5watt valve amps. Since the VJ came along there has been a reisssue of the Fender 600, a Gretsch, a Peavey, the Orange Tiny Terror, the Vox AC4, the Blackheart little Giant, the Blackstar HT5 and many many more.

I have a VJ which I modified to have Fender tones. Problem is I don't have an Electric Uke (yet) so can't tell you what it sounds like with a Uke.

Sorry if this was a bit long but this is a seriuosly good amp for very little money.

Ian.
 
Acoustic instruments sound best through amps designed for acoustic instruments. The typical tube amp is voiced for electric guitars, not electric-acoustic instruments. I can only bet that an acoustic-electric instrument will sound decent through a tube amp that has lots and lots of clean headroom - and even then will not sound as good as a solid-state amp designed for acoustic tones.

I tend towards Will's way of thinking on this.

What puzzles me, Hippie Guy, is why your amp of choice would be a tube amp if you've never tried one... :confused:

Tube amps can be great. Decades ago I had a Vox AC30 that was a tough as old boots and seemingly indestructible. It was a brilliant amp to use with my Gibson SG guitar. I've also had some great Marshall tube amps, but I can't imagine using any of those with an acoustic instrument/piezo pickup... Totally the wrong sound, IMO.

A decent preamp will fatten the sound up. Combine that with a decent FX unit and a purpose designed acoustic amp and you've got it made. You want warmth and a hint of overdrive? You can get that with preamp/FX/acoustic amp, as well as a fair approximation of an acoustic tone.

With a tube amp you may get some tubby warmth, but you won't have the option of a convincing acoustic tone. Also, I'd be very surprised if a passive ukulele piezo has anywhere near enough raw signal to drive a tube amp to the performance it's designed for. I don't personally see the point of a valve amp if you want a clean sound, and for real warmth they like to be driven by a muscular input signal.

YMMV.

[/:2cents:]
 
For a solid body instrument a tube amp makes a difference but for and acoustic instrument an acoustic amp is best. I have to agree with all the rest on this one.
 
What puzzles me, Hippie Guy, is why your amp of choice would be a tube amp if you've never tried one... :confused:

It's just the picture I have in my head. I've seen posts on acoustic guitar forums about running through a tube amp with nice results - it made me curious.

Also, I'd be very surprised if a passive ukulele piezo has anywhere near enough raw signal to drive a tube amp to the performance it's designed for.

What if you add a preamp? Would that kick up the output enough? I've never really understood the whole impedance/ohm thing...

Thanks everybody for the input.
 
Acoustic amps were not around at the time that tube amps were the standard. There are some great tube amps being produced today because they are far better than solid-state amps in many respects. They are not as fragile as Jon implies. Believe me, when I was playing in bands all the time, my tube amp received tons of use and got dragged all over creation in all kinds of weather. I never had a problem.

Pretty much this. I've only had tubes for the last quarter century. In fact a bunch of my pedals were tube powered as well. I like tubes.

I've only a problem once onstage at the 7th St Entry when a transistor failed, not a tube. In the year just before I picked up the ukulele I was systematically going through all my amps and retubing them after years of doing nothing but turning them on and playing. The first time I think I'd ever brought any of them to a tech and then only because I was on a tone quest.
No amount of digital finagling or solid state futzing is ever going to be any kind of tonal match to my mid-70's Traynor YGL-Mark III. (and don't get me started on the 1970 SG Systems 2x12 with vintage Altecs and a built in Maestro Phase Shifter....)

It's odd, but I think it's a generational thing. I mean, I don't know who first propagated the myth that tube amps are some kind of persnickety fragile beast prone to random explosions, but I find it really silly. And don't get me started on analog v. digital. (kids today just need to stay off my lawn...) I personally suspect low level GC employees tasked with selling Peavey & Crate amps to kids who don't know any better.

I have also had a few goes with my Pono soprano through either of my little Supros. A preamp is absolutely necessary (I've got an ART tube mic preamp). The 5 watt one from 1949 sounds pretty good (a variation on the original Fender Champ design. One knob = on/off +volume).
Not exactly a pristine acoustic mirror, but warm and mellow which was quite nice considering acoustically speaking the uke itself is kind of flat and dead and without any resonance to it. I could see giving it a go like that if I actually wanted to play amplified (or even liked that Pono)

Not necessarily a "traditional" acoustic sound, but it sounded good enough to me.
 
There are so many variables here...

First of all, a Marshall electric amp for a uke, yuk. The solid state acoustic amps they do are pretty good though.

However, I wouldn't say that all acoustic amps are good for ukes, as I find the AER compact 60 not suitable for anything with nylon strings. They work fantastic with steel strings though. It just depends how they are voiced.

I actually do like my uke through some valve amps, but certainly not all.

The Epiphone Valve Jr would not be my pick for a uke. These amps are designed to break up early, so yes, at low volume it sort of works but for a gig I don't think it is the right thing. But, if you are a guitarist, get one, they are so much fun!

Personally, I found that a small PA sometimes delivers a better sound than an amp.

But we haven't even started talking about the pickup in question, as that is very important too. Those Mi-Sis have very high output, while the passive are often quite trebly with low output. So you might find that you need a pre-amp of some kind as suggested above.

So, basically, try before you buy! Listen, try out all variables, get the store person to set up various amps, PAs and also bring out some preamps to play around with. It's a bit of work, but unless you have an experienced store person that can guide you, you are better off trying out the different options. Don't rule anything out, you might be surprised by a basic transistor amp.

Anyway, that's my two bob.
 
[...]What if you add a preamp? Would that kick up the output enough? [...]

Enough for what, HG? To overdrive the amp a bit and warm it up? Probably.

I have a friend nearby who has a Carvin valve amp. It's no screaming-overdrive shred machine, in fact it's really quite a civilised amp - I've played guitar through it in the past. I have my uke in the car, so I might pop in for a visit at lunchtime if he's there and see if he'll let me play my tenor uke through his Carvin for half an hour or so.

If it works out I'll let you know how it seems.

It means suffering mockery, BTW, as he is ukulele skeptic. Ignorant soul doesn't regard them as serious instruments - but I suspect that's mostly because I'm the only uke player he's heard... :rolleyes:
 
There IS a way high priced acoustic tube amp, but I can't remember what brand - pricey.

I too like solid state acoustic amps for acoustic, or a PA.

I also love the tone of tube amps, especially for electric guitar.

At LOW VOLUME (like next to my chair in the living room), one small tube amp that I own sounds OK with nylon stringed guitar or ukulele, and that is the 5 watt Gretsch G5222 Electromatic - which is the same amp as the Fender Champion 600. These don't break up or give an overdrive sound as soon as Epi Valve Jr's do.
They sound mellow and OK but at a pretty low volume setting.
 
OK. Just tried the Carvin. It's a lovely amp (do they stil make them? This one seems as old as the hills...), but doesn't work for me with my tenor uke.

Without the preamp it's kind of nasal and plain unpleasant. You can mitigate that a bit with EQ - the Carvin has multi-band EQ sliders on the front panel, but I don't remember how many bands... :rolleyes: Still isn't great though, and as the signal is a bit low you need to up the volume - and then things get a bit hissy.

Better with the preamp, but not as clean or natural as with my Marshall acoustic amp. There's some warmth there, right enough, but notes in arpeggios etc lack definition, IMO. Things get a little muddy. To clean that up it's pretty much a matter of reversing EQ settings to favour higher frequencies. I wasn't really over keen on any of the tones I found by dialing my way around the knobs. Some nice enough sounds, but not very natural and not very "ukey".

Bottom line: I could play a gig with that amp if I had to, but I'd rather use my own. It was better than I expected though.

If I was playing electric guitar, I'd happily play through it all night!

All comes down to what sound you're after. Personally, I'm not really after that particular sound.
 
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