Getting valve tone without big amps and glowing bottles

[Prime_BASS]

Preamp valves!

[skidder652003]

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1409409778' post='2539459']
Forgive the pun but that is very sound advice. It is also the combination of speaker cab and amp (stating the obvious). I found Peavey amp (Tour 700) much more to my taste (tighter, less wooly low end) than either Marshall VBA 400 or Sound City 120 with both of my Barefaced speakers.
[/quote]

wow!

[Billy Apple]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1409234528' post='2537811']
Tube tone doesn't just come from the pre-amp, it also comes from the power tubes and the output transformer, so a tube pre on its own won't give tube tone. A great deal of what contributes to tube tone is compression, so to emulate it you should have a compressor in your signal chain, preferably not a 'one-knob wonder'.
[/quote]

^This. Try as you might, it's the power section that makes the difference. The best tone I've had is by cooking the slave on my Burman with a low signal from the pre. With this you get a manageable volume, but it does feel as if you are doing things backwards.

See if you can pick up a 100 watt power amp and run a DHA VT EQ pedal into it. It's the valves in the pre give the buzz, but the power valves give the clank and bounce.

There's not much (if at all) can substitute for this..

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/BB8LlT7.jpg[/IMG]

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1409445689' post='2539840']...
There's not much (if at all) can substitute for this...
[/quote]

I think of it as looking for these sensations...

[attachment=170514:Vint_Bent.jpg]

... with one of these ...

[attachment=170515:MG_Spor.jpg]

... probably very nice, but not, ultimately, the same.
Just my tuppence-worth.

[tonyquipment]

Get a cheap 300w trace Elliot combo and drown everyone out!!

[Bolo]

Have you thought about coupling your LB30 with more and more efficient speakers? The difference between a neo 412 or a ferrite 110 are immense!

That said, my Verellen Meatsmoke preamp pedal works amazingly well in front of a clean SS amp. One clean channel and one lush dirty channel, each with it's own 3band eq, gain (in) and master (out) volume.
It [u] will [/u] pass a double blind test!

[Guest monsterthompson]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1409344900' post='2538959']
For vintage overdrive I can't recommend the Bearfoot FX Blueberry enough: [url="http://www.bearfootfx.com/product/blueberry-bass-overdrive/"]http://www.bearfootf...bass-overdrive/[/url]

I've tried so many overdrive pedals but this is the one that I will settle down and grow old with!
[/quote]
T H I S - I just got my BF BBBOD yesterday and it changed my life. No joke. Super dynamics, very responsive and intuitive. I'd tried the Darkglass B7K and was thinking about the VMT based on all the hype they get on Talkbass, but it seems the tone is a bit fake and fizzy to my ears (I'm aware I'm playing a pedal). I'd been very happy with my Way Huge Pork Loin until I got the BBBOD. The Pork Loin is good, and a bit cheaper and easier to come by. You can dial in the "clean" pre sound for very little clipping and fuzz, and there are internal trim pots for additional fine tuning. It might get the OP what they are after for old school warmth and mild break up.