Valve Amp - who’s still using them?

[walshy]

57 minutes ago, maidens97 said:

Got the CTM300 from @la bam today. Won’t have a chance to try it out until later tonight but can’t wait to!

Will be mighty!!!

[Quilly]

4 minutes ago, walshy said:

Will be mighty!!!

Not doing my 8x10 gas any good

[walshy]

10 minutes ago, Quilly said:

Not doing my 8x10 gas any good

I know, the 6x10 I have is plenty but no harm in looking right 😂

[Quilly]

2 minutes ago, walshy said:

I know, the 6x10 I have is plenty but no harm in looking right 😂

A 4x10 is heaps for me 🤷‍♂️

[maidens97]

On 26/09/2020 at 20:29, Painy said:

You don't need luck. You need one of these... 

 

Lifting the head on to the cab wasn’t too bad actually managed it on me own. The cab however is a bit of a task to move about 

[Jonse]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

Depends on the power rating and how many valves are in the amp. The CTM100 doesn’t have one as it’s valves are spread out , the ctm300 does however 

I use a Traynor YBA-300. 12 valves, no fan! 

[Quilly]

33 minutes ago, Jonse said:

I use a Traynor YBA-300. 12 valves, no fan! 

I wonder is it to prolong the life of the valves? 

[Quilly]

1 hour ago, maidens97 said:

Lifting the head on to the cab wasn’t too bad actually managed it on me own. The cab however is a bit of a task to move about 

Does it have wheels? 

[Jonse]

3 hours ago, Quilly said:

I wonder is it to prolong the life of the valves? 

Yeah I have a theory that the more valves the longer the lifespan. I may be wrong but this amp hasn't had any problems even after extended use across a few years. 

[maidens97]

3 hours ago, Quilly said:

Does it have wheels? 

It does have wheels yeah, tilt back and move but it’s bit awkward to lift and get around corners and doorways. my rehearsal room had 2 flights of stairs and many door ways so that’ll be interesting 😭

[Quilly]

17 minutes ago, maidens97 said:

It does have wheels yeah, tilt back and move but it’s bit awkward to lift and get around corners and doorways. my rehearsal room had 2 flights of stairs and many door ways so that’ll be interesting 😭

Stairs and transport are the 2 biggest things that put me off 810s

[Quilly]

I’ve had  a number of SS and hybrid amps with fans, the only one I found to be excessively loud was an orange terror bass I had , that was very noisey. I had a SS trace head that used a heat sink and fins . That worked fine and no real noise, weighed a bit though. At the moment I’ve Ashdown Spyder that has 2 fans, you can hear them but they’re not intrusive at all,

[SamPlaysBass]

18 hours ago, knicknack said:

I thought I might throw my rig from a few nights ago into the ring, if only to remind us all that, despite the doom 'n' gloomers, rock and roll isn't quite dead yet!

 

 

17 hours ago, maidens97 said:

Got the CTM300 from @la bam today. Won’t have a chance to try it out until later tonight but can’t wait to!

Looking absolutely fantastic, guys. Big up the big valves and bigger cabs! 👏🏼 

[Quilly]

Did a bit of research on the Ashdown CTM (thinking of replacing power valves) apparently you have to use the JJ KT88s 🤷‍♂️ . Just as well they’re the cheapest 

[la bam]

27 minutes ago, Quilly said:

Did a bit of research on the Ashdown CTM (thinking of replacing power valves) apparently you have to use the JJ KT88s 🤷‍♂️ . Just as well they’re the cheapest 

Yeh, Dave Green the amps designer at Ashdown specifically told me only use the valves supplied.

[maidens97]

Got the chance to play the CTM300/810 last night, only at fairly quiet volume.

The sound is absolutely incredible, exactly what I’ve been looking for in an amp. So much versatility in one amp it’s amazing. Tried some dirty tones by maxing the gain and tickling the master and even at bedroom volume it sounded thunderous.

really can’t wait to use it in a band setting and live setting. Cheers to @la bam for the brilliant service and delivery, pleasure to deal with!

if anyone has any general valve amp tips/tricks or advice on looking after them let me know as it’s my first proper valve setup so I’m not fully confident in them.

[la bam]

13 minutes ago, maidens97 said:

Got the chance to play the CTM300/810 last night, only at fairly quiet volume.

The sound is absolutely incredible, exactly what I’ve been looking for in an amp. So much versatility in one amp it’s amazing. Tried some dirty tones by maxing the gain and tickling the master and even at bedroom volume it sounded thunderous.

really can’t wait to use it in a band setting and live setting. Cheers to @la bam for the brilliant service and delivery, pleasure to deal with!

if anyone has any general valve amp tips/tricks or advice on looking after them let me know as it’s my first proper valve setup so I’m not fully confident in them.

Brilliant! Glad you are enjoying it!

[Quilly]

24 minutes ago, maidens97 said:

Got the chance to play the CTM300/810 last night, only at fairly quiet volume.

The sound is absolutely incredible, exactly what I’ve been looking for in an amp. So much versatility in one amp it’s amazing. Tried some dirty tones by maxing the gain and tickling the master and even at bedroom volume it sounded thunderous.

really can’t wait to use it in a band setting and live setting. Cheers to @la bam for the brilliant service and delivery, pleasure to deal with!

if anyone has any general valve amp tips/tricks or advice on looking after them let me know as it’s my first proper valve setup so I’m not fully confident in them.

Only use the JJ valves (see above) . Don’t bias them in the red of the dial, when setting up your amp plug in the speaker cable first, then the power cable so you accidentally switch on the amp with no load . Turn on amp power, tune bass, Set up pedals etc, then turn on standby in that order. After gig /rehearsal turn off amp first, then put away bass pedals etc . Move the head at the very end (I.e everything in reverse). That’s what I do anyway 🤷‍♂️. They’re very reliable If you treat them right . They don’t blow up like some class d amps I had !

Edited September 29, 2020 by Quilly

[Jonse]

27 minutes ago, maidens97 said:

Got the chance to play the CTM300/810 last night, only at fairly quiet volume.

The sound is absolutely incredible, exactly what I’ve been looking for in an amp. So much versatility in one amp it’s amazing. Tried some dirty tones by maxing the gain and tickling the master and even at bedroom volume it sounded thunderous.

really can’t wait to use it in a band setting and live setting. Cheers to @la bam for the brilliant service and delivery, pleasure to deal with!

if anyone has any general valve amp tips/tricks or advice on looking after them let me know as it’s my first proper valve setup so I’m not fully confident in them.

I've owned a few big valve amps in my time and I think a good starting point is to run the eq flat (may be at 12 o'clock, may be not) the volume on full and use the gain control to taste. You can fiddle with the eq to your liking later but I've always used this as a springboard for big, full and clean valve tone. 

[wateroftyne]

That's definitely the case with the WB-100 - flat is actually flat.

Tweak gently to taste.

[Quilly]

21 minutes ago, Jonse said:

I've owned a few big valve amps in my time and I think a good starting point is to run the eq flat (may be at 12 o'clock, may be not) the volume on full and use the gain control to taste. You can fiddle with the eq to your liking later but I've always used this as a springboard for big, full and clean valve tone. 

Yep I found that I had to crank the master all the way to get a clean loud tone . The passive eq on the CTM series also needs a bit of getting used to . I normally have the mid turned up high and the bass /treb at 12 o clock . I don’t use the mellow switch that much . I just think it scoops the sound too much . I have the bass and treb set high alright 

[omikin]

[shameless plug]

If anyone reading this is looking for a nice affordable step into valvey goodness, this might be of interest:

[/shameless plug]

[Jonse]

45 minutes ago, Quilly said:

Yep I found that I had to crank the master all the way to get a clean loud tone . The passive eq on the CTM series also needs a bit of getting used to . I normally have the mid turned up high and the bass /treb at 12 o clock . I don’t use the mellow switch that much . I just think it scoops the sound too much . I have the bass and treb set high alright 

Yeah think I read they have 'bassman style' tone stacks where you can only cut certain frequencies. Might be wrong though. 

[Quilly]

Bargain to be had here 

gorgeous sounding amps 

[Quilly]

46 minutes ago, Jonse said:

Yeah think I read they have 'bassman style' tone stacks where you can only cut certain frequencies. Might be wrong though. 

You’re probably right , if you turn the eq down to everything you get no signal