Small valve amp

[Kevin Dean]

Is there such a thing as a small valve amp powerful enough for topical pub gigs ? I guess around 100w . I don't it's possible but worth asking .

[Downunderwonder]

Loads. Ashdown probably easiest to get ahold of.

[Kevin Dean]

15 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Loads. Ashdown probably easiest to get ahold of.

Nothing that will sit on top of a  Ashdown 310 .

[Reggaebass]

I use the V 4B but it is quite big, would any of the orange amps fit 

[Merton]

10 minutes ago, Kevin Dean said:

Nothing that will sit on top of a  Ashdown 310 .

Possibly the smallest 100W head I can think of is the Handbox WB-100.

 

The trouble with trying to cram more into a small box is the heat dissipation- of course all the valves generate loads of heat and you have to cram a couple of transformers in there too. I’d love a Little Bastard-sized 100W valve head but can’t really see it being easy to do. Unless a valve genius can come along and tell me otherwise and volunteer to make me one for a very small sum of money 🤓

[Happy Jack]

So by amp you mean just the head, not a combo?

 

100W of valve amp will be WAY WAY WAY too much for any pub gig.

 

Seriously. I don't want to re-light the whole valve watts -v- solid state watts conflagration, but there's no point at all in trying to translate between the two.  My Genz Benz Shuttle is rated for 900 (S/S) watts and it's a fabulous amp, but it can be easily blown out of the water by my Matamp GT100 which is rated for 100 (valve) watts. The difference is that the Shuttle sounds great at sensible volumes, whereas the Matamp needs to be pushed to the break-up point to get the classic valve sound, and at those volumes I could clear the venue in minutes.

 

If you're going through an Ashdown 310 then you may be surprised at just how loud a small head will go, especially in a confined place like a pub. Have a look on eBay for vintage heads by people like WEM, sometimes 'cut down' from what used to be combos. The head from a 1970s WEM Dominator, for instance, will be rated 17W. You will not believe how much that thing will turn out, plus it's a truly great valve-overdrive sound.

 

[Kevin Dean]

4 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

So by amp you mean just the head, not a combo?

 

100W of valve amp will be WAY WAY WAY too much for any pub gig.

 

Seriously. I don't want to re-light the whole valve watts -v- solid state watts conflagration, but there's no point at all in trying to translate between the two.  My Genz Benz Shuttle is rated for 900 (S/S) watts and it's a fabulous amp, but it can be easily blown out of the water by my Matamp GT100 which is rated for 100 (valve) watts. The difference is that the Shuttle sounds great at sensible volumes, whereas the Matamp needs to be pushed to the break-up point to get the classic valve sound, and at those volumes I could clear the venue in minutes.

 

If you're going through an Ashdown 310 then you may be surprised at just how loud a small head will go, especially in a confined place like a pub. Have a look on eBay for vintage heads by people like WEM, sometimes 'cut down' from what used to be combos. The head from a 1970s WEM Dominator, for instance, will be rated 17W. You will not believe how much that thing will turn out, plus it's a truly great valve-overdrive sound.

 

I've been told that amps like the little stubby & LB at 30W won't cut it ? 

[Happy Jack]

I've never played through one but I'll bet you a grand that comment is utter bollocks. 

 

That amp has 4 x EL84 power valves ... I guarantee you that you'll never get the master Volume past 12 o'clock.

 

Put that amp through a 1x8 speaker (like the Crazy Eight I use for low-volume DB gigs) and fair enough, the volume will be limited. But that's because of the speaker, not the amp.

 

Put that amp through a 310 and just hear it take a deep breath, stretch out and fill the room.

[Merton]

To be fair it depends how loud the band is, how clean you want the bass etc.

I love my LB30 but it just won’t work in one of my bands because we have a heavy hitting drummer and two guitarists to compete with. It will create the volume but there won’t be anything remotely clean or polite about it, it gets very, very gnarly. One of the guitarists actually forced me to switch back to my Glock the other day because he hated the LB30 🤣

[Dad3353]

I used to play outdoor events with my Fender Bassman 50w, into a 2x15 Bassman cab (Seen on the left in this photo, outdoors...). Powerful enough for pubs..? Hell, yes..! Think of the Vox AC30 guitar amp. Loud..? Impossibly so. The difficulty is in the size you seem to want, not the rated power. Forget comparing with SS amps and try out some of the amps for yourself.

 

[Downunderwonder]

4 hours ago, Kevin Dean said:

I've been told that amps like the little stubby & LB at 30W won't cut it ? 

People tell you all sorts of things. Unless they know your band and your venue they are full of it. Same goes for the people who tell you a 100w one will blow the doors off the Dog'n'Duck and get you fired.

 

I've played plenty of gigs at the D'n'D with a 200w tube amp in full flight into 215. Too loud for some but nobody complained. I played with some of same players with a 50w into 210 but that was slightly rowdy jazz.

 

You can put the amp under the cab if necessary.

[Kevin Dean]

1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

People tell you all sorts of things. Unless they know your band and your venue they are full of it. Same goes for the people who tell you a 100w one will blow the doors off the Dog'n'Duck and get you fired.

 

I've played plenty of gigs at the D'n'D with a 200w tube amp in full flight into 215. Too loud for some but nobody complained. I played with some of same players with a 50w into 210 but that was slightly rowdy jazz.

 

You can put the amp under the cab if necessary.

The CTM will sit on top but it would just look strange , In may consider as different cab .

[Quilly]

The HB100 is a tidy enough valve head, also check Pure tone amps.

 

https://www.facebook.com/PureToneAmps

[JapanAxe]

Ampeg PF-50T all day. Plenty loud for a pub band, and starts to get nice and ‘furry’ when pushed. I slightly regret selling mine but then I did build my own B15-ish head!

 

The only downside is that the form factor is a bit inconvenient.

[warwickhunt]

Handbox WB100 (actually 120w but who's counting.  I play in a 'LOUD' band and the Handbox copes with a drummer building a shed and a guitarist using a 750w monitor.  

 

[paul_5]

1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

...and a guitarist using a 750w monitor.  

that's not a monitor, it's a FOH feed.

[warwickhunt]

1 minute ago, paul_5 said:

that's not a monitor, it's a FOH feed.

 

Nope.  He does go through FOH but also has an RCF PA cab as a monitor.  

[wateroftyne]

Aye, the Handbox WB-100 is just the job. It's a thing of (very loud) beauty.

[BassmanPaul]

On 19/03/2022 at 04:49, Kevin Dean said:

Nothing that will sit on top of a  Ashdown 310 .

Ya ask a question - get answer and then add qualifications!! LOL

[bouvier]

You could go for 300W Fender TV Bassman - Valve Preamp along with solid state power section. 

 

Plenty of umph for any pub.... 

[andy67]

Bugera Veyron BV1001T 3 valve pre stage to digital out, it’s a monster. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by andy67

[wateroftyne]

I think the OP is asking about valve heads, not hybrids.

[andy67]

I've gigged with the LB30 an PF50T, both work perfectly and kept up with a very loud drummer. 

[beans-on-toast]

Depends how big the pub is and the room acoustics. PF-50T, a 50W tube amp  is nice. The more speakers the more volume.  For a solid state amp, you might want at least 200W.

 

 

[Quilly]

I hear great things about JFet transistors being 'very close' to valves and in use by Orange to make some great solid state guitar amps. Are these in use in the bass world ?