100W Stoneham valve amp - small footprint, lighter weight

[Merton]

Thought I’d start a fresh topic for this to save cluttering up the “Taste for tube amps” thread…

It seems there’s a taste for a 100W valve head but Handbox are struggling to get their cases made, PureTone and Rheingold are very expensive, and Traynor are nigh-on impossible to get hold of in the UK.

 

So I started speaking to Martin at Stoneham and he’s up for making a small-footprint amp, similar in size to the Ashdown Little Bastard, using 2x KT88s in the power amp most likely.

 

He is thinking of making an all metal chassis instead of a wooden sleeve, as this will be quicker and easier, and also keeps the size down.

 

I for one am very keen on this; I know @ikay @Clarky and @spyder have expressed a possible interest too. Anyone else fancy being involved in a cool little UK project? No commitment required yet, just registering interest

[BassAdder60]

If this is a loud 100w tube amp I could be interested.. ideally a cleaner sound to the V4B at high volume ! 

[Clarky]

FYI, this would be the bigger brother (280W) https://www.stonehamamps.co.uk/product/yi200-head/

 

[bertbass]

Interesting, but I much prefer the sound of EL34s.

[Matt P]

I've Briefly mentioned this to Martin in the past (he has serviced a fem amps for me over the years)

 

If it can sit nicely on my Barefaced Midgets then i'm interested, 100W would be plenty for me and a nice simple layout like the YI200 is perfect.

 

I'm guessing the all-metal casing will be something like a Terror bass head? 

 

Matt

[Merton]

7 minutes ago, bertbass said:

Interesting, but I much prefer the sound of EL34s.

I only suggested KT88s because you only need two for 100W. AIUI it would need a quad of EL34s? Therefore more more real estate etc…

 

tbh the details like this still need to be thrashed out!

Edited July 14, 2022 by Merton

[Merton]

10 minutes ago, Matt P said:

I've Briefly mentioned this to Martin in the past (he has serviced a fem amps for me over the years)

 

If it can sit nicely on my Barefaced Midgets then i'm interested, 100W would be plenty for me and a nice simple layout like the YI200 is perfect.

 

I'm guessing the all-metal casing will be something like a Terror bass head? 

 

Matt

I guess so - again we’ve barely got into details yet but I think Martin is keen to do something here so we’ll need to thrash out a spec sooner or later…

[warwickhunt]

Would it be a different design to the YI200?  I only ask as I trialed a YI100 and it broke up way before I wanted it to, so much so that I couldn't get a 'clean' valve sound at anywhere near gig volumes; conversely I ended up buying a Handbox which was almost half the power but I could very easily gig with it and never had an issue with clean volume.   

[Merton]

We haven’t really got that far but we can certainly try to specify it to be cleaner for longer. I’d prefer that too, as it seems would @BassAdder27

[Matt P]

i'd want it to be able to get to gig volume clean also, a setup more like a guitar amp with gain and master volume would suit me, set the gain to determine how dirty it was, then the master for the overall level.

 

Matt

[JapanAxe]

I’m a bit conflicted on how to vote! Yes I’d love a small-footprint 100W valve bass amp but I’m well into a 50W build and I have to be realistic about what I can fit in my kit cupboard…

Actually the footprint thing is a significant issue for me. My bigger cab is a BF Super Twin which is 19” wide, but many (if not most) valve heads are much wider and I can’t tolerate the overhang. Hence the home brew solution.

[ikay]

1 hour ago, Merton said:

We haven’t really got that far but we can certainly try to specify it to be cleaner for longer. I’d prefer that too, as it seems would @BassAdder27

 

Please add me to the list for clean headroom.

Edited July 14, 2022 by ikay

[Merton]

Update:

 

1. Will probably aim for adding a bias selector so users can choose KT88 or 6550 for ~100W or EL34 for ~60-70W

2. Preamp will be designed with a Gain control to create drive

3. Power amp Martin says he likes to design as clean as possible but “100W is 100W” which makes sense

4. Chassis more likely to be like the new Ashdown LB30-2 than the Orange Terror; Martin says he wants a fresh, original look that’s different to anything else

5. Nothing will really happen until August or September but when he can he will prototype something and get some local bassists to trial it so as to get design feedback before we go any further.

 

I’ll keep this updated as things progress

Edited July 14, 2022 by Merton

[Matt P]

26 minutes ago, Merton said:

Update:

 

1. Will probably aim for adding a bias selector so users can choose KT88 or 6550 for ~100W or EL34 for ~60-70W

2. Preamp will be designed with a Gain control to create drive

3. Power amp Martin says he likes to design as clean as possible but “100W is 100W” which makes sense

4. Chassis more likely to be like the new Ashdown LB30-2 than the Orange Terror; Martin says he wants a fresh, original look that’s different to anything else

5. Nothing will really happen until August or September but when he can he will prototype something and get some local bassists to trial in so as to get design feedback before we go any further.

 

I’ll keep this updated as things progress

 

 

Excellent! big thumbs up for a more original look (as long as it's not too wide)

 

as a Tyneside bassist myself i'm hoping i'll be able to give the prototype a good run (need to get some gigs booked i guess!)

[Merton]

12 minutes ago, Matt P said:

 

 

Excellent! big thumbs up for a more original look (as long as it's not too wide)

 

as a Tyneside bassist myself i'm hoping i'll be able to give the prototype a good run (need to get some gigs booked i guess!)

 

Yeah I was thinking of you when he said he'd get local bassists to try the prototype! That would be ace if you could

[Jack]

I'm waiting for a Handbox at the moment, and I'm about half an hour from Stoneham. Happy to register interest and help out where I can.

[dmccombe7]

I'm interested altho i prefer the more modern look of the Handbox WB-100 to the Ashdown or the 1200 amp shown above.

For me the HB valve amp has already been up and running and shown to be more than loud enough as a gigging amp and i'd be wary of taking an unproven amp. By the time this project gets up and running i may already have my WB-100 that i've registered interest with Handbox.

Also price will play a major part if comparing against the HB WB-100.

Also my cabs are approx 19" wide too and dont want an overhang if i can help it.

Will follow this post very closely.

Dave

[Merton]

@dmccombe7 not sure if you’re aware of the “new” Ashdown Little Bastard - this will be closer to what Martin is aiming for however he wants to make it his own:

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/products/lb-30-2-n

 

We’re also aiming for 40cm wide as that’s what the original Little Bastard was, and it is the max I want to go for to suit my Barefaced cabs

[JapanAxe]

29 minutes ago, Merton said:

@dmccombe7 not sure if you’re aware of the “new” Ashdown Little Bastard - this will be closer to what Martin is aiming for however he wants to make it his own:

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/products/lb-30-2-n

 

We’re also aiming for 40cm wide as that’s what the original Little Bastard was, and it is the max I want to go for to suit my Barefaced cabs

Just clocked the price of the new LB - ooft!

 

40cm wide sounds good, around 15¾inch in old money.

[dmccombe7]

27 minutes ago, Merton said:

@dmccombe7 not sure if you’re aware of the “new” Ashdown Little Bastard - this will be closer to what Martin is aiming for however he wants to make it his own:

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/products/lb-30-2-n

 

We’re also aiming for 40cm wide as that’s what the original Little Bastard was, and it is the max I want to go for to suit my Barefaced cabs

Now that's a bit better than the one i saw which was like a mirrored front panel. 

I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread. 

Have to say that i like the look of the HB WB-100 with the metal front and wooden case. It combines modern with traditional really well.

An all metal case for a full valve amp i'm not 100% sold on but once i see the final product that could change.

Its great to see UK companies stepping up to the plate and producing an amp that bass players want rather than what the companies think they want.

All credit to Stoneham for taking this on. Big plus from my point of view.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

Just now, JapanAxe said:

Just clocked the price of the new LB - ooft!

 

40cm wide sounds good, around 15¾inch in old money.

Yep i clocked that too. Was a bit surprised to say the least and not something i'd buy at that price.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

Something i have seen recently is the Traynor all valve range that have a really nice feature that should a valve go down the amp shuts down that set of valves and allows you to continue the gig albiet at lower volume. I can see that being a big advantage with the larger 300W all tube head but the 100W head might be too much of a volume drop but i like the idea that the amp will keep running.

They also have a bias control on the rear of the amp with led's to show correct biasing. That would also be a nice feature to have.

Dave

 

[Bankai]

Imagine something with a similar tonality to the SVT-2 PRO with KT88s. Doesn’t need all the controls (if anything the 2 has too many!), but the splitting of ‘gain’ and ‘drive’ onto two separate controls/tube circuits so you can obtain very good clean and very good dirty sounds would be mighty agreeable.

 

Something like that in a smaller 100W package, with a decent DI, would go down very nicely. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Bankai

[Matt P]

i've just noticed the 40cm wide aim, this is perfect for me as i'm using Barefaced Midgets which are 38cm wide, 1cm overhang on each side is perfectly acceptable to me.

 

from memory the Handbox R400 was a good fit on my cabs at 375mm  the 100W valve one is a bit wider at 460mm, so more overhang than i'd like.

 

Matt

[Pea Turgh]

Barefaced Two10 is 38cm wide, too.  Watching with interest…