Played my first gig with a tube amp in 7 years

[ejecta]

It’s not because of things I’ve read online, it’s from personal experience. I’ve had quite a few tube amp issues at gigs over the years. Definitely enough to make me a little cautious.

- Blown fuses a few times
- Solder joints breaking on tube sockets
- Faulty tubes frying transformers
- Power tubes blowing at sound check
- Preamp tubes going out in a show
- volume drop outs

I’ve actually never had a digital rig fail during a gig FWIW. I’ve never had to use a backup with a digital rig

Man you have the worst luck with tube amps I think I've ever heard.

 

[fretworn]

Man you have the worst luck with tube amps I think I've ever heard.

Seems more like just a lot of experience as a working man.

 

[ejecta]

Seems more like just a lot of experience as a working man.

Well maybe you assume too much. I have 21 years of gigging and recording experience and have plenty of friends who I've been in bands with as well we have for the most part had a different experience so... yeah there's that.

 

[fretworn]

Well maybe you assume too much. I have 21 years of gigging and recording experience and have plenty of friends who I've been in bands with as well we have for the most part had a different experience so... yeah there's that.

Wut?

I didn’t disparage your experience… but now that you’ve opened the door, let’s figure out who did the most shows/gigs per year with amps … data man!

 

[ejecta]

Wut?

Didn’t say you did but you did bring up experience suggesting that many years of working with tube amps would explain his having amps break down on him as much as it did. I was just saying that some people seem to have worse luck than others and gave my experience that didn’t play out like his. Some modeler fan boys like to make out tube amps as having issues a lot. Why? I have my suspicions but my personal experience and those who I’ve worked with personally for 21 years say that tube amps breaking down as much as he has had happen as a broad brush stroke of truth about tube amps… is a load of BS.

 

[metropolis_4]

Week 2 of gigs with the amp is done.

It's still sounding great. There's something about using an amp that makes me feel like I can get so much more out of it with so much less. Maybe it's the responsiveness? I can back off more, push myself out more, and do more with less gain. And I need far fewer boost/OD/comp type effects to get the job done. I think I could really do this whole thing with no pedals at all, but it's already dialed in with the pedals so I probably won't experiment with that.

I had a couple mishaps:
- Tech crew accidentally bumped a volume knob on the amp and I was cranked when I started playing. I couldn't get to the amp until the first song ended so I had to try to compensate as best I could to get by.
- Cable caught the knobs on my compressor pedal and changed settings on me. Had to leave it off until I could get to it on a break.

I don't think the JRT is the amp for me. I'll probably sell it once this show is over. The two volume knobs is really annoying in a live setting. I really need to use both to get the tone I want, but then there's no way to quickly adjust tone without changing volume, or adjust volume without changing tone. I also can't quite get the amount of high end and chime out of it that I wish I could. It's a bit heavy in the mids which sounds amazing for lead work, but I'm not liking it as much for comping chords.

The parts of the show where the amp sounds the best are when I play long extended guitar solos pushing out over the band. The parts where it doesn't sound so great are when I'm doing "bubbly" palm muted comping stuff on higher strings (Tommy Allsup style licks).

 

[JiveTurkey]

These kind of weirdo amps with oddball toneknobs/gain controls/look at me I wish I was a Vox BS are just dumb.


The idea of them is great until you need to dial back bass or the treble. Or add gain. FFS 3 band eq, volume and gain controls or GTFO. I could give 2 about your sparkly gold tolex and 3x12 triangle shaped cabinet


Our other guitarist used some poverty EHX friday with some dumba$$ control scheme. "Tone and Bite controls". JFC GFY.















might be a little close to lunchtime rn

 

[metropolis_4]

On paper the JRT controls seem like a good idea:

Volume 1 is bright and cleaner
Volume 2 is dirtier with more low mids

So you can dial in a bright clean sound with V1 and then bring in some girth and grit with V2, or get a good dirty sound with V2 and bring in some clarity and cut with V1.

But in reality it's not working for me. Maybe in a studio where I have time to fiddle with knobs, but not during a show. And neither really works for me on its own.

I think I agree with you: Volume/Gain - Bass - Mid - Treble - Presence - Master

 

[JiveTurkey]

On paper the JRT controls seem like a good idea:

Volume 1 is bright and cleaner
Volume 2 is dirtier with more low mids

So you can dial in a bright clean sound with V1 and then bring in some girth and grit with V2, or get a good dirty sound with V2 and bring in some clarity and cut with V1.

But in reality it's not working for me. Maybe in a studio where I have time to fiddle with knobs, but not during a show. And neither really works for me on its own.

I think I agree with you: Volume/Gain - Bass - Mid - Treble - Presence - Master

I get the boutique draw. I do. I am not the intended audience at all but I do. In real life use; some simple but effective controls should exist on an amp. Or you have to just dial in one sweet spot sound and hope varying it with an outboard gain pedal or guitar volume knob will cut it. Ironically; the keep it simple mentality bites you because they tried to keep it TOO minimal.

This is a big part of why I traded that last Quilter I had. LOUD and sounded great as a power amp but I am not going to navigate those idiotic EQ controls. "Learning a new paradigm" is not something I care to do either; so give me BMTG (and hopefully P) controls.

 

[metropolis_4]

I get the boutique draw. I do. I am not the intended audience at all but I do. In real life use; some simple but effective controls should exist on an amp. Or you have to just dial in one sweet spot sound and hope varying it with an outboard gain pedal or guitar volume knob will cut it. Ironically; the keep it simple mentality bites you because they tried to keep it TOO minimal.

This is a big part of why I traded that last Quilter I had. LOUD and sounded great as a power amp but I am not going to navigate those idiotic EQ controls. "Learning a new paradigm" is not something I care to do either; so give me BMTG (and hopefully P) controls.

I absolutely love the tone, feel, and response of boutique amps. A Matchless or Bad Cat is still it for me for tone and feel.

But I already feel myself going down the same path that led me to digital in the first place:

1. This Matchless sounds amazing
2. ...but I wish I had more than one amp sound available at a gig
3. Sells the Matchless and gets a DSL50
4. This DSL is great, I love having the second channel and channel modes!
5. ...but I wish they didn't share an EQ so I could dial them in how I want them
6. Sells the DSL50 and gets a 3-channel Dual Rec
7. This is great, I love having 3 channels and the separate EQs let me dial them all in just how I want them!
8. ...but I wish I could have multiple settings of each channel that I could switch between at shows. And I wish I could save settings so I can use it at more than one gig without having to remember where the knobs were set for each!
9. Oh, hello Helix

 

[JiveTurkey]

I absolutely love the tone, feel, and response of boutique amps. A Matchless or Bad Cat is still it for me for tone and feel.

But I already feel myself going down the same path that led me to digital in the first place:

1. This Matchless sounds amazing
2. ...but I wish I had more than one amp sound available at a gig
3. Sells the Matchless and get a DSL50
4. This DSL is great, I love having the second channel and channel modes!
5. ...but I wish they didn't share an EQ so I could dial them in how I want them
6. Sells the DSL50 and get a 3-channel Dual Rec
7. This is great, I love having 3 channels and the separate EQs let me dial them all in just how I want them!
8. ...but I wish I could have multiple settings of each channel that I could switch between at shows. And I wish I could save settings so I can use it at more than one gig without having to remember where the knobs were set for each!
9. Oh, hello Helix

Not sure on all the differences; but the FAS Matchless is a GREAT amp model.

 

[jellodog]

Not sure on all the differences; but the FAS Matchless is a GREAT amp model.

I was LOVING the FAS Chieftan last night. So much so, that I'm underslept today

 

[jellodog]

I... I think that I might be over the Bandmaster. So long, old friend

 

[spawnofthesith]

I absolutely love the tone, feel, and response of boutique amps. A Matchless or Bad Cat is still it for me for tone and feel.

But I already feel myself going down the same path that led me to digital in the first place:

1. This Matchless sounds amazing
2. ...but I wish I had more than one amp sound available at a gig
3. Sells the Matchless and gets a DSL50
4. This DSL is great, I love having the second channel and channel modes!
5. ...but I wish they didn't share an EQ so I could dial them in how I want them
6. Sells the DSL50 and gets a 3-channel Dual Rec
7. This is great, I love having 3 channels and the separate EQs let me dial them all in just how I want them!
8. ...but I wish I could have multiple settings of each channel that I could switch between at shows. And I wish I could save settings so I can use it at more than one gig without having to remember where the knobs were set for each!
9. Oh, hello Helix

Ever consider a JVM?

 

[metropolis_4]

Not sure on all the differences; but the FAS Matchless is a GREAT amp model.

So is the Bad Cat model... and the /13 CJ... and the Dr Z Maz... and the Friedman small box... and the 1987x... and the JMP-1... and the CA3+... and the JCM800... and the AC20... and the 5F8 Twin... and the 5150 III... and the 1959SLP... and the 6CA7 Plexi... and the AA964 Princeton... and the JP-2C...

I miss my Axe-FX


Also I 100% agree with you about getting bit by going TOO minimal. Sometimes minimal just leads to more complication

 

[metropolis_4]

Ever consider a JVM?

Stop it

 

[metropolis_4]

I was LOVING the FAS Chieftan last night. So much so, that I'm underslept today

Last show I played with my Axe-FX that was the primary amp I used. I actually think it's better than the DC30 model. It sounds so much like my old Clubman it's scary.

 

[fretworn]

 

[Bruce]

Didn’t say you did but you did bring up experience suggesting that many years of working with tube amps would explain his having amps break down on him as much as it did. I was just saying that some people seem to have worse luck than others and gave my experience that didn’t play out like his. Some modeler fan boys like to make out tube amps as having issues a lot. Why? I have my suspicions but my personal experience and those who I’ve worked with personally for 21 years say that tube amps breaking down as much as he has had happen as a broad brush stroke of truth about tube amps… is a load of BS.

I guess I’m a modeler fan boy even though I own a healthy dose of tube amps. My experience falls in the middle of you two duelers. Ive had a few failures over the years and have gigged plenty. I also believe either tube quality or amp component quality has changed for the worse over the years. Ive had too many tubes failing over the last 5 years to ever want to take one out of the house ever again. They fail at home. Used to be back when you were able to leave an amp on overnight by accident and nothing would happen. I killed power tubes doing this. Shouldn’t be but it happened. Other random tube failures too. It’s old tech, ancient. Yes I know better than most the romanticism of it. Truth is the modelers ARE more reliable, more flexible, more consistent and once set up, easier to work with for the same end result: a successful show.

 

[Bruce]

So is the Bad Cat model... and the /13 CJ... and the Dr Z Maz... and the Friedman small box... and the 1987x... and the JMP-1... and the CA3+... and the JCM800... and the AC20... and the 5F8 Twin... and the 5150 III... and the 1959SLP... and the 6CA7 Plexi... and the AA964 Princeton... and the JP-2C...

I miss my Axe-FX


Also I 100% agree with you about getting bit by going TOO minimal. Sometimes minimal just leads to more complication

The Dr Z is all over my FAS country kitchen sink preset. What a great, open sound for the single coils.