Whats a good 100watt tube head

[RDM85]

Im looking for a tube head but dont want to spend alot on it. Anyone have any suggestions and does anyone know if Carvin X-100b heads are anygood

[sumrnitz]

Wow.....you may get a ton of answers on this one because the answer will be a very subjective and personal one. What do you like or better yet, WHO do you like? A little investigation into one of your hero's set-ups may have the answer you're looking for. Their are Marshall freaks here, Mesa, Peavey, and on and on. I'm a Soldano nut and want one... like BAD. Tell us more about your tastes, guitars and desired tone. There are enough of us here that we can probably get you in the right direction.....and you can take it from there.

Chris

[WAR IN D]

Like Chris said, it's a purely subjective thing...

And instead of giving you a suggestion as to what 100 watt head you should buy.. I would like to ask you this?? Why do you need 100 watts? If it were me, I'd look at something no bigger than 60 watts if your not going to be playing very big venues. Tube amps sound better the louder they are cranked... If you try to put a 100W head on about 8, nobody will be able to be in the same room with the rig.. Including yourself.. You can buy a power break, or attenuator, etc.. but what's the point. Some of the best sounding amps you can get will not have as many watts as you might think running through them.

Ask Dan, he's got a Bumbox 1W (yes, I said 1 watt) head coming in sometime soon.. Talk about tone for days..

Bumbox Lead 1

[jeff]

Carvin MTS 3200.
Here's some sound clips. I have the combo version and it rocks
http://www.carvin.com/jamroom/

[snapuzi]

Don't do it. No one needs a 100W head. No one.
They invented this thing called a microphone that you put in frount of your amp so others can hear it or record it.
100W is stupid.
100W never sounded good, just loud.
100W costs extra for extra crappy tone.
100W into less than 8 x 12 inch speakers is just stupid. So get a full stack if you must continue this overkill shit.
For extra crappy tone, why not a triple rec. Get more loud that you don't need.

The tone that most people crave has nothing to do with the size of the power amp and everything to do with the pre-amp. Even those guys who love their old Fenders hardly ever hear power stage distortion and wouldn't like it if they did.

[RDM85]

True i dont need 100 watts but do i go with a lower wattage combo amp? I play 80s metal and want my old kramers to scream!!!

[TommysGs]

Marshall JCM 900

[RDM85]

I read reviews on Harmony central about the JCM 900 combos and some said they were no good. What model is the best? Also what is a good price for a JCM 900 combo because a local music store has one for sale at $600 and i might go try it out soon.

[tortfeaser]

I owned a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL60 and it was a great amp. Very easy to use, great effects loop, great cleans, etc. Just not super gain. It's good just not brutal.

I currently own a Mesa Single Rectifier and it has gain to die for but has it's own quirks such as finicky controls and a questionable at best effects loop.

I've been listening to a lot of European Power Metal lately and alot of those bands are using ENGLs straight. Very brutal yet musical sounding tone.

As a cheaper alternative why don't you look into the Ampeg VL series of amps. They were made by Lee Jackson for Ampeg back in the nineties. They have a built in power soak feature which is pretty cool.

If you want to know what they sound like check out Rob Halford's old band Fight. They used Ampeg VLs straight, no effects, on their two albums and the sound is brutal.

[KramerGeek]

True i dont need 100 watts but do i go with a lower wattage combo amp? I play 80s metal and want my old kramers to scream!!!

I use a 50 Watt Marshall MKII half stack and my Kramers sound awesome through it.

Look through the Kramer Recordings and you'll find all kinds of examples of our tones here and in most of them, the person posting tells what they are using.

If you find any of my stuff it's all done with the 50 watt Marshall except a couple things that were done with a line6 combo and you can tell the difference.

Listen to snapuzi and Don't get the 100 watt amp unless you are using a full stack and playing huge venues or you are looking for very clean tones at higher volume.

[mrcrazyhimself]

It's all what your ears want. To the person who said 100 watts is too much, there really isnt a difference between a 50 watt head and a 100. Its all a matter of how many speakers your pushing, what kind of tubes your using to get that power. I personally like having a single 1x12 tube combo to carry around to jam on or different events, and a 2x12 for the bigger stuff. I like my 50 watt randall combo. As much as it lacks in total tone versatility, the sounds it get i like, totally 80's metal. It all depends on your situation. I'd rather have a nice 50-100 watt combo, that can also push a 4x12/2x12 for the bigger stuff. Hope i've helped!

[mrcrazyhimself]

If your on a budget check out($400 or less

Peavey VTM- Some guys here have owned them and love them, great for a budget.

Peavey Ultra- I had the 60 watt head version. Great clean, stayed pristine until super high volume. Use 6L6's, has a nice thick tone. Not super gain heavy but preamp and poweramp work together nicely.

Sovtek Mig- I have a 50 watt combo, that while doesnt get a million sounds, plugged into my genz benz cab has sounded great. It is for sale if you are interested, and i have an ad on the klassifieds.

Laney Pro Tube AOR- Another great amp for a budget. Single channel, JCM for a poor man.

[KramerWolf]

I have several amps... solid state and tube alike... My choice for a 100 watt was a Marshall JCM 900-2100 half stack... I have a 160 watt peavey renouwn that never gets used... and a little 10 watt solid state....
However, the amp I am wanting is a 18 watt Marshall tube combo with an original green back...
One of the best sounding set ups belongs to Pat kelley (Kellcats521)... He did have a Fender Super Champ (rivera)... and that was an awesome sounding 18 watt amp...

James

[TURBOBLUES]

Although it is true about the volume, I have to say that my experiences are somewhat different about tone. In the eighties I had 2 JCM 800's (Marshall), one was the 100 W (2203) and the other the 50 W (2204) version, both with 4x12 cabs. The 100W had a more tighter bass sound, which I liked better. And when I used the low input (I sometimes used the amp as a power amp for my ADA pre-amp) the difference was more clearer!
But like said, you don't use those high volumes. So I would say, try them all out..

[Lieutenant Dan]

I concur with the majority, you don't need a 50 or 100 watt stack or amp unless you plan to play large venues.

As Stephan mentioned above, I ordered a 1 watt handmade boutique head that will drive a 4 x 12 cab. You can gig with it if you mic it through the PA (plus you dont have 100 watts in your ear as it is a monitor for you, and the PA projects it to the audience ).

Ask Dan, he's got a Bumbox 1W (yes, I said 1 watt) head coming in sometime soon.. Talk about tone for days..

My Bumbox Lead 1 will be here this week. $415.00 shipped (it also carries a lifetime warranty)

http://www.bumboxamps.com/

[KramerWolf]

I've been looking into building a .5 watt tube amp Dano... People don't realize just how loud 1 watt is in a small room....

James

[stingray]

100 watt is to much ?!? i play a jcm900 50watt 2x12 it's loud, even in 25 watt mode ....
i also have a london city 100w a very warm clean amp, in combination with my effectprocessor, damn nice those 100w of power !!! i think it's like with v8 engines, 300 hp or 400 hp or more... they all go fast and giving lots of fun but its nice to say and to know that you have lot's of them ( watt's and hp)

[Caddielack]

I have this 50w JMP from 1976 with a homebuilt 2x12 with Celestion Greenbacks.

With the original 50w it was impossible to get a decent tone at home, I bought two Ruby triode Tonebones so I could swap the EL34's to EL84's bringing it down to a max 9w.
I still cant crank it up full without a divorce over my shoulder

Anyway these Marshalls are still quite cheap and will propably start rising in price in the next few years, and higly recommendable if you dont want that ultra high gain metal sound.

/ John

[KramerGeek]

But these go to 11.

[kellcats521]

The tone can be very different with different wattage amps, even those made by the same company. Marshall 100W heads are typically tighter on the bottom (as was said), but generally don't have the gain that the 50W heads do (I'm mostly familiar with tube heads up to the 900 series, so some of the newer ones might not be like this). The 100W heads have TONS on headroom - they'll sound VERY clean at ear-bursting volumes (like 7-8 on the vol. II knob) while the 50W'ers will break up at much lower volume settings. I also disagree with one post - I prefer to have a power amp maxed on my rig. I like the overtones of power amp distortion, and IMO it was the basis for EVH's brown sound. An amp's volume (master vol., not preamp gain) NEEDS to be about dimed if you want power amp distortion, so you either need a low wattage amp or a great attenuator to do this.

If you want high gain, I'd stay away from 100W. There are MANY high gain rigs out there with 60W or less.

[MrScary]

I love tht new Peavey one. It is under $400.00 ( I think $380.00 in our local store) ALL TUBE. People give it a bad wrap. Don't let them fool ya. It sounds REALY good. Cheaper than the Marshall solid state stuff, but...sorry guys...sounds better than their tube stuff. Again everyone has an opinion...mine is this Peavey sounds better than any Marshall I have ever heard.



Eric

[Caddielack]

What Peavey is that?

/ John

[snapuzi]

just get a Dumble

[leishan]

I use a Peavey VTM 60 head and I think that even 60 watts is too much at times.

[Ambitot Pu Phang]

Peavey 5150
Boogie Dual Recto
Marshal JCM800 2203

I think those amps deliver real tone and cost every penny.