Small tube bass amp for recording?

[greatmagnet]

I have gotten really good results from a 25 watt heathkit mono amplifier with Daystrom tubes into a single EV 15" cabinet (custom made for my partner).

Try out a couple crazy old tube amps like that. I couldnt believe how much tone we were getting from that little thing. My fiancee's grandpa made it in the 60's.

My Partner at the studio has been playing bass for quite some time, and he has been really digging this thing. I love recording it.

My engineer friend in Chicago (a.k.a. DrumSound on this board) has a Heathkit as well and he totally digs it, though not for bass perhaps. I have a Valco head (1960s Montgomery Ward Silvertone predecessor) which also kicks great gobs of ass. Through the right speaker it would be an awesome bass amp for sure. And those old silvertone-type amps can be had cheap.

[greatmagnet]

Through the left speaker though who knows.

[llmonty]

i second the tube di idea. i have a gt ditto box, and with flatwounds = jamerson goodness.

[joel hamilton]

The avalon U5 is not tube, but yes.. It is amazing.
An old portaflex would be my first choice, but it will be pricier than a cool old bogen or heathkit or RCA or scott tube amp with a 1/4" mic input. Those sound SO good for bass. I actually prefer the heathkit I have to most of the other amps we have here for bass, and we have ALL of them. I swear. Tony (my partner at Studio G) has played bass with people like Bob Mould, They might Be giants, Pere Ubu... So many... and he has quite a collection of basses and bass amps. The heathkit is what he has been choosing to record with lately.

I dont mean that it is cool in a weird way, I mean it is cool in a for real this thing kicks major ass for recording way.

[mrufino1]

Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp, 12 watts, two knobs- volume and tone. I used ot have one and used it for rehearsals and recording, finally blew up but that was my fault, not the amp. On mine, the volume knob was also the on/off switch, and I broke the knob on a doorway when I was carrying too much at once, so luckily it was on, and I'd plug it in and unplug it to turn on and off, not really good for a tune amp. But you can find them pretty cheap and it sounds good. It's open back, so not too bottomy or loud, but it sounds good. You can put it in a corner for more bottom I would think as well. It also sounds great on guitar. Another option is a guild bass amp, I have a maverick that my bandmate found in the garbage, it sounds great. I think it's about 40 watts, all tube, very simple but sounds great, especially at low volumes. Either of these amps can probably be found pretty cheap on ebay or in used equipment store. I found my musicmaster amp through gbase.com .

[andrew embassy]

I've gotten some of my favorite bass sounds out of a Fender Vibrochamp. Admittedly, I haven't been recording for nearly as long as most, but still, sometimes it's way better for certain scenarios than my GK-800rb

[tony moore]

i'll second the musicmaster. and also a blue jr. i had the former and now have the latter. both sound great, are dependable and are very versatile.

also, i had a rig similar to what joel is describing years ago. it was an old bogen tube pa type head into a homemade 1X12 cab. i have no idea what happened to that thing. but we used to use it for everything. bass, guitar, elec piano, you name it. and as joel said, they can be had for cheap.

oh, and joel's partner absolutely kicks butt on bass. i've been a fan for a loooong time. and not because his name is tony

tony

[rolandk]

I use a '59 Bassman RI for a vintage type sound. Turn it up to where it just starts to distort and you're golden.

[supafuzz]

. Tony (my partner at Studio G) has played bass with people like Bob Mould, They might Be giants, Pere Ubu... So many... and he has quite a collection of basses and bass amps. The heathkit is what he has been choosing to record with lately.

oH YEAH tony rules on bass..he is the bass player on my first cd "wildlife"
and played bass in my band for about a year....

any specs on the custom eV [what speaker etc]

Do you prefer a 15" speaker for recording..i've heard so many different theorys on this..people saying 10's or 12's..I would have thought 15 was the way to go....

h

[janusmusic]

I just used a '66 blackface deluxe reverb..with a 421 on it at about 3 or 4 on the volume knob, bass player had a jazz bass. It was the best sound I've gotten for the bass. it was an overdub, it wouldn't work in a live situation. But it was very cool, round and focused,...I think small guitar tube amps work really well for bass but it depends on the situation. Although an 8X10 and an svt are a little hard to contain when it's all going down in the same room. But when you can do it it's the sound indeed.
brian

[Uncle Dub]

The avalon U5 is not tube, but yes.. It is amazing.
An old portaflex would be my first choice, but it will be pricier than a cool old bogen or heathkit or RCA or scott tube amp with a 1/4" mic input. Those sound SO good for bass. I actually prefer the heathkit I have to most of the other amps we have here for bass, and we have ALL of them. I swear. Tony (my partner at Studio G) has played bass with people like Bob Mould, They might Be giants, Pere Ubu... So many... and he has quite a collection of basses and bass amps. The heathkit is what he has been choosing to record with lately.

Grr, I had this typed befoer my internet went down.

A cheaper alternative, if we're talking non-tube, to the U5 would be the Sansamp Bass DI which as well as being a DI box, finds heavy useage in people that I knows live rigs as well, beefing up the bass end, you can crunch it a little like a tube or just leave it clean.

I too am interested in the 'custom built EV 15"' that keeps getting mentioned, is it like the old Altec Lansing theatre horn designs, or a ported unit or what? Is the RE-20 permanently mounted on it? I've often thought about using a scoop for my bass, they don't have the flattest low end response, but they might have an interesting character sound, I don't know.

[wwittman]

I don't know what you consider "small", but it's hard to beat an original Ampeg B-15

[Mr PC]

I had success using my friend's Kendrick guitar practice amp. It was a tiny little tube amp with an 8" speaker, if not smaller. It only had one knob on it, but sounded great in a mix. Plenty of low end for classic rock. Mic'ed it with an SM57 because that is all I had. Sounded great.

PC

[MAR]

William Wittman
Producer/Engineer
(Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, The Fixx, Hooters, The Outfield...)

And how big is your penis?