|
OhMrJohnson
Ashes Against The Grain

Registered: 01/12/14
Posts: 17,544
Loc: Terra Incognita
|
Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500?
#21683675 - 05/15/15 03:51 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
So I'm in need of a new tube combo amp preferably under $500
Above all else it must be capable of brutal head-ripping distortion, but I also like an amp with versatility
So far I'm thinking my best bet is the Peavey 6505+ 112, my buddy has the stack and it sounds amazing
But I'm definitely open to any suggestions my fellow Shroomerites have to offer
--------------------
Diminish the sub-principle and leave its toxic trace.. Once and for all!
|
thizzlemaniac
राम राम



Registered: 03/27/12
Posts: 2,240
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: OhMrJohnson]
#21683784 - 05/15/15 04:25 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I own a peavy transtube. I miss it and my esp but couldnt bring them when i left my parents and went outta state. Good luck in your search.
-------------------- Hi how are you? How high are you?
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: thizzlemaniac]
#21683853 - 05/15/15 04:55 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I bought myself this baby awhile back:

Bugera 333XL-212 Infinium - 120-watt, 2 x 12" Combo Guitar Amplifier
There are a lot of positive and negative reviews on it, I have myself have had 0 issues, have yet to replace any tubes at least 6 months later...
Honestly the only problem I have with the bugera 333xl is it has almost too much gain. The lead channel is ridiculous, I keep the gain almost all the way down 9/10 times but I don't play much metal or hard rock. I just use the gain/ distortion for certain intense fusion tones. The crunch and lead are basically the same channel, but its nice setting them up differently and having 2 "lead"/ distortion channels to switch from. I generally set the reverb on one, and set the crunch all the way up for the most part for that thick crunchy sound, then I turn the lead mostly down so I can have the volume/ gain up a bit more.
The other only downside is it is a big ass amp, but that is part of why I bought it too for 500$ 120 watts and 8 tubes just seemed like the most bang for my $$
The amp weighs like 40-50-70+ pounds at least, yet I have moved it around a lot on my own and had no issues 
Two nice perks of the amp are its fx loop and line out jacks, I have a nice peal loop set up and it lets me run my synth through the low gain input, electric guitar through the high gain, then I can use all my effects on my synth and guitar! Makes me pretty damn happy, then with the line out I can use a PA system ass my cabinet great for home recordings as I can just plug into a mixed then plug my computer up to the mixer for direct recordings.
Careful where you get one from, a lot of people seem to have issues with this amp not working. Mine has yet to fail on me though.
It can be somewhat of a noisy amp if you have things turned up certain ways but I am sure that is an issue with many tube amps. As this is the only tube amp I have owned I can't compare, but I love it. One other issue that probably happens with some other amps is this amp is pretty susceptible to feedback, probably due to all that gain. I have noticed it comes partly from excess high end/ gain though so I just keep them lower and don't have any issues.
I really love the sound of my bugera though, very versatile which is why I went for it. The clean can sound almost identical to how your electric sounds. I actually had a friend over who was messing around on my setup and he had to ask if the amp was on so I turned it up a bit and he was like "oh yeah that's definitely on, it just sounds the same as the guitar" which I found pretty impressive, most amps even when super clean still change tone a bit at least, maybe it is just how I had the knobs set 
I get a lot of great jazzy/ funky cleans as well as searing leads, the clean channel/ low gain input work great for my synth too! And with my electric in the high gain I still manage to get nice clean tones!
Soon I plan on replacing the tubes as it has been months, though they all are working fine. I am planning on replacing the speakers too eventually just to get the best sound I can out of it. My main electric is a dual humbucker LP esque custom and man does it make that amp sing!
Here is a funny video I made awhile back of me having some fun with a cool effect combo out of my amp:
Man I love fucking around with music 
Here is the demo for the bugera 333xl that sold me on it:
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: musiclover420]
#21683882 - 05/15/15 05:07 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Oh yeah, another perk of this beast is the "infinium technology" used with the tubes.
It is only on bugera products that specifically say it though.
From my understanding it basically monitors all the tubes in the amp, redirecting power usage accordingly to which amps are in the best/ worst condition.
Then it has a light for the 4 power tubes which indicate when they need to be replaced.
I had one that was blinking on and off for a little after the amp took a little abuse (people turning it off without giving the tubes any cooldown time)
But after a bit of blinking it just stopped and all the tubes still seem to be working great.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: musiclover420]
#21684259 - 05/15/15 06:30 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
One more quick bit of info about the Bugera 333, the XL comes with the same power tubes as many brit amps (Marshall) whilst the original non xl has fender tubes.
I went with the xl becouse the 6l6 tubes (fender ones) sounded not quite like what I was going for.
I liked that they have the option though, the xl also has a boost on the crunch and lead channel that helps with low volume thick intense tones.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
RobZombie68
The Shaman's Apprentice


Registered: 06/22/14
Posts: 820
Loc: Palookaville, US
Last seen: 30 days, 5 hours
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: OhMrJohnson]
#21684350 - 05/15/15 07:00 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I have the Peavey ValveKing, worth every penny!
|
OhMrJohnson
Ashes Against The Grain

Registered: 01/12/14
Posts: 17,544
Loc: Terra Incognita
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: musiclover420]
#21684377 - 05/15/15 07:08 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I've actually been thinking the 333XL would fit the bill quite well
I'm just a bit leery of Bugera because they're infamous for having shitty build quality and technical problems
Then again I also heard that they fixed those issues
--------------------
Diminish the sub-principle and leave its toxic trace.. Once and for all!
|
stratocast
Has Been



Registered: 04/11/15
Posts: 345
Loc: ohio, U.S.
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: OhMrJohnson]
#21684388 - 05/15/15 07:11 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
There are only certain brands i like. They are Marshall, Fender, P eavey, and Vox in that order.
--------------------
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
Re: Good Tube Combo Amps Under $500? [Re: OhMrJohnson]
#21684433 - 05/15/15 07:21 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Yeah I read a lot of negative stuff about some bugera amps including the 333xl before purchasing it.
Definitely remember reading about some stuff being fixed, I recently was trying to find out more info about Bugera.
All I could find is that they are owned by Behringer, and that company manufactures all or most of their stuff in China now. According to wiki they started in Europe but after getting big the owner started subletting work to china, then after having quality issues he apparently moved to China and started his own Behringer manufacturing complex, which puts out I think it said like 50K mixers a day or something with a fail rate of 00.5% he got an award for being an entrepreneur. Anyways I was impressed, I am generally vary wary of Chinese stuff, especially more expensive things like amps and electrical stuff.
My amp has taken a bit of abuse and I have yet to find any real problems in it besides the random things I talked about earlier.
When I bought mine I could only find em for 500$ new but I saw some for less it seemed, though definitely be careful where you buy it like I said earlier.
That way in case their is any issues you can just return it and either try another or try something else 
Mine shipped to me and showed up working great though and still no problems.
I really like voxes stuff, but all those name brand companies overprice their products since they are from a popular brand.
Not saying they aren't worth it but as a budget musician I always try to shop around for what seems like the best deal.
Maybe one day when I have thousands of extra dollars to blow I will buy a nice Gibson LP and marshall stack to go with it 
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
|