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HYBRID AMPS- Solid state preamp/tube power amp?

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xra...@foto.infi.net

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Mar 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/27/97
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I have seen many hybrid amp designs with tube preamps and
solid state power amp sections. Has anyone ever made one just the
opposite, with a solid state preamp and a tube power amp section.?
I would like to see a 50 watt amp with a single 12ax7 preamp section
as in the Marshall valvestates, and a two-tube power amp section
putting out 50 watts. That way you could have a "decent" sounding
amp and low tube maintenance costs. Is anyone aware of an amp
manufactured fitting these type specifications?

Stevie Mark Nielsen

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Mar 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/27/97
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I had an SG systems big-ass combo amp with 4-10s (don't recall actual
model name) that had all SS preamp and sfx (reverb and phase shifter)
and had two (6L6 I believe - could be wrong about that) power out
tubes. It wasn't that bad, but I never really could get the tone I
wanted until I got an all tube amp (SF DR). Anyway, they have been
made, probably still are.

Stevie m N


MOkincha

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Mar 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/27/97
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The only amp that I know of to have a tube power section and solid state
preamp is the Fender Champ 25. But it is only 25 watts. One 12AX7 and a
pair of 6L6's.

Just letting you know.

Your Amp Friend,

Andrew

Clarke P. Robertson

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Mar 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/27/97
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Music Man amps were hyprid, with ss preamps and tube power amps. Cool
clean sound!

Bill Bolton

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Mar 28, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/28/97
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xra...@foto.infi.net wrote:

> I would like to see a 50 watt amp with a single 12ax7 preamp section
> as in the Marshall valvestates, and a two-tube power amp section
> putting out 50 watts. That way you could have a "decent" sounding
> amp and low tube maintenance costs. Is anyone aware of an amp
> manufactured fitting these type specifications?

Not currently, but a Music Man HD Sixty Five fits your specs fairly
closely. They seem to be in reasonable supply on the second hand
market. Make sure you look for MM amps with the type number in
"script" rather than "numerals". The "script" models used a 12AX7 as
the driver and phase splitter section of the outputs, the "numeral"
model used a solid state cathode current drive on the output tubes.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill Bolton billb...@onaustralia.com.au
Sydney, Australia

Fly on! free bird!

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Mar 28, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/28/97
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MOkincha wrote:
>
> The only amp that I know of to have a tube power section and solid state
> preamp is the Fender Champ 25. But it is only 25 watts. One 12AX7 and a
> pair of 6L6's.
>
> Just letting you know.
>
> Your Amp Friend,
>
> Andrew

Lessee.... Music Man, fender champ25, umm Peavey Deuce/Mace etc.,
Marshall Artist 3203 (30 watt channel switching reverb head), need I go
on?

What22222

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Mar 29, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/29/97
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The Music Man amplifiers are solid state preamp and tube power (6L6)
design. They were Leo Fender's first (I think) project after he sold
Fender, and sound really good. They can often be found for reasonable
prices. I'm trying to remember who used them, the only player I can
recall is Chet Atkins who has used Music Man on and off for a long time.

Mark Thompson
what...@aol.com

W.J.Vlymen MD, Ph.D

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Mar 29, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/29/97
to What22222

What about that guy...uh..what's his name ...yeah Clapton. He used them
and even endorsed them in print interviews in the 70's. Also the lead
guitar of Kenny Loggins' old band just after Messina. They sounded outa
sight, but he was playing the 100W heads.

Bill Bolton

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Mar 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/30/97
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what...@aol.com (What22222) wrote:

> The Music Man amplifiers are solid state preamp and tube power (6L6)
> design.

There are EL34 and 6L6 Music Man tube output amps. There are also
completely solid state Music Man amps.

They were Leo Fender's first (I think) project after he sold
> Fender, and sound really good.

Leo Fender had nothing to do with the Music Man amps.

u...@ntr.net

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Mar 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/30/97
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Please

axe...@ilos.net

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Apr 3, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/3/97
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On 29 Mar 1997 04:56:49 GMT, what...@aol.com (What22222) wrote:

>The Music Man amplifiers are solid state preamp and tube power (6L6)

>design. They were Leo Fender's first (I think) project after he sold
>Fender, and sound really good. They can often be found for reasonable
>prices. I'm trying to remember who used them, the only player I can
>recall is Chet Atkins who has used Music Man on and off for a long time.
>
>Mark Thompson
>what...@aol.com

=============================================================
Eric Clapton used MM amps.....and Mark Knopler (Dire Straits)....as
did a lot of older country guys like Glen Campbell.....Marty Robbins
etc. Best amp for the money these days.

Tom

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Apr 29, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/29/97
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Buzco wrote:
>
> The Music Man amplifiers are solid state preamp and tube power (6L6)
> design. They were Leo Fender's first (I think) project after he sold
> Fender, and sound really good. They can often be found for reasonable
> prices. I'm trying to remember who used them, the only player I can
> recall is Chet Atkins who has used Music Man on and off for a long time.
>
> Mark Thompson
> what...@aol.com
>

> Music Man was not Leo's. It was founded originally as TriSonix by Tommy
> Walker and Forrest White. They original design work was done by Don
> Randall and Bob Crooks (from Standell). They discovered that TriSonix
> trademark was owned by someone else and changed it to Music Man.
>
> Leo Fender started CLF Research I believe two to three years after Tommy
> founded Music Man, CLF Research manufactured the guitars and SOLD them to
> Music Man, in much the way relationalship Leo Fender had with Don Randall.
> Leo ran the manufacturing company and SOLD the instruments to Fender
> Sales, which Don Randall owned.
>
> When G&L was started CLF Research manufactured guitars for G&L Music Sales
> headed by Dale Hyatt, the first Fender road salesman. Dale Hyatt sold the
> first *Fender* electric guitar out of his pickup truck in Manteca, CA.
> I had the pleasure of working with Dale and Mr Fender during the 1980's as
> the west coast representative for G&L guitars.
>
> =============
> Buzco:
> dr. c.a.buzzart
> "his excellency and president for life. field marshall al hadji,conqueror of the british empire in africa in general and uganda in particular"
> Blackhawk Ltd. manufacturer's reps to the music and pro audio industry
I remember seeing a MusicMan brochure back in '77 or '78....it featured
some words about Eric Claptin liking the amps begains of the gain
controls....

Buzco

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Apr 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/30/97
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Mike R.

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Apr 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/30/97
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Tom <tma...@erols.com> wrote:

>I remember seeing a MusicMan brochure back in '77 or '78....it featured
>some words about Eric Claptin liking the amps begains of the gain
>controls....

Yes, Clapton used a Music Man HD-130R head, with special open backed
cabs, containing JBL's, and also ran a special Leslie rigs through it,
too. These amps used EL-34's, and though they have a tranny pre stage,
they have one of the best clean channel sounds I've ever heard.
And, they are LOUD!
I happen to have one made in '70, or '71 Ser. #B000872.


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ian...@gmail.com

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Dec 30, 2017, 7:21:12 PM12/30/17
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Hello,
I recently picked up a 70's Peavey Duece 2x12 for very cheap. I did some research and turns out Mark Knoppler used one ( a VT series- no tremelo, phaser instead) for a year in the late 70's. It's basically a Twin Reverb with a solid state pre-amp. To my taste, the pre-amp sounds awful but the amp is loud as hell, I sold all my guitar stuff years ago to concentrate on drums and synths but recently got back into guitar. So, with a ton of other things on my buy list, $75 for a tank of a loud amp is just fine. That said, I am poking around online to figure out how to,inject some life into the thing without breaking the bank ( eventually I will buy a good amp but not going to spend real money on a middle of the road map now if I can spend a couple hundred on something for this I can use or resell later). Right now I am using an MXR micro amp at the end of my signal chain and as well as an overdrive pedal near the start. Getting passable tone that way but there's room for improvement.
Just a few general points...
Almost all boost/overdrive pedals are solid state to begin with, so almost anytime anyone runs a boost/drive into a tube amp they are essentially running a type of solid state pre-amp.it really comes down to the quality of the pre-amp and the sound one is looking for. To my ear, the peavey's pre is limp and lifeless. The best results I have gotten so far is turning the pre-amp all the way down and turning the Micro amp up to about 3 o'clock, Just on the point of breaking the notes. Using the amps eq, I roll off the treble and bass, leaving the mods at 5 o'clock ( found that boosting the mids in the eq just muddy's the sound.) I have an eq pedal on order and think that by placing it properly in my signal chain I will be able to play around with pushing certain frequencies and test the results. I am currently looking into tube-pre amp pedals as a warning option. Red flags that go off on my head are that tube-pre amp pedals are usually so,low powered that, unless pricey, they can be, straight out the gate, muddy/dirty- when pushed they will compress readily but the question is in what way... in relation to the guitar pick ups, the amp, and how the signal is being pushed into the tube pre-amp pedal. So, I would guess placement in the signal chain is worth messing around with. What kind of boost or drive to run into a tube pedal? Put it later or earlier in the chain? All of this is speaking to my personal dilemma but maybe it adds something to your thoughts as well. I would guess there are high quality solid state pre/ tube power amps made at this point that sound better than my Deuce (ha) . also, someone might hear my amp and love it un-altered, probably a minority opinion, however. The good points are that this amp is very unlickely to have service issues. The one I have has RCA tubes in it, maybe from time eternal. I have read online that some groovetube 6L6's can help a Peavey Deuce out, so the variety of power amp tubes is a consideration as well. Also, everyone attacks the strings differently. Type of guitar/ pick ups? In other solid state amps I have liked hummbuckers much more than single coils, altough I find myself liking single coils more ( depending). . Again. Almost all distortions/boosts/drives are solid state... So most people are essentially running a solid state pre-amp of some kimdnor other, BUT the actually pre-amp in the amp really is the foundation of one's guitar tone. This is why my stale Peavey pre is not to my taste, it s cold in a boring way, I have used a Peavey Bandit for example ( all solid state), that has a cold sound but with much more character, The Bandit interacted much differently with the pedals I have than does the Deuce. In fact, If it was louder I might prefer it. All that said, I do love tube amps, my subjective taste, and it all comes down to taste/how the amp interacts in a band setting. Personally, I would benefit from any advice here from anyone on how to warm my pre-amp up, without breaking the bank ( happy to live with the limitations now and spend real money on a high quality amp later). thanks and I hope that helped some.

Owen Butcher

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Oct 20, 2023, 3:40:59 AM10/20/23
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I'm just awed by the technical and historical knowledge of you guys, if it wasnt rock and roll id be like nerd alert! I used a peavey duce with space echo and early boss od, did lots and lots of gigs with it for years, rock, psychedelic, pop , blues, got lots of compliments for its sound, with a 64 jaguar! Owen B.
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