What power amp to buy?

[tigerstrat]

Last night I finally put my newly acquired Ashly FTX-1501 through its paces in a performance and I couldn't be happier. Although kinda large and heavy (not compared to a Mac though!), it's plenty powerful, beautifully transparent, and lets the preamp and other components shine like crazy. MOSFET output.

[Counterstriker]

hmm.. I looked up that amp up.. I like it.. only complaint is the volume is in the back of the rack, which could be tough if i needed a quick turn up during a song at a gig with low light.
and at 44 pounds it goes agains't the whole idea of traveling light Although I might go with it..

Just waiting on the USPS money order!

[mijknahs]

.. only complaint is the volume is in the back of the rack, which could be tough if i needed a quick turn up during a song at a gig with low light.

Start relying on your guitar master volume for headroom. First, turn your amp up louder than you'd ever need it. Then back off on your guitar's volume until the volume is at a comforatable level. Then if you need to be louder at a gig, just budge the guitar volume a "notch" or two. You can turn the guitar volume down even more for playing at home. I usually have my guitar volume at about half way up. Never more than 3/4 up. Ever.

[Counterstriker]

Start relying on your guitar master volume for headroom..

Great advice that I'm really trying to master! It may be easier with the Trio though.. I always set... or tried to set the preamp to clip pretty heavily when my guitar is full blast 100% which same as you i rarely use, only when i turn on OD/Distortion, i like the even mix of the OD from the pedal and preamp.. But with the silver face twin that was basically impossible without the EH Linear Booster. The twin has less clean headroom I've heard then a silver face twin so this should be easier..

[Counterstriker]

Hmm.. I was checking ebay our.. are theCrown XLS-1000 DriveCore Stereo Power Amp any good? Lots of power!

I would go with the GX3 but I borrowed a friends in the past, and had trouble with the input sensitivity on it, if the signal going into it isn't meeting the threshold the volume won't be loud no matter how hard you push the pre or power amp.. and someone on here told me that it's a common problem in QSC's..

But maybe the Groove tubes has a stronger signal then the Bluesmaster?

[saylorsong]

Glad to have found this thread. Lots of interesting options for power amps it seems. I just paired the SMS with the MosValve Tube Works MV-962. I found it on a local craigslist cheap. I bought because of the reputation of the Tube Works RT-921 reverb. I was not disappointed at all. My Mesa 50/50 I had planned on pairing up the SMS has been relegated to storage. I found out a couple of things about my Mesa, which is a first gen. 50/50. Apparently Mesa voiced these to pair up with, first, their studio pre and then tinkered with the voicing (their second gen. 50/50) to match it up to their newer triaxis pre.
I guess there is a mod available to help flatten out the amps response.
Here's a couple of links
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/show ... p?t=175529
http://grailtone.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 63&start=0

If I keep my Mesa it will be because this mod does what I hope it will. But as of now, I'm not even sure I want to mess around with it because I like the sound of MV-962 so much. It really works for me, for now. I haven't tried to bridge it yet though, I think I might like the headroom.
always good to read about new power amp options out there. Hope to read some more.

[Counterstriker]

A few mosvalves on ebay right now.. I'm really thinking about bidding on one, 250$ is the highest i could go though.. If i lose that I may just go with the crown, the I've had a qsc and the whole problem that if the signal is weak the volume will be soft as hell is an issue i ran into.. and had to use my reverb unit as volume boost which caused it to overload and sound really bad.

Wish me luck on the bidding!

And when you say it affects the tone in a good way (the mosvalve) does it warm the tone up with the tubes? that's not something i'm really going after, although i may give it a try

[mijknahs]

What I mean by saying it colors the sound in a good way is that EVERYTHING (every power amp in this case) will color the tone in some way. I like the way the MosValve sounds. It sounds closer to a McIntosh than other power amps I've tried. That's what I'm going for. I know McIntosh amps color the tone but for the better.

MosValve amps are not tube powered. They are solid state.

[Counterstriker]

Awesome, I contacted a guy on craigslist and made an offer on his mosvalve, also made an offer on a crown xls 802 in a nice gator case which the guy said he'd do.. just gonna wait till i hear back from the mosvalve owner before i go for it.

The only complaint about the Crown is that it doesn't have 1/4" inputs, which is no problem, I have adapters. But just another thing I could possibly lose

[saylorsong]

saw this on my local craigslist. Anyone ever use one of these for guitar? I read they are pretty great for Bass rigs.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/2785346414.html

[mijknahs]

saw this on my local craigslist. Anyone ever use one of these for guitar? I read they are pretty great for Bass rigs.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/2785346414.html

I've owned the CA-4 (same series but less power). It is an awesome bass amp. For guitar, it is very bright but the low end is good. McIntosh and the MosValve are less harsh on the high end.

[Blkjk]

It depends on what your are driving 'speaker rating wise' at least right?

Anyway, I use and have widely recommended the use of an SAE 200 power amp.
It is rated for 100w (at either 4 or 8 ohms). I am driving a JBL E-120 speaker
loaded into a floor monitor wedge. Closed-back.

Nice rack mount unit. A natural and organic low distortion unit. That can be had
used on EBay usually for less $275.

[saylorsong]

saw this on my local craigslist. Anyone ever use one of these for guitar? I read they are pretty great for Bass rigs.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/2785346414.html

I've owned the CA-4 (same series but less power). It is an awesome bass amp. For guitar, it is very bright but the low end is good. McIntosh and the MosValve are less harsh on the high end.

Thanks for the info. I'll look for one in the future if I ever get myself a nice bass guitar.

[tcsned]

Hey Striker, sorry I slacked but here's a short clip of the Mosvalve in action. Just a short take from a recent gig where there wasn't a lot else going on. The playing wasn't great . . .

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/tsnedike/mu ... s_clip.mp3

if you want something with the Mutron or distortion I can give you that too.

The signal path is custom guitar with Duncan Stag Mag pups --> MUIII (off) --> T-Rex Dr Swamp (off) --> SMS Classic Pre (kind of a 70s set up rather than 80s or 90s) --> Lexicon MPX G1 (delay) --> Mosvalve --> Fender TRRI speakers (amp is off)

[mijknahs]

Hey Striker, sorry I slacked but here's a short clip of the Mosvalve in action. Just a short take from a recent gig where there wasn't a lot else going on. The playing wasn't great . . .

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/tsnedike/mu ... s_clip.mp3

if you want something with the Mutron or distortion I can give you that too.

The signal path is custom guitar with Duncan Stag Mag pups --> MUIII (off) --> T-Rex Dr Swamp (off) --> SMS Classic Pre (kind of a 70s set up rather than 80s or 90s) --> Lexicon MPX G1 (delay) --> Mosvalve --> Fender TRRI speakers (amp is off)

Sounds great.