Changing my mind about tube amps for home use.

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
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I’ve always said that tube amps, especially really powerful ones, are useless for home use because you have to turn them up so loud to get a good tone. I recently acquired a Traynor YCV80Q, an 80 watt, 4 x 6L6, 4 x 10” celestions combo amp. I did not expect this amp to be useful at all for home use. I was totally wrong. It is becoming my main practice amp. The cleans are rich and lush even at very low volumes. It is so heavy it won’t see much live use. I was starting to wonder why I bought it but now it has turned into my main practice amp. Who knew?
 
Kerry Brown said:
I’ve always said that tube amps, especially really powerful ones, are useless for home use because you have to turn them up so loud to get a good tone. I recently acquired a Traynor YCV80Q, an 80 watt, 4 x 6L6, 4 x 10” celestions combo amp. I did not expect this amp to be useful at all for home use. I was totally wrong. It is becoming my main practice amp. The cleans are rich and lush even at very low volumes. It is so heavy it won’t see much live use. I was starting to wonder why I bought it but now it has turned into my main practice amp. Who knew?
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My Blackstar ID-CORE 100watt 2X10 Stereo Combo is my main recording amp. It doesn't sound good in a live performance situation, but it sounds great on my DAW. I still use a Marshall DSL40C at home, but always with a Weber attenuator...

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ALl I can say is ...A boogie, boogie boogie boogie boogie ....ah BOOGIE .......

NOPE -- dont need 30 watts of tube yummieness........

but BY GOD IVE GOT EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and -- I can get very very lovely sounds out this amp----such fun--- lifes short, and often a P.I.A. -- enjoy when you can ----

THe key for me is attenuation ;) my cabinet has it-- the MEsa has it---
so I can crank gain and drive tubes--- but NOT drive the misses crazy :)
 
jtcnj said:
I find it challenging with even the 12-18w ones I have.
Hell even the 4-5w is loud - not call the cops but disturbing to others in the home (even without my playing)
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My 1 watt Blackstar is too loud for home use if I turn it up enough to get a good tube breakup sound. Fortunately it has a headphone jack and a good cab sim so it has been my go to practice amp for a couple of years. The 80 watt Traynor has such a nice tone on the clean channel and with the spring Reverb and four ten inch speakers it still sounds lush and full at whisper volumes.
 
eSGEe said:
ALl I can say is ...A boogie, boogie boogie boogie boogie ....ah BOOGIE .......

NOPE -- dont need 30 watts of tube yummieness........

but BY GOD IVE GOT EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and -- I can get very very lovely sounds out this amp----such fun--- lifes short, and often a P.I.A. -- enjoy when you can ----

THe key for me is attenuation ;) my cabinet has it-- the MEsa has it---
so I can crank gain and drive tubes--- but NOT drive the misses crazy :)
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I’ve owned a couple Mesas. They are great amps but neither of them sounded right to me with an attenuator. My TA30 was the best but it was too loud for me for home use.
 
syscokid said:
80 watts with 6L6's should give you massive amounts of clean headroom. 10" speakers are usually punchier than their 12" counterparts.

I'm assuming the 6L6's in your Traynor are the modern 6L6GC's, and not the 6L6GB's.
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The cleans are amazing but it doesn't have as much headroom as I expected. The Traynor manual calls for 6L6GBs and the Traynor web site says 5881s. The tubes installed when I received it are PM branded 6L6GCs. I've never used this brand before and I've only had these tubes in this amp so I can't really comment on the tubes themselves. I don't know how the amp would react to different tubes. i have had one of these amps before. I can't remember which tubes I tried in it but it seemed very much the same tone wise. It is not as loud as expected nor does it have as much clean headroom as expected from 80 watts. That said it is very loud and the cleans can be very loud if you play with the controls. With the master at noon and the volume at 11:00 o'clock it is extremely loud and clean but not as loud as a twin for instance. It does sound like a twin on the clean channel just not quite as loud. If I turn the volume and master up to 2:00 o'clock the loudness is about the same but with a very nice blues crunch but it is way too loud at those settings for home use.
 
Interesting on those power tubes. 5881s and 6L6GBs have the same 23 watt power rating and same max plate voltage. The difference is that the 5881 is military spec build, or more rugged. The 6L6GCs are a 30 watt tube with a higher plate voltage rating, too. I bet if that amp had 5881s, it would break up a bit sooner.
 
My amps are a mid 70s 20w Traynor with a 12” and same era 5w Fender with an 8”. Both loud enough I only play when home alone. For practice I’ve been using an inexpensive multi effect with headphones until recently. Bought a new Boss GT1. Same way with headphones.

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Session 5 said:
My practice amp Orange 35RT SS. It rocks!!View attachment 20772 View attachment 20773
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I like Orange amps. SS amps are much better at lower volumes than tube amps. I had an Orange Rocker 30 tube amp for a while. It was a great amp at gig levels but at home levels it was just meh. Other than the Traynor YCV80Q I don't like tube amps at low volumes, at least I've never played one I like. What I really like about tube amps is the dynamic way they react to my playing. I find I don't get that feeling until they are cranked up way too high for home use. The neighbours across the street can hear it. I live in a duplex so the attached neighbours complain if I get too loud. The Traynor is much better at really loud levels but for some reason the clean channel also sounds good to me a low levels. I think it may be the four 10" speakers.
 
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