Switchable power output amps like tubemeister

What's Hot
blacknblackblacknblack Frets: 42
edited December 2016 in Amps
I'm interested in either Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18 twelve combo OR Roland Blues Cube Hot.  Both of which can alter power output from max down to 1w.

Can anyone compare?  Anyone played both or either?  Any opinions?

I am nowhere near useful stockists so very difficult for me to go and try them. 


0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2328
    I'm very wary about amps like that because 1W is still very loud. Too loud, if you want home volumes (and want to crank the amp). I haven't tried the tubemeister but the lower wattage options often don't sound as good, either.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I had the tubemeister 18 head a while back. I agree with the above that even at 1W it can still be pretty loud though. That said, I now run a Two Rock Studio Pro 35W and love it. One thing to mention about the tubemeister is in my opinion the drive channel sucks - I never found a usable tone. I have always used pedals though so it wasn't too much of an issue for me. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
    I had the NOS tube version of the Tubemeister 18, it was excellent. 1w is still loud but you can get very quiet valve tones from the amp due to the good masters. 

     I personally loved the drive tones from it, very modern and dry but still very full and powerful, especially through a decent sized cab. I don't think it does great mild crunch tones, but for spanky cleans and raging rock tones, its the mini amp i'd choose.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • The Blues Cube has an excellent Master Volume, it sounds practically identical no matter how you set it. I would consider upgrading to the Blues Cube Stage, the dual channels add a lot of versatility and you can run both channels at the same time.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I had a Victory Kraken for almost a year - it has 50W, 25W, 7W and 2W modes. None of those modes did anything to address the real problem you have when playing at home, which is that you want less volume across a wider range of the volume knob. In reality, what happened was that it still went from silent to way-too-loud-for-the-wife on a hair trigger, but it just broke up a bit more when it got there.

    As a result, I'm calling that particular implementation a useless feature - except for live stuff, where it was sometimes fun to get a darker, squelchier tone on stage by dropping to 25W mode.
    <space for hire>
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2328
    ^ Yeah. I have amps that have switchable wattage and it's more or less useless for home use. You really need power-scaling or VVR or something like that that gets you way down to a fraction of a watt to be useful at home.

    As you said, that's not to say those different power options are totally useless- for places where you can play a good bit louder, but where full power is still too loud, they can be useful. But they're often advertised as being useful for home practice... which is very iffy, if you ask me.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Agree with @digitalscream it's a useless feature for home use. Good for live though if you want a cranked tone in a smaller room.


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • Thanks all.  Quite confusing really.  From a newbie point of view it seems that unless you really push tubes then there is no point and at even 1w it is too loud to crank for home practice.  
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2328
    edited December 2016
    I think it depends on the type of tones you're after (plus exactly what you mean by home practice volume, since everyone's idea of that will be slightly different). For classic rock (and similar) tones, the cranked up thing is probably what you want. But for more modern, higher-gain tones, you actually want preamp distortion and cranking the thing up, while it'll still sound better up loud, is much less critical.

    The other thing is, pedals into a tube amp, or just relying on the amp's preamp distortion if it has a master volume control, may well still sound better than other options even if you can't crank the amp (even for classic rock and similar). Depending on your personal preference, the type of tones you want, and exactly how loudly you can play.

    It's not black-and-white, unfortunately. I play at home and I like having tubes. I don't share any walls with neighbours (which helps), but I'm not anywhere close to cranking them, either (master on 1 usually).
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963

    From a newbie point of view it seems that unless you really push tubes then there is no point and at even 1w it is too loud to crank for home practice.  
    Not at all. As Dave said, it's by no means always true that you want the typical sound you get from 'pushing' them, and 1W - while loud, through an efficient speaker - isn't necessarily too much for home practice. Nor is 100W - it depends on the amp design and how well the controls work far more than it does on the actual output power.

    Personally I love the sound I can get from a really big valve amp running at low volume, either clean or using the master volume control to set the amp for a moderate crunchy overdrive, and adding a pedal for anything more distorted - to me that just sounds better, as well as more like a big amp turned up loud, than a small amp turned up loud does.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • Thanks all.  Quite confusing really.  From a newbie point of view it seems that unless you really push tubes then there is no point and at even 1w it is too loud to crank for home practice.  
    What on earth gave you that idea? :)

    There are a few key points...

    1 - You don't have to crank a valve amp to make it sound good
    2 - A master volume with a good taper on it (so that it's controllable at lower levels) is far more effective for setting the volume than power scaling
    3 - You won't use the same settings for home use as you will for live performances

    My 50W Jet City sounds fantastic at home volumes, and I know people who've had the same result from a 100W Marshall JVM. Similarly, I've had 5W amps that couldn't be controlled at home volumes and were way too loud.
    <space for hire>
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • So many wisdomsssss

    Don't worry about "cranking tubes" or whatever. Valve amps can sound good at low volume - especially good ones. I'd take a good digital or solid state amps over a crap valve amp any day, and a great valve amp over anything. 

    Some amps like being loud, and really need it. But something like a dual rec or a fender twin, both of which are behemoths, sound awesome at TV volume. I tried a 5 watt tweed champ and couldn't make it sound any good until it was too loud for home use. 

    What amp do you have? 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    I don't think you can do much better for a home amp than the ZVex Nano.
    I absolutely love that thing. Works at all settings.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Thanks all.  Quite confusing really.  From a newbie point of view it seems that unless you really push tubes then there is no point and at even 1w it is too loud to crank for home practice.  
    Well I disagree with people here, I have an H&K Grandmeister head and it's perfect for home use. I run it on 1w and it is perfect, sounds really good and no complaints from Mrs A. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Sassafras said:
    I don't think you can do much better for a home amp than the ZVex Nano.
    I absolutely love that thing. Works at all settings.
    I sometimes wish I hadn't sold mine. Although the fan noise was annoying - even after the noise-reduction mod, which later ones came stock with. It was also *only* useful as a home amp - I tried it in an acoustic-band context and it was more or less completely inaudible even through a very efficient speaker, without being mic'ed and put through the PA… which was what I was trying to avoid by using an actual amp.

    A Tweed Champ (mine was an original '59 :) ) on the other hand worked very well. It was certainly very loud when cranked - I actually got told to turn it down, when I was using it unmic'ed with a piano-bar blues band! - but it was great with pedals.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom


  • What amp do you have? 
    I've got a Blackstar tvp15.   I'm ready for (gassing) an upgrade.  I heard someone play an H&K tubemeister 18 at low volume - sounded great. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2328
    edited December 2016
    Thanks all.  Quite confusing really.  From a newbie point of view it seems that unless you really push tubes then there is no point and at even 1w it is too loud to crank for home practice.  
    What on earth gave you that idea?

    There are a few key points...

    1 - You don't have to crank a valve amp to make it sound good
    2 - A master volume with a good taper on it (so that it's controllable at lower levels) is far more effective for setting the volume than power scaling
    3 - You won't use the same settings for home use as you will for live performances

    My 50W Jet City sounds fantastic at home volumes, and I know people who've had the same result from a 100W Marshall JVM. Similarly, I've had 5W amps that couldn't be controlled at home volumes and were way too loud.
    I know you mean by "power scaling" specific, discrete power settings (like 50W, 25W and maybe 5W) and I agree with you, but just in case @blacknblack gets confused, actual proper Power Scaling (or its similar cousin, VVR) actually is pretty effective for getting down to home practice levels, I'd say roughly equivalent to a good master volume. They have the power on a pot/knob, though, so you can get down to a teeny fraction of a watt with them.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Thanks everyone.  Will try and find a used tubemeister and give it a go.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.