BD wrote:For tube cleans to cream OD I have to say I love my '63 Gibson GA30RVT Invader 30watt combo. Bugle boys, Ratheons, old RCA's, killer tremolo. Oxford 12" changed (to keep from killing it) to a Tonetubby hempcone ceramic and the trashy aftermarket 10" changed to a Celestion tube 10. Awesome dynamics, goes from Chet cleans to sweeeeet Nugent style LOUD overdrive when dialed to around 7 using my '67 Yam hollowbody and no pedals!

For Death, nothing, I mean nothing can touch an old Randall RG series and a good 4x12. I have 80's RG80 for studio work and a RG150 into a Laney/Fane 4x12. They both kill.

In fact, I just put my 80's 100w Carvin half stack modded with Winged C's and JJ pre's, 500w cab AND Ampeg VL503 on Craigslist after playing both of them and the Randalls for several months. The tube amps had crazy metal tone and cleans, though not enough low end and gain for scooped Death.

~ giving God back His rock ~

mr.arrison wrote:

Antero wrote:What is the last of those, and why is it fucked up?

good question.

the VIBRATION TECHNOLOGY VT140: the first "real" amp I owned. I bought it in 1987 used for like $100 from a dude who had recently moved to Virginia from Ontario. He had purchased it in the late 1970's. It came with a grey 4X12 cabinet loaded with celestions, and a big honkin' midrange horn. Advertised as a bass amp. Manufactured by "Vibration Technology" of Canada. there was a "purchased at Song Bird Music" sticker on it if I recall. It was covered entirely in grey vinyl. It had little metal legs that elevated it above its 4X12 cab, and the little legs had velcro on them. In retrospect it looked like a Traynor copy, but grey.

It kind of sucked for bass, but it was better than a Peavey or a Crate. It had this weird "sustain" knob that when you turned it up it just turned into a weird insecty fizzly compressed sound. I took it to several amp techs and nothing was found "wrong" with the signal path or transistors going to this pot, so I just left the sustain pot on 0 whenever I played bass through it.

A few years later (92), I started playing guitar. Bought a Kramer aluminum neck single coil strat-copy thing, and played guitar through it. WHOA! That sustain knob made the amp sound like fucking missile attack with bricks attached. Somewhere between the Big Black guitar sound mixed with Gang of Four with this deep girth underneath it. Not sure the best way to explain it, but it was both bassy (without being farty) and glassy with a razor-blade attack. I used it in several bands and always got "whoa- that's fucking cool" compliments from other guitarists.

Ironically, my first year college dorm mate (a guitar student dork) was in some prog cover band, and he dug it enough to play through it in lieu of his shiny new Marshall JCMwhatever..

I have no idea where this amp is now, and searches on Google for "VT140" or Vibration Technology prove fruitless. I did find this, however: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-242141.html[/url]

sack of smashed assholes wrote:dumb question:
but what is the main difference between tube, solid, and valve state in sound. I know people swear by tubes because there warm, classic, and natural sounding. I have a tube amp myself, that I like ver much. but what can valve, or solid state provided over tube, and vice versa?