Must have gear?

feylya wrote:

€50 for a tech to install them

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Do not pay anywhere near this ammount. All you have to do is unclip the old ones and shove these in! As far as I know, that amp is fixed bias. You don't need to go to a tech at all. Thats like paying €50 for someone to change a lightbulb for you. Those valves will be perfect anyway, he'd mention it otherwise. No need to get them replaced really.

Should have the cash next week, all going to plan!

If all goes to plan and I get my nomad I'll be shouting the praises of Chris for many a moon to come.

Eoin Madsen wrote:

Repy to HusseinSarhan:

The companies you mention are not mainstream, well-publicised brands, like Mesa, Marhsall, or Fender (except Ashdown and SWR to an extent) which was part of the point I was making. Even with that said, I challenge you to find anything in any of those guitar cabs that couldn't be reproduced by a regular carpenter or a semi-serious hobbiest with materials available in Woodies or B&Q. You're right, Weber make great speaker designs - but you won't find Weber's in a Mesa 4x12, unless you put them there yourself.

You seem to contradict yourself in your comments about valve production. I'm not speculating as to the reason why valves are no longer of the same quality. All I'm saying is that they aren't. And it is a fact. You cannot presently get a modern valve which will handle the same plate voltage as a decent NOS of the same type. And I guess the fact that it's really because quality is not profitable says a lot really!

Personally, I don't go into the whole vintage thing, but I've recorded a lot of amps and I've opened quite a few cabs. Digital amp technology is coming on very slowly, and it's most certainly not at the point where it can genuinely reproduce the sound of any given valve amp. Don't look at the guitar industry in and of itself, look at it as part of the music tech industry. Compared to everyone else, the guitar market is slow to embrace new technology. And I think there's a misconception that a company like Mesa are on the cutting edge, just because they don't suck like Marshall do.

There's €500 in the difference between a Mesa Single Rectifier and a Dual Rectifier. A soldering iron, solder, 8-pin valve socket, 5AR4 valve or Weber Copper Cap, SPDT switch and some wire will cost you €60. I seriously hope there's €440 worth of something else going into the Dual Recto head as well.

Sorry about the slow reply, I didnt see your post until now.

Fristly, you can get modern valves that will tolerate the same plate voltages as their NOS rivals. Just not from all brands. On the whole I agree with your points that old valves are better, but you say they ALL are. Not true in my opinion. In about 65% of cases I'd say that NOS beat their modern competitors. They are not expensive because of quality... just rarity! I don't think I said that modern production valves weren't good quality nowadays. I said they had to cut costs by moving operations to the east, labour costs etc. I think they are of the same quality really as in the construction etc., you just get nicer varieties in NOS. Some stuff just isnt made. And in many cases a NOS valve of the same type as a modern equiveleant will sound nicer because of some extra part or spec in it. They last just as long and have just as low noise. Its more about a difference in tone than quality of construction. But yeah, NOS are not the be all and end all by any stretch.

I never said the digital technology is going to sound like a valve amp but I can't tell whats valve and whats not on most pro records to be honest. A lot of the time its digital. I can tell the difference when in the room though. I just meant its progress is noteworthy, not amazingly fast. Although in the last 8 years it really has been quite quick. I don't think the whole point of digital **** is to emulate valve gear, but rather to have a slection of varied usable tones instantly of good quality. Sounds good, but I feel like that they are mistaken when they say it sounds "Just like valves!!" in some adds. On record maybe.. in real life not really. The point you make about the guitar industry not accepting new stuff id kind of what I was getting at there, maybe I went off track.

All those parts you mentioned will only add another valve rectifier if you have lots of experience time and money to spend on the neccesary equipment. It would also not really have any benefits. The Mesa Dual rectifier has 50 watts extra (the same with the tripple rect). The preamps are the same but you have to change the output end and other major components to accomodate the extra wattage. This costs the extra cash. They have to market and distribute the other thing. Mesa are at the forefront of valve amplification in te mainstream as it stands. I don't think Marshall really are trying too much for that ... well the Mode 4 did I suppose and didn't do too well for what I heard.



I dont think that a semi-serious hoppyist could reproduce a 1X18 cab for the same cost as the SWR and it be better than it really... they are proffesionals for a reason. They could have a good bash at it, it would proably take severla attempts and cost way more until they got it the same or better. Anyway you are probably right that a carpenter with a bit of skill could make most cabs but how many could design them? You never find cutting edge stuff in the mainstream to the same extent as in lower production stuff. Just look at HiFi really. All the lower output european stuff is, in alot of ways, at the forefront.

Well thats the way I se it anyway.