looking for the perfect tube amp for the axe???....

Javilynch

Javilynch

Inspired
Mesa strategy 400!!

is designed to hear music,p.a, aplications...etc etc,full crystal clear power!you can use the p.a sims,it's the most clear,punchy ,3d ,linear tube power amp that i tried,no colored sound here,pure sound!

i love it with the axe!

i try vht,art sla,engl,marshall and other boogies p.amps...but this is killer!

:!: :!: :!: :!:
 
Javilynch said:
Mesa strategy 400!!

is designed to hear music,p.a, aplications...etc etc,full crystal clear power!you can use the p.a sims,it's the most clear,punchy ,3d ,linear tube power amp that i tried,no colored sound here,pure sound!

i love it with the axe!

i try vht,art sla,engl,marshall and other boogies p.amps...but this is killer!

:!: :!: :!: :!:
Click to expand...

No doubt it's a nice sounding amp. I used to own a Simul 290 and loved it for the clean power it produced.

Downside to both of these amps are they cost a small fortune to re-tube and they weigh a million pounds and use too much space in the rack.
 
Yes that would probably be one of the best tube power amps you could get for the AXE. Very well made with tons of headroom. The 400 or the 395. The weight would be a pain but it might be worth it. That with the AXE would be one killer rig. It must sound amazing. I am jealous. Now you have me thinking about it....
 
I'm using a Mesa Simul 395, which I believe is similar to the Strategy 400. It's sounds unbelievable...even with power amp sims activated on the Ultra. I sometimes go direct into my DAW through Yamaha HS-80m and Blue Sky Media Desk monitors, but prefer the sound of the Mesa into a Diezel 2x12 and Framus 2x12.

I'm also picking up a Rocktron Velocity 250 this week to see how it compares.
 
Webb said:
I'm using a Mesa Simul 395, which I believe is similar to the Strategy 400. It's sounds unbelievable...even with power amp sims activated on the Ultra. I sometimes go direct into my DAW through Yamaha HS-80m and Blue Sky Media Desk monitors, but prefer the sound of the Mesa into a Diezel 2x12 and Framus 2x12.

I'm also picking up a Rocktron Velocity 250 this week to see how it compares.
Click to expand...


My guess is the Velocity won't stack up. I had the new Velocity 300, and, although it was decent for it's size, it was no match for my tube amp (50w per side).
 
The "perfect" tube amp to run the Axe into would be some sort of an audiophile amp with at least 100 watts.

The Axe was designed to very closely model the amps in the Amp Block Type list when the Axe is monitored through a flat full-range transparent neutral linear, whatever you wanna call it, power amp driving either a guitar cabinet (cab sims off) or an FRFR cabinet (cab sims on).
You'll want a power amp with lots of headroom that does not go into clipping at your playing levels.
Most tube power amps are designed for guitar players and do not fit that description.

For me, when playing clean jazz with a dark tone along with relatively loud drummers, a 50 watt tube amp will never have enough headroom.
But for most other people the new Atomic power amps, @ 50 watts and designed to have a flat response, will probably be fine.
Two of the Atomics would probably be fine, even for me on most gigs. But I've done far too many gigs with a 100 watt tube amp that simply couldn't cut it.

Many here claim that the Fryette/VHT power amps sound very good with the Axe too, but they don't appear to be made with audiophile users in mind.
Any other tube power amp made for guitar players will seriously colour the Axe's sound. If you happen to enjoy that colouration then so be it, but the Axe won't really be sounding the way it's been designed to sound if used that way, unless you defeat the Axe's internal tube power amp simulation. I.e. Most folks aren't after the sound of a tube power amp driving another tube power amp, except maybe as a special effect.

IMO
Forget about tubes. A good tube power amp will be very heavy to lug around. Plus you'll have to maintain those tubes.
The Axe was made to get tube tone without needing to use a tube amp.
IMO It does a real good job of this.
 
The cheapest perfect tube power amp would be the Carvin. I picked up an older T100 for $175. Clean power almost the whole way way up the dial means poweramp sims can stay on. Just watch out that it hasn't been modded to break up earlier....
 
i have two mb50,the strategy sounds very similar,but with tons of clean volume for live situation,the mb 50 is not clear at high levels when play clean tones.I use 2 2x12 cabinets.
I have art sla 2,the sound is ok,but something irreal,2d sound,i'll use it for backup. :mrgreen:
 
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