looking for a tube amp head

Dale McPherson · From: Morristown, Tennessee, USA

I have an interest in buying a tube amp HEAD only and I am seeking advice pro/cons for the various ones available. Milkman, Little Walter, Dr Z etc. If you have used one, send me a PM telling me your likes and dislikes. i am looking for honesty and not endorsements. Sure, if a company is giving me an amp, I have to say it is the best. Even tho I may have never played thru another brand. One thing that is very important in my search is that I do not like a loud hum. I have been told that all tube amps hum... Maybe and maybe not. Any help/advice is appreciated.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Dale,
I've been playing through a 67 Blackface Bassman head that I modified to the more desirable AB165 circuit configuration. I also converted the 2nd channel to be an effects loop. You can adjust the send and return amplitude out to an external effects unit. It works well.
I changed the 2nd channel tone control to be a mid control for the first which I think is essential for PSG. All controls operate on the first channel now. (I'm an EE BTW)
I recapped it a few years ago when I did the circuit conversion. Cosmetically I'd give it a 9.7 out of 10 which darned good for a head its' age. It's got mojo!
I also have a cabinet I made with JBL D130 in and matching tolex/speaker grill/width. It sounds pretty darn good with my PSG and looks great too.
Generally, class A single ended output tube amps are prone to hum. The Fender Bassman is a 50W class AB push pull whereby the nature of the output transformer tends to cancel the ripple on the power supply. It has very little hum.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

I forgot to mention. I'm putting it up for sale shortly here on the forum. I'd give you first dibs. In respect for the forum rules we can talk price via PM rather than here in the pedal steel section.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Well I have Dr Z Maz 38 , Love it but it may not be the cats meow for Steel, its good , but others are better. Its a 4 x EL84 amp and has that growl that comes with El84's. NO its not for sale !

For Steel , my own opinion,

Bassman 50 watter, 2 x 6L6- no reverb of course

or Dual Showman Reverb , 4 x 6L6 if you desire or need that extra PUSH of clean air. ( Twin reverb territory)

Certainly other amps are excellent, but I migrate to these.

And yeah, I've owned them and sold them, don' t ask why. Wish I had them both back !
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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I have both a Dual Showman (non-reverb) and a Twin Reverb that's in a head cabinet, so it's the exact same thing as a Dual Showman Reverb.

The non-reverb head is quieter at idle, if that a big factor for you. The Twin head has the tube driven reverb circuit and that adds some noise.

The non-reverb head with a Wet Reverb pedal is pretty fantastic sounding, but the Twin Reverb head is even better.
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Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

A quad of 6L6 power tubes as in a Duel Showman or Twin Reverb would be a good choice but a pair of 6L6 power tubes sound nice at a lower volume. The EL-84 power tubes have a chime with six string guitar but may not be as robust with pedal steel. Here is my 1976 Fender Duel Showman Reverb.

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Norman Evans · From: Tennessee

PM sent

Dale McPherson · From: Morristown, Tennessee, USA

Thanks to everyone that has sent info or posted. I have had great response. Keep sending info. Seems most tube amps do have some hum. May be hard to find exactly what will make me happy.

Olli Haavisto · From: Jarvenpaa,Finland

I recently bought a `66 Showman head that was serviced 2 years ago. Complete cap job etc with quality parts. Quiet as a mouse.
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Olli Haavisto
Finland

Tom Wolverton · From: Carpinteria, CA

I have a â€˜64 Showman head and a Milkman half & half head. Both of these heads sound great and are fairly quiet. The Milkman is lighter, but it isnâ€™t all tube. Either of these heads work well at gigs with pedal steel.
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John Limbach · From: Billings, Montana, USA

Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master. EL-34 based head with massive transformers. Significantly overdesigned.

Gabriel Edell · From: Hamilton, Ontario

I never hear about anyone using a HIWATT. I would think they would work really well for steel. They get ridiculously loud before they distort. The reason Pete Townsend is deaf.
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GFI S-10 P U, Moyo Volume, Fender Steel King, Fender 5F4 Super-Amp

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

How much power do you need? Is it for pedal steel, guitar, lap steel, digeridoo? I don't see how anyone can give an informed opinion without knowing the requirements. Sheesh! Rolling Eyes

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I had an original HiWatt DR-103. By far the loudest, cleanest, most hi-fi guitar amp I've ever played. It would rattle the windows almost to the point of breaking on 2-3. I sold it before I ever started playing pedal steel because I could never use it - it was just too damned loud. A friend still has it, I'll never pry it out of his fingers.

I agree on needing to know the intended application. But knowing that Dale is a pedal steel player, I think that gives us some idea. E.g., see this thread on Bassman heads - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2884472

To me, it's pretty tough to beat a good drip-edge Dual Showman Reverb Head for clean pedal steel, up to a certain volume point. It's just Twin Reverb guts in a head-only cabinet. Or a Showman/Dual-Showman no reverb if you don't want reverb or are OK adding it externally. But a Bassman head can sound great too, but just don't have the same headroom.

On any tube head, maintenance is critical. Aged electrolytic capacitors are the source of a lot of noise, and my experience is that if a tube head is carefully tightened up with good components to replace bad or out-of-spec ones, and I roll some tubes to get ones that sound good and are quiet, then tube amps are, to my ears, more quiet than most solid-state amps. In fact, I have had a bunch of solid-state amps that have a constant hiss to them - not a big deal, but I think that's inherent in a lot of solid-state designs.

If you're really fussy about noise, probably best to listen to the amp personally. I think it's hard to assess minute details about noise, the actual sound, and so on, from a distance.

Gabriel Edell · From: Hamilton, Ontario

Also jumping in on the tube amp hum thing. High gain tube amps with tons of preamp distortion can be pretty noisy. Tube amps with multiple channel switching and other features that require the amps to have lots of relays and other additional circuitry can be noisy as well.

But a properly designed and serviced tube amp that's designed to be used clean should be pretty much silent.

I have a tweed Fender from the late 50s that's dead quiet, even when cranked up. I also have a Gibson "Gibsonette" that's a dual-single ended amp. Single-ended amps are supposed to have a steady 60-cycle hum but I accidentally left mine on for a week and never noticed because it's so quiet.
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Dale McPherson · From: Morristown, Tennessee, USA

Thanks guys. I had numerous people reply via PM that owned most of the amps that I have an interest in. Many gave very good descriptions of the amps compared to each other. That is what i was looking for. Thanks to all who replied.

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

Top of the line is Little Walter.

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Fred Rogan · From: Birmingham, AL USA

I have a 68 Twin Head with blackface mods and a Dr Z Surgical Steel. I think the Dr Z has better EQ and weighs about 20 lbs. less than the Twin head. I find myself going to the Dr Z more often especially if I am just playing steel. Yes, there is a little hiss, not really a hum, but if you are playing with a sound man he can take that out. If there is no sound man you ain't gonna hear no hiss anyway. And, I would say the Surgical Steel is louder, cleaner and warmer than the Twin.
Good hunting!
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Show Pro SD10 guitars
Milkman Amps

Fred Rogan · From: Birmingham, AL USA

Forgot to mention that the Dr Z Surgical Steel can accommodate a 4, 8 or 16 ohm load. Pretty neat if you have different cabs/speakers.
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Milkman Amps

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