[ChrisPcritter]

Cool I understand all that and was just wonder if people had gone through amps and cabs to see what out there kept the bass tight and was actually just thinking of another amp that might be a smaller rig that works great and keeps the bass tight. I will say the drawback to the sub 2 412 and head is that you have to move all that.. I just sold a 5150 II full stack and an extra head and was thinking of trying an Engl powerball, a Bogner Ecstasy, a Vht, and whatever else was recommended as it's not about price too much, I'm just on the hunt for a great smaller setup. I pretty much agree with all that was said and was just trying to find out what others were using that had tried to find a great 7 string setup. To answer the question,, does the sub mess with the bass... It can if you're not careful. But as long as you keep your ego in check and don't try to overwhelm the bass it works great. Sub 2 is pretty much overkill as I will probably try to get the K312 that has 2 vintage 30's and a 300 watt sub...I still have a 5150 combo that I think works well... I may try out different cabs as well.... Thanks for the info...Chris

[DSS3]

The first thing that came into my mind when reading the thread title was:

"That's like asking which vagina is best for a penis."


That said, any amp with a tight low end can be made to work, but too loose and it probably won't work well for the low tuning.

I personally find EL34's pretty shit for rhythm playing below about C#.

[MetalMike]

Originally Posted by DSS3

"That's like asking which vagina is best for a penis."

And my answer to both questions would be try as many as you can until you find the one you like best.

[ChrisPcritter]

And my answer to both questions would be try as many as you can until you find the one you like best.

I think I like that answer the best...

[Popsyche]

Originally Posted by noodles

6550 > EL34

The only reason they are not the standard Marshall power tube is because they are too fragile, making them prone to breakage if you jostle them around too much.

That ain't quite how I heard it! The reason for the switch to 6550's was that there was no ready supply of EL34's over here stateside at the time, so the distributor had them set up for the 6550, which was a common US industrial tube from that era. They are much cleaner until they breakup, but boy when they do!

I have owned both types of amps, and the classic late 70's early 80's Marshall sound was those nasty 6550's. Later, they switched to the 5881, which is a fancy Euro name for a 6L6.

Also 6550's are tough as shit! Big mean !

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

I liked the Marshall DSL100 w/ good tubes into a Mesa 4x12. Definitely an amp that when cranked sounds awesome for 7-strings or metal in general.

this is one of the few times i agree with you, i took the superstrat up to guitar center, granted it wasn't a mesa cab it was a marshall 1960 slant cab... but i plugged it into a jcm2000 dsl100, and proceeded to get my face torn off. it sounded like the amp was made for the guitar, it was just too perfect. i've always loved the jcm2000's, it was the only amp that i tried that actually made my UV sound acceptable to my ears, but with the x2n7's driving it, man it was orgasmic.

[starsnuffer]

It's really a matter of taste.

There is no "best amp", but there are certianly amps that do not handle the bottm end well.

Generally, I find amps using EL34s to be flubby on the low end. 6L6's or KT88s seem to work much better.

My bogner ecstacy 101B tends to get muddy on the low end, but it has KT77s in it which are really just a hotrodded EL34. I should conver it to 6L6's and see what happens.

My VHT GP3 handles the bottom end great, but the VHT sound is a love or hate thing. It's a very tight, dry crunch that some people mistake for not having a lot of gain. . . when really they mean it doesn' thave a lot of saturation. For comparison, a ubershall has tons of saturation, wheras a VH4 has tons of gain. You hear all the notes in a chord even at high gain, and some people don't like this.

Then there are the amps that are the standards for detuned and 7 strings:

Peavy 5150 (all the varients)
Framus cobra
Mesa rectumfriers
Engl powerball
Knucklehead

Just plan stuff until you find what you like. Also remember that what may sound good in the store or in your bedroom often will record completly different and sound even different loud and live in a mix.

-W

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by Popsyche

I have owned both types of amps, and the classic late 70's early 80's Marshall sound was those nasty 6550's. Later, they switched to the 5881, which is a fancy Euro name for a 6L6.

Actually, the 5881 is a Mil-Spec ("Ruggedized") 6L6. Soldano uses them in the SLO.

[Popsyche]

You are correct, sir! Fancy JAN number!

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by Popsyche

You are correct, sir! Fancy JAN number!

They do sound different, though.