Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

O.K. I'm recording last night and my Crate VTX200S kind of like self imploded after only 2 years of use. Channel 3 lost all gain and now sounds like channel 2. I don't like effects or pedals as it tends to cover-up what the player is actually doing. I also have an old Ampeg VL1001 head that needs re-tubed and re-biased, but it'll cost me $1,000.00 to do so. Both amps were great for a short time until they died.

The question is: In your experiences, what is the best metal amp out there that can pretty much do it all? I've been seriously considering a new Krankenstein amp & cab. I need something that'll stand up to crazy metal, speed, and abuse (from always moving around). Please help!!!

I had been lead to believe Crate amps were built like tanks.
Maybe Shredd6 can help you to rebuild her.

Marshall, (if they were good enough for Blue Cheer, then they're good enough for any metalhead)

O.K. I'm recording last night and my Crate VTX200S kind of like self imploded after only 2 years of use. Channel 3 lost all gain and now sounds like channel 2. I don't like effects or pedals as it tends to cover-up what the player is actually doing. I also have an old Ampeg VL1001 head that needs re-tubed and re-biased, but it'll cost me $1,000.00 to do so. Both amps were great for a short time until they died.

The question is: In your experiences, what is the best metal amp out there that can pretty much do it all? I've been seriously considering a new Krankenstein amp & cab. I need something that'll stand up to crazy metal, speed, and abuse (from always moving around). Please help!!!

$1,000 to re-tube and re-bias an amp???? Where did you hear that??? Who's tryin' to rip you off dude!!!! An amp tech can re-bias an amp pretty easily. I had one done for $50!! My Mesa Dual Rectifier has 11-tubes and it cost me $200 to re-tube it with NOS tubes!!!

Uh... I mean..

How much for the Ampeg??




Seriously man. Let me know what's in your Ampeg. How many preamp tubes, how many power tubes? I'll help you turn that thing into a Metal FREAK! Just by tube selection. And you can have it re-biased by just about any tech for around $50 after you re-tube it. Ampeg makes killer amps.

Dude, I just checked out a website called "schematic heaven" and your model wasn't on there. None on ebay either. Then I found a really interesting discussion on another forum, that you might want to see.

You know what that means don't you?


How much for the Ampeg??





Talking about Zakk Wylde's rig:

"nope..

he used a Ampeg VL-1001 100w head.. not the VL-1002.. and with NOS GE6550As in it...

here's a pic of the *exact* head itself.. as confirmed by Lee Jackson.. there are less than 700 single channel VLs made.. my VL-1001 is the first one produced, from the serial number and parts dating.. Lee Jackson helped in finding out about my amp through Ampeg.. i have yet to get a letter from ZW about it though.. Ampeg is less than helpful now, i think due to the sale of SLM to the new owners..

this head was given directly to Zakk Wylde, he was endorsing Ampeg at the time.. the first 30 heads were given to endorsing artists - George Lynch -Akira Takahashi and others.. Ampeg killed the VL-1001 due to the VL-1002 dual channel.. the VL-1001 was in production for less than a couple of months..

i bought the head from a person who bought it from a recording engineer that worked with Zakk Wylde.. he got it from ZW as a gift..
(the same person that i bought Satriani's JS-4 stage guitar from..) "

Got it from this forum:

http://www.deanguitars.com/forum/viewto ... 4e50a6aa36

IN PRODUCTION FOR LESS THAN A COUPLE OF MONTHS!!!!:shock:

Get ready 9.. We're gonna build you a fat metal machine that's really rare.

Unless you wanna trade it for a Marshall 8100..

Yeah I know all about how rare that head is and that's why I will never part with it, but it's a bitch to find someone around here that knows what they're doing and that I can trust. I bought this thing brand new back in the early 90's when I was in Hanover Fist and it totally ruled! Then I did a side project with some other dudes in a Megadeth tribute band called Skin O My Teeth and we were playing at a place that had shitty wiring. I kept noticing my volume getting weaker until I looked back and saw black smoke bellowing from the poor head. That's the first time that it was re-tubed with Sovtek's and re-biased. It lasted several years again until I was just going over some ridiculous arpeggios that I came up with on my own (that's where "9" comes from because I like to add a 9th to the top and bottom of a 5 string arpeggio). Then I went out in a panic the next day and bought that Crate. It never sounded that good from the start, but it was something to use none the less. Now I'm screwed and I'm going crazy.

This dude from Erie told me about $1,000.00 to get the job done on the Ampeg. He's not the one that did it last time because I was in State College at that time. I really miss the sound that the Ampeg was able to project, but I need something right now so I can keep playing because music is my life and the piano only goes so far. I could break out my old alto sax and tear that up, but I'm too lazy. Metal's where it's at for me bro.

Any help would be greatly appreciated man!!! I was just looking at the Fender Metalhead head and cab for something for now. I could have it tomorrow, but I still need to get my old standby going again and then I'll retire whatever I get until the Ampeg needs re-tubed again. I really want to put up some of my neo-classical stuff on here for you dudes to check out. I think you guys will really appreciate it. Lots and lots of circular and sweep picked arpeggios and some monster string skipping as well all with a Paganini/Bach kind of feel but definetly metalish. I'm going to have to go to my buds place tonight to play before something gets broken...

Thanks brother!!!!!!!!!

Somebody get that man a FIX! STAT!

Thanks brother! I think that I got that FIX! I called my local music store in Erie, PA. called World Of Music and the owner said that while I'm waiting for my new head and cab to come in that I could take any used amp in the store to use until they arrive. Kind of feels like a warm homecoming. I couldn't make it in there after work so I stole/borrowed my buddy's practice amp for tonight because he doesn't play that much anyway. I'm going to use it to record the piece that I've mentioned before and put it up tonight. Even though this little thing sucks, it's better than nothing. Music is my drug... On another note Mike (the owner) turned me onto a dude in Erie that he recommended highly to re-tube my Ampeg head so I called him and he told me $850.00 complete. Thank god that these people are so nice here even though I can't find the musicians that I want...Rock The F!#k On!!!!!!!!!

Man that is some unusuall customer service. Did you mention what it was you ordered?

Thanks brother! I think that I got that FIX! I called my local music store in Erie, PA. called World Of Music and the owner said that while I'm waiting for my new head and cab to come in that I could take any used amp in the store to use until they arrive. Kind of feels like a warm homecoming. I couldn't make it in there after work so I stole/borrowed my buddy's practice amp for tonight because he doesn't play that much anyway. I'm going to use it to record the piece that I've mentioned before and put it up tonight. Even though this little thing sucks, it's better than nothing. Music is my drug... On another note Mike (the owner) turned me onto a dude in Erie that he recommended highly to re-tube my Ampeg head so I called him and he told me $850.00 complete. Thank god that these people are so nice here even though I can't find the musicians that I want...Rock The F!#k On!!!!!!!!!

I'm seriously not understanding why they're asking so much to re-tube your amp. To "re-tube an amp" is literally to plug in a light-bulb. (in fact it's easier. To plug in a light-bulb requires that you use a twisting motion.) And to re-bias an amp takes 1/2 hour tops. It usually costs $50-$60.

You could buy a quad of Telefunken NOS 12ax7's for $200, and a quad of Genalex KT88's for $200. That would be putting the best tubes money can buy in your amp and it would still only come to $400. So they're gonna charge you $450 to plug 'em in and spend a 1/2 hour to re-bias?? I'd freakin laugh in their faces.

(Actually they would be asking more than that! 'Cause I guarantee you they plan on putting low cost modern tubes in your amp, unless you specify otherwise.)

Is there something else going on with it?

You'll have to excuse me Shred9.. I don't really know you or the situation with your amp. So I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I'm just not understanding why they would want so much?? Are there internal parts that are fried?? Cause if all you need is new tubes, and to re-bias, then you would be getting hosed in a BIG, BIG way.

Edit: Nevermind. Link didn't work.

I agree, something smells here. Is the guy driving down to Florida to pick up the tubes or what? $850-1000 you can completely rebuild the amp. Tubes should be no more than $200 or so, bias takes a half hour. Are these shops charging $500 per hour labor??? If you buy the tubes they should bias it for you for under $100. Installing tubes yourself is literally as easy as changing a light bulb, as already noted.

I could look up some info and drive to PA and do it for that...in fact you can look up a little info and bias the amp yourself, if you take notice that it has deadly voltage inside, even turned off, and be very careful. And I mean literally deadly...the filter capacitors hold a charge for months after the amp is shut down, enough to throw you 20 feet and kill you when you hit the other wall. Once you know how to drain them, you can relax, but until then tube amps are deadly. The best rule to remember is one hand in the amp, the other in your back pocket.

But don't pay anyone $850 or more to retube and bias an amp, that's the most outrageous ripoff I've heard of in ages. The original repair bill for my Peavey MX was $180, two tubes replaced and one diode. I can do my Super Reverb myself for around $200 and that's if I don't look for a deal on tubes.

Info is available all over the net, here are just a couple of the many sites with bias info

Duncan Amps
Tube Amp FAQ Also their Tube Amp Debug page is very good for figuring out what's wrong when one goes south.
Aiken Amps

And the list goes on. Just google it, you'll find tons of info and tutorials, just pay attention to the safety warnings.

Thanks alot for the info guys. As I've mentioned before I've always been kind of a "spoiled" guitar player in that all I've ever had to do was play the damn thing and let other people do repairs and the recording for me. Now I'm on my own after many years and feel kind of stupid for not paying attention in the past. I'm not really sure to be honest what else the head needs done, but Mike looked it over and said that there wasn't any of his techs in the store that were qualified to do the repairs that it needs. I'll call him today and ask exactly what the repairs are and then let you guys know. All I know is that it wasn't bellowing black smoke when it died this time like the last time.

I ended up getting the Fender Metalhead head and cab for $1,700.00 from Mike and I'll be heading in today to pick up a loaner amp. That's very nice of him to do that and I definetly won't forget that when he asks something of me.

On another note: I noticed that my uploads are corrupted through the player here so I uploaded them to Mediafire and then re-downloaded them and played them through my monitors, then everything sounded like the actual recording. Sorry guys. I re-upped them here as download only meant to be played through a different player and good speakers. I don't know what was corrupting them, but they were coming through like crap and only half the notes were audible. This way at least they should work correctly. At least I hope so as I'm no recording engineer, just a dumb guitar player that just knows how to play guitar and not much else...

If it was bellowing smoke there may be more wrong than just retubing. Ive never fried a guitar head like that. I have smoked some pa power amps before when we made loops with wiring(dont ask) or hooked up too many speakers. We used to play this one honky tonk (Paleopete knows what Im talking about) and burned up a breaker panel one time, I guess we are lucky the club didnt burn down.

That Ampeg is definitely an amp to fix and keep.

I forgot but a Rivera Knucklehead is a good metal head. They used to make a sub guitar cabinet for the heavy detuners out there. I heard one once and it was thick sounded.

I always think of Dimebag Darrel as one of the heaviest players and he used Randall solid state amps for the basis of his tone. It always sounded like some sort of Marshall to my ears, so I guess the sound is really the player not necessarily the amp, its just easier to get certain sounds with certain amps.

As for my self if you give me enough time and pedals Im going to wind up with the same basic sound no matter what I play on. Just follow the tone you hear in your head and you will be all right.