Has anybody tried this with a Boogie 20/20 power amp?.......

[rlord1974]

I love tubes. Can't get enough of them. But, as we all know, tube power amps of a decent power rating (i.e., at least 50 watts per side) tend to be back breakers.

Ok, so here's my thought.

Has anybody ever tried the following in their rack set-up.....

• Preamp into a Mesa 20/20 (or Marshall EL84 20/20)
  Speaker outputs on Mesa 20/20 to dummy load
  Slave out on Mesa 20/20 to a solid state power amp. For argument's sake, and keeping in mind the overall aim of reducing total rig weight, let's say we're using a Marshall 8008 2x80 watt power amp
  Speaker outputs on Marshall 8008 to cabinet

Theoretically, this set-up would allow you to pin the Mesa 20/20 to get a real nice power tube breakup going for a killer crunch tone, and then send that tone to your solid state power amp to get amplified at a higher dB level. The benefits being: (1) less total weight in your rack; and (2) less cost of replacing tubes, as the Mesa 20/20 (or Marshall EL84 20/20) uses fewer and less expensive tubes than, say, a Mesa 2:90 or other higher rated tube power amp.

Totally a random thought. Just wondering if anyone has ever tried something like this and what the results were?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

All those items will add up to the weight of just having a good tube power amp.

Just get a rack with wheels.

 

[Sixtonoize]

The classic EVH setup (more or less)

I'd think that the combination of the 20/20 and SS power amp would weight just as much as a decent 50/50 all-tube amp, though.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I did basically the same thing with the 2:90 in my rack. But I just used one side for the dummy and the other side for the cabs.

From the top:
Furman power conditioner/hi voltage-lo voltage shutdown surge protector
AKG wireless unit
Korg tuner
Rocktron compressor/noise reduction
Mesa TriAxis tube preamp
Rocktron noise gate
Alesis Quadra-verb effects unit
Digitech harmonizer
ADA Digitizer4 effects unit
Alesis Quadra-verb II effects unit
Rane mixer
BBE 362nr sonic maximizer/noise reduction
Palmer dummy load/line out
Mesa 2:90 stereo tube power amp

Basically the signal goes like this:
Guitar > wireless > Rocktron compressor/noise reduction > Mesa TriAxis preamp > Rocktron gate > left channel of Mesa 2:90 power amp > left speaker out > Palmer dummy load/line out > second channel of the Rocktron gate > Rane mixer
>Alesis Quadra-verb > Rane mixer
>Digitech harmonizer > Rane mixer
>ADA Digitizer4 > Rane mixer
>Alesis Quadra-verb II > Rane mixer
Rane mixer > BBE 362nr > right channel of Mesa 2:90 > what ever speaker cabs I decide to use.

This set up allows me to send a dry, no-effect signal all the way through to the power amp which is run hot to the point of tube compression/coloration, but not overdriven, to get my base tones (clean or overdriven). This gives the ability to get pushed tube tone at any volume level. The Palmer dummy load sends a low/line level signal to the Rane mixer. The Rane mixer runs a separate send of the dry, no-effect signal to each of the effect units in parallel and mixes it back into the original signal as needed. All effects are set to full wet. So I always have the original tone as the base for my sound in the Rane mixer with each effect mixed in separately. Then the final mix goes through the BBE 362nr for a final tone tweak and noise suppression, then through the right amp channel to power my cabs at what ever volume I want.

The tuner gets a separate feed from either the compressor or preamp, just don't remember which, so it's not in the signal chain. Sometimes I bypass the wireless and just plug in. Everything is controlled by an Art Ultrafoot midi controller. All sounds are one stomp, with the exception of the ADA Digitizer4 which I control on the fly as needed for some add-on effects from it's own footswitch.

Seems complicated, but it's really straight forward and done correctly.

 

[guitarslinger]

Do you need my Mesa 20/20?

I'll cut you a good deal?

It has a lot of tubey character. It sounds great, but it's not loud enough for me.

 

[rlord1974]

I'd think that the combination of the 20/20 and SS power amp would weight just as much as a decent 50/50 all-tube amp, though.

All those items will add up to the weight of just having a good tube power amp.

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

- A Mesa 20/20 weighs less than 20 lbs (we'll say 20 lbs for argument's sake)
- A Marshall 8008 probably weighs around 30 lbs.

As such, total weight would probably be approximately 50 pounds.

The additional benefit of such a rig would be that you have 2 power amps on hand - in the event one dies, you can quickly rewire your rig and continue with a gig!

 

[Sixtonoize]

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

Well, that's your problem.
Most tube power amps don't weight nearly that much.
I think my Carvin T100 is something like 30 and change.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

Well, that's your problem.
Most tube power amps don't weight nearly that much.
I think my Carvin T100 is something like 30 and change.

But those 9100/9200 power amps sound really good.

 

[Motorpud]

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

Well, that's your problem.
Most tube power amps don't weight nearly that much.
I think my Carvin T100 is something like 30 and change.

But those 9100/9200 power amps sound really good.

Yeah they do, I've had both and they're killer poweramps

 

[Sixtonoize]

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

Well, that's your problem.
Most tube power amps don't weight nearly that much.
I think my Carvin T100 is something like 30 and change.

But those 9100/9200 power amps sound really good.

I agree...but it was exactly ONE practice before I put my 9100 in the SPAM forum.
I don't need for my amp rack to weigh more than my girlfriend.

And he's looking at getting rid of the 9200 anyway, so it's a bit of a non-issue.
And IMO, a 50+50 power amp has a better chance of sounding like the 9200 than a 20+20 amp into a load and into an additional power amp.

 

[rlord1974]

I am currently using an early model Marshall 9200 (100 watts per side). This thing weighs 73 lbs. Crazy heavy.

Well, that's your problem.

No, that's not my problem.....

But those 9100/9200 power amps sound really good.

Yeah they do, I've had both and they're killer poweramps

THAT'S my problem!

I do love the Marshall power amp, but it's impossible to lift my rack by myself and I absolutely refuse to split it into 2 separate rack cases!

I guess I could do the same thing with my Marshall 9200 that Death by Uber is doing with his Mesa 2:90, but:
- it doesn't solve the weight problem;
- I still have a power amp that takes $300 to retube; and
- I don't have a completely separate power amp if the Marshall goes down.....

Still interested in hearing if anyone has actually done with the Mesa 20/20 or Marshall EL84 20/20 what I had outlined in my OP and, if so, what their thoughts were.....

Thanks!

 

[rlord1974]

Do you need my Mesa 20/20?

I'll cut you a good deal?

Thanks, Gene. I'll definitely keep it in mind and I know where to find you!

Knowing me, I'll probably end up doing something completely counter to what I am asking in my OP, such as picking up a 4U VHT 2150 or some other monster of the sort (although, I believe even the 2150 would shave 20 lbs off the weight of my current Marshall 9200.....)