Too much amp for me?

[Pickngrin]

I've got a Traynor Reverb Master (50 watt, 4 x 10) beast that I scored awhile back in a thrift shop. It's a really, really loud amp, and sounds great, but fact is that I don't play it often, and it's not something that I'd want to carry around (heavy). I usually play through my silverface Champ or my Musicmaster Bass -- a die-hard tube guy. I just bought one of those Vox VT30s, and the thing is pretty great. I have a sort of garage band situation going now, but I don't play out. I'm thinking about selling the Traynor and putting the money toward some new equipment but I wonder if I'll regret it down the road. I'm thinking that between the two Fenders and the new Vox, my amp needs are probably covered (but the coolness factor of the Traynor...)
What would you do?

 

[marnold]

I agree with your thinking. 50W 4x10 is overkill even if you are playing out a lot!

 

[Spudman]

If you were a touring pro then the amp would probably be fine. You might regret selling it down the road because those are pretty nice amphs aren't they? Do you see your situation ever changing where you would be playing out often and on larger stages with a heavy band? If you do then keep it.

Still, in a lot of gigging situations I've discovered that a good 1x12 tube amp can cover just about everything and they are easier to carry. If you need more swat for a big stage bring or rent a cabinet to go with the smaller amph.

 

[deeaa]

If it were any modern type, SS or such amp, I'd say drop the thing, but a quick google seems to make it an all-tube and not only that, a p-t-p amp. In which case I would NOT sell it but keep; those things can withstand a nuclear apocalypse, literally. You might never happen to own one again.

50W is a bit much in tube amps for many a situation, but it depends on a lot of factors. My Ceria is 36W with an option to run in 18W and 18 is just way too little. 36W is pretty much perfect, I play it the loudest it goes without starting to sound ugly and it's just perfect volume for playing in a rather large band. I use a 4x12" with old 25-35W speakers which probably aren't the most efficient - it'd be much louder with, say a V30 or some other modern speaker setup, but I like the soft midrangey low-wattage type much better.

That said, I have dreamed of also getting a 50W marshall head to use just for leads...because at 36W I really can't get my leads loud enough when everybody else is also playing at full volume. As I said, it depends on the sound you want and the speakers you want to use. I could get my 15W amp loud enough for leads, sure, but at that point the sound was far from perfect IMO.

Anyway, stick with it is my feeling...get some inefficient speakers for it, or like maybe an extra 1x12" or something...OR, remove it from the chassis and build/buy it or have/make the old chassis into a head format, which would make it much easier to use with different cabs, use an attenuator...the last one is what I'd do myself since I love to tinker stuff like that, I once converted a 20W Marshall combo into a head...

I don't think 50W is too much, it's more like just the perfect power rating...you may need some tricks often to keep it quiet enough, but when you need power it's gonna be enough for everything.

 

[deeaa]

BTW another thing to consider is getting a few tube adapters, TAD ToneBone or something, and run the amp with EL84's istead of 34 and thus drop the power to like 9W per tube, in the case of your amp to 18W...

 

[Tig]

Perhaps...

 

[Pickngrin]

I appreciate your input, guys. Dee, absolutely, vintage all tube, point-to-point wiring, that's why I'm hesitant. But even if I start playing more, outside of basement/practice settings, I can mic my other amps through the PA, right?

 

[deeaa]

I appreciate your input, guys. Dee, absolutely, vintage all tube, point-to-point wiring, that's why I'm hesitant. But even if I start playing more, outside of basement/practice settings, I can mic my other amps through the PA, right?

Sure...then, if you start thinking along those lines, you could just use a POD to the PA direct as well...or maybe one of those MIDI guitars instead...and/or why not just swap to playing keyboards and need not worry about string changes...or, hell, why not just program a machine to do the playing and concentrate on rapping over it...but, hey - I guess I just arrived at what most modern music is these days ;-)

Seriously. Don't part with it. I shall shun thee for not being true to guitarist ideals no more I use D/I devices quite happily and will use more and more I suspect, but I refuse to ever let go of my Ceria and most likely buy a 50W all-tube head/amp to go along with it, even if I never would use one live. It is and always will be the pinnacle of sound and class for guitar to mate it with an all-tube p-t-p-amp, no matter how impractical. Don't forget that.

So don't sell it. You will regret it some day, that you can count on. Or, if you sell it, sell it only when you get an insane price for it, meaning multiple what you paid and enough to buy a bunch of amps better suited. Then it could be sensible. But don't just swap it for some mediocre china-built sorry excuses for amps no matter how much better those might be in actual stage use for you at this point.

You will regret it if you do.

 

[Pickngrin]

Hehehe. Done and done. I've liquidated all of my stringed and tubed gear and am now sporting some major bling around my neck and rapping away.
KnowwhutI'msayyyin'?

Your points are well taken, Dee. Re: price - I paid $50 (yes, 50 for this thing and replaced two blown speakers with Webers ($30 x 2), so I've got just over $100 in this beauty. The market value is much much higher than that. But I hear you... and have similar thinking, which is why I was ambivalent about this and posted in the first place.

 

[oldguy]

IMO you should keep it...........that amp was kind of Traynor's version of the Super Reverb, but had tons of clean headroom.
I'd guess having a PTP version built nowadays would run around 2 grand or more. It's a keeper, at least it would be for me, unless I was in dire need of money.

 

[deeaa]

In all honesty, if it _really_ would fetch 2K and considering what you've invested in...well, I could imagine selling it towards some much-needed gear. Only right now I can't think of any gear I'd need, though LOL...but if you do desperately need some other gear...yeah, it'd be a lucrative business move after all. Hell for 2K I could get another, perhaps more usable p-t-p amp like my 36 watter and still have over 1K for some other stuff left over.

Still, you'd regret it...I promise...in another 10 years it could be fetching 4K or more...

 

[oldguy]

In all honesty, if it _really_ would fetch 2K and considering what you've invested in...well, I could imagine selling it towards some much-needed gear. Only right now I can't think of any gear I'd need, though LOL...but if you do desperately need some other gear...yeah, it'd be a lucrative business move after all. Hell for 2K I could get another, perhaps more usable p-t-p amp like my 36 watter and still have over 1K for some other stuff left over.

Still, you'd regret it...I promise...in another 10 years it could be fetching 4K or more...

Well, the 2 grand was a guess at what it would cost to have a new clone built with the same features, 45watt, 4x10's, reverb, etc.
not what the amp would bring, because Traynor's not as well known as, say, Fender.
A Fender Super Reverb in good/excellent condition could fetch 2 grand, depending on the year it was built, and I think most hand wired PTP clones are going for around that if you have a new one built, so that's what I based the amount on, a replacement cost for a similar amp.

 

[Pickngrin]

Gotcha. Well, these things don't fetch 2K (it would have been gone yesterday if so). I've seen prices in the $500-600 ballpark online. You guys are persuading me to keep it. I'm going to be moving in the near future, and I'm hoping/planning that my next house will have space for a real music/jamming space, in which case this thing could be more useful.

 

[deeaa]

I paid ~800€ for my hand-built ptp Ceriatone including freight from Malaysia where Nik builds them...I haven't checked lately but a complete bassman runs for something like 600 plus freight...and he uses only absolute best parts and caps etc. and, really, they're built quite impeccably. Had I just ordered it as a kit and w/o chassis it would have cost but a few hundred dollars.

 

[oldguy]

Yeah, I have one of Niks amphs..........an Overtone Special. He does real quality builds. Point to point wiring is not being replaced just yet, I think circuit boards have their place, it's just PTP is so much nicer to work on. The big name makers will mostly stay with the PCBs to save money though.
There's a guy here in the U.S. that does builds in his spare time....... he'll build up a Bassman w/ a second channel like a JCM 800, then a third stage like............well, whatever you want, really. All handwired PTP stuff, too. You just have to know what you want when you order it.

 

[kiteman]

Keep the amp and get a hand truck.

There, problem solved. :dance

 

[Pickngrin]

Keep the amp and get a hand truck.

There, problem solved. :dance

Your pragmatism is greatly appreciated

 

[kiteman]

Your pragmatism is greatly appreciated

You're welcome sir.