Inexpensive tube gear you love?

[Thebassist]

Howdy y'all.

Looks like we're at the digital/analog crossroads again. Vintage is in. Sparkly is out. Unfortunately, many of us bought into the DAW craze 100%, myself included, and threw out the baby with the bathwater in our rush to say "yes" to clients who care more about a Digidesign logo than any other standard.

Today I was thinking about some tube gear I have that has become essential to the way I make things "warm" for clients, and I realized I got several pieces for extremely cheap, by slutz standards.

So, here's my little list of inexpensive tube gear that takes the edge off some 0's and 1's around here. This discussion is of course not limited to tube, or cheap...


*Anthony Demaria tube DI wonderful on synths
*recently acquired SPL Charisma very good for somethings, especially warming up "virtual" anything
* Modified Art Pro Vla yeah some people hate em but for the money I just love it!


Bring on the lists! What tube (or SS) gear is making your clients happy without breaking your bank?
J

ps I decided not to post this in Low End because my own slutiness was thrown off today thinking about putting a 2,000 dollar mic through an Art compressor. And being happy with the results! What are you shocked to see in your signal path? Good shock, of course.

[Mike Tholen]

Telefunken V72s or V76s
Tab-Funkenwerk V78 and V71 DI

[djwayne]

Marshall MXL V-69 ME tube mic.

Client called me up yesterday and wanted to know how I got her guitar to sound so good on her recordings we made last year.

[TheBlade]

I just got my pair of V 72's from a fellow gearslut and all I can say is..... WOW!

I have a MXL V69 as well and they are worth the money, especially if you swap the tube in it.

The best tube pre I have found on the cheap is the Sony SRA-3.

They are as good as the Ampex 351's, and way cheaper, if you can find one now. I own two of them (4 pre's) and they sound wonderful, and they break up nicely. On Ebay, they go for about $200. I got both of mine for $150 a piece. They have a lot of gain...no problems for a ribbon mic.
Line in on the back panel and mic input on the front. You need an external phantom power box.

Here's a pic for anyone that's interested.

[VitaEtMusica]

I picked up my Altec 1567a a few years ago for $450

It does things nothing else can do. Love it.

[cdog]

sebatron

[vernier]

Mostly, some old stuff I ran across for not too much money. GE Uni-Level BA9 limiter, Altec 436C compressor, Magnecord PT6 pre. But no matter the price, I love all vintage tube gear ..its overbuilt, and sounds huge.
'

[insomnio]

Originally Posted by TheBlade

I have a MXL V69 as well and they are worth the money, especially if you swap the tube in it.
.

Which tube did you used?
Cheers

[flute player]

HCL

[macmod]

..V72's are called ''Inexpensive tube gear'' nowadays?

Cheers,
Macmod

[doorknocker]

ART Tube MP.

I use it to drive an Audio-Technica clip-on condensor mic on my dobro on stage and I must say that the sound is way better than when using the preamps of an 'average' mixing board.

Hard to argue about for 39 Euro, especially since it also has Phantom Power which most acoustic guitar preamps/DIs don't have.

Art Tube MP

[Never1]

Cheap assed Apex 460 telefunken rip offs... they sound amazing on Overheads, through the old TL Audio tube pre we got laying around here.

[mildav]

dbx 386....nice pre

[Studioklocka]

a-designs REDDI is pretty cheap..and awesome.

[James Lehmann]

If we're talking genuinely inexpensive tube gear then the dbx386 definitely qualifies IMHO.

[Retinal]

An ADK tube mic, don't remember the model but was pretty good.

[cww2]

Definately the MXL mic. I also had a tube mic Peavey used make - PT9000 or some such number. It was a very good mic.

[slick0]

The ART MPA Gold. Throwing better 12ax7's into it does a lot.

[Pasta4lnch]

epi valve jr . . .

and as far as cheapie SS gear i wish I never sold my joe meek vc1q. really good bass di for rock

[Thebassist]

Isn't there a mod to use the Altec 1567a as a pre? I've stumbled upon em but never knew what to do with them!

Any other Altec gear y'all fancy?

And yeah, macmod, it is funny calling v72's inexpensive, but I know some fellas that got great deals on them back when everyone was rushing either to SS or ugly green focuswrong pres or whatever other silly fad makes us want to make albums that don't sound like Abbey Road.

Seriously. I can't think of a g*ddamn reason in this world not to make albums that sound like Beatles albums. But I also like mono over heads and acoustic instruments and other antiquated things that make 20 something "engineers" scratch their heads...

[Stitch333]

build yourself a gyraf g9 micpre

[jchas]

Originally Posted by Pasta4lnch

epi valve jr . . .

thumbsup I just picked up a lightly used one for $75 - Love it.

[TheBlade]

Originally Posted by insomnio

Which tube did you used?
Cheers

I pulled the 12AY7 out and put an old late 50's RCA 12AX7 black plate in mine.

Some people like the Mullard's. If I had one, I would try it out.

I don't know who makes the tube for MXL? The only writing on the glass is their logo. It's probably from China.

The tube is kind of a pain in the butt to get out, but it's worth it.

[VitaEtMusica]

Originally Posted by Thebassist

Isn't there a mod to use the Altec 1567a as a pre? I've stumbled upon em but never knew what to do with them!

the 1567a has 5 pres- no mod necessary... that is if you don't mind it all coming out one mono output (it's a line mixer). Perfect for combining mics to get the ultimate guitar sound or snare sound. Of course, then you have to commit instead of laying down 6 mic tracks.

I've seen people do mods to get 5 ins and outs with the 1567a, but that bypasses the output transformer-- which is a big part of the sound of this particular unit.

[donsimpson]

dbx 586. Sadly discontinued.

[IMG]file:///c:/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

+1 for dbx 386.

[Thebassist]

really? Alot of love for the 386!

What do y'all use it on?

[idylldon]

Originally Posted by Stitch333

build yourself a gyraf g9 micpre

Love mine and I've used it on pretty much everything at some point.

Cheers,
--
Don

[ickefes]

Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 Mic Preamp. I can not believe the price of it (~$190). Awesome

[octatonic]

Summit TLA50 - Very nice compressor on Bass and Acoustic Guitar.

[Kronos147]

I have a pair of modded TL Audio PA-1's that sound pretty damn good.