NAD -Ibanez Tubescreamer amps

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mirrorboy

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Anyone tried these amps? I just got the 5 watt version TSA5, like a Champ with 10" Celestion and a TS9 built in. It's a very handy little package and the tone is surprisingly warm and fat.

It's competing with the VHT Special 6 but is clean all the way with the TS9 providing the dirt, whereas the VHT boosts the preamp gain for overdriven sounds.
 
never tried one- i have a vht special 6, though (and also a fame tube 5, which is a glorified champion 600).

i'd heard it stayed clean all the way... not sure what the point is in that with a low watter, but i guess if you want cleans it's useful (plus higher wattage amps tend to be more expensive, so the "if you want cleans get a higher wattage amp" usual advice might not be possible). EDIT: also staying clean all the way might make it more useful for taking pedals.

I don't have a problem with headroom with my special 6, but then that's for really low home volumes.
 
Not tried the VHT special 6 but the video reviews on youtube give a really good account of it. I'm amazed how they can sell these so cheap.

I started with an itch for the tube screamer after seeing the Joyo clone for ?30 then I realised I don't have a tube amp any more, just Valvetronix and Mustang modellers. Then I saw the TSA5 at gear4music for the same price as an Ibanez TS9 pedal in the local shop so I thought it was a nobrainer.

On full clean volume there is just a tiny buzz from the power tube playing a low G note so I have ordered some tube dampers. Other than that I really like it. Still getting used to playing au naturel without reverb though.
 
yeah the vht is pretty nice and really good value- however, they're a bit dark stock, and my first one was faulty :lol:

i also have the joyo tubescreamer clone (and a bunch of other joyos). not to say they're just as good and reliable as the boutique stuff... but for someone like me who's just playing at home (and who's not that much of a pedalhead anyway) i can get a whole pedalboard of pretty-good-sounding pedals for the cost of one boutique pedal. :lol:
 
Dave, I wondered have you tried the joyo compressor? I think I will have to get one for slide guitar. Another joyo pedal I have my eye on is the Sweet Baby, it's a clone of an expensive mad professor pedal.
 
mirrorboy said:
Dave, I wondered have you tried the joyo compressor? I think I will have to get one for slide guitar. Another joyo pedal I have my eye on is the Sweet Baby, it's a clone of an expensive mad professor pedal.

yep, tried both of those (only got the sweet baby yesterday, though, so i haven't tried it much).

the compressor seems fairly nice- i'm no compressor connoisseur, though, and rarely use compression :lol:

the sweet baby seems fairly nice, too, and fairly versatile.

if you're willing to buy from china, marcmart has a 50% off code if you buy a mooer pedal, too- and that applies to all pedals in your order (they stock joyo too). of course, it's slightly riskier than buying from the UK (or better yet, thomann, for the slightly cheaper prices and warranty). mine were fine, but obviously that's just luck of the draw kind of thing.
 
Thanks for the heads up, the mrs. is going to order a Behringer CL-9 from Amazon for my christmas stocking. It's supposed to be a clone of the Ibanez vintage compressor :lol:

cheers, Tom
 
mirrorboy said:
Thanks for the heads up, the mrs. is going to order a Behringer CL-9 from Amazon for my christmas stocking. It's supposed to be a clone of the Ibanez vintage compressor :lol:

cheers, Tom

The Joyo is really nice, very like a dynacomp, the Behringer is a bit rubbish IMO :)
 
Dave, have you tried the joyo Roll Boost? It looks interesting for a one knob pedal.
 
nope

i did pick up a mooer pure boost from marcmart in china (there's a code for 50% off, mooer132 or something like that) which is quite nice (though i know someone on another forum who got one which was noisy). it's an xotic rc boost clone. they also do an ac boost clone (as well as a load of other clones :lol: ).

that code works on other pedals in your cart too (they stock joyo as well), but i've managed to resist the temptation to get the roll boost. I don't really use/need clean boosts all that much- the xotic clones have a gain control too so you can (sorta) use them like an overdrive as well.
 
Santa brought me the Palmer compressor today. It does exactly what I want and I won't be needing a boost pedal. This pedal sounds very clean and transparent yet it really packs a punch, the level knob has 22dB gain on tap! I'm glad John talked me out of getting the Behringer thing now.
 
mirrorboy said:
Santa brought me the Palmer compressor today. It does exactly what I want and I won't be needing a boost pedal. This pedal sounds very clean and transparent yet it really packs a punch, the level knob has 22dB gain on tap! I'm glad John talked me out of getting the Behringer thing now.

You must have been a good boy this year Tom, Santa brought me nowt! :)
 
John, maybe santa thought, "what can I get for the man who has everything?" :wink:

Just bought a new Tube Amp Doctor 6V6 from NOS Tube Supply in New York for ?5 cheaper than ordering from the TAD website in Germany :-?
 
^ haha

just out of interest, where did you order your tube dampers from? I haven't seen any for sale in europe on any of the sites i've checked.
 
I bought the tube dampers from UK ebay seller com6645. They are actually high temperature heavy duty Viton O-rings similar to what I used in the hydraulics industry. I think they are comparable to the Eurotubes dampers.

They didn't cure the tiny rattle, it was in the Ruby 6v6 (not microphonic though). Rattle has gone with the TAD 6v6 so I will use the Ruby to break in the Tube 10 speaker. Much louder with the TAD and I probably got double cryogenic treatment for free from the 2 way air trip across the Atlantic. :) Really happy with this simple rig now, ideal for solo sets I do opening for blues bands.

Dave, if you want to try the dampers PM me your address I will post you a couple for free as I got 4 and will only ever need 2.
 
^ thanks for the info, I'll keep that in mind if i ever need any :)

mirrorboy said:
I bought the tube dampers from UK ebay seller com6645. They are actually high temperature heavy duty Viton O-rings similar to what I used in the hydraulics industry. I think they are comparable to the Eurotubes dampers.

They didn't cure the tiny rattle, it was in the Ruby 6v6 (not microphonic though). Rattle has gone with the TAD 6v6 so I will use the Ruby to break in the Tube 10 speaker. Much louder with the TAD and I probably got double cryogenic treatment for free from the 2 way air trip across the Atlantic. :) Really happy with this simple rig now, ideal for solo sets I do opening for blues bands.

Dave, if you want to try the dampers PM me your address I will post you a couple for free as I got 4 and will only ever need 2.

that's very kind of you and I appreciate it, but I don't actually need any at the moment :lol: I was just asking for future reference in case anything I had started to rattle in the future- I had a fender excelsior which rattled like crazy, but I just got sick of it and sent it back for a credit note.

Thanks again though, that was a very kind offer :) and thanks for the info on the ebay seller, I'll keep that in mind if i ever do need any.
 

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