Full Frequency Tube Amp?

[oceanchief]

I'm curious to know if a tube amp is capable of having a full range of 20-20,000 Hz and if that is possible? If so, which amp companies produce them and which is the loudest? I play in a drone/doom band and have my guitar in a drop A tuning. I need the full range because my pedal board has octavizers and harmonizers, so there is a variety of frequencies that I would like to have accented. I do know that speakers are a variable for the proper sound I'm looking for, so please do respond about any cabinet information. I'm working on that.

[selloutrr]

keep in mind guitar speakers are not full range.

oh, wifes bugging me i'll finish up if it's not taken care of by the time i get back.

[greekie]

I think you want to change the topology we use here, in three fundamental ways:

1) You don't want to cut lows or highs in the preamp. Check out some hifi-schematics for that, but beware that this can introduce flubbyness or squeeling.

2) You'd want an output transformer that can handle those frequencies. Again, the hifi-world or some of the "posh" Hammonds might be your answer.

3) You want a speaker cab that is tuned to a speaker that can go that low.


I did something like this for a guy who plays in a tech-grind band. I basically split the amp in two; a 4x6L6 amp that took care of the "guitar"-part, and a 4xKT88-amp that took care of the lows. There was some shared frequency-areas between the two, but the low-amp had an adjustable hi-cut, and used bass-speakers with ported and tuned cabs. Worked great, but is not something you "just do" - you need to do it well, as failure can ruin a gig.

[Phil_S]

Hi fi = full range, 20-20K. Guitar is maybe 80-5K. This goes pretty much for speakers and for output transformers.

20-20KHz is said to be the limits of human hearing. Once people get past their teen years, I have a feeling this narrows up considerably.

If you are bent on having the range, I guess you'll need a hi-fi rig and hi-fi speakers. This kind of setup generally doesn't work very well for guitar. I'm speculating here, maybe two amps should be employed, one a regular guitar amp, and one for extended range.

[xtian]

The OP sounds like he'd benefit from reading up on Tobin Abasi of Animals for Leaders (Awesome Freaking Band), who plays 7- and 8-string guitars thru guitar and bass cabs simultaneously.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosin_Abas ... ent.5B2.5D

If there's any harmonic content of your music you feel isn't properly amplified by this setup, you can run a split out thru the PA system, right?

Cheers, man. Let us know where we can hear some of your crazy ass music!

[oceanchief]

Thank you everyone for your help! If you would like to hear the music my band plays, here is a link: www.droughtdoom.bandcamp.com We are isolated in the high deserts of New Mexico. As one can hear from our recordings, we are not going into the higher part of the frequencies but our new material does/will be going much higher and will need the extreme low as well...
Could I gut a 4x12 cab and put in two different kinds of hi-fi speakers for the full range effect? Think that will work for a full range rig?

[Analog Assassin]

I wouldn't "gut" a 4x12, but for full range reproduction, you can add some HF horns.

Here's a cheap Peavey horn: http://www.directproaudio.com/product.c ... ctid=64164
Now you can get much better horns out there for hi-fi, but this is from 6khz (which is around where a guitar speaker tops off) to 18khz.
I'd build a separate cab for the horns, and I'm just guessing, but I think you probably want some sort of passive crossover, basically a capacitor as a high pass filter to block the bass frequencies.
And of course, you'll want a subwoofer for the lows.

[Cliff Schecht]

Ears will bleed!

[diagrammatiks]

it's hard to make an amp that can produce harmonic distortion that's pleasing at the extremes of the range.

that being said it can be done.

[Bob S]

I bought a 1972 Super Reverb that someone had put 2 x 10" & 2 x tweeters with a cross over into it. I didn't care for it for highs or lows.
It is back to 4 x 10" speakers in it now. Sounds much better across my hearing range...
I dont know if this helps. Hi-Fi doesn't work for guitar.
Good luck & keep us posted.
Bob

[FUCHSAUDIO]

You need three times the bandwidth to reproduce an accurate square wave, You can knock a guitar amp off on the low end by selecting smallish coupling caps. You don't really need 20-20K response. The high end is good to have, but the low end below audibility is a waste of amplifier power and can cause transformers to saturate prematurely etc.

[Colossal]

The OP sounds like he'd benefit from reading up on Tosin Abasi of Animals for Leaders (Awesome Freaking Band), who plays 7- and 8-string guitars thru guitar and bass cabs simultaneously.

+1 for Animals as Leaders.

Tosin and Javier (Animals), Periphery (Misha Mansoor) and Scale The Summit (Chris Letchford and Travis Levrier) use Axe FX Ultra and II preamp/processors into Mackie self powered full-range monitors for stage and a cabinet-emulated line out to the PA direct from the Axe FX. Very clear sound with excellent note-to-note separation even with heavy distortion and compression.

Naysayers may refer to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZf655y2 ... re=related

[xtian]

Axe FX Ultra and II preamp/processors into Mackie self powered full-range monitors for stage and a cabinet-emulated line out to the PA direct from the Axe FX. Very clear sound with excellent note-to-note separation even with heavy distortion and compression.

+1 This! That's what I was looking for regarding AAL.