Amp with the most Tubes?

[ETMusic777]

I looked at a Super Twin Reverb (180 watts) the other day.
Like an overgrown twin reverb , six power tubes.
Didnt cost much , but ,,,,man , the weight !!

I looked at a 76 Super Twin last week at a pawnshop up in the SFV. The guy was asking $400 but almost immediately offered it a $300. Loaded with tubes. It sounded pretty good but literally started to crumble under my hand as I tried to remove the front grill which is held on by velcro. Silverface quality not as good as BF pine cabs. I don't need a 90 lb project so I passed on it, even though $300 for a hand wired vintage amp is not too bad.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

The Twin has reverb......but it isn't up to traditional Fender standards.

Yeah. That's right. I remember having to use a pedal. The amp is great tho. More headroom than needed for sure.

 

[warrent]

want a lot of tubes? Go OTL. Atma-Sphere MA 3
42 x 6AS7G output tube ( per channel )
12 x 6SN7 driver tube ( per channel )

 

[Wally]

I don't remember what the amp was, but this was guy setting up for an afternoon set at a beach bar, as I was leaving I saw the back of his amp and did a severe double take, walked over and it had

8 6L6's in it!

I was like Holey Crap! I gotta get out of here before he fires this thing up!

The Mesa boogie Bass 400 carries 16 tubes. Twelve..12…of them are 6L6s. Serious bass amp!

I would rather compare guitar and bass amps, but since other things have been mentioned….
I have torn down three Baldwin organs that each carried almost 70 tubes.

 

[Tim S]

11 tubes in a Mesa Triple Crown 100
12 tubes in a Mesa Mark V

Those are my top tube users.

 

[rdjones]

The Mesa boogie Bass 400 carries 16 tubes. Twelve..12…of them are 6L6s. Serious bass amp!

I would rather compare guitar and bass amps, but since other things have been mentioned….
I have torn down three Baldwin organs that each carried almost 70 tubes.

That Cordovox is an accordion amp, but has two additional "MIC" inputs that can be used for guitar or other instruments.
Bonus - it has a master volume.

 

[aging_rocker]

My Supersonic Twin has 13.

View attachment 984328

View attachment 984332

Wow, that's a tube for each knob, (or a knob for each tube)

 

[keithb7]

Mesa 400+ bass amp? Not your daddy's Bassman. 12 6L6's.

 

[dspellman1]

My old Carvin Quad-X preamp has nine 12AX7 tubes, four channels, and up to 11 gain stages. The power amp designed to go with it (the TS100 50W/50W tube power amp) has another four 12AX7s and four EL34s for a total of 13 preamp tubes and four power tubes.

Somewhere around here I've got an old Mesa Strategy 500 (actually 400W, 200W per side).
The 500 uses four 6L6's plus two 6550's in each channel. An even dozen power tubes. I didn't even check for 12AX7s, but there are probably three or four of those as well,

 

[Wally]

That Cordovox is an accordion amp, but has two additional "MIC" inputs that can be used for guitar or other instruments.
Bonus - it has a master volume.

and that appears only to be the tone bank of the Cordocox. Somewhere there is a preamp/phase inverter and a power amp. That was the format of those Baldwins….5 12AU7s for each of the chromatic pitches.

 

[JDB2]

Mesa 400+ bass amp? Not your daddy's Bassman. 12 6L6's.


View attachment 984489

View attachment 984491

How does one troubleshoot a failing power tube on a rig like that? Imagine swapping in and out 12 tubes every time you get the tell-tale crackle and pop. Which would be pretty frequently with 12 tubes I would expect.

 

[Flaneur]

Yeah. That's right. I remember having to use a pedal. The amp is great tho. More headroom than needed for sure.

It's a sturdy thing. Would make a great backline staple, at a venue. Hire places would make money, with them. Dragging around, from gig to gig? Not so much......

 

[Tim S]

How does one troubleshoot a failing power tube on a rig like that? Imagine swapping in and out 12 tubes every time you get the tell-tale crackle and pop. Which would be pretty frequently with 12 tubes I would expect.

Nevermind troubleshooting... Where do you buy a matched duodec??

 

[Wyatt]

Not the most, but the Peavey Classic 100 used eight EL84 tubes.