The difference of tubes

[dalrymple]

Last night I went to my regular sunday night jam, but I brought my Tube 60, my gigging amp, instead of the Vypyr 30 I normally take to jams.
The difference was noticeable, just an easy to listen to smoothness on the cleans and a nicer overall tone on the OD channel, sweeter, more expressive, better sustain and harmonic content, better on the ear when pushed. It stole the show from the rhythm position every song.

My buds all commented on how well I played and how good my guitar sounded(which was true), but I played the same guitar last week with the 30. I knew what they were hearing was the same thing I heard on stage. The Tube 60 is just a noticeable notch above what they have come to expect from the 30 in tone and presence. Smooth and bold baby.

Later in the night, another Vypyr owner did his thing, and his 30 sounded great with the Hendrix-y presets he has conjured up for Voodoo Child, etc.... Very cool. But even he said the 60 was in another dimension. It is.

Glad I got it and I need to trot it out more often, now that my band is not gigging regularly. I think it's time to sound my best every time out, but dang the thing weighs a ton. Only negative I can think of vs the 30. I grunted it back to the car.
Too much fun to not do again soon.
Dalrymple

[jds22]

Yeah, the T60 is in my mind the best of the Vyps.
I owned the 75, T60, and VIP3 all at the same time. Out of those the T60 just had this warmth and fullness that the others did not.
However, now I have the Pro and I'm thinking it may sound as good if not better than the 60.
Unfortunately I no longer have any of the others to do a side by side so it may very well be placebo.

[culpster]

No Placebo, Vypyr Pro sounds better than T60. Let me rephrase that, it sounds a little clearer, but same tube goodness as the Tube 60. What I find better are that the stomps seem to be closer to actual pedals and I like the additional amps alot. The addition of the boost and adjustable noise gates put it in a higher grade in my opinion. Still, the T60 sounds amazing still today and it is 6 year old tech? Can't say that about any of the Line 6 of Mustang stuff. I think we all win with the Vypyrs.

[vypyr]

I still have my Vypyr Tube 60 that I bought in early 2009 and I have been lurking on these forums on and off since then. My tube 60 is stock, the only thing I did was swap the tubes for Sovteks and I just did that earlier this year, that's how long the original tubes lasted. Anyway, in the past month I got the itch to check out some new combo amps and possibly buy one. I went to GC and checked out the VIP 3, the Mustang III and IV, 6506+, some Vox amps, and and a Acoustic 2x12 combo amp. I was really looking for a 2x12 combo because they sound fuller to me. I can tell you right now after two hours of plugging into amps I walked out with nothing. The VIP 3 seemed like a toy to me, it in no way shape or form sounded as good as my Tube 60. I played a VIP 3 a while back and I had the same reaction, I tried it again just to see if I changed my mind, I didn't. Next was the Fender modeling amps, they had some nice features but were overkill for me and again as far as sound, they didn't compare to the tube 60 and I thought their high gain models especially sucked. The Mustang in my opinion is geared towards Fender fans who like classic Fender clean or low gain tones. There's nothing wrong with that but my tube 60 has wonderful clean tones and low/ high gain tones as well. The Mustangs also lacked bottom end, very boxy and thin sounding, the Mustang IV was a little better with the bottom end but for $499? Nah. I know some people spend hours messing around with the Fuse software and supposedly dial in nice tones but I'm not going to sit there and do that, I have no interest or time to do that. The 6505 + sounded good but it's more or less a one trick pony and I wasn't looking to lay out $649. But it does what it does well. The Vox modelers (no clue what models they were) were unimpressive and the Acoustic gain tone was horrid.

I heard the Vypyr Pro supposedly sounds as good as the Vypyr tube series, but again, overkill for me and $599? Not happening. So it took Peavey how many years to come out with a new Vypyr that supposedly sounds as good as the Vypyr tube series? I'm personally not interested in chaining four amp models together, I don't care about violins or playing a bass through my amp. I want a guitar amp with some built in effects, that's it.

So, I found a used Vypyr tube 120 in what appears to be mint condition and it's being sent to my door for $300, that's with shipping and tax already included. Old tech, I don't care, it's old tech that worked well for me, it's easy to use, and the main thing, it sounds great. So even in 2015 going into 2016 I still went with a Vypyr tube amp. I tell people it's still the best sounding low priced modeling amp ever released. So that's either sad or good depending how you look at it.

[dalrymple]

Good score. That is the Cadillac of Vypyrs, with a Hemi dropped in.
Jealous here, I'm looking for one locally, but delivery has appeal.
Dalrymple

[vypyr]

I originally wanted the 120 when I bought my Tube 60 back in 2009, but $649 (I think that was the price for them when they were new) for the 120 wasn't something I wanted to lay out back then. I had other things to take care of. So after my recent search for a new combo I got fed up and I went to the Guitar Center site and searched for a used Vypyr 120 and I found one that looked great. I called the store and had them send me photos of it. We discussed the price and I wiggled them down a bit. Supposedly it's a one owner amp and it sat in this guys room, he traded it in for something else. The sales guy I talked to told me he knows the guy and he's a older gentleman. Who knows. I have to wait and see how it is, it should be here next week. GC bumped their return window up to 45 days now so I'm going to play it as much as I can to see if any weird stuff pops up. If it's defective I'll just drive it to my local GC and get my money back. I don't play out at this point so I don't care about the weight, it'll be moved hopefully just once into my house and that's it. But in case I do jam with a bunch of people I have some power behind me, although the Tube 60 is no slouch.

I couldn't find one locally and I avoid ebay for this stuff.

[Jambock]

I've been practicing with a Vypyr 100 for about 2 years.
Only yesterday I could enter a new world by playing on a Vypyr 60 Tube.
It sounds so much better that indeed it seemed I was playing better

My only concern is if replacing tubes is something not that difficult and that I could do myself when the time comes... (after all, as to say, I'm stuck in the jungle...)

[thunda]

replacing the tubes will take less than 5 minutes and you don't have to have any special skills...enjoy

[Jambock]

Well, it should be that easy after all as I've never seen any instructions.
Perhaps just a matter of dealing with a few screws and just plugging/unplugging tubes...

Something similar to:
https://youtu.be/FXdbkg7E2u0

Thanks

[dalrymple]

Had a repeat of the jam experience the last 2 weeks as I dragged out the Tube 60. EVERYONE who hears me regularly came and commented on the upgrade of the tone with the Tube 60 over my 30 watt ss. I know the tubes make a huge difference, but mostly it can be heard out front, less so on stage by me. But I can FEEL the difference when I palm mute on soft rhythm playing or punch up the rockabilly tone and I see everyone in the bar look around to see what up with that tone? Thunk, bump and boom all night long.
There is little that is more fun than having the baddest amp on the block. The thing just kills on every setting. Pure Muscle Car thrills.
Dont even ask about the 120 watt head. You cant handle the truth!

Only drawback is the extra weight, and it is noticeable. Guess I'll have to start using my cart and roll that bad boy in.
Love these damned amps.
Dalrymple

[dalrymple]

At Sunday nights jam, I let the only other guy I know who plays a Vypyr use my Tube 60. He has a 30W, and is an AWESOME player. He uses a Gold top LP, and plays better above the 12th fret than anyone else I know. Blazing. He plays with a buddy and they do Voodoo Child, Little Wing, Red House, etc. Wankers both, but GOOD wankers.
His eyes opened wide the first time he palm muted, then hit a power cord. The cleans had a flavor and depth the 30 cannot match. The Red Bcat channel unleashed the beast. Big Fat overdriven sustain and a grind and bottom he has never experienced w/ the 30. A splendid time was had by all.

After the set, the jam master asked him how he liked the Tube 60 vs his 30. He said " This amp is a MALE. The 30 is female." Nuff sed.

Tubes baby. A pair of honkin' KT66's driving the incredible technology of the Vypyr's. There is no substitute for vacuum tubes in this application, and Peavey's decision to not continue the hybrid series is...wrong. Understandable, but sonically inferior. Progress? Maybe, but not in a side by side.

Better buy one when you stumble on them. Serious piece of gear and the most fun of any amp I've ever owned. Best tones, multiple. Made me sell Classic 30, Fender Supersonic 60, and a few others. Gigged this baby for about 6 years steadily a few times a month. Compliments, not headaches. Hear it, dial it in. It's in there, and it sounds GOOD.
Dalrymple

[xHydrok9x]

I got my tube 60 back in 09'. I have loved this damn thing for years but I've found myself wanting something else. I went ahead and got the vypyr pro last week and I am somewhat disappointed. It just doesn't sound as good as the 60. I'm giving it time to try to see if I can figure it out and maybe find my sounds in there but to me it's just fizzy and overprocessed when going for a high gain sound. I might be returning it and getting a blackstar ID 260 TVP to see how that stacks up against the 60.

[lionheart]

As far as the Blackstar ID goes, let me save you the trouble.
Stick with the Tube 60, the Blackstar falls way short in both features and tonality - I know from my own side by side tests with a mere Vypyr 30 !!!!
"The sound in your head " ??????
It's a shame that's so true of the ID series amps, however the sound is not in your head with a Vypyr - it's REAL and in your face !!!!!

[dalrymple]

I can relate to wanting something else, but what? I am spoiled. Most everything else is a one trick pony, so you better like the trick. Buy a tube 120. More than twice a 60, way more. And a different tone beast as well. Percussive, physically imposing its will on player and guitar. AWESOME, but not wildly different.

I sense we are between lurches forward in the technology. Without tubes to warm the things up, I've not heard an amp that can really deliver the goods across the board digitally. Maybe soon.
Dalrymple

[j_fury68]

I got my tube 60 back in 09'. I have loved this damn thing for years but I've found myself wanting something else. I went ahead and got the vypyr pro last week and I am somewhat disappointed. It just doesn't sound as good as the 60. I'm giving it time to try to see if I can figure it out and maybe find my sounds in there but to me it's just fizzy and overprocessed when going for a high gain sound. I might be returning it and getting a blackstar ID 260 TVP to see how that stacks up against the 60.

See if you agree with this after you have had time to mess with the pro. I feel like I like some of the off the models on the pro better than the T60, like the red Brit. And unfortunately I don't like the red rec on the pro as good as the T60. So I think some of the models are more detailed on the pro and other just plain sound better on the tubes. I have done a lot of experimentation to try and make it better.