amps

scot88

i've been playing guitar on and off (mostly on) for about 7 years now. i just bought an american strat, and already own a g&l asat classic. i have a few effects and all that, but it dawned on me the other day that i have completely ignored upgrading my amp. hell, i never even learned about amps apart from knowing what solid state, tube, stack, etc mean. i've had the same fender frontline since i started. the sound is decent on the thing, but i can never come close to the tone i want.

so my question, i'm leaving for college in 2 months (going from new york to south carolina), and i really would like to have a new amp. i still need some spending money for college, so i'm not looking to break the bank. i'm looking for a decently loud tube amp to play bluesy type music (think black crowes and southern rock). can anyone recomend anything?

Novawind

If you're going to college, you're probably going to have neighbors, either in a dorm or an apartment right? In that case you'll want something not too loud. Sound difference is pretty big between solid-state and tube, 15 tube watts is louder than 15 solid-state watts at max volume. I'd say for your situation, either a Fender Blues Jr (20W) or an Epiphone Valve Jr head (5W) + speaker cab is probably your best bet for your living situation. Even then, the Blues Jr is a little combo probably the size of the frontline you're currently sporting. Better for moving around.

I personally have a Traynor YCV40 (40W) in my college dorm and even on volume 2/10 it's pushing it as far as noise levels go. Definitely get a smaller amp that you can drive hard with your pedals.

xtremehardy388

There the Hot Rod junior in the Spring issue of Musicians Friend but that might be for a limmited time. I Epi valve is the best bet-good tone and pretty quiet. The Fenders might even be too loud.

samquigley

Get whatever amp you want and use an attenuator. Realistically, any tube amp above about 2 watts is too loud to crank at bedroom levels. Setting the master volume low defeats the purpose of buying a tube amp because they kinda sound crappy until the output tubes start working hard. So, either throw an attenuator in the mix or just save your new amp for rehearsals/gigs and get yourself a Roland Microcube or something for home.

xtremehardy388

Yeah, that's very true however, if he's a college student, money might be tight and the combination of those could add up. However, if you get a nice big tube amp, you'll probably be using it for life if you do gigs later on down the road.

JofZ

Something that wont break the bank and is worth every penny is a Fuchs ODS. It will do your bluesy thing and Classic Rock thing very, very well.

If you want something that has a little less wattage on tap check out the TopHat's.

All Those Yesterdays

Some ways to think of this.

Don't know your actual budget. And if your plan is to keep this amp for a long time, or to just get you thru college, till you get your own place etc.

Keep in mind none of these are "that quiet".

Sure there's the blues junior, champion 600, pro junior. The pro junior and the blues junior you have some flexibility with the tone controls over the champion 600. Mods are starting to come out for the Champ though.

Valve Junior is going to be a one trick pony like the champ. But there are tons of mods out there. I love mine to death for sure. Couldn't live with it being my only amp, but I love using it, and depend on it the most. Way cool. If I get board, change the circuit and I move on.

With the Valve Junior you can go head version, and get a single 10" or 12" cabinet, with a low efficient speaker, then down the road upgrade the speaker or go to a bigger cabinet.

Always go with like a peavey classic 30 or something like that too.

Good luck. No matter what remember it's all about having fun. Amazing how many times people forget about that. I know I do all the time. Late nights recording, feels like a job. Wait a minute this is fun, the real job happens in the day.

ianvomsaal

The big question is . . . what's your price point???
I'd tell you to get yourself a small "clean" tube amp (you can add OD sounds with a pedal).
Tube amps are easier to fix than solid state, and you'll probably never need more than a 30 watt amp for anything.
THD amps sound good and have built in attenuators (so you can crank them and still have them at tolerable levels).
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pacomc79

ianvomsaal wrote:

The big question is . . . what's your price point???
I'd tell you to get yourself a small "clean" tube amp (you can add OD sounds with a pedal).
Tube amps are easier to fix than solid state, and you'll probably never need more than a 30 watt amp for anything.
THD amps sound good and have built in attenuators (so you can crank them and still have them at tolerable levels).
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

indeed, they also have that nice easy cage too that keeps them light, cool and makes it easy to swap tubes.

All Those Yesterdays

People think it's a little steep, but I think it's worth every penny, but the Orange, Tiny Terror, would fit the bill too.

Master Volume, plus you can cut the power in half.

Pacomc79

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

People think it's a little steep, but I think it's worth every penny, but the Orange, Tiny Terror, would fit the bill too.

Master Volume, plus you can cut the power in half.

I've been thinking of selling my AD15 and going with the TT actually. I'd love to have a closed back 4x10 and a couple of different heads to choose from.

Naturally still not exactly apartment friendly but I'll get a pod for that I think.

All Those Yesterdays

Pacomc79 wrote:

I've been thinking of selling my AD15 and going with the TT actually. I'd love to have a closed back 4x10 and a couple of different heads to choose from.

Naturally still not exactly apartment friendly but I'll get a pod for that I think.

It might be a sin to play any orange thru anything other than a vintage 30 ain't it? Just kidding! Those terrors, are fantastic. More drive then I'll ever need, fantastic tone.

I even think the pod ain't that bad. It's nice to have to screw around with. I've even "Gulp" used it on a recording here any there. But only for chord strumming stuff, no solos. No matter what they can't ever remake tube response that's for sure.

Pod to Reel to reel. Well what can we say, you have to do what you have to do!

lucylespian

I was browsing the les paul frourm the other day and saw a page discussing small valve amps in teh US, and there are dozens of them, most dating back a bit, but very affordable. I was just trying to find a link for you but can't spot it.

Seriously, there are so many old small tubies to choose from.

What amp you get depends hugely on your guitar and what tones you want.

I got my new start yesterday, and it did not work with ANY of the amp settings I have, as they are all set up for dual humbucker high-output pups. I didn't even realise how much so until I plugged the strat in and everything sounded like shit and very quiet. HAd to turn everythign up, and totallly change eq, then things started sounding good.
What I am trying to say, is that tube amps are VERY VERY reactive to the guitar, and making generalisations about what amp to buy without referencing your specific guitars and desired tones may be very misleading.
You need to take time to adjust the knobs as well, cos teh sound you wnat may be there, just hiding.
OD perdals are probably much less reactive, but I dunno, depends on what amp tyou are goign into.

keeponrockin

lucylespian wrote:

I was browsing the les paul frourm the other day and saw a page discussing small valve amps in teh US, and there are dozens of them, most dating back a bit, but very affordable. I was just trying to find a link for you but can't spot it.

Seriously, there are so many old small tubies to choose from.

What amp you get depends hugely on your guitar and what tones you want.

I got my new start yesterday, and it did not work with ANY of the amp settings I have, as they are all set up for dual humbucker high-output pups. I didn't even realise how much so until I plugged the strat in and everything sounded like shit and very quiet. HAd to turn everythign up, and totallly change eq, then things started soun

sounding good.
What I am trying to say, is that tube amps are VERY VERY reactive to the guitar, and making generalisations about what amp to buy without referencing your specific guitars and desired tones may be very misleading.
You need to take time to adjust the knobs as well, cos teh sound you wnat may be there, just hiding.
OD perdals are probably much less reactive, but I dunno, depends on what amp tyou are goign into.

+1, I have to set the amp differently weather I'm playing my Strat or Godin.

scot88

so after careful consideration about all of your posts, i went to the local guitar store and checked all the mentioned amps out. my price cap is about $650. the price of amps wasnt the problem, however. it was the size. i really like the blues deluxe and the hot rod deluxe, but they are a little too big for a dorm room (as well as the car ride to south carolina and back.) the blues junior was a nice amp, but that is just a little too small. is there anything similar to the blues junior that is bigger than it, but smaller than the blues deluxe?

All Those Yesterdays

scot88 wrote:

so after careful consideration about all of your posts, i went to the local guitar store and checked all the mentioned amps out. my price cap is about $650. the price of amps wasnt the problem, however. it was the size. i really like the blues deluxe and the hot rod deluxe, but they are a little too big for a dorm room (as well as the car ride to south carolina and back.) the blues junior was a nice amp, but that is just a little too small. is there anything similar to the blues junior that is bigger than it, but smaller than the blues deluxe?

Tiny Terror head, with a single 12 cabinet?

Classic 30 head with a single 10 or 12 cabinet?

Pacomc79

Sure, Check out the Rivera Pubster and clubster, The Crate V15, The Mesa F30....


http://www.rivera.com/pubclub.php

http://www.ampeg.com/products/diamondblueguitar/j20/index.html

DOSW

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Tiny Terror head, with a single 12 cabinet?

Classic 30 head with a single 10 or 12 cabinet?

Tiny Terror heads alone are like $750, aren't they?

Novawind

Tiny Terror head is around 549 and I think it's the same for the a 2x12 cab.

Peavey Classic 30: http://www.geartree.com/p-5386-peavey-classic-30112-black-vinyl-combo-guitar-amp.aspx
and: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-Classic-30112-Tube-Amp-Combo-?sku=481014

Combo, 30 Watts (more than a Blues Jr, Less than a HRD).

MichaelMcKevin

+1 for the Peavey.

Check out the Traynor Custom Valve's... although the 40watt might be too much and the 15watt might not be enough

All Those Yesterdays

DOSW wrote:

Tiny Terror heads alone are like $750, aren't they?

No, $550, just need a used cabinet and all set. It's actually worth the extra dollars.

keepVHSalive

if u got alot of money get a orange if not get a 50 watt fender reissue