Tube Amp Help!!

DiRtyFranK38 · March 2007

xtremehardy388 · March 2007

I'd go with the Hot Rod Deluxe. Great amp, great sound, and VERY reliable.

sennin · March 2007

I was looking at these for a while when I was looking for an amp....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Marshall-JTM-30-Vavle-Tube-Amp-w-Cover-Footswitch-NR_W0QQitemZ150103053846QQcategoryZ38075QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I also played a Traynor a couple of weeks ago....I liked it....it was alot like my Fender Hotrod.

Damm....I need to learn to play! haha

keeponrockin · March 2007

Traynor. Great cleans AND great distortion...

I picked up a used YCV80Q for $350 (rental return) at my local shop a few months back.

DiRtyFranK38 · March 2007

thanks. i've been kind of leaning towards the traynor because everyone gives it a lot of props..along with the fender hot rod. as for that marshall you listed, it's 22 watts. i want something at least like 40 watts.

does anyone know anything about randalls? that one looked pretty good but i never heard of the brand.

ianvomsaal · March 2007

I own both Fender Hot Rod (mine is a 60 watt Deville 4x10), and a Peavey Classic (mine's a 50watt 4x10). I own 8 amps - you name it I probably own it or have owned it at one time or another.
I like the airiness of 4x10 - to me the more air movement gets a fuller tone, yet for speakers I like the smaller 10's instead of 12's.
Out of the two amps the Classic 50 has a better Overdrive tone (EL84 tubes - it's got a great blues, rock, and "Pearl Jam" sound). To me the Peavey sounds good all the way around. Personally I never liked the Hot Rod's Overdrive tone (just doesn't seem to do it for me), but the clean is very nice (I love 6L6 tubes for clean). I've stopped using the Hot Rod's OD and just use a pedal (TS9 and Blues Driver) for the OD sounds.
The one problem I have with the Fender is that it's just tooooo loud. I have to crack it on 1.5 or 2 (with a full band), or it's just too loud (seriously).
Maybe the 1x12 is a bit better since it's only 40watts instead of 60watts. I can't even get natural distortion with the Fender since I can't really turn it up - therefore I honestly don't know what this things true tone is.
I'd recommend getting an amp between 30 and 50 watts - anything more is just overkill, and you'll never really get to hear the amps true tone.
They made amps 100+ watts early on since they didn't have good PA systems, and the amp had to be loud enough to hear in a stadium without being mic'd (hence why so many old rockers are now practically def).
Anyhow, out of the two I'd recommend the Peavey for all around tone, and the Fender for just clean tone (depends what you're looking for - I currently use the Fender more because I'm going for clean amp tone that I can add OD to). I'll eventually get an older 45watt Fender Super Reverb 4x10 for that (sold mine, now wish I hadn't).
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

DiRtyFranK38 · March 2007

ianvomsaal wrote:

I own both Fender Hot Rod (mine is a 60 watt Deville 4x10), and a Peavey Classic (mine's a 50watt 4x10). I own 8 amps - you name it I probably own it or have owned it at one time or another.
I like the airiness of 4x10 - to me the more air movement gets a fuller tone, yet for speakers I like the smaller 10's instead of 12's.
Out of the two amps the Classic 50 has a better Overdrive tone (EL84 tubes - it's got a great blues, rock, and "Pearl Jam" sound). To me the Peavey sounds good all the way around. Personally I never liked the Hot Rod's Overdrive tone (just doesn't seem to do it for me), but the clean is very nice (I love 6L6 tubes for clean). I've stopped using the Hot Rod's OD and just use a pedal (TS9 and Blues Driver) for the OD sounds.
The one problem I have with the Fender is that it's just tooooo loud. I have to crack it on 1.5 or 2 (with a full band), or it's just too loud (seriously).
Maybe the 1x12 is a bit better since it's only 40watts instead of 60watts. I can't even get natural distortion with the Fender since I can't really turn it up - therefore I honestly don't know what this things true tone is.
I'd recommend getting an amp between 30 and 50 watts - anything more is just overkill, and you'll never really get to hear the amps true tone.
They made amps 100+ watts early on since they didn't have good PA systems, and the amp had to be loud enough to hear in a stadium without being mic'd (hence why so many old rockers are now practically def).
Anyhow, out of the two I'd recommend the Peavey for all around tone, and the Fender for just clean tone (depends what you're looking for - I currently use the Fender more because I'm going for clean amp tone that I can add OD to). I'll eventually get an older 45watt Fender Super Reverb 4x10 for that (sold mine, now wish I hadn't).
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

thanks..what are your views on traynors and randalls or any of the other amps i listed that i'm looking at on ebay?

xtremehardy388 · March 2007

The Hot Deluxe is more gutsy than the DeVille from what I've heard along with my friend who's owned both. The Deville doesn't have a good drive channel.

Novawind · March 2007

I've got a Traynor YCV40 and have no complaints. It does what I want it to.

HailHailVitalogy · March 2007

Here are some of my favorites....assume you can get most of these for the 500$ range

Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue
Fender Hot Rod
Peavey Delta Blues
Any Traynor....I have one, amazing amp

lucylespian · March 2007

DiRtyFranK38 wrote:

thanks. i've been kind of leaning towards the traynor because everyone gives it a lot of props..along with the fender hot rod. as for that marshall you listed, it's 22 watts. i want something at least like 40 watts.

does anyone know anything about randalls? that one looked pretty good but i never heard of the brand.

Don't worry about low watage, it'll still be too loud, you just get to teh sweet spot a bit sooner. I'm about to go play a Bad CAt 30, and it will be very loud. I'm leaning more toward EL 34/84 hese days, cos I mainly use teh MArshally type sounds on my H&K. Just something about crunch. If yuo can get a good older MArshall lke a JCM 800 for your budget, It would be worth a look.

xtremehardy388 · March 2007

Yeah wattage for solid state and tube are totally different. a 40watt Tube is louder than a 40watt solid state

ianvomsaal · March 2007

DiRtyFranK38 wrote:

thanks..what are your views on traynors and randalls or any of the other amps i listed that i'm looking at on ebay?

Both Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and Deville are the same amp (just with different wattage and speaker configurations). The Deluxe is 40watts, and comes with a single 12” speaker. The Deville is 60watts, and comes with either two 12” speakers or four 10” speakers.

Randall is more of a “metal’ amp – if you’re more into the Pearl Jam bluesy rock type sound, then Randall isn’t for you.

Forget the Pignose and Laney – not really what you’re looking for (you’d like the Laney better than the Pignose, but any Laney worth it will cost you a grand+).

I’ve heard some okay things about Traynor – some of them do sound okay, and people that own them seem to like them - just make sure you play one before you buy it. Problem is that only small music stores seem to carry Traynor, not the big guys (you can go the mail order route through MF). Problem with that is it’ll be difficult to take it back if you don’t like it after you buy it (many little stores won’t let you bring back a tube amp after say 20 days, and mail order usually makes you pay return shipping). My other issue is that hardly any known artists use them (so it’s difficult to compare the sound of someone you like using one -- Example: we know that Mike McCready uses a Matchless HC30/Chieftain (among others), so you can get an idea what one of those will sound like playing certain songs with certain guitars. Again, just make sure you play one several times with your own gear before you buy.
I'd also say to stay away from e-bay on these amps - most of the time you can get a new amp for the cost of an ebay amp (and you still have to pay shipping on e-bay - Example: Normal price on a Fender Hot Rod 4x10 Deville is $799, I talked the price down to $640 - You'd be hard pressed to find one on ebay for $640).

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

one way needle · March 2007

Hey I had a roland cube 30 before i got my Traynor! Gave the roland to my brother - i just didn't need it anymore. I've had the YCV40T (two 10" speakers as opposed to the YCV40' single 12") about a year and a half now and couldn't be happier with it!

It's fine for playing at low volumes for practice, you can get a really sweet sound out of it & it's also plenty loud enough for gigging etc. They sound awesome cranked! I could write a review but like Ian said, your best bet is to get out and play one. Take your own guitar along if possible to get the best possible idea.
Good luck searching!

lucylespian · March 2007

OK, here's what happened to me yesterday. Went and palyed teh Bad CAt for the second time, and just didn't get into the overdive channel like ai did the first time. Came home wihtout it, a bit confused and disappointed, thought about it, read some more reviews, argued with myself, eventually my wife convinced me that I should buy it based on teh clean alone. Thinkig about it, I thnk I had the gain turned up way too high, and not enought drive from teh power ampSo anyway, Iwent back this mornig, wife tells me on teh way that she put a down payment on it the day before when I wasn't looking anyway.
Did the deal came home, plugged it in, wound the gain back, cranked the vomule and basically I have been playing tio for a bout 3 hrs straight with this massive gri on my face, and the best tone ai have ever heard.

So, the point of the story is, that you have to get the knobs in the right place for even the best amps to sound good. Music stores are about the worst place for this, cos you need to crank tube amops a biut to get them to sound good. I ususally get the store guy to play it for me, so I can listen properly without feeling really self conscious. The other thing isd, you have to attack them a bit. I ususally back right off with my pick attack , which is about the worst thing you can do.
And don't turn the gain up too high. It's about the most reliable way to get a good amp to sound crap.

Good luck hunting !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pacomc79 · March 2007

If you've found this website, there is no real reason for you to look into Randall. Traynor is worth looking into.

If you just want clean the HRD's are pretty nice if you are going to get crunch and OD from pedals, the Traynors probably have a better second channel. Rivera Pubsters tend to be in this range too, fendery clean marshally OD but with a looser bottom end if it's a 6L6 and tighter and woollier with EL34's. 6L6's produce more of the Fender Clean Sound you know and love EL34's more of the Marshall OD tones.

I personally think the Peavy Classic 50 is a solid all around amp with good cleans good overdrive and a nice rich bottom end. Also in that price range ($400) the Delta Blues 2x10 is very good for the money. Fender should have made the HRD's single channel amps the OD/crunch channel is not worth the extra parts, but they do sound good with a creamy OD like the Fulldrive or the Eternity or the billion tubescreamer derivatives.

In the Used Market, check out the Orange Tiny Terror and find a cheap cabinet.

have fun, try a ton of stuff including different speakers and cabinets if you can to give you a better idea of how things sound.

Oh, also check out the Crate V series amps they are pretty nice for the money as well.

In the Sub 500 dollar range the chimey semi cheap EL84 power tube is probably going to be the most common. It will produce the sounds you like in spades.

ianvomsaal · March 2007

Pacomc79 wrote:

I personally think the Peavy Classic 50 is a solid all around amp with good cleans good overdrive and a nice rich bottom end.

As I said before, this was my choice. I'd recommend taking a listen to these amps.
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

DiRtyFranK38 · March 2007

I HAVE FINALLY MADE MY DECISION!!

i went to a store today and tried out a fender hot rod deluxe, peavy classic 30, and took the store worker's word for some other tubes. they had no traynors, and marshalls were too expensive. from what i played, i LOVED ..really LOVED the fender hot rod deluxe. i thought it was amazing. i played it through a tube screamer as well, and it was just fantastic. thats the amp i'm going to get.. just a matter of how soon. also i ordered a tube screamer pedal tonite. thanks for all the help everyone

Tube Amp Help!!

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