good practie amp for a guy who plays class a tube?

reaching hands

since i joined my new band my tube amp lives in our practice room 8 miles away and its too much hassle to keep bringing it home...so i'm looking for an inexpensive decent little practice amp

i'm toying with he idea of an orange crush amp...any suggestions?

mccreadyisgod

The Epiphone Valve Jr is a good little tube amp for around the house:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=Epiphone+Valve+Jr&st=

And a hell of a good value.

Beyond that, there are lots of deals to be had on semi-vintage Fender practice amps. The silverface Champ, Vibro Champ, Bronco, and Musicmaster Bass amps all make pretty good around-the-house amps.

Don't let the last one fool you, it was originally a practice amp for bass, but it makes a great guitar amp. I had one a few years ago, and gigged with it regularly for a summer. A new speaker (Weber California) and it was a great sounding amp!

Fender also has the Pro Jr and Blues Jr amps, which are both pretty decent, and the Champion 600, Vibro Champ XD, and Super Champ XD are all tube-driven (although the XD's have a digital effects unit integrated into the amp, like a smaller version of Line 6's Spider Valve).

If you have your heart set on solid-state, a small Line 6 Spider or Roland Cube would be great little home amps.

xtremehardy388

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-SuperChamp-XD-120V-Guitar-Combo?sku=483075

ianvomsaal

What kind of amp are you playing in the studio? What kind of music, speaker configuration, wattage?
Since you said you'd bring it home if it wasn't such a hassle, I'd suggest just getting the same amp you
use in practice, this way everything sounds similar, and you'll also have a back-up amp (just in case your
amp goes down). If it works well in your studio, and you say you'd use it at home, why change everything
around - get another. Also, remember that another kind of tube amp will sound different from what you use
in rehearsal - Is that okay, will that work for you, or do you want home to sound like rehearsal???

For me to suggest anything else for you to try, I'd need to know what amp you already have, the type of
music you play, any volume limitations, etc - Cheers . . .

- Ian

DeLukin

reaching hands wrote:

i'm toying with he idea of an orange crush amp...any suggestions?

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but does anyone have any experience with the orange micro crush? The thing looks so cool (I love the idea of a built in tuner) but I'm wondering about sound quality, battery life, etc...

http://www.orangeamps.com/products.asp?Action=View&ID=90

xtremehardy388

Honestly, I think Orange amps are a little overpriced

edpearson

I agree that Orange amps can be pricey. I have a little Traynor 15-watt Class-A tube amp. It's a decent amp and not too pricey. I got mine off eBay brand new and much cheaper than Musician's Friend sells them (you could also try Craigslist.org, too). Here's the link:

http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=251

xtremehardy388

edpearson wrote:

I agree that Orange amps can be pricey. I have a little Traynor 15-watt Class-A tube amp. It's a decent amp and not too pricey. I got mine off eBay brand new and much cheaper than Musician's Friend sells them (you could also try Craigslist.org, too). Here's the link:

http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=3&cat=63&id=251

Never had the chance BUT, I've heard nothing but good things about Traynors.

Pacomc79

Pod XT. or X3 Seriously and good set of headphones or monitors.

Flexible setup and if you get some ideas you can lay them down on your computer pretty easily then burn them and bring them to practice.

MichaelMcKevin

xtremehardy388 wrote:

Never had the chance BUT, I've heard nothing but good things about Traynors.

I f'n love mine. It's up for sale right now but I don't know if I can go through with it.

reaching hands

ianvomsaal wrote:

What kind of amp are you playing in the studio? What kind of music, speaker configuration, wattage?
Since you said you'd bring it home if it wasn't such a hassle, I'd suggest just getting the same amp you
use in practice, this way everything sounds similar, and you'll also have a back-up amp (just in case your
amp goes down). If it works well in your studio, and you say you'd use it at home, why change everything
around - get another. Also, remember that another kind of tube amp will sound different from what you use
in rehearsal - Is that okay, will that work for you, or do you want home to sound like rehearsal???

For me to suggest anything else for you to try, I'd need to know what amp you already have, the type of
music you play, any volume limitations, etc - Cheers . . .

- Ian

hi ian

yeah i play a laney vc30 (30 watt) 2x12 combo...i was lucky cos i got it for £90 which was probably a once in a lifetime bargain!?!...i would love to have another but i may look at a valve jr or maybe a laney vc15 just so i don't log the house up....thanks for the advice

ianvomsaal

reaching hands wrote:

hi ian

yeah i play a laney vc30 (30 watt) 2x12 combo...i was lucky cos i got it for £90 which was probably a once in a lifetime bargain!?!...i would love to have another but i may look at a valve jr or maybe a laney vc15 just so i don't log the house up....thanks for the advice

Maybe take a look at the Peavey Classic Series Amps - same tubes (EL84's), similar sounding amp.

reaching hands

cheers man!

mccreadyisgod

ianvomsaal wrote:

Maybe take a look at the Peavey Classic Series Amps - same tubes (EL84's), similar sounding amp.

Same with the Valve Jr, a single 12AX7 in the preamp, a single EL-84 in the power stage.

The thing I like most about the Valve Jr is the variety of mods available out there to customize the sound... it's a cheap entry amp, but with another $50 and some soldering, they can sound pretty frickin' cool.

That said, the Classic 30 is a cool little amp. I think I'd lean Valve Jr just because it's available as a head-and-cab combo, so I could plug it into a bigger cab if I wanted to jam with folks, gig, use it as a spare for shows, etc.

ianvomsaal

mccreadyisgod wrote:

I think I'd lean Valve Jr just because it's available as a head-and-cab combo, so I could plug it into a bigger cab if I wanted to jam with folks, gig, use it as a spare for shows, etc.

So does the Classic 30:
http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116546/Classic(R)%2030%20Head%20-%20Black%20Vinyl.cfm\
http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116551/Classic(R)%2030/112-Black%20Vinyl.cfm

mccreadyisgod

ianvomsaal wrote:

So does the Classic 30:
http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116546/Classic(R)%2030%20Head%20-%20Black%20Vinyl.cfm\
http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116551/Classic(R)%2030/112-Black%20Vinyl.cfm

Huh! I knew they had the Classic 50 head, but not the Classic 30. Although I question the decision to put the controls on the top of the amp instead of the front... I guess they want people to keep them low to the ground on a small cab. Not a bad little amp. But the Valve Jr is still a comparative bargain, if you don't need the features.