Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

i found a little sound city "studio 20" (supposedly a 'pa' amp.....) at a junk fair for £10 ($15us)
el84 power, ecc83 (12ax7) pre's, and 100% working:

and i have to say, for low-power driven sounds it is very good - but still needs either a very inefficient speaker (i use a real old wharfedale from the 1950's) or an attenuator (i drop 20w:2w into a celestion loaded 2x12") to get 'acceptable' loudness. But loose the attenuator and crank it up - oh boy, it is glorious.

Keep your eyes peeled - there are low-wattage sleepers out there.....

nice!

 

[ModestCargo]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a 65 Deluxe Reverb, usually with a Marshall 2x12" with vintage 30s underneath it. It was a closed back cab but it is now open back. 22 watts is all I need.

The old Ibanez Jazzmaster copy isn't mine.

Anyway you should check out some smallish silverface Fenders like the DR. Also the reissues are supposed to be alright.

 

[CaughtLikeFire]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

The stock speaker can't be any worse than the new Jensens, I think these are actually pretty cool little amps and offer a neat alterniative to all the little EL84 buzz boxes running around.

Also, keep this in mind...your tweed Fender sound is not all that different from your vintage Marshall sound...both tweeds and old marshalls do the thick nasty midrange thing.

you bring up some good points.

I need to try to find a J20 locally. the sound clips/vids I could find impressed me with cleans and the tremolo circuit but the power tube breakup characteristics didn't seem as nice as say a Dlx Reverb. I usually dig overdriven 6V6s, so maybe it's just tough to record the sound well.

the J20 did not have the traditional Fender mid-scoop. definitely not an El84 or EL34 amp with the nice mid hump, but it didn't have the v-shaped EQ. if I could snag a combo for $550 instead of the regular $850 street price, it might be worth it.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I play thru a 67 Deluxe Reverb from time to time. I love the amp, but I really need to put a better.... more efficient speaker in it. It just doesn't have enough headroom for me.

 

[Markk]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

All this tiny terror talk makes me kinda regret not getting it. But the TSL 601 was so much more attractive for some reason.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a 18w Mesa Blue Angel. If I am using a tube amp, I like them without a master volume, so it has to be low watts. I hate that buzzy preamp tube distortion...I usually gig with a Tech21 SS amp, which actually sounds more like power tubes than many tube amps that just distort the preamp tubes.

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a 18w Mesa Blue Angel. If I am using a tube amp, I like them without a master volume, so it has to be low watts. I hate that buzzy preamp tube distortion...I usually gig with a Tech21 SS amp, which actually sounds more like power tubes than many tube amps that just distort the preamp tubes.

Those blue angels are amazing amps and I kinda regret not getting one when I had the chance.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I may have misspoken --- I have the hots for the Tiny Terror, I just don't like their cabinets (chassis, really) and those of the Rebel as well.

Their 'tarded cabinets make them less attractive to me, but I like their sound. I actually love their sound, but to my next point:

A 15W amp is NOT a low wattage tube amp

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

A 15W amp is NOT a low wattage tube amp

Why, sure it is. But that doesn't mean it's not loud. Wattage is probably the worst indicator of how loud an amp will be. A 15 watt amp isn't half as loud as a 30 watt amp, and a 50 watt amp isn't a great deal louder than a 25 watt amp.

It's about headroom, IMO. If I can get a really nice growly clean from a higher wattage at the volume of a small amp set in the red zone, then it's no louder, just cleaner.

My Peggy will peel the paint off of the walls in a little room, but in a bigger one with the band at full tilt, it can get a bit lost which makes me play too hard. The 50W Bassman gets run at the same volume or maybe a pinch louder, but gives up the cleans better and I retain dynamic control.

Besides, loud is loud whether from the amp or the mixer/monitors.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

+1
IMO, the Tiny Terror out Marshalls Marshall, it just drips vintage British tone.

Switchable 15 watts class AB or 7 watts class A.

Its class A all around... and sounds/feels nothing like a Marshall to my ears. Not like a JTM45/Plexi/800 anyway... not not like the 20watt head either. It's more like a gained up Lightening or AC15 then anything else.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a Peavey Classic 20 - it's a 15W, 1X10 little amp.
It was a little weak when we were two guitarists in our band - now it actually does the job much better.

I still want to upgrade to a 1X12 combo... just for the extra volume.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

Low wattage is my great. My main amp is a fender princeton, but I have had a blues junior and a tweed champ (ages ago). For modern amps tho, if you want a big sound with a small amp, then check out the boogies.
Or of you dig a more vintage vibe then, a vox ac15 is chunky.

 

[wanmei1]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

Its class A all around... and sounds/feels nothing like a Marshall to my ears. Not like a JTM45/Plexi/800 anyway... not not like the 20watt head either. It's more like a gained up Lightening or AC15 then anything else.

I assume the 7 watts comes from just one tube so it's a single ended amp in that mode = true class A.
The pair of 84's in push pull config I take it as pseudo class A, I'm not sure. There is so much discussion beyond cathode bias as to what constitutes true class A that it would seem it's somewhat debatable.
I believe the TT uses some interesting impedance altering SS ciruitry but as to how it works I don't know.
To me the Marshall sound is characterised by power tube distortion and the TT that I played briefly in store semmed to have more raunch and crunch than a JCM 2000.
I've never been able to find that much info on the SS side of the circuitry but here's some info that alludes to it:

"Orange designers have designed the gain structure of the Tiny Terror to work in a very unique way; utilizing a dual gang gain pot, one side turns up the first gain stage to the point of very heavy compression, while the other side changes the impedance of the second gain stage so that it to compresses to the same degree.

It utilizes a five section fully filmed interleaved output transformer that is very closely balanced to primary. The EL84 output tubes are cathode biased to around 90% in the 15w position, and 96% in the 7w position. In short, the Tiny Terror is designed to produce as much gain as a four stage gain pot, but the output tubes are driven evenly all the way through. The tone control is also designed in a unique way, where the tone circuit is not on the preamp side, but actually part of the phase inverter (power amp) so the gain structure of the amp is unaffected by the tone control. "

 

[thespricket]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I suppose my amp is considered low wattage. It's 30 watts tube in a 112 combo. I can't imagine ever needing any more volume for my needs. I have never had to push the volume past half. Any gig I play is usually small, any large gig I would play would almost always have some kind of system that I could mic the amp with. And it's heavy enough to lug around, I could never imagine myself getting a stack or a larger amp.

 

[CaughtLikeFire]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

For modern amps tho, if you want a big sound with a small amp, then check out the boogies.

I've been seriously considering the Mesa Lonestar Special since I can run it @ 7W, 15W or 30W and it has the EL84 tone I dig. I really prefer less complicated circuits . . . but I have also had good luck with Mesa products in the past and am always happy with the build quality

maybe this shouldn't bother me, but the fact that a lot of these small amps (Tiny Terror, Little Giant, Rebel) are made in PR China bothers me a little . . . I know that they'll fall short of the quality of the USA or European-made higher end models from the same companies. I mean, dang, even the the PTP wired Ampeg is made in Vietnam . . .

anybody else running a Mesa LSS by the way?

 

[Sprinter]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

All three of my amps are low wattage amps. They are:

'56 Fender, Princeton / 4 watts

'64 Ampeg, R-12 R / I'm unsure of it's wattage but I'd guess it to be around 15

'08 Rivera, Venus 3 / 15 watts switchable to 7 watts

All three sound great, but the Rivera is the best of the bunch. The Ampeg isn't a very loud amp and needs to be pushed hard to get any overdrive out of it. The '56 Princeton doesn't like hot pickups.


Sprinter 92

 

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a Kustom Coupe '36 1x12 combo and love it! 36 tube watts in more than needed for a jam and then I mike it or borrow a 4x12 cab for a show.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I use a Peavey Classic 20 - it's a 15W, 1X10 little amp.
It was a little weak when we were two guitarists in our band - now it actually does the job much better.

I still want to upgrade to a 1X12 combo... just for the extra volume.

You could probably find a really cheap peavey 1x12 cab on clist or the bay. Does the C-20 have it's speaker hooked to a jack or is it hardwired?

 

[StillLearnin']

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I make my amps "small" with an attenuator so I can at least work the output tubes... I'd rather work with amps I know sound the way I want and can gig with also - that way I just shrink them with an attenuator when at home. I dunno, that just works for me. Even a 2 watt is pretty loud when it's cranked - and for the sounds I use, I need cranked...

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Low wattage tube amps - who here uses them?

I think the folks in here with anything greater than 15 watts are missing the point --- the O.P. wants to be able to crank it in an apartment.

I say 1W is what you're looking for and 3W-5W will be very hard to crank in an apartment.