Amp Gassing

[Hsb]

Recently Ive been wanting to get a second amp head to go along with my Jubilee, something a bit smaller wattage wise. Been looking at a few lately kinda narrowing it down to a few that would be in the consideration if/when time comes that I do purchase a new amp head. Wanting something lower wattage, so Ive been looking at the smaller lunchbox size amps in the 20 watt or less range. Want something with variable power, living in a townhouse and thin walls isnt really conducive to a 50 watt amp. I can turn it down to 25 watts but it looses a little something to me. Love my Jub and will never part with it, just looking to add to the stable. Keeping it in the sub $800 price range. I could also look at other used options as well just afraid of buying someone else's problem.

Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 20, clear, crisp tone, plenty of gain on hand and 2 channels should I want to run a distortion pedal. Can do 20, 5 or down to 1 watt. Watched several videos and I like the tone just not sure it is exactly what I want. But they look damn cool w the blue leds. Runs 12ax7s and EL84s

Orange Tiny Terror, really good, full sounding drive, maybe a little fuzzy from what my ringing ears can hear. Can do 15, 7, 5 and either 1 or .5 wattts, 2 channels with that not quite pristine clean similar to what I from my Marshall. Gain range may not be quite enough for me. Not that I venture into heavy gain all that often, my Jube sits between 5 and 6 most of the time. 12ax7s and EL84s.

Orange Dark Terror, same as above but only 1 channel but more gain on hand vs the TT

Marshall DSL20, typical Marshall tone that some many of have heard. Appears it can do 20 or 10 watts. Clean, typical Marshall gain and high gain on tap. Has built in verb but ehh, I have a HOF2 for that. Runs EL34s and 12ax7s

Boss Katana 50 watt combo, great little amp, ton of options available, all the Boss tones you could ever want at your finger tips. 50, 25 and .5 watt settings. Is also headphones compatible. Never ventured into modeling and a good way to step into that game. Its also the cheapest option of all of them. I can also get this one locally vs the others Id have to order.


These are some of the options Im looking at, I know there is a tone of experience with the Katana on here and heard a little bit of the TT but what else can be said to help me potentially pick an amp to add to the stable.

[Securb]

Love my Peavey Classic 20h it is feature full. It has great cleans and the onboard overdrive can get you to metal levels if needed.

[Top-L]

I will always be a fan of the Laney Ironheart. It has variable power scaling, the 60Watt head can conjure thick power tube distortion at bedroom volume. It accepts EL34, but it sounds much better with 6l6. This is a better choice than any of the "20 Watt" amps designed with EL84s. You can get everything on the punchy/heavy side with 6L6 sound, but at 1 Watt. Only problem is that it is traditional size. There is a Studio version of the Ironheart which might be what you are looking for.

New they are 1K, but they can be had for half of that used.

[ehdwuld]

I been gassing for the H&K too

i vote that one

[beaubrummels]

Another option...

[Hsb]

Meh, stupid puter, your pict isnt showing up Beau

[NegativeEase]

This thing is killer.

The SV20h Plexi reissue with effects loop (which is selectable), 5 watt mode, DI out, and love pedals making it into a higher gain monster.
Also has loudness feature for lower volume tone preservation.

downside.... expensive. Don't by the SV20C version -the V Type 10" can't hang.

[beaubrummels]

Meh, stupid puter, your pict isnt showing up Beau

Hmm, it's just an Engator Tweaker, the image is direct from the web site.

http://www.egnateramps.com/EgnaterProducts/Tweaker/TweakerHead/assets/TweakerHead.jpg

[Hsb]

Ah ok, yeah couldnt even see it on my phone either.

[Ewizard]

Not 100% relevant to you perhaps, but if you're interested I just finished designing an amp I have been working on for about a year! In fact today I started the process of removing all the parts and pieces I don't need on the turrets so I can rebuild the amp to the layout of the finished schematic. I designed an 18-watt clean/pedal platform amp that is designed to utilize PI distortion if desired so you can actually have a more cranked amp type grind at bedroom levels. The idea was to make the amp simply be the makeup gain/recovery stage of an amps effects loop return with very simple Lo-cut & Hi-cut tone controls and two volume controls, one pre-phase inverter, and one post-phase inverter. It's cathode biased with a large cathode bypass capacitor to give it a more fixed bias amp-like feel. This amp is two things, BALLSY and PUNCHY. It can do chime if you want it too, but it is more low mid focused so it gets that woody, growly kind of thing going. It is NOT a high gain amp though, it has a mild crunch at best and is very much designed to utilize an overdrive pedal to get the party started. When cranked in order to rattle the walls, it obviously goes into full-on power-tube distortion.

Being designed as more a pedal platform amp, the idea was to be able to utilize the modern amp in a box, modeler type preamp pedals, along with FX before the amp which is more or less neutral-sounding and transparent enough, while still having its own character. I would say that from a design aspect, it is a mix between a Marshall 18-watt, a Vox AC-15, and a Matchless Lightning. It has the 18-watt Marshall power supply and HT rail, a Vox AC-15 inspired power amp section, and a Matchless Lightning inspired preamp, all with my own tweaks and ideas. It is nothing like either amp, while still leaning upon them for design inspiration. From the input to the speakers there are only 10 components in the signal path, and it gets VERY loud if you want, but can do bedroom level just as well. And when I say bedroom level, I mean literally below conversation level without any tone suffering issues. It does not have fancy power scaling or half power switches, it was simply designed to work at ALL volume levels.

So what was the point of all that? Well, for the money you are looking to spend, you can buy a kit, or even source the parts yourself and build an amp that will keep you busy for a long while. Between learning, building, and tweaking it, you will find many months if not years of G.A.S reduction because you will have an amp you made and can redesign however you like and eventually make it into something that is all yours and does everything YOU want. Food for thought? I know you want a bedroom grade amp and that is what drove me to make mine. I bought an Egnater Tweaker many years ago, and after the honeymoon, it was just meh, which made using pedals with it less fun. What is worse is that the Tweaker is a HORRID modifying platform amp and there is just no way to really mod it. So I bought an 18-Watt Marshall kit hoping it would be a more bedroom friendly amp. Nope..... It is just as loud and obnoxious as any other amp out there, but it sounded good, really good! So I decided to make it my own. After trying high gain preamps, this idea, that idea, and everything in between, I came to realize what I really wanted was a simple, great-sounding amp that I can do anything with. The modern pedal choice is light years ahead of what it was when I was a kid, so after buying a few pedals that were of amps I gassed for, I just designed the amp to compliment them. And after a few months of tweaking this or that to get the amp more where I wanted it, I think I finally have what I feel is a great all-around clean/pedal platform amp that does what I want. The best part is that it cost me about half the budget you are talking about spending. That's right, the kit was cheap enough and the parts to mod it cheap enough that you can actually build an amp and redesign it for less than what you are looking to spend. If you are interested, send me a PM and I will shoot you in a direction.

[AdrianSD]

Vote for DSL here. I have a 40CR and sounds really big, *BUT*: don't really care for it if I go direct guitar -> amp for OD1 and OD2 gain channels. Using an overdrive as clean boost always on and it really takes it to heavy / thrash metal territory. Without the pedal it sounds fizzy and boomy.
My setup is really simple: Guitar - noise gate - OD - amp - GE-7 & some chorus and delay in the loop. Gives me everything I need, from sparkle clean to Pantera.

[Bogner]

Hands down, without question or hesitation, best bang for the buck going for quality dirt and quality clean across the various spectrums is the PRS Tremonti MT-15 amp. Such an amazing amp and a joy to play.

[Obsessive Compulsive]

I will always be a fan of the Laney Ironheart. It has variable power scaling, the 60Watt head can conjure thick power tube distortion at bedroom volume. It accepts EL34, but it sounds much better with 6l6. This is a better choice than any of the "20 Watt" amps designed with EL84s. You can get everything on the punchy/heavy side with 6L6 sound, but at 1 Watt. Only problem is that it is traditional size. There is a Studio version of the Ironheart which might be what you are looking for.

New they are 1K, but they can be had for half of that used.

Meh...mine is IRT 60 212 and it sounds like crap, fuzzy n everything. The variable watt knop is just another volume button. The push pull eq doesn't really affect the sound.

Cool looking amp but loaded with BS features. I haven't tried it with different tubes though as you suggested.

Gesendet von meinem ASUS_X00RD mit Tapatalk

[donaldr]

If you cannot play to loud at home, maybe a Laney IRT Studio (15w/1w) if you want distortion from amp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8g1GXyoKU. You can also check some videos by Jack Thammarat who used one for live and recording.
If you want a pedalboard platform maybe a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb.