Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

[Lovegun]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Perhaps a Vox Valvetronix?

Awesome small amps, perfect for apartments and get all of the tones you mentioned.

May I suggest Vox VT20+. More tones and effects than you might need. It has a power level control that goes from 0-30 watts.

[Diego]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Anything but a Roland Cube 60.

I don't know about the smaller ones, but their big brother sucks at quiet levels. Sounds muffled and dead.

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

May I suggest Vox VT20+. More tones and effects than you might need. It has a power level control that goes from 0-30 watts.

Yes, you may suggest that You can suggest whatever you want!

Also, believe it or not, you can have quite a bit of fun with iOS Garage Band.

Roland Cubes do alright, I've got one. Ridiculously quiet, but that's alright.

Blues Juniors are nice and small, but still expensive. For the price, I'd rather take it up a notch and go with the Hot Rod.

You are absolutely right about Garageband! I have it on my phone and use this cable.

I do like the Roland Cubes but just never pulled the trigger on them for some reason.

I have both the Blues Jr. and Hot Rod Deluxe...the Blues Jr. is definitely more apartment friendly; however, this mod here can help tame the sharp volume increase on the HRD, also gives it more clean headroom.

Anything but a Roland Cube 60.

I don't know about the smaller ones, but their big brother sucks at quiet levels. Sounds muffled and dead.

Hmm, that has not been my experience with them...

[theAeronought]

Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

I have both the Blues Jr. and Hot Rod Deluxe...the Blues Jr. is definitely more apartment friendly; however, this can help tame the sharp volume increase on the HRD, also gives it more clean headroom.

That's really good to know! Now that 20% of the volume it loses - is it still good for gigging, or should I plug the other tub back in when I go out.? Also, the "warmth" added - whenever somebody says warmth, I hear loss of tone. I like brightness. Can you expound on that issue a bit? How warm does it really get, and can it be fixed?

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Treble frequencies are more likely to cut through walls, so the higher the not-all-that-better for apartmental issues.

While the MicroCube doesn't have a foot switch, the knob turns easily enough, and it's tubeless, so none of that "but I have to have it cranked to get the tube hot and the speaker moving, otherwise it's not "real tube tone!" business.

As well, it's got everything from JC120 clean to Rectifier mosh.

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

That's really good to know! Now that 20% of the volume it loses - is it still good for gigging, or should I plug the other tub back in when I go out.? Also, the "warmth" added - whenever somebody says warmth, I hear loss of tone. I like brightness. Can you expound on that issue a bit? How warm does it really get, and can it be fixed?

Totally depends man...I keep the 12AT7 in because I have so much more clean headroom and I haven't played a gig where I needed to go above volume 5 despite a very loud drummer and keyboardist.

EDIT: Well, warmth is one of those words that means different things to different people. I've never associated warmth with loss of tone; rather, the opposite of ice picky.

My Fender Strat with Fat 50s is "warm" in the neck and mid position. My Warmoth Strat with a Phat Cat (humbucker sized P90) is warmer in the neck than my Strat...but its a different type of warmth.

The biggest thing to me about the Mod was the added clean room. The drive channel did indeed sound better; however, I had it modded to be more of a Mesa style gain–love it but my footswitch was left somewhere and I mainly just use my pedals on the clean channel.

I would put the Blues Jr. with the C-Rex as very capable of warm clean tones. The Hot Rod Deluxe has sparkly clean tones and a ton of power...haven't swapped the C-Rex speaker in the HRD yet but for "warmth" I would go with the Blues Jr. of mine.

[theAeronought]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Good stuff, Doc! I'll keep that in mind for the future. I've almost always got a fuzz pedal or two on (I've got one that's absolutely perfect for some bluesy kick, plus a Muff clone - the two added together sound like a Jax and boost the volume just enough for a solo), but I do like that sparkly cleanness, especially when I'm playing a Strat. If, as you say, the replacement tube costs under $20, then I can gladly give it a shot and replace it later if I must.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pierre]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Great stuff, thanks everyone

I'm not planning nor wanting to use iOS devices. I barely use my phone as it is, don't have a tablet, so much prefer dedicated guitar gear.
I actually went ahead and ordered a Yamaha THR10X. I liked it a lot when I played the basic version, so this should do the trick for the living room.

[chcjunior]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

I picked up the Blackstar HT-1 Metal as I wanted a real tube amp to play through in my townhouse as opposed to the Digitech GNX3. I've been nothing but happy with it, and found it be extremely versatile.

[KINGV02]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

Fender mustang 1 v2. It has a headphone jack so you can plug earbuds into it, it is 20 watts so you can play loud if you need to, and it is about the same as a line 6 spider price wise. I got my fender mustang for $113

[devastone]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

I'll second the Yamaha THR10 amps, great sounding practice amps.

[HTT]

Re: Need small practice amp to re-gain (ha!) desire to play

I'll third the Yamaha THR amps.