$400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

M

Mukobi

New member
Hello,

I'm trying to find a good amp to buy. I'm mainly looking for it to have a great clean tone that can also take pedals very well, but I don't quite know what to buy. Here is my personal situation:


Budget: $400, but less preferred to save some money for pedals.

Genres I like: Blues, jazz, 70s-80s rock, fusion. The only real requirement of is that the amp needs to be able to get a reasonably good jazz tone as the other genres I can easily get with good pedals.

New or Used: I'm fine buying used

Home or Gig: I would mainly use this for home use as well as small-medium sized gigs. It needs to be able to cut through the mix and get over a drummer, but it also needs to have at least decent tones at home volumes.

Closest City: If you want to go above recommending an amp and find a good craigslist posting too, I'm in the Portland, OR area.

Current Gear: Right now I'm using a coil-tappable Dean EVO Special Select (pretty much a Les Paul), to a crappy Boss DS-1 distortion pedal to an even crappies Marshall MG-10CD 40w solid state amp.


Do you guys have any recommendations for a good clean sounding amp that fits these criteria? Right now all I'm really considering is the textbook answer, a Hot Rod/Blues Deluxe, but is there anything else to look out for?

Thanks!
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Oh, man. You've got SO MANY good choices at that price, for that use. Seriously, take your pick. Start with a Blues Jr. and work your way towards the less ubiquitous options from there, depending on the base flavor you're looking for.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

The Jet City 50W head was on sale for about $350 last week .... dunno if the sale is still running.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

I t hink the recommendations I made in your previous post stand. There are several amps near PDX that would fit the bill. If you are really trying to stay at the bottom range of your budget, then solid-state is a good way to go. I'm partial to Peavey, but there are Fenders, Line 6s et.al. on the PDX Craig's List. And don't skip over modelers, or one of tube/SS hybrids from Peavey, Music Man, etc. I even found a newer Peavey Classic 30 in Newberg, OR, for $300.

You've just got to get out there and play on every amp you can try, with your own guitar. Hit GC, and hit all the local pawn shops. And if you can, please TAKE YOUR TIME. If you're careful, and PATIENT, you might luck into a Mesa DC, F-Series, Mark or Nomad. I've got a 212 Maverick here, but it's a little out of your budget. You can sometimes find SF Fenders in your range, and something like a Marshall DSL 401 could also be used for jazz. And remember, cash talks when bargaining.

Let me know if I can help.

Bill
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Roland Cube 60 or 80.
Especially if you use an extension cab.
Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

I was gonna say Blues Jr, Hot Rod Deluxe, or blues deluxe would all work great. The 40W options start to sound a bit thin at home volumes but I'd take the extra headroom cuz humbuckers can make a Fender clean channel start to break up or flub out and that can be great for blues but not necessarily for jazz (depending on context etc)
Peavey classic 30 and 50 are great options also and can be wayyy cheap..

If you're not married to the world of pedals for dirt, there are great modelers in your price range that will probably nail your clean tone needs in spades and do at least OK for your dirt. I'm using a fender modeling combo and I still use my dirt pedals a bit, but absolutely don't need any. The modeling thing is easy to set up and transport, its cheap, and it rules the low volume domain. Many tube amps sound thin and anemic at apartment/small room levels, especially if you rely on pedals for dirt. I think manyt pedals were designed to push a tube amp where it was a given that the amp would smooth out how buzzy and harsh the pedal really is. Look at the DS-1 for example, it sounds light years different through a Deluxe Reverb on 1 vs a Deluxe Reverb on 4 or 5.

So, TL;DR: Get a hot rod deluxe or classic 30 if you really like pedals but I think modelers really would satisfy based on the clean/blues/jazz tone criteria, and small-to-medium room size, and price.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

hot rod deluxe all day man. ive had 3 and they all cost me around $400 used in good shape.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Musiciansfriend has two great deals on Fender Tube amps:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ampl...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

There is even an open box version of a 15 watt fender.

I bought my 5 watt Fender Champ from them several years ago. It was labeled "open box" and what I got was a dead mint amp in the original box, foam, everthing...tags on it. Amp cover still in it's original plastic bad. Everything and I got it for 300.00 less than they were going for at the time.

Sometimes dudes get gear and their wives are like "no F#^king way..send it back." and musiciansfriend takes stupid money off them.


So...back to your point. Go to your favorite music site...pick amps and then filter by price range. If you are looking for tubes, you will have to have a smaller wattage amp.

Honestly...a lot of the lunchbox sized Orange amps can help you out too.

See you,


~LD
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Used Carvin Nomad or Belair are around $350
great sounding cleans, the dirt channel sounds like a DS-1
effects loop, footswitch plenty loud

at that price a new Peavey Bandit would be good
used Bandits are real cheap ($100), but plan for a speaker swap
those Sheffield speakers are blah
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Lots of real nice options can be had for that price point some of my favorites in no particular order
Roland Cube series (probably the only SS option I can even suggest)
VOX AC15
Egnater Tweaker
Fender Blues Jr
Fender Super Champ
Orange Tiny Terror
Carvin Vintage series (nomad, belair, etc I used to have the vintage 33 and absolutely loved the clean tones....unfortunately that amp died by emitting sparks on me during a set, probably just a fluke, luckily I had purchased it used from guitar center and it had the coverage so they just cut me a check for the amount I paid)

If you are worried about volume/headroom any of the lower cost amps can become instantly louder if you pair them with a really efficient speaker enter Celestion G12H or Alnico style speakers (these typically have around a 100dB rating)....Eminence makes lots of great speakers many of the Redcoat and Patriots are inspired by some great classic speaker designs and they are usually over 100dB (I've had some real good experiences with the Private Jack, Wizard, Red Fang, Cannabis Rex, and Texas Heat), those extra 3+ dB in efficiency on the speaker can make your amp noticeably louder in some cases might even double your volume. Just some food for thought to consider. Obviously which exact speaker you choose would depend on the tones you desire and the amp/cab being paired with. Just figured I'd throw this in the mix for you since oftentimes those Eminence speakers can be had for less than $100. Small price to pay to make a small amp work perfectly for your situation.
 
Last edited:
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

The Fender amps mentioned will do what you are looking for, but I personally think the Peavey Classic 30 or 50 combos can do it as good or better.

Cole
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Fender Blues Jr, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Fender Blues Deluxe. Another fun one to point out is the Fender Pro Jr.

My Hot Rod Deluxe takes pedals better than any Marshall, Vox or Mesa that I've ever owned–pristine cleans.

IMO, you are looking for the Fender clean tone.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Here is a Peavey Classic 30 with an asking price of $275. Bring cash offer $200 because the speaker is not original and see if you can end up under or at $250.

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/msg/5429783696.html

Here is a Fender Super Champ XD for $150. Again you can see if the guy will take a few bucks less, but that is a fair price.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/for/5422448742.html

For $400 you will have something that can be gigged (Classic 30) and a perfect practice/ small venue amp (Super Champ) both with great cleans.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Egnater Rebel 30...Super sparkly cleans with warm mids. Takes pedals better than most amps. Has effects loop. $300 - 500 used.

Bogner Alchemist. A warmer, richer sounding amp than the Egnater. Again, takes pedals very well. Has effects loop. Several great sounding built-in delays and reverbs. $400-500 used
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Hot Rod Deluxe has good tone for sure, but..."bang for buck"??

No.

Way over priced for what you get. There are so many other amps with as good if not better tone in this same output and price range with MUCH better "bang for buck". Ex: Tweaker...same price range, same output, better speaker, effects loop, WAY more options for tone shaping, better quality, etc, etc.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

GuitarDoc said:
Hot Rod Deluxe has good tone for sure, but..."bang for buck"??

No.

Way over priced for what you get. There are so many other amps with as good if not better tone in this same output and price range with MUCH better "bang for buck". Ex: Tweaker...same price range, same output, better speaker, effects loop, WAY more options for tone shaping, better quality, etc, etc.
Click to expand...

I disagree, on the used market Hot Rod Deluxes can be be had for under $400. Mine takes pedals better than any of my Mesas and Marshalls ever did.
 
Re: $400 Good Clean Amp for Pedal Use?

Mukobi said:
Why?
Click to expand...

My experience with the Hot Rod series was with the USA made DeVille that I owned. It is a good sounding amp, with great cleans. It took pedals very well, but I didn't like the gain side of that amp at all. It was muddy and very uninspiring. I don't know how the newer revisions compare, but I did some modifications to the circuit to get a more usable amp on both the clean and gain sides. I think that the DeVille did well with single coils and low output humbuckers, whereas the Classic 50 wasn't as picky. The newer revisions might have fixed all the issues I had with the DeVille. I never ended up using the gain side even after adjusting the circuit, I got better gain from pedals than what the amp could do without.

On the flipside, the Classic 50 just sounded good stock. The clean was a bit chimier than the DeVille, but both amps had good cleans. For clean tones, it would come down to the preference of clean characteristics, but both sound great. The Classic 50 takes pedals as well as the DeVille. Where the Classic 50 wins for me is on the gain side, it sounds really good! I didn't need any kind of pedal to get a great overdrive or distortion. However if you wanted to use pedals for gain, they sound good through the clean channel too.

I have since sold both, but I have frequently thought about adding the Classic 50 to my collection. I have never thought about buying another DeVille. If I were to get a Hot Rod again, I would seek out the Blues Deluxe. It was my favorite of the series several years ago.

Cole
 
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