Amp for Blues

Re: Amp for Blues

clapton liked champs in the studio, layla for example, but used big amps live. for home use, if you arent going to play out, a champ is a fun little amp
 
Re: Amp for Blues

Depends what kinda 'blooz' you want to play. If you're into Walter Trout/Poppa Chubby modern screamin Strat stuff, a moderately high gain amp/or pedals will get you there. If you wanna play Little Walter/Muddy/Sonny Boy Chess stuff, get a tweed or a clone. If you're gonna play with a real band in real venues, a Blues Jr is not gonna cut it. A Pro Reverb is a great amp for blues gigs---some headroom, 35-40 watts, and 2x12".
 
Re: Amp for Blues

a blues jr is fine for smaller clubs and a pro reverb is gonna be clean as hell at acceptable volumes in those same clubs. great amp though!
 
Re: Amp for Blues

I forgot to mention another great 'old school' blues amp....the Fender Excelsior Pro (or the 'brown' with an EMI 1518 swapped in). They've been out of production for some time now, but if you find a reasonably priced used one, grab it.
 
Re: Amp for Blues

A 335 or LP into a Pro Reverb is plenty gnarly. Look at the OT on a PR---a little bit bigger than Deluxe Reverb iron. Squishes up fast. My opinion about the Blues Jr is partly about the annoying treble/upper mids these things put out. Look at the schematic and you will see a 100 pF bright cap hardwired into the input of V1. Clip that out and maybe it'll sound like a Fender.
 
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Re: Amp for Blues

i agree pr is a great sounding amp, the iron isnt much bigger but the voltages are higher and bigger bottles too. they sound great turned up but they are louder than a small club would like things to be. i use an old deluxe reverb and even that is too much sometimes if i set it where i want it
 
Re: Amp for Blues

The best bet is to go play a ton of amps in some shops...
But otherwise perhaps I would say get a good modeling amp until you're sure what flavor of blues sound you wanted to focus on and then go get a killer amp that does that sound.
To start, you'll wanna experiment a lot with the Marshall, fender, and vox options and maybe one will stand out to you.
Tube amps can be expensive and if your tastes change while you're getting into the genre you might get distracted by second guessing your amp choice. Get a tube amp when you have a real good idea what you want from the amp and you'll be that much more happy with it in the long run

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Re: Amp for Blues

they are great amps for sure. if i was going to get another bf fender, it would be a pro reverb hands down
 
Re: Amp for Blues

Pro reverbs are amazing amps. Take a step back, the Fender Twin is the penultimate Fender vibe/tone, but they're just way too loud and heavy to lug around. The Pro Reverb solves this. They're a bit lighter in weight and a more manageable wattage. These bigger Fender amps make cleaner tones sound magical, something many other amps can never quite capture.
All that said, I really love the late 70's Pro Reverbs - big ass clean tones that break up just enough when you wind the channel volume up. They come to life with the MV on about 3 or above. The reverb and trem on old Fender amps is just divine.
 
Re: Amp for Blues

I'll put in another vote for the 30 watt Peavey Classic and raise you one Ibanez Tube Screamer* with it. That combo will do all the Blues you need.


Or a Boss SD-1, or a Boss BD-2, or a Green Rhino, or a Digitech Bad Monkey....really any of them.
 
Re: Amp for Blues

I'll put in another vote for the 30 watt Peavey Classic and raise you one Ibanez Tube Screamer* with it. That combo will do all the Blues you need.


Or a Boss SD-1, or a Boss BD-2, or a Green Rhino, or a Digitech Bad Monkey....really any of them.
Even better, both a BD-2 and a Tube Screamer. One set as a boost, one with a little grit, stacked for more fluid solos... that would be a fun blues rig.
 
Re: Amp for Blues

Hey OP, the blues is about evoking a feeling not gear. Just improvise with what ever you feeling blue life provides, that's what a blues player does.

You can get the Blues out of whatever.... otherwise you are just copying someone else's Blues

Make Sad your way.
 
Re: Amp for Blues

Pro reverbs are amazing amps. Take a step back, the Fender Twin is the penultimate Fender vibe/tone, but they're just way too loud and heavy to lug around. The Pro Reverb solves this. They're a bit lighter in weight and a more manageable wattage. These bigger Fender amps make cleaner tones sound magical, something many other amps can never quite capture.
All that said, I really love the late 70's Pro Reverbs - big ass clean tones that break up just enough when you wind the channel volume up. They come to life with the MV on about 3 or above. The reverb and trem on old Fender amps is just divine.

i prefer the older nmv pro reverbs, the later ones lose something to my ear. a twin reverb is a great amp, but even when cranked it doesnt breakup as nicely as a pro. the bigger iron or higher voltages or who knows what else, but the pro is sweeter to my ears. i still have a 69 dual showman reverb thats been blackfaced but a pro reverb breaks up in a more pleasing way.

Check out the Supro Blues King, really impressive amp



that looks sweet! not sure how they get 15w out of a single 6l6 though, fixed bias and high voltage i guess?
 
Re: Amp for Blues

there was more great old time blues played thru the Tweed Deluxe than any amp in history...well, really for those guys there wasn't a whole lotta choices...so that may have something to do with it...
 
Re: Amp for Blues

If you can find a Peavey Delta Blues, either with two 10” or one 15”, theyre great affordable blues amps.

But learn the blues. All of it.

Chicago blues, British Blues, Texas Blues...all of it.

If you can learn to really play the blues authentically, you can play it through any good amp.

And go easy on the rock style distortion.
 
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