Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

ZoSo0789

ZoSo0789

New member
Ok ya'll, I'm about to move into a dorm room, and I need some amp recommendations. I play all styles of blues and 60s classic rock, so I dont need anything with "high-gain." The heaviest stuff I ever play is Jimmy Page and early Eric Clapton style gains. Generally though, I like the sound of a good EL84 tube amp just on the verge of beginning to break up to just past the breaking up point. It needs to be a good smooth tight breakup, and thats about all I'm looking for. I also play with LOTS of clean tones from my neck pickup. But being that I'm a tube fan abotu to go to college, I'm in trouble. You really cant have an amp thats loud at all; it needs to be just loud enough to hear over the strings and your picking. Whether your recomendation is tube or solid state, I dont really care. I just want to be pointed into the right direction for something that has good cleans and a smooth rich overdrive. And it cant cost mroe than about 120 to 150 bucks because as stated: I'm a college student. HELP ME!!

I was thinking the Kustom 12a Hybrid, or the Vox Pathfinder 15r
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

Or a Roland Micro Cube.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

Vox man, If you are into the EL-84 sound, they are the kings of it. Plus those little modeling amps have a lot of other great sounding emulations in them.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

You may want to search this forum and find the thread from a few weeks ago started by the dude who was being told by his dorm building monitors that he had to stop playing his guitar through an amp completely.

If you get any kind of amp, be very careful and very respectful of the others living in your building. For many people your age, those are very hard concepts to wrap your brain around. But you're soon going to enter that time in life where if you don't know already, you'll find out just how important being considerate of other people is.

You may want to consider whether you want to take an amp with you at all. I think a numbr of people in that thread that I suggested you read recommended gettign a POD and using the headphone out in a dorm situation.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

If you live in Minneapolis i got a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT with an upgraded Celestion 10" speaker that will fit in your price range :)
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

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Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

I already have a Vox AD15VT, but that is too loud also. I can't even turn the master volume up past like 1/8 with the amp settings as a normal concert setted amp. And to get that master volume right, it's VERY sensitive because its right between the muted stage and right where the amp starts to open up. I just dont think it's going to cut it. I REALLY hate Line6 stuff and digital modeling sounds just horrendous; laughable in my opinion. But it might be the only way to go in my situation. I'm already in the works of looking for a semi-hollow body to play so I wont have to have it plugged in all the time
 
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Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

POD. It has its place. And apartments and dorm rooms are that place.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

Id say wait til you get to the dorm and then judge on what might work. How quite is the floor usually, how are the walls built ? If everyone is playing their stereo's at 3am every nigth of the week you'll have no problems but on the other hand if its a very strict floor, quiet enforced after 9pm etc you might have different needs.

Additionally it depends on your roomates if any. Will they care if you play quiet or will they want you to use headphones while they sleep/study. Might make a POD etc more practical.

Last of all, check out the security issue. Some are very safe and others have lots of items of value go missing. Maybe it won't be smart to have a more expensive amp or maybe it will.


Figure all that out and then you can make an informed choice but right now theres too many variables
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

I think Im just going to have to buy a Roland Micro Cube... that way I can also have an excuse to take my guitar out of state (all my family is in another state). It has feasible sounds: includes a Marshall, Fender, and a Roland Jazz impressions which are really all I need. Has a reverb which is about the only effect I use with a headphone jack so I can use that if I need to. I just cringe at the thought of a POD though.... god Line6 sounds horrible. I remember plugging into my friends SpyderIII 75 watt with 2x12s and just laughing at the sound cuz it just plain sucked. And the Microcube can stay very quiet as they're only 2 watts with a 5" speaker, so it should work alright for what I need. Its just going to be a strange transition from all tube good-ness to crappy solid state digital modeling.... ahhh the only part I hate about college
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

ZoSo0789 said:
I already have a Vox AD15VT, but that is too loud also. I can't even turn the master volume up past like 1/8 with the amp settings as a normal concert setted amp. And to get that master volume right, it's VERY sensitive because its right between the muted stage and right where the amp starts to open up. I just dont think it's going to cut it. I REALLY hate Line6 stuff and digital modeling sounds just horrendous; laughable in my opinion. But it might be the only way to go in my situation. I'm already in the works of looking for a semi-hollow body to play so I wont have to have it plugged in all the time
Click to expand...

Man if you already have an AD15VT (15 watts, 8" speaker for those who don't know) and you need something smaller, I say you're out of luck.

I got a Line6 TonePort for apartment use and I really like it. I run it through computer speakers and it sounds good enough for me! You may have to do like I did and accept that you're not going to be able to enjoy cranked tube amp sounds in your situation.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

zvex nano or tech 21 trademark 10

the zvex is a 1/2 watt tube amp that sounds sweet and the trademark 10 (discontinued but available used) is a great sounding little solid state (not digital) amp. it sounds way better than its bigger brothers
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

Dude, this may seem like a weird suggestion, but I have small office space at home where I do my guitar maintence and other stuff. Anyways, sometimes late at night when I wanna jam without waking up the wife I sometimes plug my computer speakers into the headphone jack of my Boss micro BR. The micro BR has all kinds of amps and effects pre-sets and stuff that actually sounds pretty decent.

Anyways, I've found that using my computer speakers allows me to control the volume more than an amp. It still sounds very good, depending on how good your speakers are.

Anyways, I think some floor processors have a headphone jack. that would also be a good idea and you could use the floor processor for jams and stuff. Basically, you could use anything with a headfone out... A POD, pandora's box, or whatever combined with a pair of speakers might be all you need for quiet jams without disturbing the neighbors...
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

HotSEXJ said:
Man if you already have an AD15VT (15 watts, 8" speaker for those who don't know) and you need something smaller, I say you're out of luck.

I got a Line6 TonePort for apartment use and I really like it. I run it through computer speakers and it sounds good enough for me! You may have to do like I did and accept that you're not going to be able to enjoy cranked tube amp sounds in your situation.
Click to expand...

oh yeah, Ive realized that (unfortunatley)........
I hate solid state and digital modeling, but in my situation, I really dont have any other choice so at this point 'm just looking for something that decently cheap, has useable sounds that dont completely suck, etc.

and I'm dead set on the thought that I'M NOT BRINGING MY AGE OLD MARSHALL 10MG BECAUSE IT IS THE EVILEST THING ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH IN TERMS OF SOUND
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

jeremy said:
zvex nano or tech 21 trademark 10

the zvex is a 1/2 watt tube amp that sounds sweet and the trademark 10 (discontinued but available used) is a great sounding little solid state (not digital) amp. it sounds way better than its bigger brothers
Click to expand...


The Trademark 10 is definatly one of the best SS amps I've ever played. Great range of sounds, excellent active eq, spring reverb, even an effects loop. Plus its got the Sansamp built into so you can run right into a board if you gig.

I just so happen to have one I'm no longer using in fact as I've moved to a new place but back when I used to live in an apartment I LOVED my Trademark 10.
 
Re: Amp Recomendations for a Dorm room

+1 on the TM10's sounding great, but they also perform best when cranked just like the AD15VT. If the Vox is too loud, I think the TM10 would be just the same...
 
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