Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

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youngthrasher9

youngthrasher9

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I'm looking for a low wattage combo tube amp, with a good clean tone, that takes pedals well. I want to pull off a tone similar to Brian May's. I'm buying a boost for lead tones, so I don't necessarily need a lot of gain. I'd like to spend $300 or less. If the speaker is not very good, I'd be willing to put any extra cash toward that. It needs to have an effects loop or a line out.
 
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Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

Brian May's tone is all about pushing an amp with EL84s with a Treble Booster, so I guess a Vox AC15 or AC30 would be a good place to start.

If I recall some of the lower wattage Fender and Peavey Classic combos come with EL84s too so they could also get you towards the sound you want.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

For $300, I would be looking for a used Peavey Classic 30 or a Crate Vintage Club 30.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

Laney VC15 or LC15. I don't know if you'd get a new one for your money, but i should think you'd easily get a s/h one. VC has a little less gain than the LC i think (I have the VC, just use the clean channel). Unfortunately it has one of those horrible master volume controls, but you simply run the amp 'backwards' ... i.e. master set high, keep preamp low to avoid the nasty noises.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

crusty philtrum said:
Laney VC15 or LC15. I don't know if you'd get a new one for your money, but i should think you'd easily get a s/h one. VC has a little less gain than the LC i think (I have the VC, just use the clean channel). Unfortunately it has one of those horrible master volume controls, but you simply run the amp 'backwards' ... i.e. master set high, keep preamp low to avoid the nasty noises.
Click to expand...
That's a brand I hadn't considered yet, thanks Crusty.
 
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Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

That 15w night train sounded Brian May to me the time I tried one out. It has a way to pull the tone controls out of the circuit.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

used ac15. a little more than youd like to pay, but well worth it
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

Ampeg Jet II. Playing a Duo-Sonic, Mustang, Jaguar, or other short-scale guitar thorough a Screaming Bird into that amp, it sounds remarkably close to a Brian may tone.

However, you're asking for two conflicting things. The Brian May tone is EL84's pushed to the limit, with a booster on top of it. "Headroom" or "low-gain" don't even begin to enter the equation. Brian May rarely played anything clean or with low gain. He's one of the main pioneers of the high gain sound.

So, do you want an amp with high headroom, or do you want an amp that sounds like EL84's cooking? You won't get both from the same rig.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

ItsaBass said:
However, you're asking for two conflicting things. The Brian May tone is EL84's pushed to the limit, with a booster on top of it. "Headroom" or "low-gain" don't even begin to enter the equation. Brian May rarely played anything clean or with low gain. He's one of the main pioneers of the high gain sound.

So, do you want an amp with high headroom, or do you want an amp that sounds like EL84's cooking? You won't get both from the same rig.
Click to expand...

Actually, May did play with low gain quite frequently - and the way he got it was with a cooking AC30 with a treble boost ran into it, he just turned down his guitar's volume controls to clean it up. It's actually possible with a rig like that because it's so dynamic at the input stage.

 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

ItsaBass said:
Ampeg Jet II. Playing a Duo-Sonic, Mustang, Jaguar, or other short-scale guitar thorough a Screaming Bird into that amp, it sounds remarkably close to a Brian may tone.

However, you're asking for two conflicting things. The Brian May tone is EL84's pushed to the limit, with a booster on top of it. "Headroom" or "low-gain" don't even begin to enter the equation. Brian May rarely played anything clean or with low gain. He's one of the main pioneers of the high gain sound.

So, do you want an amp with high headroom, or do you want an amp that sounds like EL84's cooking? You won't get both from the same rig.
Click to expand...

Let me rephrase my description of low gain: lead and dirty rhythm tones achieved with a treble boost or similar going into a tube amp that is not necessarily manufactured to rip your face off. I just want something voxy that I can put effects and boosts in front of to achieve a tone that I can best describe by using Brian's tone as a reference. I'm using the word "gain" to describe how much "distortion" the amp produces on it's own without being pushed heavily with a boost ala Brian May. If I just asked for a tube amp suggestion with a price point, I'd be getting people telling me I should by a 6505 or something because I'm generally a metal player, but when I'm not playing Doom, Death, Black, or Thrash, I share playing style similarities with Brian May.

Anyway, I'm leaning toward Vox AC4TV. I stated I needed an effects loop or a line out, but I decided that I could mic it just as easily.

Does anybody have a good reason not to get that amp? I'm going to boost it with an Xotic EP.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

I'd rather go with a Nightrain if you don't want to wait and save up. I'd rather (well, kind of am myself as well) wait and just save for an actual Vox AC30. There is the saying, "Cry once, buy once".
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

My lil NT is what I play every day.... Headphones par ex ....into my cannibis rex a little monster.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

youngthrasher9 said:
Anyway, I'm leaning toward Vox AC4TV. I stated I needed an effects loop or a line out, but I decided that I could mic it just as easily.

Does anybody have a good reason not to get that amp? I'm going to boost it with an Xotic EP.
Click to expand...
Yep. They are thin sounding, lacking bottom and are really just a practice amp.
An ac30 is going to be both expensive and actually too loud before you can get the Brian May kind of sound.
An ac15 would be perfect, but a bit out of what you are hoping to spend.
As crusty said...check out the laney vc30 (still too loud) and the vc15 - probably perfect.
 
Re: Another amp thread, this one is about lower gain styles.

Just having EL84's does not mean it sounds like a Vox...

I don't know of many tube amps that sound like Brian May much at all short of AC30's and I sure don't know of any that are less than $300.

If thats what you have to have get a modeler and be done with it for now.
 
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