Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

[Seraphial]

So guys, hoping to get some experiences and opinions on a few amps I'm thinking about. I recently moved into an apartment so looking for low wattage tube amps. I already have an AC10, which covers a lot of territory. It'll be mainly for home playing, but on occasion I might jam out with a band (but not full bore).

I'm looking at 2 more amps for my collection, a high gainer that mainly plays 80s rock, but can handle metal (maybe with a pedal) and a more bluesy, Fender type sound. Probably something under 15w, which I can either attenuate or has a low wattage switch. I know I could do an approximation with the right pedal, but there's something about the natural sound of an amp that I love.

I'm currently looking at:

High gain amp to play Extreme, 80's rock, 90s grunge (AIC, etc) and then, if pushed, something that approximates Rammstein Would like a clean channel and reverb (but not totally necessary if the dirty channel is awesome) and a baseline Marshall-esque sound. I'd like to spend under $800 (if with 1x12 cab).

Considering: Peavey 6505 Minihead + cab, Randall RD series, Marshall DSL, Blackstar HT5

Fender-esque pedal platform amp with great cleans, pedals for overdrive. Prefer a 12" speaker. I'm currently looking at a Princeton Reverb, if I can get a good used one, for $800, or the Supro Blues King or Supro 1970RK Keeley. Not considering the Blues Junior (prefer 6v6s vs ELxx for this type of tone)

Would love to get some recommendations!

 

[Cynical]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

You need to be thinking lower still on wattage. 5 watts is more than you can probably get away with in an apartment, unless you've got cool neighbors.

 

[Seraphial]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

You need to be thinking lower still on wattage. 5 watts is more than you can probably get away with in an apartment, unless you've got cool neighbors.

The 6505 attenuates from 20W to 5W or 1W, Randall has the RD1w, DSL comes in 5w and Blackstar can go down to 0.5w.

The Fender sounds I'll have to attenuate, but because I'm looking at cleans first and boosting with pedals, I can keep it relatively low in volume.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I have both the Marshall DSL1HR and the Randall RD1H, and the Marshall is way better.

 

[Blille]

Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Hard to do better than a Princeton Reverb for Fender (blackface) sounds under 15w. I got the Sweetwater one with a 12” Cannabis Rex that may do it for you.

 

[Seraphial]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Hard to do better than a Princeton Reverb for Fender (blackface) sounds under 15w. I got the Sweetwater one with a 12” Cannabis Rex that may do it for you.

Oh, haven't seen that one. I was looking at this https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amp...-reserve?rNtt=fender princeton reverb&index=2

Longshot but any experience between the two speakers?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

If you do go Marshall DSL1 or Randall RD1, I'd stay away from the combos.

I used to have a Randall RD5 combo, and the stock speaker and cabinet blew balls. Even after I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion G10 Greenback, it never did sound quite as good as through a decent cab. Hence why I sold it, and got the 1W head and an Orange PPC112. As much as I like to complain about the Orange cab, it's miles ahead of the combo's cabinet and speaker.

 

[Blille]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp &lt;15w

Oh, haven't seen that one. I was looking at this https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amp...-reserve?rNtt=fender princeton reverb&index=2

Longshot but any experience between the two speakers?

Very nice. Not unfortunately through the same amp. The cannabis Rex is very characteristic with the hemp trimming up a bit of the harshness and being high efficiency and has been my favorite for some time.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...watt-1x12-inch-tube-combo-amp-lacquered-tweed

 

[justFred]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

Blackstar HTR-5...great amp.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

In the same vein as the Blackstar HT5
I got the Bugera G5
Goes 5 watts, 1 watt , or 0.1 watt
Very apartment friendly

Need a cab
Pretty much anything you want
I got the Eminence loaded Jet City 1x12

I'm happy with my quiet amp

5 watts is kinda loud

 

[arayadis]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

You ask for an amp bluesy fenderish and marshallish at the same time could handle metal
What you describe is Fender Super-Sonic I think. I tested this amp with 2x12 cab but there is combo version too (22watt).

If you don't wanna spend that much money you can go with Blackstar HT5's
https://youtu.be/jiTOMshUs74
If HT5 metal too much you can go for HT5R.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I have a supersonic 22 and a Princeton reverb '68 custom.
The supersonic is the one I would go with if you do not want to use pedals for your main drive tones. It can do 80s metal out of the box, and has a very versatile mid-range knob that can take you from more scooped modern sounds to tweedy sort of character, to almost like the Mesa Boogie lead tone at full up. With a tube screamer it gets wildly saturated and has enough gain for most things. I play a strat and a tele with low output pickups so if you have humbuckers you should easily get a heavier sound than I do.

There are two things I do to keep it at apartment levels, I live in a house but my family is busy and don't need to hear me practice/jam every minute so if they're home I keep the volume down usually.
1: I put in the eminence Reignmaker speaker. It has a knob on the back that makes the speaker quieter with very little loss of tone and dynamics. Basically makes it a 6W amp when turned all the way down
2: eq pedal in the fx loop. Not only does this give more versatility (can set amp mids to full for a singing lead tone, stomp a V curve on the EQ for tight heavy rhythm) but mine has a volume slider and you can get more preamp drive with the EQ volume knocked down

I would take the supersonic unless you want to really really focus on a bluesy fender tone first at the expense of good gainy sounds. The Princeton absolutely will be clean as a fresh groomed Corgi Butt if you are in an apartment.
It does take pedals well. I have a boss ds-1, blues driver, and tube screamer. I have to run at least two of them at once to stay getting metal territory but the amp sounds good without being fully opened up but since I have the supersonic I barely ever use it this way. I wait till everyone's out of the house and then set the controls all on about 8 to 10 except reverb on 5, and use the guitar volume for nice singing clean sounds and some light breakup when I roll the guitar volume up. It's loud as heck played this way. At night I keep the volume on about 4 and the guitar volume backed way off. Sounds thinner but still good for clean practice.

The supersonic is closer to what you need I think. It's a super versatile underrated amp. One think I don't like about it is it's got some white noise from having a gainy preamp and being made to hit a price point. The reverb could be a touch brighter. But all in all the first channel is basically a solid state rectified deluxe reverb reissue with no tremolo and the gain channel is a cascaded gain section version of the same with EQ more tailored for drive. It's like a somewhat-poor man's Mesa

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

 

[Ascension]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I have a very clean Jet City JCA 22H Custom head up for sale right now that would fit the bill. First channel does from a nice fender clean to say a JCM 45 Marshall tone and the 2nd channel is a really hot high gain channel. Has a great tube driven loop and can get really nice low volume tones. I found a super clean old 1991 Carvin X50B Hot Rod Mod head a few months ago that is just a monster. I am now using the Carvin at my Church and this one needs a new home. I got it last year amp is near mint has been tubed and have a custom cover would ship in the factory box at $300 shipped and PP included. Have a listing in the FS section here with photos and clips live with the amp so PM me if your interested.

 

[Progbusters]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I like those fender bassbreakers. they might work in apartments and have both the fender tone and a high gain. I might buy one

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I got close enough (for me) to what you describe with a little Orange Rocker 30 combo.

Cranked, it's a Plexi channel and a hi-gain JCM800 channel. Bedroom / watching TV and still hearing the dialogue, it's spanky clean with more than enough gain on the dirty side. The newer models have lower power modes, too. Maybe that Rocker 15 and a decent reverb pedal will do the trick for you.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

FULLSIZE 5150/5152/6505/6534/6260/6262

120w.

Pull 2 tubes, stick a volume or EQ through the loop.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

Keep your nice, sexy, more powerful tube amps for when you are sitting next to a drummer at gigs or band rehearsals.
Use a roland micro cube or something similar at home for simple practicing.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

I'd look at getting a Peavey 6505MH and a Fender Bassbreaker 007 head and then look for a nice 1x12 extension cabinet.

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

If you're planning on using anything higher than a 5w fender-style tube amp for your cleans then the volume will increase dramatically when you punch in an OD pedal (unless you find just the right kinda compressed pedal). So you may have to get an attenuator just so that you can have low headroom even at low volumes.

 

[Securb]

Re: Apartment tube amps - recommend a high gainer and a Fender-ish blues amp <15w

Take a look at the Peavey Classic 20 it is higher gain than people would expect. Don't let the tweed cover and the "classic' in the name fool you. You can definitely get to the AIC realm with the amp without a pedal. The cleans are amazing and the amp is very feature rich. Channel switching, you can turn the loop on and off with the foot switch and incrediblly deep reverb. The built-in boost also nice