Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

ZoSo0789

ZoSo0789

New member
Okay, I'm looking into small solid state combo's for a dorm room. Note that this will not in anyway shape or form be my main amp, but I need something small and light to fit in my dorm's closet and will not take up much room. I'm not looking for the worlds greatest tone, or the maximum ultimate versatility, just a good quality small cheap amp with usable tone.

I'm going to be using this thing for low gain blues, and some medium gain classic rock at times. Generally speaking, I like warm and fat tube amps, but I realize that that generalization will not be met by a small solid state amp. I just want the tone to be half ass good and usable. Here are the amps I was eyeballing (from MF):

-Vox Pathfinder 15r (8" Bulldog speaker, 15 watts, spring reverb, tremolo) $119
-Fender Champ 600 (Class A all tube 5 watts, 6'' speaker, and have a feeling it'll be too loud though, and a bit expensive) $200
-Kustom Double Barrel (hybrid 12AX7 preamp, 30 watts, 2 channel, and 2 inputs, 2x12" speaker I think, but will probably be too big) $170
-Kustom Arrow 16R (16 watts, spring reverb, 8" speaker) $130
-Kustom The Contender (based from "the Defender," 18 watt, 8" Eminence speaker, 12AX7 preamp, bright switch, master volume bypass) $150
-Traynor Dynagain DG15R (15 watt, 10" speaker, spring reverb, 2 channels) $159

So far I'm most attracted to the Kustom The Contender, the Traynor, and the Fender Champ (obviously... compared to the others). Does anyone have any experience with these, or read any reliable reviews or anything?

Note again, I'm looking for something cheap (as in sub $160, the Fender would be worth more to me though) to throw around in a dorm closet. For those who don't know, you don't have room for full Marshall Stacks or even a Deluxe Reverb in the who dorm room, much less the closet haha, so don't recommend any of that kinda crap
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

I use a Sidekick Reverb 25--it's my carry around amp, but will keep up with drums and sounds a lot better than the littlest amps with tiny speakers. Fender had a newer version called a Frontman 25R out in the last couple years.
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

say what you want about Line6 (hey, i'm a hater too) but for a versatile lil amp that works well at low volume why not try a spider? i'm sure you can find them cheap as hell, especially used

also, vox AMPlug....just sayin
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

shawnr said:
I use a Sidekick Reverb 25--it's my carry around amp, but will keep up with drums and sounds a lot better than the littlest amps with tiny speakers. Fender had a newer version called a Frontman 25R out in the last couple years.
Click to expand...

i use to have a frontman 25r. man do i miss that amp. played my first gig with that thing! it seriously is LOUD as hell if you want it to be! i think for that gig i wasnt turned up past 3 and i was easily the most prominent in the mix aside from vocals
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

valve junior (V3) & a pedal for your gain so you can keep the volume low if need be. The champion 600 is expensive & a huge dissapointment for me.
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

If you can find one for a decent price, the Tech 21 Trademark 10 is apparently a great sounding amp for a small solid-state combo. All analogue, built-in Sansamp, 10 watts, 8-inch speaker, basket-weave speaker cloth, effects loop and spring reverb.

They're discontinued and getting harder to find for a good price, especially down here in Australia. A few months ago, I saw one sell on ebay sell for over $400!!!

Here's one for sale atm in the US:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=300257093750&Category=10171&_trksid=p3907.m29
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

I heard good things about roland micro cube. It's also small and easy to carry around...has different amp models, headphone out, etc.
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

suggestion for a small TUBE amp on the cheap which should get you what you're looking for...

Crate V Series V5 1x8

hey at $99 bucks, if it sucks, you're only out about half of your budget...
but I'm doubting it sucks
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

Hames Jetfield said:
If you can find one for a decent price, the Tech 21 Trademark 10 is apparently a great sounding amp for a small solid-state combo. All analogue, built-in Sansamp, 10 watts, 8-inch speaker, basket-weave speaker cloth, effects loop and spring reverb.

They're discontinued and getting harder to find for a good price, especially down here in Australia. A few months ago, I saw one sell on ebay sell for over $400!!!

Here's one for sale atm in the US:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=300257093750&Category=10171&_trksid=p3907.m29
Click to expand...

Tech 21 does make the TradeMark 30. It's $300 retail. Very similar to the Trademark 10, although seems to be missing a little bit of the mojo. Still a great little amp and it would hit the "low gain blues, medium gain classic rock" nail on the head.

Headphone out would be a must for your application and this amp has one. Any tube amp is going to be too loud IMHO.

Chip
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

bancika said:
I heard good things about roland micro cube. It's also small and easy to carry around...has different amp models, headphone out, etc.
Click to expand...

+1. I have a Roland Micro Cube, and it is a great choice for a low volume amp. The models sound just fine at super low volumes, and, besides the headphone jack, it has a line out so that you could run it into a PA for a jam session, if needed (I haven't tried that yet). It also has on board effects.

You can power it w/AC or batteries.. The batteries will last quite a long time, unless you're using the effects a lot.
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

I was thinking Tech 21 too. They really are excellent amps for the price and very versatile and portable. You could even go for a used Trademark 60 if you can find one within budget, then you'd have something that is great for quiet practice but also loud enough for rehearsals and gigs.

We also have a Roland Cube 30 at home and it's not a bad amp but the Tech 21 smokes it tonewise.
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

DazH said:
valve junior (V3) & a pedal for your gain so you can keep the volume low if need be. The champion 600 is expensive & a huge dissapointment for me.
Click to expand...

no room for pedals and more cords; need simple combo for straight plug in with no effect chains
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

Okay, so Tech 21 is looking to be the way to go, but from the looks of it so far, I doubt I'm going to find one in the sub $170 range, and they'll physically probably be too big. If they're bigger than the typical 1x8" combo Fender/Epiphone/Line6/whatever chassis, it's too big. But I must say that the Tech 21 is probably exactly what I'm looking for; though it's probably too big, I'll look more into it

Other than that, does anyone have ANY input on those Kustom or Traynor amps? Or even Kustom/Traynor solid state amps as a whole

How do small multi-effect floor units and the little amp modelers that Tech21 sound plugged into a typical 2.1 computer speaker system?
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

do yourself a favor and check out Epiphone's Valve Junior. Look for a head w/ matching cab... (the combo speakers are lame) .... best blues machine for cheap you can get!
 
Re: Cheap, Small, Bargain Amp Shootout

ZoSo0789 said:
I have one, and it's physically too big to go anywhere; it's too wide, too deep, everything, just too bulky and probably too loud also.
Click to expand...

If it's physically too large for you, then I'll say you're severely limited with what you can look at. That's about as small as any real / non-toy amp will get.

It's not too loud, it has a continuously variable master volume.

If space is the issue and a tiny AD15VT is too large physically, just get a TonePort or a POD and be a headphone hero.

Where the heck do you live that an AD15VT is too big???

Flightapt2%5B1%5D.preview.jpg
 
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