dorm room TUBE amp

clint_41

clint_41

New member
so for college i need a pretty small amp for my dorm. i posted about this a while ago under the conclusion that i wanted a fender champ. i am not so positive this is what i want, but the champ is still one of my top choices. i am looking for some other amps that fit the criteria.

i want a tube amp that is sized right for a dorm room. I am aslo looking for an amp that can handle some jamming and maybe even gigging. I have read a little bit about the traynor ycv20, and a little orange combo? any others?
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

are you wanting a champ because of it's size or because of it's wattage?

cuz to me it sounds like you want an amp that can be played loudly & sound good, but can also give good tones at bedroom volumes, which, IMO unless you have a pedal, is not a champ
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

I love tube amps.....to the point of being fanatical, but if volume is a concern you're better off getting something like a Vox Valvetronix or L6 Flextone. Most small tube amps are like a wolf in sheeps clothing, because they're still pretty loud and may not supply you with any more than a clean tone turned down.....particularly a Champ. At home, I have to be mindful of neighbors, so my Vox AD60 head on a 2-12 Bogner cab allows me to dial in any kind of tone, and the onboard tuner is something I wish every amp had. If you already have a cab, get a modeling head. The modeling combos are great practice amps. I love good tube amps, but the modelers are so much more useful if you're in a dorm room.......plus you don't need pedals because it's all built in.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

+1 to what GJ said. I bought a Fender G-dec for my dorm room.

Rock ON ~ Kac
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

Trust me you can't get a decent distortion out of basicly any tube amps on dorm volumes. Try a line 6.

If you really want tube
http://zvexamps.com/amp_view.html try that if you want a real nice tone. Its half a watt, so not a huge amount of volume. But it still has enough volume for jams.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

The only other thing I would suggest other than digital would be something like a Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Blues Junior and a good overdrive pedal.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

From what I remember of my college days, a 350-watt Marshall Mode Four Stack would have been just what I needed to maintain my sanity!

Seriously, I think that Fender G-dec would be really great for a dorm room.

Bill
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

or you could pick up a supersonic, the burn channel gets pretty good distortion tones at low volume
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

I'd recommend trying to find something with a good master volume, that still sounds good when it's set low. You're most likely going to have to play with just preamp distortion, so you should probably try to find something that's gain is based in the preamp. Another thing is that you'll probably want something with a smaller speaker. The wattage isn't really going to matter, since 5 watts is still going to be too loud.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

+2 on the Valvetronix. You can switch it from 60 watts to 30 to 15 and I believe 5. It sounds good even at volumes where you can hear yourself talk, then you can crank it up to gig and jam with. I've got the combo and added a 2X12 cab later. What kind of $$$ are you looking to lay out.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

Vox DA5/15..sounds better than the Valvetronix, smalller (MUCH) and less $.

Mic it through the PA for a gig.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

Skarekrough said:
The only other thing I would suggest other than digital would be something like a Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Blues Junior and a good overdrive pedal.
Click to expand...

The only problem with these two great amps is that they are not quiet enough for dorm room play, especially the C30. Very nice amps though, especially after a tube and speaker change. I'm also in the camp that if you want good tone at a resonable volume look at the Valvetronics combo's.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

i was planning on getting an od pedal anyways, so if i end up with an amp that can only give me clean at dorm levels, thats cool. im looking to spend under 500$, which is another reason the champ is a popular choice of mine.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

if you were after sometihng that sounded just as good soft as it does loud, get an ENGL Fireball stack. My mate has one and it KILLS at low volumes!

but it all depends how metal you are...
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

I agree with others, not with only a tube amp. But as many of you have heard I used my bluesbreaker combo at apartment level all winter with a V-Stack Classic in front of it. Give me some GOOD tones... which I liked alot more than the line 6 stuff I've tried.

So I'd say from my own experience and judgement that it's possible with a great pedal and a tube amp. Though, the tube amp route will probably be more expensive than the modeling route.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

I just got done with my first year at college.

1( I found myself playing my acoustic more than my electric
2( Even my 50W Roland modeling amp was too loud for my dorm.
3(Dorm walls are thin and cheap.

I'd get a pair of studio monitors for your POD and bring the Atomic and loft your bed. Throw the atomic under your bed ready for gigging and use the studio monitors for bedroom practice with your POD.

If you dont want to do that, look towards the vox stuff everyone is talking about. I seriously dont think a tube amp will work in a dorm situation at all.

If you wanna be the annoying kid who plays so loud you can hear it half way don the hall, then go for it but I'd stick to SS/modeling.
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

something that can be bolted to the floor ... college dorm room gear has a tendency to walk

agree on the modeller, etc

t4d
 
Re: dorm room TUBE amp

If its the type of dorm with a large hallway and lots of people on the same floor, then you're going to have trouble keeping it quiet. I remember just playing with headphones my freshman year. Afterwards, we had suites with 6 people total and more separate from one another, followed by small apartments. I could get away with using a small solid state amp at low volumes at that point, but even that would annoy my room mates if they were trying to watch tv etc...... I also had a friend that had a fender champ and he used to dime it. It would really piss his roommates off, who were downstairs. It ended up causing a lot of problems and he ended up bringing it back home and leaving it there.

The best way to go may be a POD or other modeler that you can use with headphones or play at low volumes. I have a real tube amp and prefer that over a POD, but I do think it sounds really good for headphone practice and don't mind using it when I can't use the amp. It does take alot of tweaking, but once you get the hang of dialing it in, there are plenty of useable amp tones.
 
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