Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

S

SepultuRick

New member
Hi, i am looking for an all tube amp to replace my solid state peavey bandit, it's a good solid state amp but i feel it is time to make the move to all tube.

I have an ibanez valbee all tube 5 watt practice amp but i want something a little louder for band practice. (when i say band practice i mean jamming with a drummer and another guitar player in my house).

I play a lot of metal so it would be ideal if the amp had a 12" speaker don't you think? Also an amp that could handle a good overdrive or distortion pedal would be awesome.

A nice clean channel is a must!

I was thinking of something in the 15-30 watt range, would this be good enough for bedroom practice and jamming situations? it would mostly be used for bedroom practice though.

the ability to power a cabinet would be cool but not essential.

My budget is £300.

Some amps i have considered so far are as follows:

Laney lc or vc series
Peavey valveking
Peavey Windsor
Fender Blues Junior
Epiphone Valve Standard
Peavey Classic
Marshall DSL401.

which of these would be the best for me do you guys think? would 30 watts or 40 watts be too much? should i definitely go for 15 watts?

i don't want to be having to replace speakers anytime soon so i good stock speaker would be ideal.

Please help.

CRATE PALOMINOS ARE HARD TO GET HOLD OF IN THE UK SO PLEASE DON'T SUGGEST THEM.

PS, i am selling my bandit, valbee and zoom g2 multi fx.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

laney vc100 These things would be perfect, but I would see if you could find the 50 watt model. This was my first tube amp, and I miss it dearly. I would suggest getting a good closed back cab though as they can be a bit loose and thin through the combo cab.

The DSL 401 is also an awesome amp, I bought it a year after the VC50 I had and eventually sold it because it wasnt loud enough at our practices. I had to dime it, and it was just barely holding its own. It is still probably loud enough for you, we were playing in a large loading dock with a loud drummer and another 100 watt tube amp on 5.5 so it may be perfect for you. Great cleans and decent gain, but you must have an overdrive pedal on it.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

I absolutely LOVE my VC15 bro. It's a stunning sounding amplifier, very rich. Doesn't do real heavy stuff, but the cleans are awesome and the 'tone' as opposed to presence control can tame a strat's bridge pickup. It's some serious value. Feel free to ask me anything about it man.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

Laney and Marshall are both killer value for money in the UK, and make great amps for your needs. Judging by your name, I'd suggest going slightly higher wattage (30-50), as you probably want to get a lot of your overdrive from the preamp and keep the feel quite tight and defined. 15w amps ARE a great idea for home use, but once you introduce a drummer, they tend to work pretty hard and can lose some metal-friendly tightness. Try some amps and figure out if you prefer the sound of an amp fully cranked with the power section really working (usually prefered by blues/roots/classic rock players) or the sound of an amp that's working the power section enough for some warmth, but stays tight (usually preferred by modern metal types).
 
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Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

Peavey Classics are probably not the tone you're searching for. I don't have too much experience with their other two models.

Marshalls and Laneys are great amps for your needs.
I like the sound and price tag of Rivera amps.

BTW,
Shouldn't Ashdown and Orange be cheaper in the UK?
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

Hot _Grits said:
Laney and Marshall are both killer value for money in the UK, and make great amps for your needs. Judging by your name, I'd suggest going slightly higher wattage (30-50), as you probably want to get a lot of your overdrive from the preamp and keep the feel quite tight and defined. 15w amps ARE a great idea for home use, but once you introduce a drummer, they tend to work pretty hard and can lose some metal-friendly tightness. Try some amps and figure out if you prefer the sound of an amp fully cranked with the power section really working (usually prefered by blues/roots/classic rock players) or the sound of an amp that's working the power section enough for some warmth, but stays tight (usually preferred by modern metal types).
Click to expand...


Yeah the last option. i want the sound to stay tight.

what size speaker should i go for? is 12" a must or would 10" be ok, thanks
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

SepultuRick said:
Yeah the last option. i want the sound to stay tight.

what size speaker should i go for? is 12" a must or would 10" be ok, thanks
Click to expand...

For metal, 12in all the way. Absolutely. 10s are tighter, but you'll miss the bottom of the 12. Choose a 12 with decent power handling and a ceramic magnet.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

hmm, tough one. i've been through my share of amps. i think when you start getting serious about it you should go with more than you think you'll need, something high quality and reliable.

one thing i learned the hard way is to choose something that suits your playing style. out of the choices you offered so far, i'd say go with the laney vc. if you can dish out a few more bucks, get a dsl 50 head and 2x12 cab and that would be great. i don't know though if those british amps would do it for you.

another thing to consider is that you're going from a tiny little solid state practice amp to a real tube amp, so there's going to be quite an adjustment to make IMO. to me, ss and tube have completely different feels. ss seems to be more responsive while tubes feel more elastic or something. to really know what sounds good, you've got to get those little tubes cooking.

hell, i know you can't go wrong with a laney or a mesa. then there's genz-benz, and that's probably something you should look into.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

Fender Blues Junior or Laney VC15 if you can get distortion from a pedal. Depends on price range.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

VC50 is the thing to do for you, forget about DSL crap load of gain, no charachter what so ever, the only british thing about is the made in England tag.
 
Re: Help me choose my first proper tube amp!

i had no idea the laneys where so popular world wide. I have heard the vc series is better for metal players though i have also read that it has a useless fx loop.

The peavey windsor looks like a good choice right now, i am scared to get something with 30 watts of power in case it is too loud for my needs, i will not be gigging in the near future just play with a friend and in my room.
 
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