Low volume tube amp?

Re: Low volume tube amp?

I agree with the modeling crowd, even though I am not a fan myself. I think that in your situation a modeler will get you many more sounds to experiment with, at any volume.

I had a Class 5, and I dug that amp. As suggested, one can get crunchy at bedroom level volume with a crunch pedal. However, IMHO, you will not have the variety, or intensity, that a modeler may offer.

Hit your local music store, and give them a try!
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?

I would take my tube amp I paid $400 and never get to crank and have to use pedals for over a digital modeler any day of the week.

They keep getting better and better; they have a long way before they're "caught up."
 
Re: Low volume tube amp?

Empty Pockets said:
I would take my tube amp I paid $400 and never get to crank and have to use pedals for over a digital modeler any day of the week.

They keep getting better and better; they have a long way before they're "caught up."
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Don't get me wrong, I would normally agree with you because I'm not a big modeling fan. But in this application, I can't realistically recommend a tube amp for anything other than a clean pedal platform.

A modeling amp will give you a ton of tones to mess with, versus needing a pile of pedals for similar versatility with a clean tube amp. Even the super low wattage tube amps people are recommending will still be too loud when cranked to the point of breakup, and most are at a higher price point than your average modeling amp. It may be a bit of a sacrifice in feel and tonal quality, but IMO you make the same sacrifice running a nice tube amp at 1 on the volume knob anyways.

FWIW, I have two great tube amps and love them dearly - but at home I either play my acoustic, an unplugged electric, or run my electrics through a POD GX connected to my computer. The tube amps just aren't inspiring unless they are cranked up and moving air through a few speakers.
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?



Start at 0:20.

Here is a Fender Vibro Champ XD playing some higher gain. Not the best example, but you get the idea. A Super Champ XD would be a fun option too since you will get a little more bass out of the 10" speaker. Tube power and preamp with a digital modeling circuit that gives 16 different amp models and a few effects that sound pretty good for such an inexpensive unit.

You should be able to find a used Super Champ XD for +/-$200.
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?

The first thing you need to do is to forget about getting overdrive from the power amp for bedroom practicing. That approach is only one of a ton of ways to get good OD sounds, and on certain models of amps there are many much better ways to go about it. This kind of shatters the idea that all tube amps need to be set to their power amp distortion point to "sound good". It's just not true, and hasn't been since the late '60s when cascading gain stages were thought up. They only need to be cranked to get their own overdrive and in cases like certain Mesa amps, the preamp is king and the power amp only makes it louder, so it wouldn't work very well anyway. To further that idea, tone itself is not dependent on power amp distortion, or any amount of distortion for that matter. I can get a great tone with no distortion you can easily hear, and someone else can get a power amp raging and still get a bad tone. Get it?

That brings us to the point that you are playing heavy metal in your room, so good preamp drive or a good metal style pedal into a clean power amp is going to be your best bet anyway.
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?

guitfiddle said:
The first thing you need to do is to forget about getting overdrive from the power amp for bedroom practicing. That approach is only one of a ton of ways to get good OD sounds, and on certain models of amps there are many much better ways to go about it. This kind of shatters the idea that all tube amps need to be set to their power amp distortion point to "sound good". It's just not true, and hasn't been since the late '60s when cascading gain stages were thought up. They only need to be cranked to get their own overdrive and in cases like certain Mesa amps, the preamp is king and the power amp only makes it louder, so it wouldn't work very well anyway. To further that idea, tone itself is not dependent on power amp distortion, or any amount of distortion for that matter. I can get a great tone with no distortion you can easily hear, and someone else can get a power amp raging and still get a bad tone. Get it?

That brings us to the point that you are playing heavy metal in your room, so good preamp drive or a good metal style pedal into a clean power amp is going to be your best bet anyway.
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Yeah, Ive figured thats my best bet. Ive tried a few pedals and so far am sticking with the MXR Fullbore. The only one that I have heard that I like a little more is the metal muff but Ive only seen youtube clips so I will have to try it for myself. My new question is, will I get a better sound out of a small tube amp with a pedal in front of it than I do with my modeling amp and the pedal? Probably yes.
 
Re: Low volume tube amp?

There is no such thing as an amp that is to loud. I play my Twin at home and it's not to loud because I turn the volume down and it still sounds great and gives me the cleans I want. For the most part when players say they want an amp that's not to loud what they are really intending to say is that they want an amp that has nice tube saturation at low levels. The problem is that to get pure tube saturation on even a small wattage amp things are going to still be pretty loud for your significant other who's trying to sleep. To achieve what you are looking for I think you will have better luck with the use of pedals and or head phones rather than simply lowering the wattage supply.
 
Re: Low volume tube amp?

To answer your new question... nice pedals into nice amps tend to sound better than the same pedals into cheaper amps...
 
Low volume tube amp?

Check out clips of the EXH English Muffin on YouTube. It's a little tube preamp/OD in a box. I almost bought one but couldn't make it work w my pedalboard cause it has a special power supply - but if it's your only pedal into a clean combo you might like it. Also I have a similar problem at home in that I try to get good drive without cranking my Princeton to crazy volumes. I used a combo of a tube screamer and an MXR Distortion III (an underrated pedal imho and pretty inexpensive) Recently I picked up a Fulltone Plimsoul which is a nice overdrive that combines the tube and conventional distortion but it may not give you enough drive for metal. It works for me but I am more of a stoner rock/70s kind of guy than a thrasher.

A nice little tube combo with the right drive box in front can make a killer recording rig too.
 
Re: Low volume tube amp?

If you can get past the name... ( I just did ..can't wait for mine to get here.. :D)



It smokes!:firedevil

( ...& no ...no pun intended :p)





More Bugera 333XL Infinium awesomeness...





Despite all the negative hype, the early teething trouble/reliability issues these amps had have been ironed out a long time ago. The only ones still complaining, poking fun etc are the ones who don't own/play them. The new Infinium Series is pretty solid. I know a couple of players who gig them regularly and have'nt had the slightest problem.
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?

The Hughes & Kettner Tube Meister 18 is an awesome little amp head. You can scale the volume down to 1W, and even silent for it's RedBox line out. And at 18W it's pretty loud and stays tight. In a club, you would have a better tone with the 18W head on a 412 cab than another guy with a halfstack turned down.

I'd use the Tube Meister 18 through your MG micro cabs. You can find them for less than their $600 price if you look.
 
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Re: Low volume tube amp?

AlexR said:
The H&K tubemeister 18 or similar seems like a good metal home amp.....all the demos I've seen of it seem to indicate it had quite a modern tone to it.
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Gearjoneser said:
The Hughes & Kettner Tube Meister 18 is an awesome little amp head. You can scale the volume down to 1W, and even silent for it's RedBox line out. And at 18W it's pretty loud and stays tight. In a club, you would have a better tone with the 18W head on a 412 cab than another guy with a halfstack turned down.

I'd use the Tube Meister 18 through your MG micro cabs. You can find them for less than their $600 price if you look.
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Absolutely. I am loving my TM18, which goes from bedroom to rehearsal with the built in attenuation. Very decent array of gain tones, and a more modern sound than you'll get out of the small XD Fenders.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?250871-NAD-H-amp-K-Tubemeister-18&highlight=Hughes+Kettner

attachment.php


I haven't seen them mentioned yet in this thread, but for bedroom use I would give a good look at the Yamaha THR5 and THR10 models. I have not had the opportunity to play one, but they are getting great reviews and Yamaha is a solid brand. These are 5 or 10W hybrid amps (tubes + modeling) and come in different voicings for classic rock vs. metal.

http://www.yamaha.com/thr/

Last but not least, the small Fender XD series amps sound great for the money. They are compact and lightweight and make decent practice amps IME.
 
Re: Low volume tube amp?

Watched some videos on the tube meister 18 and I really like it. The little tube meister 5 is pretty nice too.
 
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