Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Fuzzy Duck

Fuzzy Duck

New member
So! I've been using a peavey solid state amp to jam and play for fun, but i may start playing shows soon and I'm afraid it's not going to cut it. I'm looking for either a good combo amp, or an amp head that I can pair with an avayar cab. I looked at the peavey classic 50 for a while, buy I've heard the cleans are sub par. Anyone have any recommendations for gig ready combos or heads that don't kill my savings? I'd like to spend under 600 for something used, aside from the peavey I thought about the fender blues deville, bassman, and for heads I've thought about a vintage bandmaster, or an egnater head. I'm also not sure how many watts is needed to cut past a drummer without a Mic if the occasion arrived. Is 30 watts enough? Or should I only aim for 50+? Sorry for the wall of text lol.

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

If I had an amp with cleans only I would most likely use some sort of fuzz pedal, so the amp has to take pedals well. Combos are preferable I suppose. Just for the price. I'd like my sound to be reminiscent of the 70's, sounding like bands like Stray, Sabbath, or Zappa.

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

A few things would be helpful to begin:

What style are you playing?

Will you be playing places with PA or without?

I used to gig with a 100W Marshall head, first into a 4x12 and later into a 2x12. Most of the places I end up playing in run guitar through the PA, so I'm downsizing to a 20W 1x12 combo. The amp gets mic'd through the PA and I can put it on a stand pointed at my head for monitoring. Regarding the Peavey Classic 50, It's a decent amp and totally usable for gigging. The cleans aren't exactly in Matchless territory, but the Classic series has a neat 2-channel-tweed-Fender sort of vibe. The only suggestion I'd offer is to plan on replacing the speakers; the stock Peavey 'blue marvel' speakers are awful. The house amp at a studio I recorded at a while ago was a Peavey Classic 30 with a Jensen 12 in place of the stock Peavey, and that think sounded amazing.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Fender DeVille or Deluxe are great amps in your price range

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

It's just in case I DON'T play with a p.a, but i will most likely always be able to have one in venues. Peaveys are thankfully pretty cheap, I always hear mixed things about hot rods and blues amps, they say steer clear of the gain channel but that the cleans are nice lol

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

What about Jet City? Haven't tried one but have read they're pretty good and reasonably priced.

A7X use them I think, but that's dependent on your style.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Not too interested in any modern metal tones but hey, I'll check it out still. Any specific model you'd recommend?

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Ermm not sure, are you using it for shows or home use? There was a 100 watt model somewhere.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Shows primarily, and loud jamming sessions.

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

I used to rent a Peavey Classic 50 and it could not compete with a Fender M80 1x12 effectively, my .02.
That is more a comment on how loud an M80 is, really.

If you want to stay with Peavey, there's going to be a huge pile of used amps that will fit your bill. If you want to have an amp nobody will be able to catch volume-wise, find an old ugly black-tolex Peavey VT, VTX or the like. Mace, Deuce, Classic Chorus, Classic VTX, Classic VT....many times in a gigantic 2x12.

Technically speaking you're not talking 100% tube with these, but you are definitely talking loud. The Mace has 6 output tubes (no preamp tubes) and will be loud enough to summon cops with a quickness. The Classic CHorus is solid state and very clean, VERY loud and pretty ugly.

There's a ton of random old Peaveys with mongrel powertrains and they're usually cheap. And loud.

Valvekings seem to be quickly discarded, but those are full-tube. Windsor heads are becoming more hard to find.

I'm going to try and steer you to Carvins as well, since I like that company. The MTS series is all tube, the X100 is as well. the Nomad/Belair is awesome. The SXs are solid state. I see mix-n-match Carvin tube heads with Behringer 4x12s for $300.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

I'm not looking to staying with peavey, or any other brand but thanks! I saw a band use a peavey btw classic and it sounded really good actually, kinda surprised tbh

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

I always feel like emulators just can't achieve the same sound as a real tube amp. Probably no digital amps for me.

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Fuzzy Duck said:
I always feel like emulators just can't achieve the same sound as a real tube amp. Probably no digital amps for me.

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For the most part you're right, but there are a few out that so a pretty dang good job. The Blackstar IDs are one of them.

Well, do you know what sort of wattage are you trying to get? Low-mid market 50w tube amps are really nice nowadays. VHT, Peavey, Jet City, Blackstar all all nice sounding. Again, I'm a Carvin fan too.
The Fender Supersonic is a decent amp too.
also...the Zinky. Right Ascension?

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

I feel like 50 watts is my sweet spot, however I only say that because I'm not sure if 30 watts is loud enough in mic'd. I'll check out all of those amps, thank you!

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Fuzzy Duck said:
I feel like 50 watts is my sweet spot, however I only say that because I'm not sure if 30 watts is loud enough in mic'd. I'll check out all of those amps, thank you!

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The whole 30W vs 50W or even 50W vs 100W is a bit of a myth. With speakers able to handle the wattage, 100W is only 3db louder than 50W. In order to get double the actual volume, you'd need 500W.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Well geez if it doesn't make a huge difference then I might as well buy a nice thirty watt then huh? The only problem is practicing with a drummer, would a 30 watt cut through the banging?

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Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Fuzzy Duck said:
Well geez if it doesn't make a huge difference then I might as well buy a nice thirty watt then huh? The only problem is practicing with a drummer, would a 30 watt cut through the banging?

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Possibly. It comes down to how you EQ it (scooped mids would not cut), number of speakers, speaker efficiency, and where they're placed. The 20W amp I mentioned previously is not loud enough just sitting on the floor because it's blasting at my knees. Get further away or put it on a stand, and you're in good shape. If the goal is to be heard, it's a better bet to add a speaker than to double your wattage since two speakers move more air than one even with a lot more wattage.
 
Re: Ready for my first tube amp. Too many choices!

Tube wattage has more to do with head room than volume. A 30watt tube amp will be more than enough volume wise but your cleans won't stay as clean once you push the volume.

Ex. A Fender Deluxe Reverb turned up to 5 will break up more and not be as clean as a Fender Twin Reverb turned up to 5 on the volume. The Deluxe has 22watts and the Twin has 60watts.
 
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