Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

[JB_From_Hell]

Here's what I want....

30-ish watts
Single or dual 12"
No onboard effects (reverb or trem is ok, nothing digital)
Closed back (or easily modded to closed back)

I'm cool with tube, solid state, or hybrid. Tonally, I'd like the amp to get somewhere in the Gov't Mule range of things. Doesn't have to nail Warren's tone, but you know what I'm talking about. With a pedal, I'd like to get metal tones.

The number of channels isn't important.... I'm fine with splitting the pickup or dialing back the volume to clean up.

As far as tube stuff goes, I already know to look at Sovtek MIGs and Laney AORs. Any other recommendations? Remember, I'm NOT limiting it to tubes.

 

[D-EJ915]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

Finding a closed combo will be kind of hard, I know right off the bat that 5150/6505 combos are closed back, but those are hardly "smallish."

The Roland Cubes are closed-back too.

On the G2 series Randalls it's an open back with a support bar, but you can take both of them off and if you were to put a piece at a right-angle at the top to close up the space in-between the rear baffle and the metal casing/heatsink you could effectively seal it off...probably one of the easier open setups to close up.


You can see the support bar thing:

And here you can see the spacing between the bar and the heatsink:

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

Chris, unless you're cemented to the idea of NOT having onboard digital effects, the Roland Cube 30 will do a good rock/metal tone.

When you try one, the best modellers to play with are the Brit Combo, Tweed and Classic Stack. Ignore Metal and R-Fier. Set gain at about 11.30 and go from there.

 

[D-EJ915]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

The Cube 30 is a 10" btw, the 60 is the 12" one.

The Seventy80 is a pretty rippin' speaker btw.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

Hmmm.... one of those Randall combos with the single 12" might not be a bad idea. I bet the clean channel is pretty transparent, and could probably get something like the Duncan SFX-03 or a CM Plexitone for the heavy rock tone, and something to boost either of those for the metal tone....

A used one is probably pretty cheap, too. If I could find it cheap enough, I'd love to have an A/B box to go between something like the Randall setup for metal and a Fender Blues Jr with an overdrive.

 

[34029324079]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

I would just go with a 1x12" or a closed back 2x12"

I dont like the open back 2x12 I had for metal. doesnt sound right. at least the 1x12" would get you in the door for rock, and you could plug it into a bigger cab. I suggest the jcm800 1x12" - you can get them for about $700 on ebay and less if you can find one locally.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

I would recommend a used Peavey ValveKing !

OK, so it is a 50watter all-valve BUT they DO sound good at low levels too !

http://cgi.ebay.com/Peavey-ValveKin...ryZ38076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem - not bad for $200.00 !!!

 

[brit84]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

laney combos go cheaply and they sound awsome.

 

[Corbic]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

The Crate V32 Palomino is a great sounding amp, very classic sounding, though it is an open back. 30W all tube, 1x12 combo, with reverb.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

I own a Koch Twintone II. It's 50w but it has somekind of in-built power soak so you can have it run at 25w. It sounds very nice at bedroom levels and up higher too.

I really like me some Tech21 stuff too. I don't own one currently, but I'd definitely go for one if I needed a nice smaller volume amp.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

orange AD30 2x12...mmmyeeeya

 

[viewaskew2k5]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

Go a Laney VC212, or a LC30II

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

I like the range of products that Peavey and Laney offer.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: Small-ish combo for rock/metal...

Also, you ever played the Marshall DSL 401? I had one a year ago and i really did like that amp. The cleans were marshall flavored, but the el84 tubes just made it really nice for giving it a bit of dirt. The high gain needs a small boost for metal, but it is really warm and pleasing to the ears. Very tight and punchy too. If you can get your hands on one i think you will be impressed.