The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

Hum. If that is the case, you may best off with a nice clean amp and a pedal like a SD Twin Tube Classic or another pedal for your driven sounds. It will allow you get what you want. Or if the drive is your thing, something like a small marshall, mesa. But if you need a clean I would say use the amp as the base and work from there.

Agreed. Clean to slightly overdriven is what I'm looking for. I don't use fulll-on distortion that much....but sometimes I just have to go there anyway.

Right now, the first one I want to try to find is the Traynor Custom Valve 15 Blue, and see if that gets the tone I want at the volume I want. I'm liking the idea of Class A, Line out and Headphone out in one package. Price should be good since the 50 Blue seems to be in the $650 range and I would expect the 15 to be lower.

Second choice would be the Carvin Vintage 16 if I need to go to the 5 watt mode.

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

if youre getting the 15blue you might want to hurry and find one. its a limited edition and their only making 150 of them. if you live in the USA you might have to go with youre gut feeling on this because not a lot of shops down here have them. there is a few, but not too many. just check their website for dealers in youre area if there is one.

 

[Destroying Angel]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

ever considered a Hughes and Kettner edition tube 20? I use one as my 'bedroom amp' although it can get pretty loud.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

I spent a few years searching for the same thing it sounds like you need. I ended up with a peavey classic 20 (no longer made, but a great little amp) and a Fender Blues Jr. I love them both, but like a previous poster said, to get anywhere near actual tube overdrive or full on tube distortion, these little buggers have to be LOUD. Thats why I also have an inexpensive Vox AD30VT Valvetronix amp. It is extremely versatile, giving you fairly authentic tube sound from clean Fender blackface and bassman, to Marshall plexi and jcm 800 overdrive, to the scorching tones of a Mesa Boogie Recto or a dumble overdrive. Of course it also sound BETTER loud, but the point is it still sounds good at near whisper volumes too. Plus you get the added effects. It also has a dial on the back that will lower the wattage down to 1 watt, so you can crank it wide open and still be quiet. For the price, you really can't dislike this little amp. BTW don't judge the amp by its factory presets if you try one, I don't know who chose them, but they Don't showcase the amp well.

I agree with B on this one. The Valvetronix series is very impressive, especially given its price point. You can pick one up new, bring it home, and try it for thirty days. Experiment with it and you'll find a ridiculous amount of possibilities, all at whisper-quiet to stadium-loud levels. (There are 15-watt, 30-watt, 50-watt and 100-watt versions available.)

- Keith

 

[Jeroen]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

I agree with B on this one. The Valvetronix series is very impressive, especially given its price point. You can pick one up new, bring it home, and try it for thirty days. Experiment with it and you'll find a ridiculous amount of possibilities, all at whisper-quiet to stadium-loud levels. (There are 15-watt, 30-watt, 50-watt and 100-watt versions available.)

- Keith

And off course the original 60 and 120 watt versions, with a lot more controls and switching options, and a larger memory for saving patches

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

Right, and for not a whole lot more money. They're not as readily available, but they're around.

 

[JeffB]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

This is something i tried 2 years to find. While my gain needs are different, I've come to the conclusion, Tube amps of any wattage NEED volume. All amps sound good with some volume, but Tube amps pretty much require it.

The one thing they will provide better at low volumes is feel/repsonse, and warmth. Tone-wise at those "it's 11 pm dont piss off your neighbors" level they sound horrible.

Your best bet as mentioned is a good modeller. The Vox VTs excel at the tones you are asking for..the Fender/Vox type sounds are their forte. They are more amp-like than the Line6 stuff..they have some tubeamp like feel, dynamics and openess that the Roland, Digitech, and Line 6 stuff does not.

Regardless I've come to the conclusion and the harsh reality that for the home , any of the modellers are the best choice, though I'd rather not use them. I'd rather have a raging JMP stack and 4x12 with Greenbacks going, but frankly they don't sound so good at the volumes people are going to be playing at home 99% of the time.

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

volume affects speaker not the tube amp. all speakers are the same, they get better at some higher volume than lower ones. but the amp itself its HOW much the tubes are pushed. this isnt always related to volume, for example the master volume on the traynor blue series. you can have the tubes pushing at max but still have low volume. and with the proper tweakage, it can sound good even if not pushed. you just need different eq settings for both. i play whenever i want however i want with this amp. ive played at midnight with my parents in the next room and they didnt wake up.

 

[tone?]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

are you confused yet??? LOL

everytime i see these threads people throw a million different amps at you. someone may be more convincing than others and may be more enticing to you.
i am not saying that it is all hogwash. i agree with some suggestions as well and have my preferences as well.

I just think that the best thing to do is go out there and try as much stuff as you can get your hands on. Dont rush! better that you take your time and trust what YOU like. not me or anyone else.
You might hate a 15 watt laney you played. or you might run into a SS amp that you swear by for what you need.
Things are just so subjective.

When i was looking for an amp to buy i was bombarded by how good the Deliverance ( VHT) amp was. It is dont get me wrong. but after being one step before buying it i finally heard it back to back with a old model Pitbull ( VHT) that i had heard in the past and thought the Pitbull sounded waaay better for what i wanted. and i got that.

Joneser said once that these amps have pretty complex preamps and sound good even at low volumes. i agree completely. Marshalls on the other hand sound great IMO cranked, but pretty SS low.
saying that i play my VHT which is 50 LOUD watts at 1 99.9% of the time. does it sound better loud?? it sounds amazing loud, but it sounds super at the volume i play it at. ill crank out Unchained on 1 and it sounds beautiful. Someone else may think i am silly for doing this. but it makes me happy.

My rule of thumb is DONT buy something unless YOU like it. No matter what it is. If you think that a garbage can with a speaker is the best for you than it is. The rest is our ears review and ..........science.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

+1 to tone?'s advice

I don't think anyone here is trying to sell their opinion, because most of us don't get endorsements. In addition, there probably aren't too many who have had an opportunity to try a vast array of amps in their own personal quests for the ideal tone. Everything in this thread is based on personal experience, so you get to hear the opinions of many people and use that as square one.

A few more things:

DO try out as many amps as you can.

DO bring your own guitar (and a few pedals, if appropriate) to use when trying out an amp.

DO NOT feel pressured by anyone -- a salesperson, a fellow forum brother, the local grocery store clerk -- to buy something on the same day you try it out. It'll still be there, and if it's not, there's something better just around the corner.

DO NOT limit yourself to just new amps, just vintage amps, etc. Your ears trump hype every day of the week.

DO NOT accept sticker price when you're ready to buy. Over ninety percent of the time, you can haggle and get a better price than what's being asked. (This goes for new and used gear alike.)

DO make sure you're 100% clear on the return policy. The nice thing about a lot of shops is that you can take an amp home for a few weeks and tool around with it. This is the time to really experiment and see how well it fits in your rig. As long as you don't break the thing, you can always bring it back if you're not satisfied (provided the store's return policy allows for that). Also, be aware of the difference between full credit and store credit on returns.

- Keith

 

[cak]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

I've just scored a old Boogie Studio 22 combo (the third I've owned in my time !). The rhythm channel gives a great bluesy breakup without raising the roof and the graphic eq gives a "big" sound at lower volumes. Sounds better still when you crank it a bit though.

 

[royd]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

try a silveface fender champ with a holy grail reverb pedal.

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

ever considered a Hughes and Kettner edition tube 20? I use one as my 'bedroom amp' although it can get pretty loud.

Wasn't aware of it. That one looks intersting too.

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

are you confused yet??? LOL .

No, not anymore than when I started.

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

While my gain needs are different, I've come to the conclusion, Tube amps of any wattage NEED volume. All amps sound good with some volume, but Tube amps pretty much require it....The one thing they will provide better at low volumes is feel/repsonse, and warmth. Tone-wise at those "it's 11 pm dont piss off your neighbors" level they sound horrible.

I'm still wondering about a low wattage tube amp with an attenuator. Would that sound horrible?

Your best bet as mentioned is a good modeller. The Vox VTs excel at the tones you are asking for..the Fender/Vox type sounds are their forte. They are more amp-like than the Line6 stuff..they have some tubeamp like feel, dynamics and openess that the Roland, Digitech, and Line 6 stuff does not.

Fender/Vox is the basic sound I'm looking for. Feel and openess are the intangibles that I'm hoping for.

I've tried running a blue tube pedal into the digitech to get more "tube feel". For cleans it didn't sound as good (to me), but cranked you could hear the tube breathe, something the simulator alone couldn't do.

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

Keith and Tone: Agree with the advice, but still glad to have the all the opinions, really helps to focus/narrow-down the choices.

Royd: A holiergrail is on the wishlist!

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

i would check out this thread on guitarlodge.com if i were you http://www.guitarlodge.com/forums/guitar-bass/showthread.php?t=30030

ive been following this one and the one of guitarldoge, they are very familiar. the guy came to a pretty good idea of what he wanted to buy. i think you might want to read over that thread, it has a lot of good information and a lot of good amps that you would like have been mentioned.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

I'm still wondering about a low wattage tube amp with an attenuator. Would that sound horrible?

In my experience with attenuators, specifically the THD Hot Plate, they're fine as long as you don't attenuate more than eight dB.

 

[JeffB]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

Yeah..attentuated Tube amps aren't too bad. But the more you attentuate it again the worse that it sounds. IMO, attentuators are best for taking a really loud amp and making it useable for smaller gigs/band practice. They still are not terribly optimal at low volume levels in the home. Def BETTER, but I still think a modeller is the way to go there, as they also model pushed speaker tone/characteristics. The attentuated tube amp still needs to push that speaker some, and that means more volume.

And I'm just not a fan of distortion boxes as a sole source of Gain. Rids' Plexitone is the only one I really have liked. I know some guys love them, but I've just never been able to warm up to them as a sole source of gain. I like them as a boost/goose for leads but thats about it. YMMV.

 

[skyking]

Re: The 15 to 30 watt tube amp question

i have a tweed blues junior that i play with a twin tube, and i can get it to sound pretty good at low volumes. it has reverb and a master volume so you can get some dirt at reasonable levels. i live on the second story in an apartment so being loud is a concern for me. i'll usually play from when i get home from work to about 8 or 9 oclock, but the bj even at 1 is still a little loud for an apartment. after that i pick up the ol' acoustic.