Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

[CTN]

I'm selling my Jet City head and my 4x12 cab. It's just far too much amp/volume/space being taken up and although it helped me become a MUCH better player, listener and tone conoisseur, I gotta move on.

I looking for a smallish lunchbox sorta amp, that is giggable but still cutesy enough to play at apartment volumes.

here's basically the specs I'm looking for:

Power: 15-25W, all tube
Channels: 2 (clean/dirty)
Gain: preferably high gain right outta the box cuz I'd prefer to get beastly high gain tones without having to max the gain and then boost it - that's a recipe for a mudslide. That said, I also want the clean channel to be properly clean with the ability to get a bit of crunch. I need to go from classic blues tones all the way to thrash and death metal.
EQ: Shared EQ is fine
FX loop: yes please!
Power scaling: if possible, yes, not picky about how low it can go, but as long as something's there it's worth consideration
Master vol: would be nice, but not a deal breaker if it isn't there.
Price: Under $1000, but obviously, if I can spend significantly less and get killer tones, I'd be quite happy with that.

I wanna go beyond the Jet City line and experience something new, but I did have a look at the JCA22H and although it meets a lot of my criteria, like I just said, I want some other sound.

I looked around some and discovered several options (keep in mind I'm going just off demos i've seen/heard. Haven't had a chance to go check out any of these in person yet)

- Marshall DSL15H - Meets all criteria except doesn't have an FX loop, and the high gain stuff, while it is ample, sounds loose, fizzy and messy. I like my high gain to be crisp and articulate. $499.
- Randall RD20H - Meets all the criteria except power scaling. Designed by Mike Fortin, so apparently the gain is tight, crisp, and friggin thunderous. Cool. But I have yet to see any demo of this amp that shows off how versatile (if at all) the clean channel is. Also $499.
- Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18 - meets all my criteria. Seems like a great little unit and probably a huge step up from the DSL in terms of sound quality/detail/clarity. From what I've heard, the gain can get pretty dirty, but it sounds a bit muddy and undefined as it only gets really dirty at the very max gain settings. $699
- Engl Gigmaster 15 - Meets all my criteria. Probably my favourite so far outta the bunch. The gain gets really dirty only towards the upper end of its range, much like the Tubemeister, but it seems to be tighter and more crisp. Clean and OD sounds are awesome. Spanky, crunchy, chewy goodness. $749, but might be able to get it for less, we'll see.
- Mesa Transatlantic TA-15. meets all my criteria except FX loop. Overall impressions are much the same as the Tubemeister but I can't find any good demos that show off its dirty side. Every demo I've seen features dudes playing blues licks through the high gain channels without taking the gain as far as it'll go. POOP. $899

side note: Also checked out the brand new Engl Ironball. Very similar to the Gigmaster but it's got a lot more gain on tap, plus switchable reverb, volume boost, gain boost and obviously channel switching. Sounds absolutely fantastic but it's also about $1200 street, so outta my price range.

Anyone got any opinions on this shortlist or any suggestions for amps I'm not aware of?

Cheers!

 

[DankStar]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

the transatlantic doesn't have a lot of preamp gain - at least that I found when I witnessed the mesa rep demonstrating what it does and when I was goofing with it before he came in the room. I personally would love to have one and think it would cover all the bases I do (with the addition of the use of an OD pedal here and there), but it's not a high gain lil' head on its own.

thanks for the tip on the randall - I gotta try one of those, especially after seeing fortin's amps on his site and how much they go for! cleans shmeans - anything can do cleans.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

lol thanks I had a feeling that the Transatlantic couldn't get really dirty, despite the marketing literature claiming otherwise.

As for the cleans...yeah, i suppose that's kinda true, but the real question is how nice will the cleans sound? From what I can tell, the cleans on the DSL15H sound like a crackho slapping her butt trying to look sexy and then sharting a bit.

By comparison, the H&K and Engl sound like sexy angels in victoria's secret lingerie.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Haha - nice analogies! I meant I don't have discerning tastes when it comes to cleans, and also don't hover there too long either.

Any thoughts on carvin's v3 micro?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I suggest looking at the Mesa Express Plus 5:25, used. They are compact 19" heads (or combos), and they're loaded with features. Effects loop, two channels (two gain modes on each channel), healthy reverb, foot switchable E.Q., foot switchable flat-e.q. boost, separate controls for each channel, with plenty of gain available if you want it. And they are all no more than about a year old, so they still have four years left on the transferable warranty.

For a bit more, you could get the slightly larger 5:50 Plus head, and run it in 25W class A push/pull mode (which is absolutely *****in' to have a healthy amount of wattage backing up class A response/dynamics).

Both amps also have a 5W class a single-ended mode as well.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Haha - nice analogies! I meant I don't have discerning tastes when it comes to cleans, and also don't hover there too long either.

Any thoughts on carvin's v3 micro?

the V3M seems like a good idea on paper, but every review i've seen suggests that's it's ok but not really impressive.

I suggest looking at the Mesa Express Plus 5:25, used. They are compact 19" heads (or combos), and they're loaded with features. Effects loop, two channels (two gain modes on each channel), healthy reverb, foot switchable E.Q., foot switchable flat-e.q. boost, separate controls for each channel, with plenty of gain available if you want it. And they are all no more than about a year old, so they still have four years left on the transferable warranty.

For a bit more, you could get the slightly larger 5:50 Plus head, and run it in 25W class A push/pull mode (which is absolutely *****in' to have a healthy amount of wattage backing up class A response/dynamics).

Both amps also have a 5W class a single-ended mode as well.

Interesting..I'll see if I can check one out.

I also found another contender, same price as the H&K, but a lot harder to find around here.. the Laboga Beast.

Here's a demo of the combo version

 

[Kam]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

What you say about the gain on the Tubemeister is true, but you can use the onboard boost as a faux third channel. With the boost engaged, there's a ridiculous amount of low-middy, greasy distortion going on. I tend to swing between using the regular dirty channel with the gain almost full, or using that channel boosted with the gain at a bit less than a third. If one of those sounds isn't doing it for me on a particular day with a particular guitar, the other almost always does.

It's a work-around and it isn't perfect, but it works for me and sounds great.

It's funny you bring up the Labogas, actually. A couple of days ago, I was cleaning out my bookmarks and found some stuff about them that I'd saved when I was considering a new amp quite a while ago. They seem like monsters.

Another little amp I was thinking about back then was the Hayden Mofo. It's been a looooooong time since I checked one out (to be honest, I'm not sure if they're even still being made) and I can't remember if it has a loop, but they meet the rest of your criteria and sound ****ing awesome. They're made by Ashdown. Might be worth a google.

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Wait so the midboost on the Gigmaster actually pushes the amp into more saturation?

Also, funny you mention the Hayden cuz I was checking it out before you mentioned it...seems like an interesting amp, but the lack of two distinct channels might be a deal breaker for me. The other thing is that there are no Hayden dealers in my part of Canada (closest one is about 6 hrs away), and there are no Laboga dealers in Canada at all.

blargh!

 

[crguti]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

if you want to go light with tons of gain, check out the Engl E-530 preamp.

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

mini rec?

heres a cool demo of some bluesyish tonez

And some heavy

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

if you want to go light with tons of gain, check out the Engl E-530 preamp.

but then i'd have to get a power amp etc etc pain in the arse. Is it even possible to get a 15-25W tube power amp?

too much hassle. I'd rather just stick to a lunchbox head.

mini rec?

nope. Hate rectos. My buddy has one. I don't like it much.

Also, I'm excluding perhaps one of the most obvious choices, the Blackstar HT-20 cuz after playing a few Blackstar HT heads, I found that they're shockingly sterile sounding, even though they have the gain levels that I'm looking for.

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

edited my last post with some vids

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

let me elaborate then since you're trying to be helpful


I've never dug the quality of distortion in the recto preamp design. To my ears it sounds loose and fuzzy. That makes it great for huge slower chords and types of music where strumming is predominant, but (and again, this is all imo) when it comes to fast, tight, intricate riffage, which is the majority of the kind of metal I play, then the Recto falls apart and can't keep up. Note tracking flubs out, and it turns into a mess of grainy, fuzzy, farty, steaming doodoo.

I just don't get along with Rectos. But had Mesa made a Mini Stiletto...hooo boy, I would be all over that like a fat girl on a box of pink-sprinkled donuts.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

I think you'll have a lot of difficulty finding a 5:25+ used, but if I were shopping for a low watt amp that would be my choice.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

let me elaborate then since you're trying to be helpful


I've never dug the quality of distortion in the recto preamp design. To my ears it sounds loose and fuzzy. That makes it great for huge slower chords and types of music where strumming is predominant, but (and again, this is all imo) when it comes to fast, tight, intricate riffage, which is the majority of the kind of metal I play, then the Recto falls apart and can't keep up. Note tracking flubs out, and it turns into a mess of grainy, fuzzy, farty, steaming doodoo.

I just don't get along with Rectos. But had Mesa made a Mini Stiletto...hooo boy, I would be all over that like a fat girl on a box of pink-sprinkled donuts.

What you just described sounds like my ideal tone haha guess I can't help in this thread.. I like loose and fuzzy but then again I play stoner rock and heavy post rock

 

[Kam]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Wait so the midboost on the Gigmaster actually pushes the amp into more saturation?

Also, funny you mention the Hayden cuz I was checking it out before you mentioned it...seems like an interesting amp, but the lack of two distinct channels might be a deal breaker for me. The other thing is that there are no Hayden dealers in my part of Canada (closest one is about 6 hrs away), and there are no Laboga dealers in Canada at all.

blargh!

The boost is more of a revoicing and gain boost than a mid boost. It adds more lows and low mids, and a tonne of gain. It isn't exactly a third channel (the added volume and gain can make it hard to balance with the regular dirty channel) but it's close. It might not suit you, but it's definitely worth checking out if you can find one in stock somewhere.

I've never seen a Laboga in real life, even over here. I've only ever played the Hayden for about ten minutes at a store in Scotland. Stores here suck.

EDIT: Wait, I just realised you said Gigmaster. I'm talking about the H&K Tubemeister.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

...

I looking for a smallish lunchbox sorta amp, that is giggable but still cutesy enough to play at apartment volumes.

here's basically the specs I'm looking for:

Power: 15-25W, all tube

...

IMO, the two parts I bolded in your OP don't work well together. Even a sub-5 watt tube amp is likely to be too loud for apartment playing, if you want any breakup. Unless you have really cool neighbors

 

[CTN]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

The boost is more of a revoicing and gain boost than a mid boost. It adds more lows and low mids, and a tonne of gain. It isn't exactly a third channel (the added volume and gain can make it hard to balance with the regular dirty channel) but it's close. It might not suit you, but it's definitely worth checking out if you can find one in stock somewhere.

I've never seen a Laboga in real life, even over here. I've only ever played the Hayden for about ten minutes at a store in Scotland. Stores here suck.

EDIT: Wait, I just realised you said Gigmaster. I'm talking about the H&K Tubemeister.

ahhhh ok. So theoretically you could get a tight heavy distortion by using the boost on the tubemeister and lowering the OD channel gain?

IMO, the two parts I bolded in your OP don't work well together. Even a sub-5 watt tube amp is likely to be too loud for apartment playing, if you want any breakup. Unless you have really cool neighbors

Well, I know that...but like I said, power scaling is also one of my criteria. The max rated wattage is so that I can still gig with it no probs. In any case, any of these options would certainly be better than a 100W tube head. One trick I found out is using a 12au7 in the PI position which trims the volume quite a bit and allows me to get more travel out of the volume knob before getting into paint-peeling volumes. Or at least that works on my Jet City.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

let me elaborate then since you're trying to be helpful


I've never dug the quality of distortion in the recto preamp design. To my ears it sounds loose and fuzzy. That makes it great for huge slower chords and types of music where strumming is predominant, but (and again, this is all imo) when it comes to fast, tight, intricate riffage, which is the majority of the kind of metal I play, then the Recto falls apart and can't keep up. Note tracking flubs out, and it turns into a mess of grainy, fuzzy, farty, steaming doodoo.

I just don't get along with Rectos. But had Mesa made a Mini Stiletto...hooo boy, I would be all over that like a fat girl on a box of pink-sprinkled donuts.

Yeah, I used to feel the exact same way. I wouldn't plug into a Recto without a boost to at least tighten up the feel and response of the amp.
I ended up changing to higher output and tighter pickups, and drastically altering the way I eq Recto's. I can get them really tight sounding now, but they will always have the certain amount of saggy response, but that lends itself to the feel of these amps under your fingers. Not surgically tight were tones can get sterile, but not messy or loose either. Tough beast to tame though, that's for sure.

 

[woemoejack]

Re: Time to get rid of the 100W head and move on to smaller pastures...

Any thoughts on the Fender Supersonic 22? Meets most of your criteria and I haven't seen it mentioned yet. Definitely worth a look if you havent played one. Great cleans from squeaky clean to fatty bassman clean. Best gain channel on any Fender I've ever heard.