Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

C

Conker09

New member
So, as the title says, i've been in the market for a new amp for a while. As I'm still in college, I need something with a small price tag as well as something I can play in my room without bothering my roommates too much. I am all for buying used, and let's face it...for a low priced tube amp, I'll have to.

I play a Schecter S-1 elite with a SHRP-2 in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. I play anything from blues, classic rock, and punk/alternative.

I was looking at the peavey classic 50 for a while, and even helped my cousin find one for a good price. It sounds great, but is just much too loud and heavy for my needs. When we jammed last, he didn't even put it past 2 on the dial and my ears were ringing. I would prefer something I could play at room volume levels without losing too much sound integrity. On the flipside, I would also like to be able to jam with him and still hear myself.

Am I dreaming here? or are there any amps that fit my criteria?

As far as the sound I'm going for, I really don't have a specific one. I just want good tone and will take any suggestions given and go to GC to try them out.

Thnx a lot,
--Luke

EDIT: And I was looking at under $500
 
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Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

You'll likely need to look at one of the 5-15 watt tube heads or combos out there. MAKE SURE that you get a master volume type of amp. I recently bought a little 5 watt Marshall Class 5 1X10 combo thinking that it'd make a decent practice amp since my 80 watt Shiva, 100 watt Traynor YCS100H, and 50 watt Traynor Custom Blue 1X12 are way too loud for practice by myself. Problem: the little Marshall is LOUD! And there's just a volume and tone controls. So if you want overdrive/distortion you'd have to use pedals on such a beast.

So avoid the Marshall Class 5, Epiphone Valve Junior, and similar non-master volume amps. Look at the Egnater Tweaker, Vox Night Train, Blackstar HT-5, Orange Tiny Terror, Blackheart 5 watt amp, etc.

ETA: Another thing to ponder is using an attenuator. I recently picked-up one called The Power Plug off of Ebay new for $80. I've been using it for my Shiva for practice and I also used it at last weekends gig. Worked perfectly! Has switches for 6 and 12db of attenuation. With both switches engaged it cuts the sound down to bedroom volume on my Shiva.
 
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Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

Would you consider a modeling amp? Some of them sound very good at lower volumes. Especially if you're not sure what kind of sound you want, it will give you some options to work with.
:wall:
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

Another Tweaker vote. I played on in the store and had my mind blown at the great tones, feature set, and price. I unfortunately don't have the cash for that at the moment, but it'll definitely be at the top of my list once I do.

Good luck on your search.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

I was a night train user and I loved it, but you gotta like vox to have that amp 'click' for you.
I keep hearing good things about the tweaker, but havent played one.

There's the old standard the blues Jr. It's got really warm mids and a good bit of treble, and sort of a thick clean sound. It's an all round decent lil amp. Have you played one? I thought they sounded all right, but they seem kinda tailored to single coil guitars.

The blackheart 5W is OK but it doesn't have a master. I used to use one with an attenuator to get a distorted sound. Kinda a flat sound... it feels like "this is a BASIC tube amp" kinda thing.

The peavey windsor studio was OK but it really lacked bass. prolly the speaker. Kinda a flat sounding amp.

I played a Jet City 20W head and thought the drive was pretty good. Pretty modern sounding. The clean tone was pretty bad. No CLEAN clean at any appreciable volume.

If you can get a line on a cheap used one, the fender Hot Rod Deluxe is my favourite combo amp under $800. The drive channel gets loud but a pedal into the clean channel sounds great. The Marshall Haze 40 is my second fav. It sounds a little boxy at low volumes but I think it's the speaker. A used one of either of those will serve you well when you take it out to play, maybe in a friend's garage or basement or something.

I'm assuming that you want a tube amp for both the sound and the feel. In that case, as good as modeling amps sound, they sometimes lack the feel of a tube amp. So, if you don't wanna compromise the feel of a tube amp, maybe stay away from modeling or hybrid amps. At least, play before you buy.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

The Fender Super and Vibro Champs are great. The Vibro is 5watts in a 8 inch speaker, while the Super is 15 watts in a 10 inch. They both have external speaker outputs. The super has two channels, while the Vibro is single. For $300 or $200 bucks, they seem like great deals.

A guy I know was using one for a show I was in. It was a rock musical and he did all of the musical direction in the rehearsal process with the Super, and the guitarist for the band used it for the performances (not his tiny terror or his Mesa). I enjoyed going to rehearsals every night to listen to that amp. 16 (i think) models on the dirty channel, all tube, reverb and even delay. If my 30watt tube amp decides to die any time, I'll be picking up one of those.

For your size and volume needs, these seem like the best bet.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

I was a super champ xd owner. The thing is that the clean channel will not break up at any volume. Neither of the channels will. It doesn't use the power tubes that way. I even tested it with an attenuator and everything sounds and feels the same at any volume. The best thing that amp does at high volumes is a lil speaker breakup.
If you don't mind that, then it's OK. But if you want the feel and response of a real tube amp, look elsewhere.
It bothered the crap outta me, so I sold mine a long time ago. Again, tone was fine, feel was way off. Oh and the cab rattled.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

conker not responding? I say solid state modeler. if u want to deal with loudness and tube amp goodness, killer ant by blackheart is what I would do!!!
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

Haha, been busy at work.

Sounds like some good, solid advice. I'll check out some of these amps the next time I'm at Guitar Center.

Thnx for the input all.

So, would I be able to play with my cousin's classic 50 if i were to be playing through a 15w?
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

I have the epiphone valve junior combo I got for $120 from MF. it sounds great. WAY TOO LOUD at 5 watts for an apartment since I like to turn it up to hear the tubes working. if you like cleans only, 5 watts of tube amplifier is more than plenty.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

So, I've spent the day checking out the various amps yall have suggested online. I have to say, so far the Vox Night train seems to have the sound I have in my head. I still need to actually try a couple of these in the store before I make up my mind.

I'm also going to have to keep my eyes open for a good used one online.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

By the way, what's an SHRP-2?
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

Conker09 said:
So, I've spent the day checking out the various amps yall have suggested online. I have to say, so far the Vox Night train seems to have the sound I have in my head. I still need to actually try a couple of these in the store before I make up my mind.

I'm also going to have to keep my eyes open for a good used one online.
Click to expand...

yeah the night train has a nice clean, very vox. Cleaner than an ac15. I dunno, the one I had's power tubes were used and from the '60s or '70s, so mine may have been slightly underpowered. Either way, the clean was great, the mild drive with the bright channel was awesome, the bright channel driven with a pedal was freakin bad ass (ac15 with balls), and the thick mode was alright. The thick mode was GREAT for getting a Cream-era woman tone.
pairing that amp with a greenback made a huge difference, IMO. That speaker really matched.
I didn't want to sell mine but my DSL50 was a gift and I had to sell the NT to meet some expenses. I plan to buy one again someday when I'm able.

The things that you may or may not have a problem with:
1) can be a tad fizzy, like in the decay of notes when overdriven. You don't really hear it when playing loud though. Play the new ac15s, they have it too. It seems like part of the modern vox el84 voicing. It has a very specific kind of note decay at lower volumes.
2)thick mode has no EQ controls. it's a good sound, but thick is what you get. Can get a lil muddy at high volumes, cuz its well, thick.
3) no reverb. Dunno if you have a pedal. To me the vox sound is a sound that goes great with reverb, and built in reverb after the preamp usually sounds better to me than before the preamp.

Other than that, go play one, and be sure to compare it to the other lunchbox heads, and make sure to compare it to the blues jr and the egnater rebel 20. You may like it a lot.
 
Re: Yet another "help me with the right amp" thread.

I say Vox Valvetronix.

I have had all sorts of amps, and that one is my favorite amp, ever.
 
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