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So I recently got a job. And a huge credit limit with no interest for a year I'd like to take advantage of as a reward for finding employment finally. I have a bunch of nice guitars already, and would like to add another amp to my collection. Right now I have an Engl Thunder 50 head, works great for my death metal/Van Halen kind of playing, not so much for my rock/jazz playing. So, I'm in the market for a decent tube head that can get me some sparkly cleans and/or some heavier rock sounds, like The Sword or The Joy Formidable. If I can get either/both sounds with an amp + pedal combo, I'm willing to listen, but I already have a PODHD300 that, while the amp models aren't spot on, the pedal modelling seems legit. So, what's a good jazz/rock tube head around $750-$1000 (new or used)? A huge plus is portability! I can't drive anywhere so an amp I can lug from place to place with minimal effort (minus the cabinet, of course...) is a big deal. My Engl is a little smaller than most amps, but it gets the job done and it's not AWFUL to carry on public transport. I've looked at the Tiny Terror, but I'm just unsure of the true flexibility of it as well as how "full" it can sound. Maybe my best bet is to just walk into a store and try a bunch?
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Nov 26, 2011 22:41
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If you have a shitload of money you should
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Nov 26, 2011 23:13
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SeraphSlaughter posted:*snip* FWIW, The Sword uses distortion pedals through clean tube amps. I believe one guitarist uses an EHX Metal Muff and the other uses a Maxon Distortion Master.
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Nov 29, 2011 22:51
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I need to ditch my Line 6 Vetta II. I have had enough of it. Sure it does a whole fuckload of stuff, but maybe one to two things well enough that I can use them. I have been looking at the Orange TH30H and the PPC212 open back cab as an awesome tube replacement. The price is awesome at under a 1000 bucks and it sounds awesome and poo poo, even though I have only played the combo version. The cleans give me night boners and the overdrive is really out of this world. Anyone have any experience with these? Are they generally looked down upon because they are made in china and aren't $15,000 copies of something Jeff Beck played once? I generally play the old classic rock type of stuff, but I would like to have gain if I need it, which this thing seems to have in spades.
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Nov 29, 2011 23:46
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TyChan posted:I've played with guitarists at small bars/club venues and the Blues Jr. was more than adequate. I thought they sounded really good and if you're willing to put in the time with pedal tweaking, I think it's pretty easy to get a lot of different kinds of sounds out of those Fender tube amps. Yup. The Pro Jr. is really one of the best amps that Fender has made in the last 20 years, period. The Blues Jr. is a pretty boxy sounding amp clean, and a nasal (think cheap distortion pedal) amp on the drive channel. The 12inch speaker is a little wasted on the circuit. The Pro Jr. is a super organic amp, very much a hybrid of the classic Champ and Vox tones, and it absolutely SCREAMS when cranked. Also, the choice of preamp tubes has a huge effect on the tone-when I had mine, if I wanted a more tame clean tone, I would put a JJ 12at7 in the PI slot and a JJ 12ax7 in the preamp tube slot. If I wanted something totally ripping, I would put high-gain JJ ECC83's in the preamp and PI slots. It was subtle nuances like that that I appreciated, which wouldn't come through nearly as much on the Blues Jr.
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Nov 30, 2011 02:07
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So, I was in the market for an amp... and on a whim, I bought one of those Ibanez Tubescreamer heads. Considering Ibanez by and large makes dumb bullshit for idiots (I kid, I kid... except for the nu-metaly signature guitars that they still(?) make), I have to say I'm pretty impressed with this head. Especially for the price. It's basically Ibanez's version of the of-so-trendy low wattage tube amp that is all the rage these days and is roughly analogous to Vox's Night Train, Orange's Tiny Terror, Epiphone's Valve Junior or Standard or Senior or whatever their ~15 watt amp is, Egnater's Tweaker, etc. in function if obviously not price point. Very Fender-y cleans. Not many bells/whistles beyond a boost switch that gives you a 6db (or is it 3? I dunno, it makes it much louder) volume increase. Lots of speaker connection options on the back for basically any cab(s) you could think of using: single 16 ohm, 2 8 ohms and 2 4 ohms. The two 4 and two 8 ohms can be used, obviously, to connect two cabs in an 8 and 16 ohm (respectively) configuration. Also, a 5w/15w switch. The kicker for me, though, was that rather than a second "distortion/gain/lead/whatever" channel (which a lot of these low-watt tube amps lack anyway), it literally has a TS9 Tube Screamer built into it. Given that I was going to buy a Tubescreamer anyway, having fallen in love with the pedal after my drummer let me borrow her TS9 that she modded to TS808 specs, that was a definite plus. My plan is to crack the amp open and to see how faithful the TS9 circuit inside is. If it can be modded with any of the popular TS9 mods out there, holllllly shiiiiiiit.
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Dec 5, 2011 06:35
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Planning on picking up a Red October Deville in a few weeks. Anyone have any experience with them? They're a "special edition" with higher quality speakers and about 100$ more, but other than that, I can't find any concrete info. Some sites say it has a more "Euro" style OD while others don't mention it.
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Dec 5, 2011 18:26
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Looking for a new low watt tube amp head + cab that can do some bluesy dirt / rock tones at reasonably low volumes. Home playing. H&K Tubemeister 18 is at the top of my list (And price range) right now despite the dumb name and dumb blue glow. Others I've been looking at: Egnater Tweaker Carvin Vintage 16 Anything else I should consider or shouldn't bother with? Not familiar with all the boutique basement amps, either. I wouldn't be opposed to checking them out so long as there isn't a five year wait list or something. Someone on craigslist is selling a Classic 30, but I heard those don't get much break up until they're incredibly loud. Philthy fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Jan 12, 2012 |
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Jan 12, 2012 07:02
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I need a new amp, and I've been looking at a few of the Bugera amps, namely the 1960, 1990 and Magician infinium(I'd change the tubes to EL34s). I'd like it to be able to get close to sounds like AC/DC, Guns N' Roses and The Darkness, but with enough versatility to get an OK clean sound since I also play at a sort of variety show where I have to play some pop songs too. I'd also like it to be a combo(not a priority, though), have multiple channels and a master volume. All this for hopefully under 700€. Also, I'm in Denmark. I've also been looking at a couple of the CeriaTone kits, but shipment to Denmark seems like it'd negate the savings. Any good suggestions?
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Jan 12, 2012 16:39
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Boz0r posted:I need a new amp, and I've been looking at a few of the Bugera amps, namely the 1960, 1990 and Magician infinium(I'd change the tubes to EL34s). I'd like it to be able to get close to sounds like AC/DC, Guns N' Roses and The Darkness, but with enough versatility to get an OK clean sound since I also play at a sort of variety show where I have to play some pop songs too. Have you found at places actually selling the Magician? There are demos from like a year ago, but I haven't actually found a store or website that has them in stock.
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Jan 12, 2012 19:39
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Stabbing Spork posted:Have you found at places actually selling the Magician? There are demos from like a year ago, but I haven't actually found a store or website that has them in stock. Not yet, but I'm not getting the new amp for a couple of months so I was hoping it would surface in a nearby shop.
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Jan 12, 2012 19:47
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I've decided to take the leap and get a good amp. I'm hoping someone can answer a quick question about the Mesa Rectoverb. Will I be able to get a similiar tone out of this combo that I would with Dual Rectifier and 2x12 cabinet? I'll primarily be playing metal and hard rock. I live in an condo and won't be playing gigs so I don't need that much power. Just wondering about the crunchiness of the Rectoverb. The other combo I'm looking at is the Mesa Mark V, but it's a bit pricey and probably more amp than I need as I'm a beginner. The two guitars I'll be using are the ESP JH-1 (EMG 60 & EMG 81 pickups) and an EVH Wolfgang Stealth. Thanks for any help. Panterica fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Jan 12, 2012 |
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Jan 12, 2012 20:44
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Philthy posted:H&K Tubemeister 18 is at the top of my list (And price range) right now despite the dumb name and dumb blue glow. I like that these amps are cheaper than their 100w cousins and plan to get a few of them over time.
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Jan 12, 2012 21:59
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I was recommended the Traynor YCV50B. Has anyone tried this? EDIT: On further inspection it looks like it doesn't have a master volume. That sucks. Or maybe it does? I saw someone use a Hot Plate with it, wouldn't that be unnecessary with a master volume? Boz0r fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jan 12, 2012 |
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Jan 12, 2012 22:35
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Panterica posted:I've decided to take the leap and get a good amp. I'm hoping someone can answer a quick question about the Mesa Rectoverb. Will I be able to get a similiar tone out of this combo that I would with Dual Rectifier and 2x12 cabinet? I'll primarily be playing metal and hard rock. I live in an condo and won't be playing gigs so I don't need that much power. Just wondering about the crunchiness of the Rectoverb. I believe the rectoverb is just a single rec with reverb, so yeah you will be getting similar tones. you won't have the 3rd channel but it will still have plenty of balls, especially if you have an overdrive. The mark V is amazing. My other guitarist has one and I love playing around with it. Expensive to just have sitting around not getting loud consistent use but it's still a great amp and if you have the cash to drop you should buy it. The only problem with the mark v is that I've never been able to dial in a good tone with active pickups, especially emgs, so you might want to look at a pickup swap. An amp like this is going to bring out every characteristic in your guitar, and boxy pickups like emgs don't mesh well. You should try a mini rec with a 2x12 or a 1x12. I love that amp.
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Jan 13, 2012 04:21
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HollowYears posted:I believe the rectoverb is just a single rec with reverb, so yeah you will be getting similar tones. you won't have the 3rd channel but it will still have plenty of balls, especially if you have an overdrive. Thanks for the help. I was looking at the mini rec with a 1x12 slanted mesa and it's about the same price as a used rectoverb and cheaper than the mark v. Apparently the mark v is a little difficult to setup, but once it's dialed in it's pretty amazing. Thanks again for the reply.
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Jan 13, 2012 13:57
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Anybody see musician's friend's stupid deal of the day? I can't find reviews of the rogue sc80r anywhere. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/?icid=111130_001_hpsh3_pd
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Jan 13, 2012 18:34
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I have a "is this bad for my amp" question! I have a little 28W Fender Frontman 10G. I just figured out how the overdrive (balls) button works (turn it the gently caress up duh) and decided that even though it was ballsy and meaty, it needed a little more dirty in it. So I stomped on my Boss DS-1 and the amp squealed like its balls got kicked. Turned the distortion down on the pedal and the balls down on the amp, and it was ok, but I could still make it squeal if I pushed up the balls or the distortion up. I'm pretty sure the squealing is bad, but is putting distortion in front of overdrive bad for the amp? There was only a little bit of fart. e: vvv Thank you! I'm going to be having fun making myself deaf and pissing off my housemates 
Sonnekki fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jan 20, 2012 |
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Jan 20, 2012 05:02
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Sonnekki posted:I have a "is this bad for my amp" question! That's just feedback, it's a natural occurence of having too much gain. All your gear is fine!
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Jan 20, 2012 05:07
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So I actually ended up buying a ZT Lunchbox from Hello Music. It came today and I was really excited to try it - but it didn't turn on. No red light, nothing. Turns out the fuse in it came burnt out! I'm kinda ticked off, especially since I can't find any place around here that sells T2AL 250v fuses. So anybody know a good source for fuses while I get in touch with Hello Music?
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Jan 25, 2012 22:14
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Graybar, Platt Electric, Grainger
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Jan 26, 2012 01:44
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That Lunchbox was tempting me for ages. It's solid state, right?
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Jan 26, 2012 02:29
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Has anyone tried the Marshall JVM series, and is it worth the price? I found the 210 combo for 1500€. It's really expensive, but it looks really awesome and can be MIDI-controlled. EDIT: And of course there's a guy selling a used 410 combo in the states for 700$ on ebay. I hate not living in the US when it comes to buying gear. Boz0r fucked around with this message at 12:15 on Jan 26, 2012 |
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Jan 26, 2012 12:09
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Boz0r posted:Has anyone tried the Marshall JVM series, and is it worth the price? I found the 210 combo for 1500€. It's really expensive, but it looks really awesome and can be MIDI-controlled. I had the 205h. It was OK, was a bit of a workhorse amp. Wouldn't say it was spectacular though.
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Jan 26, 2012 20:47
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Warcabbit posted:That Lunchbox was tempting me for ages. It's solid state, right? Yeah, you got it. The reviews on Musician's Friend, plus a nice coupon, made it so I just couldn't pass it up. Schlieren posted:Graybar, Platt Electric, Grainger Thanks! If anyone cares to know, as crappy as it was that they sent me a defective product, so far Hello Music has had really good customer support. I fired off an email around 4:30 yesterday, got a reply at 2pm today. They've already contacted ZT to get a replacement unit, and they're giving me a few different options to return the one I've got, at their expense. Originally I was set on blackballing them but I'm really impressed with both their response time and personal tone.
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Jan 26, 2012 21:08
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Sorry about the double post, but hey, it has been like two weeks. I finally got my ZT Lunchbox replacement unit from Hello Music today. Only played with it for 45 minutes or so, but I'm really impressed so far. Going clean, Agile 3000 straight into it - beautifully clean, the guitar just comes through bright and solid. New strings sound like extra new. Also takes pedals really well, from what I can tell. Boss frv-1 reverb sounds awesome, my Danelectro fab distortion and cool cat fuzz need some setting tweaks but sound great, especially when I turn both of them on and they start really chewing on each other. Like all the reviews say - you actually won't believe what you hear from this amp. Yes, it's loud. Turning volume and gain to only halfway each is probably as loud as I can get in my apartment, I could already hear the wall starting to buzz sympathetically. When I get to band practice I'll try cranking it more, but drat. It's not just volume, make no mistake. It sounds GOOD. Not just "wow that sounds good for the size," but this thing actually stands on its own. I'd feel comfortable paying rhythm on it next to a tweed Fender. I do want to try playing it through a cab - note to self: see if guitar center still has that used lil night train cab - because you don't get a huge low end from that small a speaker, but I bet it would be outright magical with one. Like most solid states, it does have a certain coldness to the sound, but tweaking the ambience knob helps a bit, and a touch of reverb really adds that much needed warmth. I think I'm going to treasure this little guy.
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Feb 7, 2012 20:08
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I have just the pedal for you. You need the power of ANALOG! http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2012/Jan/Electro_Harmonix_Analogizer_Pedal_Review.aspx No, really. It's the Analogizer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBkUNlGYmWA I'm actually curious about this as well, myself. Electro Harmonix is known for not being snake oil, and I can hear the difference in the review. I really don't know what putting this before the amp will do... not to the amp, but to the information coming into the amp. It might round things off before the amp squares them out, you know? Warcabbit fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Feb 9, 2012 |
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Feb 9, 2012 03:44
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Warcabbit posted:I have just the pedal for you. You need the power of ANALOG! Fffffffff. I don't have money for that  after a few hours messing around with the Lunchbox and my loop pedal this afternoon, I stand by my conclusion that it's an awesome amp, but that solid state sound really does come through. drat, I'd love to test that analogizer out. I'm guessing it wouldn't work to put one between the amp and a cab, huh 
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Feb 9, 2012 04:08
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I used to have a Traynor 50 Blue. I loved this amp so much that I probably would've married it if it were legal. Unfortunately, my dad got into a car accident when it was in the truck, and the circuit board cracked in half and the amp tech said it was kaput. Long story short, I haven't had a decent amp to gig with ever since, and I can't find the 50 Blue anywhere, so I was wondering if someone could recommend me something similar in terms of wattage, price, and most importantly, sound.
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Feb 9, 2012 04:42
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Manky, I honestly have no idea and would love to find out. That was the other and possibly more likely to work idea I had. You could e-mail 'em and see what happens. It is a nifty concept, isn't it? If it was anyone but EHX, I would totally call it snake oil.
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Feb 9, 2012 05:42
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Declan MacManus posted:I used to have a Traynor 50 Blue. They stopped making that? I used to lust after those amps soooo much. a little research pulls up this. The Modern Sky fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Feb 9, 2012 |
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Feb 9, 2012 13:29
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I've been looking at that Traynor YCV50B amp for my very first all tube amp. I haven't tried it yet since the nearest shop that has it is about 40 min. drive away and I don't have a car, but if you have tried it I'd be very interested in hearing what you think of it.
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Feb 9, 2012 16:21
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I've never had a chance to play one, mostly because they weren't available at the shops i frequented at the time. If i really want to play one, there are some shops that carry them, but are a bit of a drive from me. I live in the suburbs by NYC, so selection would get more interesting the closer i venture to the city. I also have a habit of being happy with things i bought sight unseen.
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Feb 9, 2012 22:25
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Let's talk about amp mods! Some will say that if you need to mod an amp in the first place, then you were probably looking for another amp to begin with. Although this can be the case, it isn't necessarily true all the time. I love my JCM 800 clone, but I also love the sound of hotrodded JCM 800s, with more gain and a little tighter sound. It's with the amp tech at the moment. He is going to install a mod that involves adding an extra 'boost' gain stage with a tube, which will be footswitchable to the stock 800 sound if needed. The boost is modelled off a Bogner amp which is exciting. Have any of you had mods done to your amps?
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Feb 12, 2012 03:05
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Understanding posted:They stopped making that? I used to lust after those amps soooo much.  I had no idea thank you so muchIt's not blue, unfortunately, but it's all about that sound.  It has a great crunch sound and very pretty clean sounds, but what I like the most about it is that the boost colors the sound and acts almost like an extra channel. It's decidedly British, though, and the reverb was kind of shallow (but that's good for making sure the sound doesn't get overly muddy at high volumes) and the tubes were definitely a pain to change out. Sounded wonderful, though, especially for the price. The reverb is also not footswitchable, and that's kind of annoying.
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Feb 14, 2012 00:30
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Just spent too long reading this thread. I'm pondering getting into building low watt tube amps, first for hifi, then guitar. This is one of my "man if i could get a job doing X" fantasies, really. I don't know how saturated the market is for low watt amps, but I am pondering building a little bitty head or three. 10, 15 watts tops. What's the state of the market these days? Are there a thousand guys like me cranking out 10watt class A heads for $300 or so? That's the ballpark selling price I'd want to ask for a single 6L6 amp with a classic tone stack. Do we care about FX loops on these? How about tube rectos? My gut says "don't worry about either", but if I get vibes in support, I can mod the circuit no problemo.
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Feb 18, 2012 12:27
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Jonny 290 posted:Just spent too long reading this thread. sup 290 here's my take. there are a lot of manufacturer's doing low-price, low wattage amps at the moment, like the orange tiny terror, backstar, egnater tweaker, vox night train, mesa transatlantic as well as the classics like the fender champ and princeton. including an effects loop on a small amp is a pretty simple matter and adds hardly anything to the manufacturing price (it's just a pot or 2, a buffer and a gain stage, which means one extra dual-triode tube) but they're a win in the rear end to design, so .... tube rectos are do-able but I doubt they'll make much difference on a low-wattage amp although if you just use a 5Y3 on a really small amp I guess it'll do a thing. I think I mentioned this earlier in the thread but it's actually harder to get a decent master-volume single channel amp at the moment, and I think there's a bit of a market for em, as sludge and stoner is making a come back, and I think there's a market for 40-50W single channel amps that have a nice fat breakup and a big power section. I have some schematics I can draw up and hook you on yosplus.
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Feb 18, 2012 13:25
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Good points and i do see the point of the 50 watt amps. I think that for my first amp a small class A would be most appropriate, though. If I get a good power stage built up I can test and twiddle preamp stages, then learn how to use a phase splitter and do proper push/pull. When I do get to that stage the marshall 18 watt circuit looks pretty good. Or, like you mentioned, if you have any schematics for me to peruse, hit me.
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Feb 18, 2012 16:30
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Well I already posted a bunch about Hello Music, but just wanted to say - obviously it's only one experience and 100% anecdotal - but I don't think I'd buy from them again. The customer service has been great, but the quality control sucks. I got my replacement unit on the 7th: by day two the logo badge fell off the speaker grill, leaving behind this gross glob of hot glue, and a week later the speaker grill fell off, revealing that three of the four corner pins suposed to hold it in were broken. The amp still works and sounds great, but jeez. Did anybody look at this thing before shipping it out? e: On the plus side, now I'm using all these free Hello Music stickers to hold the grill on securely 
Manky fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Feb 18, 2012 |
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Feb 18, 2012 18:27
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Jonny 290 posted:Good points and i do see the point of the 50 watt amps. I think that for my first amp a small class A would be most appropriate, though. If I get a good power stage built up I can test and twiddle preamp stages, then learn how to use a phase splitter and do proper push/pull. Echoing everything Mondrian said - ever since the Valve Jr. came out, home builders have had to compete with stuff made in China selling for less than they were paying in parts. The boutique market has been ultra-centered on low-power lead for blues rock for as long as I can remember, and generally ignores those of us who want to play heavily-distorted chords. Hell, I'd be glad just to see more stuff with 6V6s in it, even the better-made EL84 amps sound thin and whiny to me. Having said that, if you're looking at selling these outside of your circle of friends and family, you'll have to make an amp different from every one else. I wouldn't even say "better", we'll just take build quality as a given. Even if you're building in a less-crowded field, you're still competing with the "big boys" when it comes to business from strangers. I'm buddies with the guy who makes the Sanford and Sonny Blue Beard (and got to be "pedal tester" when we were housemates), and the reason he's able to keep selling them (aside from a natural "gift of gab" and friends throughout the regional scene) is that, even though it's a clone, it doesn't sound like anything else. Amps, being pricier, are a harder sell. It has to have something unique, even if it's just a subtle sonic character. Build for yourself first, but make that amp as easy to tweak as possible. Have everybody you know play on it. Make it a part of your social interaction. Then build something else. Keep going, keep experimenting. Would love to hear what you come up with - especially if it's good for rhythm.
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Feb 24, 2012 15:29
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