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All Tube Low Wattage Amps


Big Bill

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Need your input forumites. I have a 15 watt Fender Blues Jr. NOS. GREAT amp, however it is far to loud for what I need. I do not gig anymore, just record out of the 4th bedroom I turned into a guitar cave. I am looking for a small 4 -5 watt valve amp to tool around with and push out the tubes for get that natural distorted sound. I am looking at the Vox AC4. Have any of you experienced another smaller amp that can give me that classic and bluesy vibe I like so much?

 

 

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I WILL get that little ORANGE Micro Terro, next visit to my dealer, in Wichita!

They carry the full line, of Orange Amps. It will be FUN, to run it through

either my Hot Rod Deluxe Extension cabinet (12" Vintage 30 speaker), or my

1960A 4X12 Marshall cabinet! LOL!!! Can't Wait!!

 

CB

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I own a Micro Terror and they are really nice little monsters.

it's not all tube, only one 12ax7/ECC81 in the preamp.

 

I play it trough a PPC 112 with an Vintage 30 and it sounds awesome.

It's a 20 watt amp so it can get pretty loud, I plugged once into a Engl 4x 12 cab and it was scarry.

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I WILL get that little ORANGE Micro Terro, next visit to my dealer, in Wichita!

They carry the full line, of Orange Amps. It will be FUN, to run it through

either my Hot Rod Deluxe Extension cabinet (12" Vintage 30 speaker), or my

1960A 4X12 Marshall cabinet! LOL!!! Can't Wait!!

 

CB

 

Please CB, tell someone to take a photo of your face when you plug it into that Marshall 4x12 and crank it up!msp_biggrin.gif

And I wish you lot's of fun with it.

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Yes the Marshalls are cool but a very high price and then you need a speaker.

 

Blackstar HT5R combo.

 

@Bill - do you ever hear from Nathan these days? I hope he's playing in a band somewhere.

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Need your input forumites. I have a 15 watt Fender Blues Jr. NOS. GREAT amp, however it is far to loud for what I need. I do not gig anymore, just record out of the 4th bedroom I turned into a guitar cave. I am looking for a small 4 -5 watt valve amp to tool around with and push out the tubes for get that natural distorted sound. I am looking at the Vox AC4. Have any of you experienced another smaller amp that can give me that classic and bluesy vibe I like so much?

 

 

 

I have a few smaller amps, the Gibson Les Paul Goldtone 5 watter, a Marshall Class 5 combo and other include the same Fender BJ NOS amp.

 

Even 5 watts can be too much at times, so I know where you are coming from.

 

Maybe you don't need another amp, but what you really need is an attenuator to bring things down to the volume you want,

 

 

 

 

 

New they are about $2.20

I have seen them used for less.

 

 

But can you really have too many amps

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Please CB, tell someone to take a photo of your face when you plug it into that Marshall 4x12 and crank it up!msp_biggrin.gif

And I wish you lot's of fun with it.

 

 

LOL...well, if someone's around, I will. Although, I'm scary enough looking, normally...so, that expression

might do us all in?! [flapper][biggrin]

 

CB

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Maybe you don't need another amp, but what you really need is an attenuator to bring things down to the volume you want,

 

But can you really have too many amps

 

 

I agree, an attenuator may be money better spent. But the OG tweed Fender Champs sound pretty dang good too.

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jmo, ymmv and all that.

 

i recommend going head/cab. that way you can swap heads any time you want. lunchbox heads are inexpensive-ish, so you can try stuff out and get something else until you find what works for you. my set up is a QUALITY 1x12 cab sitting under a vht special 6, or a lil nite train. need and what guitar i'm playing dictates which i use. the ac4 is also really good as a head. avoid combos. you get locked into someone else's choice for speaker and cabinet design. also, playing in the living room, i can set the head next to me, and the cab away from me. can't do that with a combo. also, if i need more power for a garage jam or something, i can borrow/rent a bigger head. that way my cab provides a predictable tone, just louder. my eventual plan is to buy a 2nd cab and run both heads from a split tail in the middle of my board. buying a different type of cab will allow me more tonal options.

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I agree, an attenuator may be money better spent. But the OG tweed Fender Champs sound pretty dang good too.

 

+1. I've got an attenuator I use at home with my higher wattage amps that wouldn't get played nearly as much without one. Tweed and Blackface Fender Champs are also quite nice for home and recording IMO.

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I have a Marshall JVM1H, the 1 watt version of the JVM. I work 3rd shift and can crank that amp in the basement on the low power setting (which cuts it down to .1 watt) without waking up the family upstairs. It's ideal for low volume practice, but I still prefer to play through my Bogner Shiva. Through the same cab, the Bogner sounds bigger than the JVM even at similar volumes. That said, I believe the Shiva has a better master volume than most.

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Stromberg-Carlson PA amp, like an AU-62; only about 7 Watts (1 12AX7, 1 6L6GB, 5Y3 Rectifier), very minimalistic. You'll need a little electronics savvy to convert an input and output to 1/4", but that's straightforward. Bone stock, they produce warm clean tone to mild power section overdrive with pronounced low mids. CLEAN low volume with an archtop or tube growl with a Telecaster. I run mine into a single 15" (Jensen P15N or Celestion G15M). No temptation to tweak knobs, 'cause there ain't none to tweak! [wink]

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I have several low watt amps; Laney IRT Studio, Blackstar HT5RH, Bugera V22

 

I have to say that playing any of them cranked, even the IRT in <1W mode, is too loud to be in the same room (18'x18') with. The Laney has a power section direct out that I use thru monitors most of the time. The HT5 direct out is pre, so I use an H&K Red Box 5 with it and the V22, with a resistive load so I can feed either of them thru the monitor system.

 

For pure tube to cab, I recommend the AC4 you're looking at, or another amp (the 1W Marshalls) that can be throttled back to 1/10W.

 

Any of my amps are great thru cabs if I'm willing to use a second or third channel to get crunch. But for getting crunch from overdriven tubes, even 1W is hard to be in a small space with.

 

For me anyway.

 

The resistive load works well with the RB5 because the RB has the speaker emulation circuit.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/apr94/dummyload.html

 

I'm also interested in trying out one of these:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/randall-isolation-12-speaker-cab

 

The mic'd ISO box could also be routed thru a monitor system to get what you're looking for.

 

Hey, at least we have options [biggrin]

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... speaking of options... Fathers Day here on Sunday week, so tomorrrow I'm planning to order one of these for delivery next week for the kids to give me as their gift. mainly for wet day lunch breaks at work but if good enough then I'll use for night time practice at home too,

 

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... speaking of options... Fathers Day here on Sunday week, so tomorrrow I'm planning to order one of these for delivery next week for the kids to give me as their gift. mainly for wet day lunch breaks at work but if good enough then I'll use for night time practice at home too,

 

And also the Vox Amphones :)

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IMO 5 watts is still very loud for bedroom type levels. I'm a big fan of attenuators but there is some squishing of the dynamics of course (this from a guy who makes and sells them mind you).

 

My own personal favorite low wattage solution has been the 1 watt 50th Anniversary Marshal amps. I got rid of the JCM version, but I kept the JTM one and it's a beautiful sound at 1 watt or the 1/4 watt "family is asleep" setting. [thumbup]

 

Here's a little demo of mine...

 

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IMO 5 watts is still very loud for bedroom type levels. I'm a big fan of attenuators but there is some squishing of the dynamics of course (this from a guy who makes and sells them mind you).

 

My own personal favorite low wattage solution has been the 1 watt 50th Anniversary Marshal amps. I got rid of the JCM version, but I kept the JTM one and it's a beautiful sound at 1 watt or the 1/4 watt "family is asleep" setting. [thumbup]

 

Here's a little demo of mine...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kg7TYNXFzU

 

I wish I could tell how loud it was in the room with that. Sounded very sweet to me.

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i live in an apt with hardwood floors and no carpet. there have been zero complaints from the neighbors. the special 6 has a high low switch, and high/low inputs as well. the sound is really good. the lil nite train is kinda gainy anyhow, so with the gain/vol knobs i can get all the crunch i need at radio volumes. the only thing about it is, it's brite, so i run it in thick mode all the time. i can run my board and everything right there in the living room and not bother the other tenents

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IMO 5 watts is still very loud for bedroom type levels. I'm a big fan of attenuators but there is some squishing of the dynamics of course (this from a guy who makes and sells them mind you).

 

My own personal favorite low wattage solution has been the 1 watt 50th Anniversary Marshal amps. I got rid of the JCM version, but I kept the JTM one and it's a beautiful sound at 1 watt or the 1/4 watt "family is asleep" setting. [thumbup]

 

Here's a little demo of mine...

 

Awesome all around. Especially your shredding, cranked, on the bridge pup, then again, I love that stuff. Strong work!

 

I have a new Toneking SkyKing 35 watter with some pretty high class attenuators. Would love your opinon on those.

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