[guitarhead]

Well, to be specific, I am looking for pure demented growling tube amp sound, preferably low wattage, "for home/practice use" with on board OD & Revereb, at under a grand, Please submit your experience. BTW. I curretnly have a Class 5, and it is limited to say the least and I have it up for sale.
I play Led Z. Pink Floyd, Rush and this sort of ballzy sounds.

[dem00n]

I dont own one but i'm going to take a guess a lot of people are going to say Marshall class 5 head or combo...

[Bookkeeper's Son]

I've heard nothing but terrific things about the Egnater amps, although I have no hands-on experience with them. The Rebel 20 head goes for about $550 US, and has a really cool feature that enables it to utilize its EL84 and 6V6 power tubes in an either/or or mixed mode, which would, I think, give it incredible flexibility. If I was in the market for a tube amp, it would be the first place I'd be looking.

[GoldtopFiend]

I can personally vouch for the Marshall JCM2000s. I have the DSL 100w Head, got for about $400. Passed on the cab for $200 cuz one of the speaker had a tiny rip on it. But you can usually find a halfstack for around $900. They're totall worth it, they're all tube- no clipping diode gain stage- and huge flexibility. You can get a TON of different sounds out of them. I run my Les Paul Trad w/ split coil p-90s through it and it GROWLS.

Just my $0.02

[guitarhead]

I do not think so, as I bought the class 5 amp in Jan 2011, and soon after, I realized the mistake I made, as this amp is a one trick pony, not versatile at all unless you are going to buy a descent pedals "at around $150+", and moreover NOT for home use, unless you want to play clean tones, as with any descent gain, you must sacrifice your ear drums, for you need to turn the volume high to enjoy any gain tone out of it. So my advice to anyone who is thinking about getting this exclusively for home, DO NOT waist your money, you will be very disappointed, my class 5 has been parked aside for months, and I just put it up for sale. And that is why I started this post, I would like to know what others are using/suggesting, for under a $1000 in tube amps.

dem00n, on 02 August 2011 - 11:07 AM, said:

I dont own one but i'm going to take a guess a lot of people are going to say Marshall class 5 head or combo...

[guitarhead]

What is the best place to find them at under $1000?

GoldtopFiend, on 02 August 2011 - 12:52 PM, said:

I can personally vouch for the Marshall JCM2000s. I have the DSL 100w Head, got for about $400. Passed on the cab for $200 cuz one of the speaker had a tiny rip on it. But you can usually find a halfstack for around $900. They're totall worth it, they're all tube- no clipping diode gain stage- and huge flexibility. You can get a TON of different sounds out of them. I run my Les Paul Trad w/ split coil p-90s through it and it GROWLS.

Just my $0.02

[Xinnix]

Well I've had a lot of valve (Tube) amps and I must say that when I got my hands on my current JCM800, I never looked back!
I was lucky and picked it up for $400 but you can still get them for under 1K.

[Kenny V]

I like the Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. It retails for $999.00, but with a decent 10% or 15% off sale it brings the price down a little. I like my DRR better than my Twin Reverb.

[BentonC]

There's a lot of 'em out there. How many watts, and what style do you play most of? are you looking for a "one-size-fits-all", or just a really simple, great tone of some kind? That might help with some specific recommendations.

[BentonC]

Great idea for a post BTW

[ajzwart]

I recently bought the Vox AC4TV. It's straight up, all tube. $229 at guitar center. PERFECT amp for my needs at home for recording, and I mic it up and use it in a nearly 600 person church. Sounds GREAT both ways. It can run on .25 watt, 1 watt, and 4 watt settings. I'd seriously consider this. I love it.
Now, a good Fender Reverb, or Blues Deville is also a great amp. i have a, I believe 1994 Blues Deville that continually shatters my universe every time I play it. Downside is, it weighs a ton. Sure, I'm a young guy, but the Vox AC4 is only 20 pounds or so... And sounds so good.
Just what I'm thinking recently!

[ajzwart]

I recently bought the Vox AC4TV. It's straight up, all tube. $229 at guitar center. PERFECT amp for my needs at home for recording, and I mic it up and use it in a nearly 600 person church. Sounds GREAT both ways. It can run on .25 watt, 1 watt, and 4 watt settings. I'd seriously consider this. I love it.
Now, a good Fender Reverb, or Blues Deville is also a great amp. i have a, I believe 1994 Blues Deville that continually shatters my universe every time I play it. Downside is, it weighs a ton. Sure, I'm a young guy, but the Vox AC4 is only 20 pounds or so... And sounds so good.
Just what I'm thinking recently!

[damian]

Bookkeeper, on 02 August 2011 - 11:23 AM, said:

I've heard nothing but terrific things about the Egnater amps, although I have no hands-on experience with them. The Rebel 20 head goes for about $550 US, and has a really cool feature that enables it to utilize its EL84 and 6V6 power tubes in an either/or or mixed mode, which would, I think, give it incredible flexibility. If I was in the market for a tube amp, it would be the first place I'd be looking.

I can vouch for Egnater amps....I own a couple of them..Of course, mine were all over a grand, but if you shop well, you can find them for

around and under a grand.....ie, at G.C. right now, is a Rebel-30 1X12 combo for 899.00, and a Renagade 112 combo for 1149.00........

Free shipping; use a coupon, and well, great deal.....Check the features out......I own many amps, I usually only use my Egnaters.....

[Yaff]

Note sure what the cost would be in the USA:

- Small and simple with fantastic tone - Orange Tiny or Dual Terror, Head & Speaker or Combo (new £470, used £300)
- Ultimate match for the Les Paul & classic rock - Marshall Vintage Modern 2266 Head & 425 Cab (new £1,300, used £500)

As the Marshall can be used at low volumes, if you have the space, this can work at home and on stage.

But as tone is so subjective, it may or not be right for you.

All the best

[tazzboy]

..................

[Angellus]

Best thing is to take your guitar and go to a large-ish store and try out as many amps as you can. in the UK you go into a sound room in the store and you are surrounded with amps.

I tried the Egnator....wow what an amp but for under £1000 no chance! or i'd have one

I still have my Marshall TSL100 (JCM2000) EL34's 100 watt (£800) with power reducer button for home use. Even with the Crunch and Lead channels i was never happy with the overdrive too flabby. great sounding clean channel (odd for a Marshall I know) so I just used the clean channel with Distortion Pedals...still flabby though and the power reducer for home use didnt bring the volume down enough to be used at home.

Current amp I am using at the moment is a Blackstar Series One 100 watt EL34 with a solid state rectifier. great amp not as versatile as the Egnator that IMO can pretty much cover most amp tones that I can think of but put on the super crunch and it will kick you in the balls! with the Solid state rectifier it corrects the flabbyness found on my TSL100 leaving a tight sounding amp. ISF feature lets you dial in American Mids to British woody tone and the power reducer knob lets you dial the amp all the way down to a 5watt amp for home use.

its what works for you though I play Punk Rock mixed with Funk and a bit of blues. Jazz player however would probably pick another amp. Go try them out

[badbluesplayer]

I have a Marshall Class 5 too, and it sounds great but you have to really crank it. Kind of a one trick pony, but it does the clean plexi sound really well.

I had a Fender Blues Junior Tweed NOS. It is a great 20 W amp for about $500. or so. Really good classic EL84 tone. On board spring reverb. A lot of guys are using these for studio work.

I have an Egnater Rebel 20. It is an absolute tone monster. The Rebel 30 is a 2 channel version with reverb. The combo is $799 at Musician's Friend. It's a great amp. It has the two different sets of power tubes, so you can dial in the 6V6's and it'll do the Deluxe Reverb sound really well. I prefer the EL84 sound. This amp has a bigger sound than the Blues Junior.

I have an Egnater Renegade. Its a big (65W) amp, and probably not suitable for what you need.

Good luck!!

[btoth76]

These late sixties Böhm-Regent 15 and 30 full-tube combos are fanastic with Gibsons...


Not that if You can find one outside of Europe, but these are very cheap killing machines. All four - with complete rebuilding included - were below a grand together...

[GoldtopFiend]

guitarhead, on 02 August 2011 - 12:57 PM, said:

I do not think so, as I bought the class 5 amp in Jan 2011, and soon after, I realized the mistake I made, as this amp is a one trick pony, not versatile at all unless you are going to buy a descent pedals "at around $150+", and moreover NOT for home use, unless you want to play clean tones, as with any descent gain, you must sacrifice your ear drums, for you need to turn the volume high to enjoy any gain tone out of it. So my advice to anyone who is thinking about getting this exclusively for home, DO NOT waist your money, you will be very disappointed, my class 5 has been parked aside for months, and I just put it up for sale. And that is why I started this post, I would like to know what others are using/suggesting, for under a $1000 in tube amps.

As with any tube amp, they will ALWAYS sound best turned all the way up; that's the nature of tubes. But if you're looking for something to just play at home quietly than that's a whole 'nother story. But I still stand by my earlier claim. The Marshall JCM2000 is pretty awesome and versatile. I don't have ANY pedals and I get all different kinds of tones out of mine. And if you want to turn it all the way up for that red-hot tube tone but don't wanna alienate your neighbors you should invest in an attenuator. They control the volum going out from your amp into your speakers, so you can have your head turned all the way up and have it loud as a practice amp. They go for anywhere from $25-$200, but I'm pretty sure they all work the same and they're all safe for your amp.

[Eracer_Team]

guitarhead, on 02 August 2011 - 12:57 PM, said:

as with any descent gain, you must sacrifice your ear drums, for you need to turn the volume high to enjoy any gain tone out of it.

I highly recommend a Dana Hall VVR for lowing the total wattage of an amp under 50watts
VVR Board


Easily installs into an amp and will turn your amp down almost a whisper, you get great tone too
And unlike a master volume which only allows you to saturate the pre-amp tubes; this little puppy will let you over drive the output tubes.