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Hey guys, im looking at little amplifiers, like 5-10 watts valve

 

My options are

 

-Vox ac4

-Orange AD5

-Marshall Class 5

-Epi Valve JR

-Kustom Kontender

-A few others in this area, maybe the peavey windsor combo?

 

 

Thoughts and such, im after that ACDC/Free kinda sound not too dirty, but with the ability to go upto say Black Sabbath and such.

 

Thanks Guys!!

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I've bought and sold a bunch of the 5 watt heads and combos, I've settled on two Blackstar HT-5 half stacks. The Blackstar is a class A/B amp while the other are class A. The Blackstar is also 2 channels, it has a built in Blackstar HT-DIST pedal as the drive channel, it also has a loop and comes with a foot switch. A lot of features. The only knock I have is that they used patical board for the cabinet instead of ply wood and the logos are plastic, otherwise I really like it.

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I have the Marshall Class 5.

Even at 5 watts it's still bloody loud for a flat or bedroom.There's no seperate gain so you have to either push it to natural break up volume(loud!) or add a pedal into the equation at low volumes, or use the headphone socket.However,I really like it's clean sound,especially when I tried it in the store with a 61 RI- nice and creamy clean, taking you into ACDC territory when cranked up a bit more, maybe not quite as far as SabbathVille though.

It doesn't have built in reverb.

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If you're willing to spend the 500 bucks for the orange, you should check out the Vox Night Train. It's 15 watts, but as an owner of a 15 watt amp, but I can assure you they can be used at bedroom levels.

 

It probably has my favorite overdrive sound of all the low-wattage amps, and of course has great cleans as well.

 

Just my opinion. If not, check out the blackheart little giant.

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I'm currently looking to get one of the HT-5's. And I'm glad you brought up Sabbath. Does the AD-5 come in the combo or head form?

 

There's also the Jet City Amplification JCA20H.

 

Egnator Rebel?

 

Blackstar also has a line of amps coming out for studio use. So you get more tonal variety.

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If you're willing to spend the 500 bucks for the orange' date=' you should check out the Vox Night Train. It's 15 watts, but as an owner of a 15 watt amp, but I can assure you as an owner of a 15 watt amp, they can be used at bedroom levels.

 

It probably has my favorite overdrive sound of all the low-wattage amps, and of course has great cleans as well.

 

Just my opinion. If not, check out the blackheart little giant.[/quote']

 

 

ive found a website in the uk that is offering them for 200 quid, about 300 bucks

 

and for the sabbath stuff, i ment early stuff like paranoid, thet really doesnt use all that much gain

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I've got an Epiphone Valve Jr (head and cab version). I find I can get appropriate practice volumes by running a distortion pedal of some kind into the amp to get it to break up. I get a really nice AC/DC-ish tone with just a regular Boss DS1.

 

I checked out the Vox AC4. It's pretty awesome because it has a switch that lets you play at 4, 1, or 1/4 watts.

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Even my 1/2watt Z-Vex Nano-head is too loud to talk over whether it's driving a Marshall 4x12 or a single 12" old AlNiCo Celestion stuffed in a Marshal 1x12 cab.

 

Loudness, a hard one to quantify really.... it's all to do with actual output (preferably using valves) in real watts i.e. quoted in RMS and the efficiency of the speaker, normally quoted in dB the higher the number the better and usually the louder... and more expensive.

 

Note… Watts must be measured in RMS and none of this PMPO and other crap ways of measurement invented just to get a bigger number as a sales gimmick to sell them to the uninformed… like the Halfords Sound System for the discerning gentleman motorist that the Chavs steal and have some “mate” install it in their chosen mode of transport…There are loads of these people (I use this term people in the loosest possible way) out there with 1000watt sound systems in their cars with huge inefficient sub-woofers so all you hear the bass from the shi**y music(?) before you hear the engine, or more to the point, the 5 inch outlet exhaust system that is normally a "straw and bucket" kind of device on a Vauxhall Astra or other cars of the like with a huge spoiler covering the back window. This racket can also heard emanating from any deserted shop car park at 2 o’ clock in the morning... you know the types of brain donors I am talking about... And they will insist that it is 1000watts (it says 1000watts on the box "so itz well 'ard init"), well the speakers are probably dissipating most of the would be 1000watts of ""Peak Music Power"" in the form of heat.'

I can assure you if I put a 10 watt valve amp with a normally efficient 12 inch Celestion/Weber speaker in the car with them, turned all the controls to 10, closed the doors stood outside the car and then opened up on full tilt with AC/DC's Back in Black they would not be able to stay in the car with it, they would have permanent hearing damage and blood would be running from most of their bodily orifices and they would be in real pain. 1000watt system… yeah… right…

It’s mainly a UK thing or should I say it was when I lived there.

 

NZ does have a few problems, 'cause as a 15 year old you can have a driving licence, buy a 5lit V8 with 300bhp+ or a Nissan Skyline twin turbo, and the best bit… they don’t need insurance… [biggrin]

but natural selection takes over rather rapidly and most of them end up dead, with a load of mates in the back also dead, wrapped round a lamp post or driving off a mountain road into a 200 foot deep gorge, it’s only the smart ones who aren’t distracted by the “music” who survive.

Who said there was no order to the Universe?

 

I digressed a bit here but I felt it needed saying…

 

Oh yeah... and I'd go for the Marshall... real neat amp.

 

T21

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they don’t need insurance… [thumbup]

 

 

A lot of UK drivers seem to think you don't need it...

 

 

But evolution takes over rather rapidly and most of them end up dead.

 

 

Including innocent motorists / cyclists / pedestrians. The technology exists to curb this behaviour, but the motor industry lobby is all powerful...

 

As for amps, I've had amazing tones from pedals coupled to Hi-Fi amps (using either the Hi-Fi speakers, or Marshall cabs). Yes - a Hi-Fi amp into a Marshall cab !... with a sound that would surprise most people. The eq sections are very effective - especially with the loudness option which boosts bass at low volumes.

 

The best result I found was using a hot overdrive pedal like a Marshall Guv'nor (handy eq) into a good delay pedal with amp set to mono. Other good sounds came from chaining 2 overdrive / distortions together followed by delay. This needs some experimenting with the order / levels of the overdrives.

 

Record from either the speakers, or use the amp line - out (some cab simulation would obviously be needed).

 

Of course, modeling units like the POD and others can be plugged direct into the auxiliary inputs of the amp. Although most are now digital, some older analogue preamps / valve preamps can sound awesome through a Hi-Fi amp.

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Including innocent motorists / cyclists / pedestrians.

Nah' date=' not over here, there arn't enough people around.

In the main they really do just kill themselves and the reason being...

 

NZ has 4,000.000 population.

2,000,000 of 'em live in and around Auckland at the top of North Island.

1,000,000 of 'em live on South Island.

1,000,000 of 'em (including me) live on the rest of North Island.

[u']Total area of NZ is 103,737 square miles[/u]

 

Right then...

Take a coridor 35Miles long x 5miles wide from Liverpool to Manchester which I used to live in the middle of... there are over 6,000,000 people living in that 175 square mile area.

 

This is why in NZ the kids with big V8's and twin turbo Skylines very rarely damage anyone else, and the major fact that they tend to do it in remote places at 2.00 in the morning in an attempt to not attract the police 'cause the NZ police will catch them and prosecute them AND crush their cars if they are caught, no questions asked.... just like when I lived in the UK... Yeah... Right...

I must admit, the NZ Police are a breath of fresh air after putting up with the UK Police Farce (not a typo) and the UK justice system in general for so many years.

 

 

T21

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I know what you mean Tech21, Murder isnt a serious crime in the UK, However littering or parking in a "permit holders only" Parking space Is Very serious indeed (as they can fine you for it)

 

back on the subject of amps, Any other thoughts? I was also thinking about the Blackheart stuff , But the BlackSTAR i dont think is for me, too many effects, and i dont really use them

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Take a coridor 35Miles long x 5miles wide from Liverpool to Manchester which I used to live in the middle of... there are over 6' date='000,000 people living in that [u']175 square mile area[/u].

 

And yet the risk of becoming a fatality on NZ roads is more than double that of the UK.

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And yet the risk of becoming a fatality on NZ roads is more than double that of the UK.

 

Where on earth did you get one from? It sounds like another wikipedia "undisputed" statistic to me.

Read How to lie with statistics by Huff, this is how big corporations make profits or losses, which ever is required at the time using the same figures, employing statistics in a rather economic and misleading way... bending the truth to make it say what you need.... Hmmm sounds just like the UK Liebour government to me.

Remember the panic caused by Y2K... Bird flu... Swine flu... Man Made Global Warming etc... Statistics and facts from experts so they said in every case... so then just what happened in every case.... sod all thats what!

 

I am sorry if I sound like I am having a go at you but that statement just isn't true regardless of where you read it.

I have lived in NZ for 2 years now and came from the England, you are a lot safer on NZ roads than you are on English roads... I know, I have lived and driven in both.

England = 50,000 sq miles population = 51,200,000

NZ = 104,000 Sq Miles, population 4,000,000

Much bigger area, much fewer people, much less trafic, therefor much safer on the roads in NZ totally undisputable and I don't care which stats you use to say it's not.

 

Look at some of the crime stats for NZ and England and you would be forgiven for thinking that England is a much safer place than NZ.... WRONG.

 

One undesputed fact is that the standard of driving in NZ is totally $hite and yer standard Kiwi would be unable to drive the shortest distance anywhere in England without having at least 1 crash per 100 yards of travel, they are really very crap drivers... but the roads here are much safer regardless, as long as you don't go tear-ar$ing around mountain roads in the dark cause that little wooden fence ain't going to stop a 2 ton Falcon XR6 from going over the edge, and if gravity is still switched on then yer dead.

 

 

T21

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