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Clean combos

Hthomas

By Hthomas
in The Gibson Lounge

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milod

milod

Posted
Posted

Yeah, the budget is likely the deciding factor.

 

But so also are these major factors:

 

1. Whether you plan to use it "bare" in relatively small to medium venues. The Deluxe Reverb is wonderful, the Twin perhaps a step bigger depending on what's a "medium" venue.

 

2. Whether you don't care about power and plan to mike or direct send it to a mixer and/or PA. Lots of decent small tube amps can fill this bill, and may fill it better than a bigger amp.

 

3. Whether a big mamajama is what you have in mind. The Twin Reverb is awfully nice.

 

m

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brundaddy

brundaddy

Posted
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Milo knows what he's talking about, the Twin is a beast. A good deal of clean headroom. My Marshall plexi has lots of clean headroom too. Also a wonderful amp. Anyway, I'm glad my Twin has a 1/4 power switch to chop it down to 25 watts.

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milod

milod

Posted
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I know this ain't gonna be particularly popular a stand to take, but without considering the factors I noted above, I think you're doomed not to care for whatever amp.

 

OTOH, when you suggest price cutting you from a 30 to a 15 watter...

 

A 15-watt tube jobbie will handle a small club situation, but won't be that clean after a certain point, depending on style you're playing, unless it's run through a PA. Otherwise you've got a really nice and probably over-expensive practice amp.

 

Seriously, there are a lotta good amps out there today. Far more choice than when I got my first one. My DR was enough for the rock of the mid 1960s - barely - but when I bought it, I knew what I needed for what sorts of venues and what was the minimum the budget would take to meet that need.

 

It was a wonderful amp I should have kept, but volume and the fact that it was "tube" are not why I should have kept it instead of trading for one with more than four times the watts.

 

But were I to have the choices of today at price points of the olden days <grin>, I've gotta admit I'd probably go solid state for a bit more volume for the same kind of cash. There's even a "box" to emulate the DR.

 

Performing today is a whole different sorta gig. The "rules" remain the same: Figure how the amp will be used, then let the budget be the determining factor to buy the amp that will give you the closest to the sound you hope to achieve. Otherwise I don't think you'll have the amp you really need regardless.

 

m

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Dub-T-123

Dub-T-123

Posted
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I got my ac30 for $600 used in mint condition.

 

If you're in it for the cleans, you may want something pretty big and loud so you have plenty of headroom. The best cleans on my amp are with the preamp volume around 12 oclock (a little under) and the master all the way up. This is pretty loud but not insanely loud. So if you want to use it live you want it loud.

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Robin Nahum

Robin Nahum

Posted
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I'm looking for recomendations for a good clean combo tube amp.

 

Thanks!

 

See if you can track down a late silverface Fender Pro Reverb (~76-82) with solid state rectifier (2 x 12, 70W, 2 x 6L6). This is an example of a CBS "ultra-linear" model and they are not popular. Not nearly as heavy as a Twin and only 2 power tubes.

 

By the way, what are you aiming to do?

 

RN

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bloom59

bloom59

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Been down this road myself recently. I agree on the Blues Jr., it's a nice sounding amp with good cleans and won't blow the windows out. The tweed version (NOS I think) has a different speaker than the blackface and to my ear was a fuller and overall better tone. Just played an Epi Blues Custom this weekend. You can switch between 15W and 30W, and it has a tube rectifier, something I was educated on and definately adds some depth if you are looking to play blues. It is REALLY heavy though.

 

The Fender Deluxe Reissue sounds awesome as well, but is 40W and pretty pricey. That is pretty much the extent of my knowledge on such things. Happy hunting!

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lespaulj45

lespaulj45

Posted
Posted

2006 Gibson Les Paul Std

2007 Gibson J45 Std

 

I wanted a new amp so I went to the store and set a Fender Twin and a Epi BC30 next to each other-

no pedals just the amps. I left with the BC30-I got a store discount and went home with a surprising amp for the $465 I paid for it-I am not saying that this is the be-all do-all amp but its got a good clean sound to it -it is built well and with 2 12's all the volume and presence I will ever need. 5 12AX7's and 2 5881's-my dog hates it. Downside it weighs 74 lbs. 15w and 30w switch good bluesy tone with a Les Paul Std hooked into it

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