Amplifier Help

[autodex]

Hello,

I have a Gibson 335 and a Gilmour Strat and I am amp shopping. This is going to be bedroom levels max, I prefer class A for jazz but also would like the amp to be versatile enough for blues playing. The max I want to spend is 1k. I am looking for one amp to do it all. On the Fender side I have heard good things about the Fender Bassman 59 (may be overkill) and Blues Junior and reverb. Any boutique amps that you know fit the bill would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Andre S]

Hello' date='

I have a Gibson 335 and a Gilmour Strat and I am amp shopping. This is going to be bedroom levels max, I prefer class A for jazz but also would like the amp to be versatile enough for blues playing. The max I want to spend is 1k. I am looking for one amp to do it all. On the Fender side I have heard good things about the Fender Bassman 59 (may be overkill) and Blues Junior and reverb. Any boutique amps that you know fit the bill would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[/quote']

 

 

If its bedroom levels max, why not check out the Fender 57 Champ Custom....I believe its 5 Watts which is plenty loud for bedroom levels....its all tube....meets your max limit ,its 999 and its handwired....plus by its dimensions it seems to be a very small amp...

 

If you want something a little cheaper:

 

Marshall Class 5- 5 watts ($399)

Fender Champ 600 ($149) (but it remains clean, very little breakup.)

Vox AC4TV (combo or mini stack)

 

Those are all 5 watts except the last which can switch between 5, 1 and .5 W

 

Its unlikely to find an amp that you like so much that will do everything you want....

 

But if you can and the 1000 is not your max max max then go for the Fender Champ 57 I say...

 

 

If it is your max max then the Marshall Class 5 might suit you better.

[Silenced Fred]

If its bedroom levels max' date=' why not check out the Fender 57 Champ Custom....I believe its 5 Watts which is plenty loud for bedroom levels....its all tube....meets your max limit ,its 999 and its handwired....plus by its dimensions it seems to be a very small amp...

 

If you want something a little cheaper:

 

Marshall Class 5- 5 watts ($399)

Fender Champ 600 ($149) (but it remains clean, very little breakup.)

Vox AC4TV (combo or mini stack)

 

Those are all 5 watts except the last which can switch between 5, 1 and .5 W

 

Its unlikely to find an amp that you like so much that will do everything you want....

 

But if you can and the 1000 is not your max max max then go for the Fender Champ 57 I say...

 

 

If it is your max max then the Marshall Class 5 might suit you better.[/quote']

 

I was going to recommend the 57 Champ, but he beat me to it

 

If you can swing it, go for it. If not, get the Marshall Class 5, and the Champ 600 and get a switch box, and use that between the amps, Fender for clean, Marshall for dirtier blues

[manse]

Hi there,

 

....among many others, I have a 335 and a couple of strats. I mostly play rock, sometimes a bit of blues..... My main amps are a Marshall 6100 100w valve head (switchable down to 50w and 25w) and matching Marshall 2 x 12 cab and a '59 Bassman re-issue.

 

The Bassman sounds pleasant, but a bit too polite at bedroom volume, it does not even hint at breaking up until it is REALLY loud - and it is a loud amp - those 4 x 10 Jensens are made to be played loud. I use it live and it can keep up with my drummer (who has a rock kit and who hits pretty hard). If you want to get any natural overdrive and get it singing, you will need deaf/tolerant family/neighbours/pets/etc...

 

For Fender tones, a '65 Deluxe Reverb (22w) re-issue might be a bit more neighbour friendly - and they have one of the best clean sounds I have heard with a strat...but again, you would need to use an overdrive pedal if you wanted to get much out of clean territory without getting too loud..

 

I would get down the music shop with a visibly bulging wallet and try a few things out. Maybe try a (5w) Marshall Class 5, or a Mesa/Boogie Express 5:25 - that would cover almost any sound you might be looking for - bit pricier though?

 

Good luck!

[Murph]

You might also consider a Carvin Vintage 16. It'll drop to 5 watts for the bedroom, or 16 giggable club watts, and has a 12" speaker, not a little play speaker.

[Andre S]

You might also consider a Carvin Vintage 16. It'll drop to 5 watts for the bedroom' date=' or 16 giggable club watts, and has a 12" speaker, not a little play speaker.

 

[/quote']

 

If I could swing it the next amp I save up for would be a Carvin Belair....those amps are freaking awesome!!! even through a youtube video you could feel the power and sheer awesomeness of the amp!

[Andre S]

I was going to recommend the 57 Champ' date=' but he beat me to it [biggrin']

 

If you can swing it, go for it. If not, get the Marshall Class 5, and the Champ 600 and get a switch box, and use that between the amps, Fender for clean, Marshall for dirtier blues

 

 

I love those fender tube amps!

 

Can't help but recommend them for those awesome pristine shimmery cleans...and all I have is a Champion 600.......for now

[lpdeluxe]

I have a 335 and four Fender amps. The Gibson sounds good through all of them, with different flavoring. Jazzmaster Ultralight: you can dial in a serious jazzbo tone, get some grit, and not have much to carry around (26 lb) -- but it's over your $1K limit; despite its 250 watts, it can play at low volume. DRRI: bright, typical BF voicing, also relatively light (42 lb), 22 watts, sounds good at low volume. Blues Jr NOS: great looks, small and light (31 lb), 15 watts, good sound with the gain cranked and the master turned down, but not the usual Fender tone. My favorite for small venues and living room practice.

 

I also have a Bandmaster VM head that sits on a Weber California Ceramic 15 cab, but it's neither light nor low-powered (about 75 lb for the head and cab, 40 watts) and I haven't been able to coax a good tone at low levels...turned up a bit, the 335 sings, but that's not what you're asking about.

 

Overall, I love Gibson>Fender.

[Robin Nahum]

I have a 345 and a LP Special HB. I also have a Tele Thinline with a Charlie Christian.

 

Some thoughts:

 

(1) my early silverface Deluxe Reverb works great at bedroom levels with both bucker and SC guitars but I would not be popular if I turned it up enough to get breakup. Maybe a pedal for this? I am using flatwounds on my 345 and find that it works best in the hi-gain input (#1) whereas the Les Paul with rounds works better in the lo-gain (#2) input. Single coils go into the #1 input.

 

(2) Henriksen JazzAmp

 

http://www.jazzamp.com/

 

This is a great SS jazz amp - light and inexpensive. Although it has a high output, it also sounds great at bedroom levels particularly with a humbucker equipped guitar On the other hand, I don't enjoy the sound of a lower output single coil through it as much but YMMV and they may have done something about this on the newer model (I have the original 60W non-reverb but retrofitted with a Weber Californiai). Will not give you the breakup. Pedal again?

 

(3) Fender 65 Princeton Reverb reissue or better still, the real thing - an early silverface (same as blackface but cheaper)

 

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2172000000

 

Don't know anything much about these aside from the general knowledge around the Princeton

 

RN

[Kenny V]

My $00.02. I would look at the Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. I purchased one last month and it is a great amp. I own three amps and the DRRI is my favorite. All tube including the reverb, 22 watts and they can be bought new for under 1K.

[milod]

Okay, my two cents.

 

Yeah, the Fender DR is in my own mind probably one of the most versatile amps around whether you double it up with a mike and AE for a solo gig, blues, jazz, even rock... Swapping mine for a bigger one was one of my bigger guitar errors.

 

But... Here's a thought...

 

If you're talking bedroom levels, why bother with an amp at all?

 

Have you considered decent speakers for your laptop or whatever, and an in-box and software? Should be way less cash than a DR. <grin> If you get a netbook size rig you almost can drop it into a case. Plug the "out" into almost anything.

 

Record yourself for instant feedback on practice sessions.

 

Just a thought, as I said.

 

m

[CajunBlues]

Fender deluxe reverb...

 

I am not sure if you want an amp that breaks up at "bedroom levels"... This will not... You will need to crank it very loud to get breakup...

 

For jazz this is the best sounding amp around IMHO... Others think it's the best for blues, I cannot disagree.. But I like my Fender Blues Deluxe just a hair better...

[whoobla]

I own a deluxe reverb, best amp ever. Yes a pedal for bedroom levels. I use the champion 600 for bedromm with a boss me 70 for portable messin around, and a deluxe reverb for live show, with my trailer trash board that has a ocd for the overdrive. Awsome. The deluxe is clean up to 5 ish depending the gtr.

Otherwise shreyer audio has a few nice amps. check out pro gtr . com (http://proguitarshop.com/store/amplifiers-c-4) they have great line up.

[Robin Nahum]

I practise with Band-in-a-Box.

 

One of the things I like about two-channel amps like the DR is that I can run a lead from my PC's sound card output socket (possibly via a little mixer to give me a bit easier control over volume) into the non-vibrato channel. I can also connect my TASCAM slower-downer this way.

 

RN

[eljay]

for a grand or less, lildawg will supply you a handwired amp:

 

http://littledawgamps.com/

 

i've got two and they are great for fender, gibson, rickenbacker!

[autodex]

Well, I finally decided on an amplifer, more money then I wanted to spend but I got a deal on a used Swart Atomic Space Tone. Great reviews, all tube reverb and tremelo, hand wired. Thanks for all of your help

[SamBooka]

Well' date=' I finally decided on an amplifer, more money then I wanted to spend but I got a deal on a used Swart Atomic Space Tone. Great reviews, all tube reverb and tremelo, hand wired. Thanks for all of your help[/quote']

I was going to recommend the Swart (i just saw the thread now). If you got an AST for under 1K you did well.

I havent tried one but loved the SE.

[Robin Nahum]

Well' date=' I finally decided on an amplifer, more money then I wanted to spend but I got a deal on a used Swart Atomic Space Tone. Great reviews, all tube reverb and tremelo, hand wired. Thanks for all of your help[/quote']

 

Looks pretty good!!

[Kenny V]

autodex,

Congratulations on your new amp. Glad you were able to determine and find the amp you wanted so quickly. Enjoy!

Kenny V

[CajunBlues]

I practise with Band-in-a-Box.

 

 

Is that what y'all Aussies are calling the garage these days.. "A box" .. I have never heard the carport referred to as a Box

[Robin Nahum]

Is that what y'all Aussies are calling the garage these days.. "A box" .. I have never heard the carport referred to as a Box

 

Hi CB,

 

I hope I'm not missing a joke here.

 

This is all I had in mind:

 

http://www.pgmusic.com/products_bb.htm

 

RN

[CajunBlues]

RN... yes, my attempt at humor... Maybe not a good attempt

[Robin Nahum]

Well' date=' I finally decided on an amplifer, more money then I wanted to spend but I got a deal on a used Swart Atomic Space Tone. Great reviews, all tube reverb and tremelo, hand wired. Thanks for all of your help[/quote']

 

Your next question might be where to source replacement 6V6s. As the 6V6s are power tubes, they need to be replaced fairly regularly - maybe even annually if you're gigging every night. (The rectifier tube should pretty much last indefinitely as should the non-reverb pre-amp tubes.)

 

There is a lot of discussion at the Telecaster Discussion Page (www.tdpri.com) about 6V6s because they are used in the very popular Fender Deluxe and Princeton Reverbs.

 

The problem is that the 6V6, although well suited for lower volumes and wattages, is still under some stress in a guitar amp like the Deluxe with a 415V plate voltage. The 6L6GC, as used in the bigger Fender amps - Vibrolux, Super Reverb, Twin etc. is able to handle this kind of voltage but doesn't really start to work until you are getting well beyond bedroom volume levels. Nonetheless, there was a period a few years ago when the only reasonably priced 6V6s were not all that reliable and some people even started using 6L6GCs in their Deluxes. (There was/is the option of buying NOS RCAs or similar but these are not cheap.)

 

The consensus today (at least on the Tele page) seems to be that the JJ 6V6 offers best value - although a bunch of people like EHs too. I buy mine as a matched quartet so that when a pair needs to be replaced, I can simply plug in a new pair without needing to have the amp rebiased.

 

There are a number of well-regarded specialist tube suppliers around who can advise, as I'm sure can Swart. I go with Eurotubes because they are (a) helpful and ( on the Pacific Coast so that when I order from them, the goods go straight onto a plane and get to Australia quickly.

 

RN

[mjf966]

I love my Roland Jazz Chorus 120... superb!