Need Advise on a Flexible Practice Amp...

[narc999]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am in the market for an amp, and I am trying to stay under the $500 dollar limit.

 

Here are my guitars:

a) Epiphone LP

IBJL Casino

c) 72 Fender Telecaster Deluxe.

 

Here is my criteria:

1) Flexibility: I really would like that authentic "Revolution" overdriven sound.

In addition I would like to switch to a clean guitar for non rock.

2) Affordability: Like I said, I am trying to stay under the $500 limit.

3) Garage Band: I am mainly going to be using it in my garage for practice, but I might travel with it depending if I am able to get into a nice group. Alot of these tube amps are only good if the volume is at 11 and work ok if they are at 3. I am looking for ones that are comfortable with playing around the 3-4 volume range. ( I have kids that I dont want to wake.)

4) Tones Im looking for: Late Beatles (Sgt. Pepper and on...), Jimi, Lenny K, John Mayer, and some Creedence.

(3/5 isnt that bad...)

5) Additional plus is if can be a FENDER! I love the vintage tweed series looks!

 

 

BTW: anybody know of a good Lacie pedal?

 

Also: is 699 a great price for a Fender Twin Amp?

Place close to me that is selling one for 699.

 

Thanks for your advise!

_NARCO!

[ObsessionSG]

The Fender Frontman series is REALLY good, IMO, and very reasonably priced. Theres a Frontman 212R (spring reverb) for usually $299. Not tube...but tubes can really be an extra hassle for travelling as the cost of replacing them adds up. Thats just my opinion though, I also suggest going to a music store that has a good variety and will let you try them out.

 

Adam

[MaxHart85231281734137]

ummmmm blackheart little gaint

[wiggy]

I'd says that, at your price range, and taking into account your volume and flexibility of tone needs you need to be looking at one of the modelling amps as I seriously doubt you could find a tube amp in your price range which would cover all the bases.

[narc999]

How about a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe?

 

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0213202000

 

Nice retro look. 2 input jacks and lots of cool features. (Like the fat swtich and bright knob.)

[wiggy]

Never used one of these so no idea if any good but would seem to fit the bill

 

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2316600000

[sexygibson]

Wow; you're probably gonna have trouble finding something small and with as much versatility as you're looking for. I usually don't recommend modeling amps but, as another poster mentioned, it may be your best bet. The new Peavey modeling amps are awesome. I played one at a local, one of the larger hybrid models, but it had awesome bottom end, very good amp simiulations, and the effects were actually useable.

[TWANG]

I think you want an 18 to 22 watt tube amp with variable output.

I think you should contact cGil and ask him about a build.

[Swoop]

The Hot Rod Deluxe is probably the polar opposite of your desire for a decent sound at low volumes. It needs to be cranked pretty loud for it to drive nicely, and even sound good clean. I've played a few Hot Rods, was looking to trade in my Peavey Classic 50 for a Blues Deville actually, but decided against it because the Peavey sounds great at low volumes, whereas the Hot Rods got unbearably loud for home use, before sounding even half as good. I'm actually running the Peavey with just two of the four power tubes at the moment, which makes it even better.

 

A Blues Junior might work for you though. Seems to fit the descriptions of being fairly portable, and the 'NOS' version has that lacquered tweed you like. Not too expensive either.

 

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Hot-Rod-Series-Blues-Junior-NOS-15W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=483711#used

 

15W is still plenty of punch, but I reckon it'd probably sound pretty good at lower volumes too, and the speaker is a decent size, (anything less than 10" is pretty pointless in my opinion) and a nice Jensen in the above Blues Junior.

 

Most tube amps are going to need to be turned up quite loud to sound really great, unless you get one with an attenuator for fractional wattages. That doesn't leave you with a lot of choice though. But you can definitely achieve a pretty good sound, even at low volumes. Part of it is the controls on the amp. If it has a master volume, and separate volume controls for each channel, then you can crank the channel volume up, but keep the master fairly low, and this should sound pretty nice. At least it does with my C50. Sure, it sounds EVEN MORE FANTASTIC, when I crank the master up too, but it's a pretty good compromise with the master low as well.

[lpfan]

If you go with modeling amps, check out Line 6. Their customer service is oustanding, or least it was for me anyways. If you want a Fender tube amp, check out a Fender Blues Jr. I don't know if it will be loud enough but they are nice, pretty loud, look good, and its under $500. I see em' on Craigslist for $350 with tube upgrades usually.

[mrjones200x]

Blackstar HT-5. Combo is 300 pounds so think thats under $500.

 

2 channels, 5 watt tube amp, fx loop, ISF control so can go between U.K. and U.S. voicing sounds wicked at very low volume and can go really loud. Best small amp ive played!

 

Comes in few versions, Head, combo and full stack (Head and 2 - 1x10" cabs)

 

Seriously good amp.

[Dave]

My vote goes for the Roland Cube series in whatever size that floats your boat. They are small, cheap, sound great, and have enough oomph to hold their own in a jam situation. I like the Cube 60.

[peeper]

Marshall AVT 50. The best non tube powerstage ever, super versatile, and almost sounds fully tube.

[rdsmith3]

A modeling amp that would seem to do all that is the Fender Superchamp XD.

 

Fender Superchamp XD

[51xt33]

I would go with either a Line 6 product, or the I think the Peavey Vypyrs sound pretty good too.

Of course, and this will take you over the $500 line, but you could sell you pedals, buy a Line 6 PODx3 Live and go with something like an Atomic amp. Andy Z from Institute of Noise/ Line 6/ Chime band uses this set up. Line 6 nails amp modeling and the Atomic amps are tube. A great combo.

[m-theory]

I never cease to be deeply entertained whenever somebody asks for amp suggestions! There's no end to the offerings, and they're often all over the map!

 

For $500, you can find many, many different viable amps for rehearsal settings. I rehearse with my 7 watt Vjr EL34 conversion, and I run the volume pretty low on it. You certainly don't "need" 50 watts, unless you're rehearsing way too loud to produce any useable results.

 

I'd say that, if you're going with tubes, something in the 15 watt range would be plenty, and if you're going SS, probably 25-30 watts should more than cover it.

 

There's no one amp that perfectly covers everything, so accept that there will be compromises. With that in mind, you want to find something that will cover MOST of your tone requirements, and either use a pedal or two beyond that, or accept that you have limitations.

 

Fwiw, you could buy a used Vjr head and cabinet and do a baby will conversion for about $500. You'd end up with a very decent 14 watt tube amp with Marshall voicing that does "jangle" very well, and can also be pushed to produce more aggressive tones.

 

You could also buy one of the new Soldano creations, the 20 watt jet city, in combo or head/cab version, for right around $500.

 

I personally haven't heard a SS amp that I could advise to someone, though there are a countless array of them out there, some of which probably do sound acceptable for rehearsal purposes, but rest assured they won't FEEL like a tube amp, if that means anything to you. That's something for you to decide.

[brad1]

Fender Super Champ XD

[sexygibson]

 

I personally haven't heard a SS amp that I could advise to someone' date=' though there are a countless array of them out there, some of which probably do sound acceptable for rehearsal purposes, but rest assured they won't FEEL like a tube amp, if that means anything to you. That's something for you to decide. [/quote']

 

Don't make the mistake of ruling out solid state amps. I recently was looking for a small amp to replace a Crate V5 as my main at home practice amp. I found a vinatage, made in the U.K. , Marshall Reverb 12 that flat out rocks ! Picked it up on Craigslist for a song and wouldn't sell for twice for what I paid. I liked the V5 when crunk to 10; it had a awesome crunch for classic and southern rock, but just way too loud when others were at home. Thats another thing to consider with small tube amps; they sound best crunk, unless you put a pedal in front of them.

As was mentioned, you will get alot of different opinions. You have to get out there and play alot of different models to find what YOU like best.

[smips65]

:)

 

 

Pretty wide range of guitars, and pups in your list.

 

Best option in my opinion is to go to the local GC and try out some amps, with all 3 of yours, (not drag all yours in, mind you), use theirs. Then you'll have a better basis for what you like, then check out the local craigs list, maybe you'll find something that works.

[Dave]

Most of the time when I play at home, it's unplugged, sitting around in front of the TV. I have a Zoom mutli-effects pedal with a heaphone jack that I use sometimes. It's just convenient to pick up and play and not plug in. If I want to make noise, I go upstairs to my music room and hook up the Roland.

 

In reality, most of us only need a very small practice amp that we can turn up and overdrive. But, we usually buy something that can back up our gigging amp so that we have an alternative in case of a breakdown. As a result, we play on 1 and don't get into the sweet spot on the amp.

 

I agree with M-theory that we should probably buy a quality 5 or 10 watt tube amp for home use. It's hard to spend $300 on one of those when you can buy a gig worthy amp for that price or a little more. In my first band, I had a Harmony 1x12" tube amp that was probably 10 to 15 watts and I was constantly drowned out when the drummer got loud and the rhythm player cranked up his 65 watt Fender Princeton. Back then, one amp was all I could afford (grin).

[Bender 4 Life]

Blackstar HT-5. Combo is 300 pounds so think thats under $500.

 

2 channels' date=' 5 watt tube amp, fx loop, ISF control so can go between U.K. and U.S. voicing sounds wicked at very low volume and can go really loud. Best small amp ive played!

 

Comes in few versions, Head, combo and full stack (Head and 2 - 1x10" cabs)

 

Seriously good amp.[/quote']

 

I agree.............my HT-5 Head puts out some truly amazing tones.