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Riptide

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I'm looking for a low wattage tube amp. I play at the church I go to, I always play at the youth stuff which is in a small room with usually about 20-40 and I really want an amp that I can crank to get that natural distortion out of it but even with my friends 5 watt Epi 1/2 stack I can only set the volume at like 25% with out killing all the other instruments... however I also want something (if possible) that I could use in a bigger setting--like in the worship center at my church which is pretty big, it seats about 500 or so.

 

So, what type of wattage and amp do you think would be best? I believe the Vox AC4TV is the best thing I've come up with so far.

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Can't hurt to go bigger....you can always lower the wattage with an amp that has a built in attenuator.

The Egnater Rebel and Renegades have a built in attenuator as does the Vox Night Train

 

Egnater is an adjustable wattage control where as the Nightrrain is between 15W and 7 1/2 W

 

In your position I would go with the Egnater.

What's your budget, that will help to narrow down choices?

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I don't really know a budget yet I'll probably just pick something and save up for it... I just want something to tie me over 'til I can get a Bassman or AC30.

 

My concern with going bigger is that I don't think there is any way I will be able to push the tubes.

 

EDIT:: How much could a attenuator lower wattage?

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Check out the Egnater Tweaker. It is 15 watts (can't be switched lower). Amp has settings for Fender, Vox, and Marshall styles. It also has an effects loop. I use it with the matching 1x12 cab. Only problem is, like most low wattage tube amps, it is only one channel, so you can get great cleans or overdrive, but not both. If it was two channel, foot switchable, I'd mic it up and use it as my gigging amp.

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I just picked up a Vox valvetronix VT40+ that allows you to adjust\attenuate the wattage, so you can drive the tube at really low bedroom volumes...

 

It has a valve in the power amp circuit to "warm" the sound from the amp models, which include AC30 models if you are really after one..along with 98 other amp models...

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Am I right in saying that the new slash head can switch between 100watts and .1 watts? That would be seriously cool, but tbh I dont think its work buying an amp of that price if your only playing to 20-30 people. That vox is pretty good, if not a little boxy because of the small speaker. The material used to make the cab is also not birch ply but on something that small I dont think it would make much difference.What about the blackheart killer ant?

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Research the renegade and rebel. The Rengade is switchable between 60W and 18W. The Rebel has an adjustable attenuation to lower the wattage anywhere from the lowest possible W to the highest that the amp can go.

An attenuator allows you to get tube overdrive at lower volumes. The Slash head has a similar feature but is more expensive than the amps I mentioned.

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Hmmmm... 20-30 people? I'm not big on church music but for practice I run my 50 watt amp at about 1/3 of the way

 

Maybe take a look at the Electro Harmonix LPB-1. It's a booster and gives you nice distortion because it pushes the hotter signal to the amp and it's 40 bucks.

 

I likeloud for cleans and I let my pedals give me dirt, but the VOX AC4 is a great low watt amp

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I checked out all the amps you guys suggested and they all look sweet but I think if I'm going to spend $500+ ish on an amp I think I'd go for a Fender Bassman or something that I really wanted. I'm thinking the AC4 is looking good because they would have sound systems in any bigger place that I would play in. And I like the sound of it.

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what type of music do you want to play? that would help with knowing the type of sound you are after, and the type of sound you want to get from the netural overdrive characteristics.

trying to help. you mention the bassman, 500 bucks so i assume you are talking the reissue. it is a very loud amp, louder than most realize. in stock form to get that natural output tube overdrive has such a volume and treble that will rip your head off.

you mention a 4 watt played with a half stack that is too loud. that is the speaker configuration causing it to be loud. drive it with one low sensitivity speaker and everything changes. with nearly any amp there is a point where you can use enough speakers of enough efficiency that you can get really loud without breaking up. i'm guessing that is what you are hearing rather than an amp that is too loud.

i'm guessing what you are after is that natural output tube overdrive, and when it comes to that there are a lot of differences in tone from what amp to the next. that is the reason why i ask.

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A little confused here... You said you wanted an amp you could overdrive naturally,

and you played a 5 watt Epi and could only get to 25%, but you are considering a 50

watt Bassman? You can crack plaster with 50 watts! It does sound like an attenuator

could be of use to you. I'd check out some of the new low-power tube heads (yes they

make tube heads with less than 5 watts) like the Lil Night Train or the Blackstar HT-1

(or the aforementioned Vox AC4)

 

Here's a link to a list of low watt amps...

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Haha, yeah that doesn't make sense. I really like the Fender Bassman and Vox AC30 and I want to get one of those eventually but that's a few years down the road after I'll be out of playing in the youth group (which is what the Epi 1/2 stack is to big for) so what I meant was that I want to get a low wattage amp that I can use until then but if I was going to spend over like $500 or so I would go all the way for a Bassman or AC30. Sorry if that still doesn't make sense.

 

I play punk and rock 'n roll mainly but I also play The Edge/classic rock type of stuff which is more what I play at church.

 

I really like the sound of Social Distortion, Plumtree, Dropkick Murphy's, Green Day and U2 when it comes to guitar parts.

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that makes more sense. i get the not wasting money on something that isn't your ultimate, but at the same time if you can't afford it i think it is worth buting something in the meantime if what you have is not allowing you to get the most of your playing. you can't buy back wasted time, so to speak.

i haven't heard the vox, but it seems nice and if you have heard it and it touches you, thats what you are after isn't it? you could also add a cab for it if and when it is not loud enough, so keep that in mind as an option. also, if you did come up with something that was too loud for that natural output tube distortion, but you really liked the tone of it, there is nothing wrong with using a pedal. all those players you mentioned used pedals, and to be quite honest and realistic, not all lower watt amps sound good when pushed.

above all, you seem to be doing the right things. have fun looking and trying to find, and end up finding something you will have fun with.

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that makes more sense. i get the not wasting money on something that isn't your ultimate, but at the same time if you can't afford it i think it is worth buting something in the meantime if what you have is not allowing you to get the most of your playing. you can't buy back wasted time, so to speak.

i haven't heard the vox, but it seems nice and if you have heard it and it touches you, thats what you are after isn't it? you could also add a cab for it if and when it is not loud enough, so keep that in mind as an option. also, if you did come up with something that was too loud for that natural output tube distortion, but you really liked the tone of it, there is nothing wrong with using a pedal. all those players you mentioned used pedals, and to be quite honest and realistic, not all lower watt amps sound good when pushed.

above all, you seem to be doing the right things. have fun looking and trying to find, and end up finding something you will have fun with.

Thanks for the input. I'm running a couple pedals now which sound good they just aren't my ideal. I'm trying like you said to just go with what sounds "right" to me.

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