Vintage amp with my Gibson es-335 block inlay

[Seu João]

Decided not to trade the telecaster for neither blues jr or hot rod deluxe and to search a good vintage valve amp!

[vincentw]

try an old Skylark instead. not as loud but the tone is killer.

[Versatile]

Personally I don't fuss too much about which amp to use

 

Valve amps sound nice...as do hybrids with models and effects built in

 

A trick I discovered is to front up the amp with an OD pedal followed by a banded EQ pedal

 

Then fine tune the EQ to bring out the tone required and discover new tones as well...

 

V

 

[charlie brown]

Where...are you going to be playing these "blues?" In your room,

or out, in bars/small clubs, or larger venues? Of the 2 you

mentioned, both are great amps! The Blues Jr. is awesome, in smaller

venues, but may (still) be too loud, at it's "sweet spot," tone/volume

wise, for home practice. The HR Deluxe (@ 40 Watts) is Very Loud, for it's size.

So, depending on where you plan to play, mostly...that may help in determing

"which" amp will work best?

 

Best thing, is to try them both (and maybe, other's, too), and see which

one works best, for your needs. Do you not have a music dealer, near you,

to try these? If not, "I" would probably go with the HR Deluxe,

just to be able to "grow into it," rather than out of it. Good Luck!

 

CB

[Seu João]

Where...are you going to be playing these "blues?" In your room,

or out, in bars/small clubs, or larger venues? Of the 2 you

mentioned, both are great amps! The Blues Jr. is awesome, in smaller

venues, but may (still) be too loud, at it's "sweet spot," tone/volume

wise, for home practice. The HR Deluxe (@ 40 Watts) is Very Loud, for it's size.

So, depending on where you plan to play, mostly...that may help in determing

"which" amp will work best?

 

Best thing, is to try them both (and maybe, other's, too), and see which

one works best, for your needs. Do you not have a music dealer, near you,

to try these? If not, "I" would probably go with the HR Deluxe,

just to be able to "grow into it," rather than out of it. Good Luck!

 

CB

 

Hey, it's gonna be mostly for home practice, but sometimes i do a few gigs in small clubs and bars and one or two big concerts per year maybe. So it's mostly for studying at home! Yes i have a lot of dealers here, one is fender official but they don't have them for sell at the moment, and for the last year at least i've never seen one!

[badbluesplayer]

I had a blues junior and it was great. It is exactly the size that you need. The hot rod deluxe is a very loud amp. Probably too big for what you need. You can always mic a good sounding small amp if you need to, but it's really hard to make a big amp sound good at low volume.

 

If you really want a big amp, the Blues Deluxe may be more suitable than the Hot Rod Deluxe for what you want. The HRD has a higher gain preamp section than the Blues Deluxe.

 

But like I said, the HRD and the Blues Deluxe have a reputation of being really loud.

[Seu João]

Yes, i'm really thinking on accepting the blues jr! I've tried one before with some mods and like it a lot, but i've never tried with a gibson guitar, only with my tele! But like i said i think it's impossible to get a bad sound with an es-335! every amp i tried sounded good, even my small Vox Pathfinder 15r!

[stein]

Actually, both are CLOSE to the same amp, but use different power tubes so they can also be very different.

 

The Blues Junior will be nastier and have a CHANCE at getting power tube distortion if you get loud with it. It is also brighter with less bass.

 

The Hot Rod deluxe, if you run on the clean channel, is a pretty decent clean amp. It will let the guitar speak better, and will also reveal more differences between guitars. The HOT ROD Deluxe and the BLUES DELUXE are the same amp, but the HRD has a button that gets another level of pre-amp distortion.

 

Both amps will take pedals well, but the Junior with it's EL-84 tubes will always have some throatiness and midrange to it at any volume. The HRD with the 6L6 tubes will have a more neutral tone and reveal more of the natural sound of the pedals with less coloration.

 

Personally, I would prefer the HRD, because I think the clean channel with a good pedal sounds better than the dirty channel. With the Junior, you only get the dirty channel.

[charlie brown]

And, both have "master" volume knobs, too. So, with a little

experimentation, you can probably get a tone you like, at a

resonable volume, with either one. I suggested the HR Deluxe,

because IF you ever want to play out, in venues where you can

really crank it up (without micing it), it's well suited, for

that. And, as has been mentioned, it's clean tone, is rounder

and beefier (more bass response/larger cabinet), and more articulate,

at higher volumes. But, the Blues Jr. is a great little amp, in it's

own right.

 

CB

[G McBride]

I have two Blues Jr's, a Tweed and a newer with the black tolcloth covering. I have changed the tubes out in the Black Jr. and am using the tubes that cam with the Tweed. Very nice amps for just about any type of playing as long as you don't want a lot of distortion.

[JazzGtr]

I too own 2 Blues Jr.(s). And I've used them as left and right amps coming out my delay pedal. It's a nice all around amp that doesn't get in the way of my tone with all of my guitars. It's also easy to transport too.

 

Jazz,

[Seu João]

And what do you think about Sears Silvertone 1960's 1482 amps? I fell completely in love with these guys... that's tone!!! I decided not to trade either for the Blues jr or the Hot Rod, i'm gonna sell it and a vox pathfinder 15r for 450 euros both and buy a good vintage tube amp like this one, the problem is it's very rare in europe... Do you guys know other amps with these kind of sound but more easy to find at the same price range?S

The tone with a gibson les paul is amazing!

 

[roadhog96]

And what do you think about Sears Silvertone 1960's 1482 amps? I fell completely in love with these guys... that's tone!!! I decided not to trade either for the Blues jr or the Hot Rod, i'm gonna sell it and a vox pathfinder 15r for 450 euros both and buy a good vintage tube amp like this one, the problem is it's very rare in europe... Do you guys know other amps with these kind of sound but more easy to find at the same price range?S

The tone with a gibson les paul is amazing!

 

 

I like the tone. I've always liked the old Silvertones. I remember looking at them when I was a kid everytime my father took us to Sears. I always wanted one but couldn't afford them. Never did get one even though I still look at them now and then. Someday I might just find one. I ended up with a old 60's Minty 67 deluxe Reverb. The old Fenders were always my favorite amps, use to use them back in the bands in the 60's and still use them today. Anyway check this out, http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-VINTAGE-SILVERTONE-1482-AMP-COMBO-TUBE-AMPLIFIER-/270839569757?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0f4bdd5d

[badbluesplayer]

Those Silvertone amps were kind of copied from the Fender Tweed Deluxe amp. They supposedly are very similar and have the raunchy deluxe tone.

 

Tweed Deluxe

[stein]

Not a bad idea at all.

 

Beware of paying too much for Silvertone amps, though. They have become sought after because Jack White is known to use them, and I have seen them go for as much as some vintage Fender amps.

 

The Silvertone amps are cheaper built than Fenders and Gibsons and Marshalls and the like. Not just the cabs, but the transformers and some of the key components. Doesn't mean they don't sound good, but still wise to consider them a few steps below the Fenders.

 

Luckily, Silvertone amps are not the only cheaper vintage tube amps out there. There are MANY older tube amps that were made cheaply like them, you just have to try them out to make sure they do what you want them too. A lot of times they might not perform the way you expect, but you can find some that do. It is hard to find anything to read about them because of lack of interest or reputation like the Silvertones are now, but if you play them, you will find them.

[Brian Cecil]

I own a 3-watt Silvertone amp I bought new around 50 years ago. Its tone is an accurate representation of "vintage tone" because it helped create what is now called "vintage tone." Wow. That said, a buyer today should always keep in mind that these amps were never built with the idea that people would still be playing them in 2011. How do you say "flimsy" in Portugese? The circuit design is such that hot current and indifferent grounding can really surprise a player with how many times he or she can get shocked during one given playing session, especially if using a vintage microphone into a vintage PA, for example. Under these circumstances, the player frequently provides a better grounding path to hot current with his body than the original circuit designers provided with their wires. I guess its all part of the sacrifices we make for art. Silvertones do make a decent tone, but there are a number of finer vintage amp designs that make much more rounded, full, and harmonically rich tone, AND which were made in Europe, which may make them easier for you to find and maintain properly. I doubt that any player actually bought a new Silvertone amp because of its tone -- they bought them because they were cheap, period. And they got what they paid for, while counting the days and the money saved to buy themselves a better designed and built amp.

[Seu João]

I own a 3-watt Silvertone amp I bought new around 50 years ago. Its tone is an accurate representation of "vintage tone" because it helped create what is now called "vintage tone." Wow. That said, a buyer today should always keep in mind that these amps were never built with the idea that people would still be playing them in 2011. How do you say "flimsy" in Portugese? The circuit design is such that hot current and indifferent grounding can really surprise a player with how many times he or she can get shocked during one given playing session, especially if using a vintage microphone into a vintage PA, for example. Under these circumstances, the player frequently provides a better grounding path to hot current with his body than the original circuit designers provided with their wires. I guess its all part of the sacrifices we make for art. Silvertones do make a decent tone, but there are a number of finer vintage amp designs that make much more rounded, full, and harmonically rich tone, AND which were made in Europe, which may make them easier for you to find and maintain properly. I doubt that any player actually bought a new Silvertone amp because of its tone -- they bought them because they were cheap, period. And they got what they paid for, while counting the days and the money saved to buy themselves a better designed and built amp.

 

Flimsy in portuguese could be "de fraca qualidade". Thank you for sharing you experience with these amps, so can you tell me wich brands are made in europe and well built? It's important to say that i can only pay 450 euro/625 dollar for one amp for the moment, my idea is maybe to ask a amp builder to do me a Tweed Deluxe 5E3 amp.

[charlie brown]

"Vintage Tone"...what does that even mean?! A lot of what's

called "Vintage Tone," now...was called "cheap" (often) distorted sounding,

back then. That which you didn't get, with Fender's, and later Vox,

and later still Marshalls. The "Blues" guys, often used cheap amps, because

(1) they could (barely) afford them, and (2) they may have grown fond of the

distortion, and natural sustain along with it. They made do, and even kind

of "invented" a tone, in the process. Those cheap amps, were just a step up,

or "sideways," from plugging into an old tube radio, with a mic jack. Some

of the "tone" you can get from that setup can be pretty interesting, even

"awesome," to a degree. Also, "Vintage Tone," may depend on what era one

grew up listing to the music they love, and what was producing it. To some,

Fender "Tweed" amps, are vintage tone. Other's the Blackface era Fender's are

THE tone...still other's it's Vox AC-15, 30, or 100's, and/or Marshall Stacks, etc.

 

Try as many kinds/brands, and styles, as you can. Find an amp (Valve=Tube, or

Solid State, or combination) that YOU love the sound of! That's all that counts,

really.

 

CB

[Brian Cecil]

Charley Brown got it right. "Vintage tone" is rightly placed in quotation marks. In the era prior to the British blues period of the 60's, most amp makers tried for the cleanest possible tones they could afford to put into their products. Low cost generally equated to low fidelity. Higher cost meant higher fidelity. Blackface tube Fenders, and the solid-state amps that followed them, were the prime examples of this design approach. Anyone who went on stage in the mid-60's with a new blackface Fender was making a clear statement about his or her financial ability to pay big bucks for a sparkling clean sound. With the arrival of the British blues bands, and the high-watt power music that came shortly thereafter, low-fi became fashionable, and the previous equation of cost = fidelity went out the window. So "vintage tone" ultimately is such a broad term by itself as to be close to useless.

 

My own amp collection has more Vox amps in my playing rotation than any other brand. Vintage Vox amps are probably as expensive in Europe as they are here. The current generation of ACs are said, among the brand fans, to come close to the sound of the early 60's amps. Having an old Fender Champ or Deluxe design made-up from parts, or making one yourself, would probably be a good, inexpensive way to go.

 

You paid a good sum of money to get a quality Gibson guitar, capable of subtle, complex, and exquisitely musical expressions. Hooking that guitar up to an amp that isn't capable of conveying that kind of finess removes the guitar's highest quality sound from your overall muscial presentation. A chain really is only as strong as its weakest link. You have a great, strong link in your Gibson guitar. It deserves an equally strong link in the amplifier it's connected to.

[j45nick]

Charley Brown got it right. "Vintage tone" is rightly placed in quotation marks. In the era prior to the British blues period of the 60's, most amp makers tried for the cleanest possible tones they could afford to put into their products. Low cost generally equated to low fidelity. Higher cost meant higher fidelity. Blackface tube Fenders, and the solid-state amps that followed them, were the prime examples of this design approach. Anyone who went on stage in the mid-60's with a new blackface Fender was making a clear statement about his or her financial ability to pay big bucks for a sparkling clean sound. With the arrival of the British blues bands, and the high-watt power music that came shortly thereafter, low-fi became fashionable, and the previous equation of cost = fidelity went out the window. So "vintage tone" ultimately is such a broad term by itself as to be close to useless.

 

My own amp collection has more Vox amps in my playing rotation than any other brand. Vintage Vox amps are probably as expensive in Europe as they are here. The current generation of ACs are said, among the brand fans, to come close to the sound of the early 60's amps. Having an old Fender Champ or Deluxe design made-up from parts, or making one yourself, would probably be a good, inexpensive way to go.

 

You paid a good sum of money to get a quality Gibson guitar, capable of subtle, complex, and exquisitely musical expressions. Hooking that guitar up to an amp that isn't capable of conveying that kind of finess removes the guitar's highest quality sound from your overall muscial presentation. A chain really is only as strong as its weakest link. You have a great, strong link in your Gibson guitar. It deserves an equally strong link in the amplifier it's connected to.

 

So, my question would be, what are people in Europe (or elsewhere) running on 240v/50Hz mains power going to do with vintage American valve amps designed for 110v/60Hz? Sure, you can run through a step-down transformer (introducing all sorts of noise possibilities), but what is the potential impact of the 50/60Hz difference? Sorry to be ignorant on this with regard to amps. I've dealt with the problem a lot with other electrical devices that are frequency-sensitive, such as things that contain electric motors. With those, the lighter windings associated with 60 Hz can overheat badly on 50Hz power.