can you recommend a small amp that does clean well?

Trace Elliot Velocette 1x10 15 watt combo

Here's another of my small amps, a Trace Elliot Velocette, recorded this morning to replace last night's DI parts above (previous post).

This is a 15 watt, true Class A amp with a pair of EL84s and a Celestion Vintage 10 speaker. It can cop a Vox-like tone. It thrives on volume. At the very top of the volume dial, 7-10, the distortion become smooth, compressed, bright but not pointy. It works particularly well with a single coil guitar like a Tele or Strat. I use a lot of right hand finger action in my lead parts. The amp's natural compression smooths out the volume spikes from finger plucks. It does one of the best classic Tele sounds of any amp I've owned.

I bought it new about 2000, around the time Trace Elliot was ending production. I played it for about a year until the output transformer died. There was a manufacturing flaw that caused these transformers to burn out. Trace Elliot sent me an upgraded transformer--and a second one as a spare. ;) Never had a problem since. After TE discontinued the amp, Gibson picked it up and sold a nearly identical amp as the Goldtone. If you run across a Velocette, I'd highly recommend it provided the transformer has been upgraded (likely if the amp has been in continuous use).

It is surprisingly loud. Needless to say, I was playing in a room around the corner to the right, with two closed doors between me and the amp, monitoring on my studio monitors at a comfortable level.

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About as simple as it gets: A volume knob, a tone knob, a bright switch (noisy), and an on/off/standby switch. There's also a speaker out.

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Here's the clip: It's a Fender Telecaster, bridge pickup. Amp volume at three 'o clock, tone at noon, bright switch off, SM57 on axis, just outside the dust cap and about 1/2 inch from the grill cloth. I recorded delay from a TC Electronics Flashback into the front end. The clip contains the rhythm guitar part, followed by the lead, followed by the song mix with both parts, rhythm left, lead right.

 
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Nola said:
I agree but I couldn't run 4x10 in an apartment, even at lower volume, so I settled on an old brown Princeton, which comes close and also breaks up nicely.
The amp is getting a 3 pronger on it so I won't have it back until about a week, but I will post some samples. I think the brown amps are really cool. i owned blackface and my buddy has a silver and i like the brown the best by far.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Princetons are great!
Congrats
 
Robus said:
Here's another of my small amps, a Trace Elliot Velocette
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that thing sounds good.

i finally got my amp back on sunday so i will try to record a sample soon. my mic collection is small so i'm not sure if i'll be able to capture it.
 
jimistone said:
Yeah, Princetons are great!
Congrats
Click to expand...

thanks jimi i really like it.
for apartment recording, i found a sweet spot around 2.25 volume that gets a most of the amp's tone yet isn't much louder than an acoustic. i haven't tried to record it yet, so we'll see if the tone comes through.

my downstairs neighbor is especially cranky, and i have the amp on the floor...do you know if putting it up higher would stop vibrations or anything like that going through the ceiling?
 
Nola said:
thanks jimi i really like it.
for apartment recording, i found a sweet spot around 2.25 volume that gets a most of the amp's tone yet isn't much louder than an acoustic. i haven't tried to record it yet, so we'll see if the tone comes through.

my downstairs neighbor is especially cranky, and i have the amp on the floor...do you know if putting it up higher would stop vibrations or anything like that going through the ceiling?
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I wouldn't count on getting the best recorded tone with the volume down that low. These little amps want to wail a bit. Sucks having a cranky neighbor--I've been there. You can pull the amp up off the floor--a footstool works great, but go as high as you want. Decoupling the amp from the floor will make a big difference in the room sound, and might keep the downstairs neighbor happier. If you're close miking, there's no downside. I haven't noticed it makes much difference in the recorded tone. You don't need a bunch of mics. One SM57 will get the job done for you. It's what I use for guitars 90% of the time.
 
Robus said:
I wouldn't count on getting the best recorded tone with the volume down that low. These little amps want to wail a bit. Sucks having a cranky neighbor--I've been there. You can pull the amp up off the floor--a footstool works great, but go as high as you want. Decoupling the amp from the floor will make a big difference in the room sound, and might keep the downstairs neighbor happier. If you're close miking, there's no downside. I haven't noticed it makes much difference in the recorded tone. You don't need a bunch of mics. One SM57 will get the job done for you. It's what I use for guitars 90% of the time.
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thanks, Robus, I wasn't sure if putting it on a stool would create any weird vibrations.

I don't have a SM57, but I have an RE11 which is pretty close.
 
Fender Deluxe Reverb '65 Reissue

This past weekend I recorded a bunch of guitar tracks for a song I hope to finish soon, using various guitar and amp combinations. This is an out-take using a Strat and the Fender '65 DRRI. This take won't make the final mix, but it should give a good impression of another side of this amp's amazing personality.

Fender Strat, middle pickup (Duncan Antiquity II Surf). Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, tremolo channel, input 1, volume 6, treble 5, bass 6, reverb 2, tremolo off. The mic is an SM57, on axis, just outside the dust cap, 1/4 inch from the grill cloth.

The clip contains the DRRI solo, then the song mix with the DRRI panned left. The lead guitar and the rhythm guitar on the right are both a Fender Tele through the Trace Elliot Velocette. The bass is a Fender Jazz, neck pickup.

 
Hi Robus, you asked for a clip of the princeton. Here you go.
https://soundcloud.com/suicidevan/severed-lips-amp-demo-volume-25

The volume is at 2.5, so it's pretty low, but my downstairs neighbor is home right now so that's as loud as I wanted to push it. You can hear the sound of the room in the beginning, too. i used an RE-11 b/c I don't own a SM57, and I use a Gretsch guitar blending the two pickups (middle position). I have a Strat, too, so maybe I will do a test through that for comparison at some point. The tone on the amp is middle position, so it could brighten up considerably but I just went with the middle for a demo. No effects or processing.

the mic is like 1" just slightly left of the cone. the tone sounds better in the room, so i think i have to mess with position more and maybe mics.
 
hey robus, so i decided to quickly record the strat with the same settings. i probably played it a little different or whatever but you can get the idea. the strat has hotter pickups that almost give it a little crunch and is brighter to me.

https://soundcloud.com/suicidevan/severed-lips-strat-amp-demo

i haven't mic'd and amp in a long time so if you have some tips based on what you hear please pm me or let me know here. i'll mess around with position more over the upcoming weeks as i record. i realized i don't have a short enough stand so the mic is on a traditional boom stand pointed slightly down. i'm not sure how much that will mess with things or if i should buy a stand. i just put my amp on a stool to get it high enough to mic. i'm also not far from the amp, so the mic is maybe picking up the guitar un-amplified.
 
You got your amp home Nola? Alright! You're going to have a blast with it. I can tell already it's going to sound great.

What I'm hearing there is a little more harsh and midrangy that what I would normally go for. The amp isn't working hard enough. These things mellow out as they get louder. Even if you can't do it all the time, you should find some place or time when you can crank it and hear how it can really sound.

I understand that most of the time, you're going to have to play lower. You're going to have to experiment with mic placement to find what sounds best at the volume level you are using. Play with the distance between the mic and the grill cloth, and laterally starting just outside the dust cap at the center of the cone, and working your way outward toward the edge of the speaker cone. Try the mic both dead on, and 45 degrees off axis. You'll find the sweet spots.

Something you should try is putting a door or two between yourself and the amp, and monitoring on your studio monitors. I explained the system I used in THIS THREAD. Not many people are doing it. Some of the comments were predictable. I stand by the results. There is no faster way of dialing in a tone, IMO, even if you have to do some walking back and forth. The louder your amp, the more useful this system is, but I'd do the same at any volume. It lets you hear what you are actually going to record, which you will never hear with headphones and a loud amp in the room.

One of the pictures in that thread shows the mic stand I use. It was $30 at Guitar Center.
 
cool thread robus and good ideas. i'll try moving it around the place and in another room if my cables will reach.

do you have any advice if the amp should be against a wall or in the middle of a room? right now it's on a stool really close to a wall.

the re-11 has no proximity effect so i'm wondering if that's making it seem more midrangy. and it's slightly downward b/c the stand is too tall (i need to get a shorter one).. maybe i will blend it with a ribbon and see how that goes.

overall i like it better than the amp sims, even at low volumes and my first try, so i'm guessing it can only get better.
 
It's an open back combo, right? I wouldn't put it right against a wall. I'd pull it out from the wall a few feet, but still pointed toward the larger part of the room. Be conscious of any hard surfaces close to the speaker cone, especially if they would reflect sound waves back toward the mic. Try all your mics. Try blending the ribbon and dynamic. My own luck with ribbons has depended on how good the room sounds. Whereas close micing with a dynamic mic is more forgiving of problems with the room. Once you've recorded that Princeton at its full potential, you won't want to use a sim.

Post a pic! I want to see your amp.
 
H&K Tubemeister 18 Reddi

Tonight I'm working out some guitar parts for a song I hope to finish. I'm using the direct out from the Tubemeister 18 since I can't make noise. I'll re-track them this weekend with the Fender amp most likely. But here's what the direct recording sounds like. Not too bad in my opinion. Maybe not good enough for a feature part, but it could work in a mix.

The guitar is the same Fender Tele, neck pickup. I'm using the clean channel on the Tubemeister. The DI signal passes through an Art Pro VLA II compressor then into the interface. It is quite compressed. There is a TC Electronic Flashback delay in the loop.

Solo part first, then the song mix with the part panned left. All the guitars are direct. Bass is a Fender Jazz.

 
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