Small Studio Amp

[Buffalo Bob]

Anybody have one of the little Marshalls (10-15 watts)? I'm looking at selling my big amp and replacing it with a small one. Do they sound any good?

Thanks,

Bob

[Track Rat]

Bob, I just stumbled up on these amps and I'm pretty sure this is my next purchase. It's a Cornford 6 watt class A amp ment just for recording. I'm looking at the Harlequin model.


http://www.cornfordamps.com/launch.html

[64Firebird]

I bought a little Marshall for my son, it sounds okay as long as you keep it clean. But, when you turn up the gain, it sounds like a bee buzzing. You might be able to do some recording with it. After all, Clapton recorded with a little Pig Nose once.

[Buffalo Bob]

Man, that's a sweet little amp! I've got a feeling that it's way out of my league, though. It would be wasted on my limited electric chops! I'm thinking something more like $200. I want to stick my C1 in front of it.
I guess I just like the baby Marshalls because they're so darned cute!

[TexRoadkill]

The Fender Blues Jr is pretty cool for a little combo amp. You can get them new for around $300 and $200 used.

[Buffalo Bob]

Thanks Tex. I'll check them out at Guitar Satan. Anything would be better than my crappy Crate amp! BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

[King Elvis]

I have a little Peavey amp called a Classic 10
Its a little tweed 15w amp with a 10 inch speaker.
The thing is all tube and it rages like a beast, I dont even think I paid $100 for the thing. I dont think they make em anymore, but I am sure you could find em on ebay.

[clifchamb]

try the SWR LA SERIES combo amps, there is an 8inch and 12inch in your price range perhaps, for recording Iwould reccomend bypassing the combo amp all together and purchase a SANS AMP (little black box). Sweetest tones.


clif

[Vurt]

Originally posted by Track Rat

http://www.cornfordamps.com/launch.html

cool site!

[blipndub]

I bought one of those Peavey Rage 10' numbers and it does buzz badly at higher volumes, just cheap construction. I do use it for clean a lot though, esp in stereo with my preferred recording amp a little SF Vibrochamp I picked up for about 300. It's really perfect for the homestudio, big bawlsy sound without too much volume to be practical. the tubes can be overdriven nicely with an overdrive pedal at very reasonable levels, sounds great.
you can find them on ebay easily.

[savageblues]

I had a Peavy Classic 20. I never liked the way it sounded - always seemed a little thin and harsh. The classic 30 sounded much better to me though.

I vote for the older tube amp - like a Champ, Supro or Gibson Skylark etc.

[ebeam]

A Gibson Skylark was my first amp. I sold it for about $60 before I got into recording. You can find them now for about $150. I wish I had it now cause it would be fun to record, but it was pretty noisy.

Those Cornford amps actually look pretty cool - I still want a univalve though.

[stonepiano]

BuffBob,

Fellow tunesmith/writer/playwright!

I have a Fender Blues Jr. and it's worth the $$ I paid for it. good clean Fender tones. all that at a nice price.

[jake-owa]

Originally posted by clifchamb
try the SWR LA SERIES combo amps, there is an 8inch and 12inch in your price range perhaps, for recording Iwould reccomend bypassing the combo amp all together and purchase a SANS AMP (little black box). Sweetest tones.


clif

Sansamp makes a Tech21 Trademark 10 that goes for about $300. It has an XLR out so good I sold my POD.

Oh and it kicks ass.

Trademark 10

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Bob!- Which Crate are you using? Oddly enough, aside from POD Pro, a Carver Power Amp and a Marshall cab, I occasionally use a little Crate MX15R. It used to hum really badly, until I changed my crappy guitar cable out for a Monster keyboard cable.
Check this.- if you unplug the guitar, does the amp still buzz? If it doesn't, try looking elsewhere for your noise source. All the larger Crates I've played sucked, especially their acoustic amp, but the little one actually has some uses. Also, one thing you might try is a modeler, such as POD, J-station, or VAMP II. Take a line out of the POD and jack it into a powered near field reference monitor (assuming you have monitors) and mic the monitor(s). This moves at least as much air as a little practice amp, if not more, produces very low self noise, and reproduces the cab simulation of the modeler accurately across the whole audio spectrum. It's also damn quiet. Good luck.-Richie

[6gun]

marshall silver jubilee 50w 1x12 (vintage 30) combo works well for me. great little tube amp. get one for 700.00 on ebay.

[mam]

Well, my wife bought me one of those Vox Pathfinders for about $80.00 at Media Play. Incredible amp! I've been a performing musician for well over 30 years & this thing blew me away. No reverb, but it does have vibrato & a gain switch. Great distortion if needed, & it has that Vox midrange boost switch. Way cool!
Used it for a gig in a 300 seater club recently & had no problem being heard. I think it's 15-20 watts. I think I'll leave my Fender Deluxe 112 at home from now on.

[Bighand]

I'd also consider one of these:

http://www.carvin.com/cgi-bin/Isearc...TAGE16&P1=VINT
Sound samples are provided. Particularly Triode Riff#2

I forgot how good tubes sound.
I pulled my Classic 30 (installed a celestion vintage 30/JJ tubes) out and stereo'd it with my fender princeton112+(solid state) using a Boss GT-6. After 3 hours my wife finally shut me down - and I was in the garage! Ahh the smell of a hot amp.

How much are those cornfords anyway? $1400 for this baby?
http://www.raysguitars.com/products/amp6.htm
Geez, make a poor boy drool.

[] #45

[charger]

I just spent the better part of a day trying out amps, I'm looking for a decent practice amp for around the house. Around $200 (new) there's not much that's worth the money. Around $300, I think the Peavey Classic 30, Fender Blues Junior, and the Tech21 Trademark 10 are all great amps. I give especially high marks to the Tech 21, even though I'm not a huge fan of solid state amps, because ti has such an incredibly wide range of tones...

[mixmkr]

Originally posted by Buffalo Bob
Anybody have one of the little Marshalls (10-15 watts)? I'm looking at selling my big amp and replacing it with a small one. Do they sound any good?

Thanks,

Bob

I've got one of those Valvestate VS30r amps with a 10" speaker in it and reverb. It is loud enough for a medium pounding drummer, and has a decent clean sound. However, I find that really getting a kick ass sound with other amps playing, drums etc, is almost next to impossible. On its own, it sounds ok, and would probably work out for recording as much as a POD or something along those lines. Actually, I would get the POD first (which I did..and a J-station...etc..). I'll never get rid of the amp...nor my Ampeg V4 stack either.. it serves its purpose, but is certainly not a "do it all" little powerhouse.

I got it new for $125 when a music store had it laying around tooo long.. They supposedly go for around $200 street, I might guess.. I think the music store owner goofed up, but then he sold it too and got it off his inventory. I'm glad I got it.

Like I said before... on your own...it seems to "crank out" just fine...but then, you add another player, and it seems to "thin out" really fast for some reason.

[TheGuitarMan]

Originally posted by mam
Well, my wife bought me one of those Vox Pathfinders for about $80.00 at Media Play. Incredible amp! I've been a performing musician for well over 30 years & this thing blew me away. No reverb, but it does have vibrato & a gain switch. Great distortion if needed, & it has that Vox midrange boost switch. Way cool!
Used it for a gig in a 300 seater club recently & had no problem being heard. I think it's 15-20 watts. I think I'll leave my Fender Deluxe 112 at home from now on.

Hmmm. Yours must be an older one. I have a Vox Pathfinder myself. 8 inch blue bulldog speaker, 15 watts, tremolo and gain boost. No mid boost switch though. Paid $130 including footswitch. It's nicer than the new ones with the 6 inch speaker and 10 watts.

I do believe Vox makes a 15 watt tube amp. Don't remember what it's called.

[Low Country]

I would get the Tech 21 Trademark 10. If you try one out and dig the sound, you can buy a power cabinet for live gigs.

The SansAmp is great for direct recording, and you could practice with it too if you have the other necessary equipment.

I haven't heard the Vox Pathfinder (solid state), but I have heard the Cambridge 15 (tube preamp), and it sounds great. You can also replace the factory tube with a better one. Unfortunately, they don't make the Cambridge 15 anymore, but you can find them on eBay (sometimes) for about $95.

Practice Amps Rule.

[muzeman]

Hey Bob,

I'm looking for the same thing.

I tried out the Blues Junior and the Trademark 10.
Wasn't too impressed by the Junior.

The Tech was really good,bites even at low volumes.
Has a decent spring reverb too.

What I really liked about it was the way it reacted to my playing,picks up every note,bend,and harmonic perfectly.

I just want an amp to mic at low volumes,this seems to fit the bill.
Definitly worth checking out.

Seems like real tube amps have to be cranked to get a good sound out of them.

BTW-I bought an XT,took it back though.
Couldn't get a decent level without it clipping,and the only sound I liked was the clean tube pre simulator.
Sounds o.k,just not for me.

Hope this helps,good luck!

Have a Happy Holiday,
Pete

[MySiteSpace]

My vote goes to a fender blues Jr for a "small studio amp". I love marshalls - but really only their tube amps and even a 50 watt marshall is a mean sucker.

While it does not drty up too much on its own, the blues jr is a great sounding amp with real tubes.

Some killer prices on ebay too.

[Buffalo Bob]

Thanks guys! I've always been an acoustic player, so I haven't kept up on guitar amps.
Richie- the Crate I have is the G80XL. It's really not that buzzy, but at 80 watts, it's just too big in my little one-room studio. I also have a pair of Crate monitor wedges, that are real crap. Gotta start selling off this stuff so I can buy MORE CHANNELS!

Stone- how's the play going? Get out of here and get to work!

Thanks everyone- I've got to go and listen to some amps.....it's a tough job but somebody's got to do it!

Bob