Advice for First Real Amp: Best bedroom tube amp.

S

shuasetter

Epiphone Pes Lawl
I've been reading forums for weeks, have gone in and tried amps.

I guess I am basically looking for a tube amp that has at least reverb.

I do not gig. It does not have to be loud. All I care about is tone and a little reverb.

I'm on a budget. I have been playing guitar about a year now (playing multiple hours everyday) and I have finally played enough where my ear can hear the awfulness of my current amp. I recently got a new guitar: an Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

I am loving the guitar, but being played through an old, used, FREE Fender frontman amp sucks. (I think new it was like 60 bucks).

So I am starting to try and figure out what kind of Bedroom Amp is best - I particularly liked the idea of wattage settings, so I could play quietly but maintain tone.

I have been looking at the Fender Super Champ XD. A Blue Jr. would be nice but I'm not sure I can dish out 400-500.

Any suggestions? I'm into the bluesy stuff. I never play metal or heavy distortion stuff, just want good cleans, reverb, and good sounding sustain.

Also, (sorry this is long) I want to be able to hear my low E string, I feel like most amps I've tried are all about mids.

Any advice appreciated, yes I am fairly inexperienced.

Thanks

Budget: 100-300. (I know its very little).
 
$100-300? You're not going to find much in that range, and honestly as a total tube snob myself, tube amps really only come into their own when you get to start to push them, which often isn't an option in a bedroom.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...oDI-Amplifer?sku=480040&src=3WWRWXGB&ZYXSEM=0

$19 out of your price range, but I got mine used for $180. Easily the best practice amp I've ever played, and while I doubt you'll get much use out of the "Cali" mode (Mesa, basically), the "Tweed" and the lower gain "Brit" modes are awesome for the stuff you're after. And, it's got a super-lush reverb.
 
Thanks, I appreciate the info. Yeah I mean, I guess the issue is, I want an amp that would pair well with my modestly priced/quality guitar.
 
5W amps can be overdriven in good extent without destroing a bedroom :D

Tech 21 is not a tube amp, it only tries to emulate it.

reverb stompbox can be a good solution.
 
I think that you'll need to refine your wants/needs and figure out if you want:

-a bedroom amp
-a tube amp
-to play a tube amp in your bedroom.

In order to do the 3rd option and get a good tone to record, you'll need a power attenuator. Even a 5-watt tube amp is too loud for bedroom playing when cranked, and it's really only when cranked that you get any sort of benefit from a tube amp. If you want to be quiet and record guitars, look into a modeller. It'll be a much less frustrating endeavor than trying to tame a tube amp into a quiet bedroom setting and still get a good tone out of it.
 
vijsolo said:
5W amps can be overdriven in good extent without destroing a bedroom :D

Tech 21 is not a tube amp, it only tries to emulate it.

reverb stompbox can be a good solution.
Click to expand...

I'm aware the Tech-21 isn't actually a tube amp - I own one. ;) I also own a Mesa Roadster head, which is most assuredly a tube amp, so I'm pretty familiar with the differences. ;)

To be perfectly honest, I play the Roadster WAY more than I do the Tech-21. However, even a head and a 2x12, especially when I also run it with a THD Hot Plate to take the edge off the volume and leave a delay in the FX loop, is a royal pain in the ass to move, so the Tech-21 is mostly used as a portable rig when I'm going over to jam with a friend or something. And, honestly, it's a good enough sounding (and flexible enough) setup that while I'd prefer the Recto, at something like 18 pounds vs probably all in 120 or so, it's just not worth the added hassle.

I think at that price point, saying you need a tube amp closes a lot of otherwise excellent options to you. The Trademark is, IMO, the best sounding amp in its size and price range I've ever played (and it even records pretty well, to boot!). I'd say if you want a small amp with 'verb, a great clean, and an overdrive that can sustain nicely, that would be my recommendation hands down.

As far as a reverb pedal... Yes and no. The problem is you really want to run any time-based effects in an effects loop, so as not to interfere with the way an amp distorts. If you're even slightly overdriving the preamp of an amp, then if you're adding a reverb up front you'r also distorting the echo - not hearing an echo of a distorted sound, but actually distorting the echo along with the dry signal, and the result is it turns to mush. So, really what you want here is a small tube amp with an FX loop for less than $300. That's kind of a stretch.

If you want tubes and reverb, I'd recommend saving a bit mroe and getting a Fender Blues Jr, but that's closer to $500.
 
So let me clarify my needs more and usage.

So I have the Digitech JamMan Looping Pedal. I absolutely love it. One issue is, I might want some preamp stuff so I can get it into the recording. Otherwise I am just playing stuff through an amp with effects, but that means on iTunes it's not part of it.

So I am thinking maybe I want something like a valve junior and then pedals for effects I want - At this point I'm really only interested in some reverb.

Suggestions?
 
My inital feeling of that Tech-21 is good. hopefully I can find it somewhere to try it out first as I refuse to buy on the internet without hearing one. Looks nice tho :D

What about a Valve Junior and then modding it for reverb (59.95extra)?
 
Growing up I heard the tiny Pignose amps and they were garbage so I skeptical when a friend brought over a Pignose G40V:
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--PIGG40V
It's a nice amp although it has no reverb and 10" not 12" speaker.
It was designed by a guy that knew what he was doing (Dennis Kager, a former designer for Ampeg) and it is a bargain as far as I can see. My friend that has one uses a 12" speaker in an extension cabinet for gigs.

They make another version called a G60V I haven't seen or heard but to me it seems expensive:
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/modules.php?name=catalog&file=product_info&products_id=1886

But I've seen the G40V' s go for not much over $200 on eBay and to me one of those with an effects unit would be a nice cheap setup.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Ill second the Tradmark from Tech21...but I also have a crate VC5 that is also a nice tube option.
Click to expand...

I was actually pretty surprised by the one I played, and toyed with the idea of grabbing one, taking out the chassis, and making a custom "head" enclosure for it so I could use it with a bigger cab. Though, I don't know if it's the right amp for the guy's needs - it put out a LOT of gain, and didn't strike me as really intending to be a clean amp.
 
Everyone has their own definition of what "bedroom level" is, I guess. IMO most small tube amps, like 5 watts, turned up loud enough to where they start sounding decent are going to be louder than my perception of "bedroom level". What I do for practice is use headphones and a desktop modeler, currently it is a Vox Tonelab. I have it connected to my computer, I can play along with songs on MP3's or Youtube and mix it to the right level. No one else in the house can hear it.
 
MajorTom said:
Everyone has their own definition of what "bedroom level" is, I guess. IMO most small tube amps, like 5 watts, turned up loud enough to where they start sounding decent are going to be louder than my perception of "bedroom level". What I do for practice is use headphones and a desktop modeler, currently it is a Vox Tonelab. I have it connected to my computer, I can play along with songs on MP3's or Youtube and mix it to the right level. No one else in the house can hear it.
Click to expand...

...whereas I live on the third floor of a 3-floor house, where we have the second and third floors, with a bunch of pretty musician-friendly roommates, so I practice through my Roadster and a 2x12 most of the time. I don't have it up at gigging levels, exactly, but I can get away with moving a fair bit of air. :)
 
The only amp that I'd consider a true "bedroom tube amp" would be the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-JSX-Mini-Colossal-Guitar-Amp?sku=480777

It has a single EL84 power tube that you can push hard, thanks to it's built-in power attenuator. The only down side IMO is the 8" speaker. But at bedroom levels, you're not going to be generating any chest-pounding bass even through a 4x12", so the 8" probably won't be much of a drawback in your case. It does have speaker outs so you can buy an extension cab down the road if you ever get a chance to move more air.

They just dropped the price on the Mini Colossal to $300, which really isn't bad. Although it has a tremolo instead of a reverb, which might be a deal breaker for you.

But hell, if I suggested one $300 amp, I might as well suggest another. The Fender Super Champ XD is probably the best true tube amp in this price range ("true tube amp" meaning it has a tube output section). Or the Vibro-Champ for $200 has a tube output section. Both are good little amps that get a lot of good reviews around these forums.

But both of those Champs are going to present the same problem as any other tube amp in your situation: you need to push the power section into breakup in order to get any benefit from having a tube amp. Pushing the preamp tubes doesn't really sound much different than simply using a solid state preamp. It's the power tubes that make the difference. And if you're not pushing it enough to overdrive the power tubes, then again, you might as well be using a solid-state amp.

The Mini Colossal is the smallest amp that I know of that has a built-in power attenuator, which allows you to push the power tubes as hard as you like but still gives you a chance to bring the volume down before it hits the speaker. It's like a master volume between the amp and the speakers.
 
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