can you recommend a small amp that does clean well?

For a small amp, a 70s silverface champ or vibro champ is wonderful for clean tones. You got that sweet zone around 4 to 5. Ill usually run one through an external 1×12 instead of the teeny 8 inch speaker. Sounds bigger and fuller.
It won't do it all though. It is after all a "small" amp.

For bigger, some of the most glorious clean, sparkly, and glassy tones come from a Goodsell Super 17. It will go from
Fenderish clean to marshall territory with ease. If I was only to have one amp for everything, I'd have no problem with that being my Goodsell.
 
Robus said:
Here's what I think will happen. To keep the neighbors happy, you'll wind up playing with the volume dialed down below the level where the amp comes alive. To compensate, you'll stick some pedals in the chain, but it won't sound quite as good as the tone in your head. After a while, you'll wish you had a different amp.
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I think you're right, Robus, and then I will get frustrated by the limitations of my living arrangement and start punching walls, and then my landlord will charge my a few grand to fix it and my broken hand, and then I will think "Darn, that money could have paid for a different amp."
 
Another option is a higher power amp and an attenuator. The higher powered amp will have the headroom you need for good cleans and a robust dirty sound, which little amps usually don't. Little amps are usually flat and lifeless. It's just the nature of the tiny little beast. But with an attenuator, you can wind up bigger amps and knock the volume back down before the cab. You'll still be missing the action of the speaker and cab shaking air, but you'll at least have a bigger power section working which naturally makes better sounds.
 
Greg_L said:
Little amps are usually flat and lifeless.
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That was my experience with the Champ. I liked it better cranked, but at that point it got too dirty for some of the material.

How high of power can I go with an attenuator? Can you recommend an attenuator to look into? I don't know anything about those.
 
jonny deep said:
You could do a lot worse than the Vox AC15HW1X. Those things do glorious, sparkling cleans at reasonable volumes.

Vox AC15HW1X Hand-Wired (Celestion Alnico Blue Speaker)
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This ^^^^^^

Vox amps kill. There's another awesome option for you.

Nola said:
That was my experience with the Champ. I liked it better cranked, but at that point it got too dirty for some of the material.

How high of power can I go with an attenuator? Can you recommend an attenuator to look into? I don't know anything about those.
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There are tons of them. They have some that can handle up to 200 watts or more.

I use a Weber Mass 200 with my Marshalls when I need to dial them back a little bit. It's got an actual speaker motor inside of it and works wonderfully. Hot Plates, Rockcrushers, Jettenuator, Weber Mass stuff, Dr Z Airbrake, Ultimates, they're all pretty good. Some of them are load specific, some can work at any amp setting.
 
RFR said:
For a small amp, a 70s silverface champ or vibro champ is wonderful for clean tones. You got that sweet zone around 4 to 5. Ill usually run one through an external 1×12 instead of the teeny 8 inch speaker. Sounds bigger and fuller.
It won't do it all though. It is after all a "small" amp.

For bigger, some of the most glorious clean, sparkly, and glassy tones come from a Goodsell Super 17. It will go from
Fenderish clean to marshall territory with ease. If I was only to have one amp for everything, I'd have no problem with that being my Goodsell.
Click to expand...

RFR, when you run the small amp through a 1x12 speaker does it lose power? Like ohm mismatch or anything like that. Or does that only happen if the linked cabinet has 2 speakers?

I will try to find a shop that has a Goodsell, too. I never heard of those, thanks.
 
I got a 12 inch weber, not sure of the ohms but no power loss.

The goodsell is a small botique company. Not a lot of dealers. Lots of youtube vids to get an idea.
 
RFR, when you run the small amp through a 1x12 speaker does it lose power? Like ohm mismatch or anything like that. Or does that only happen if the linked cabinet has 2 speakers?
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A few years ago when the Hughes & Kettner 5 watt Tubemeister came out I was looking around for a small pretty looking head to put on a shelf in the studio. When the guy in the shop showed it to me I first thought it to be a piece of point of sale material, as in a small non functional piece if counter candy. An hour later having played it through a Marshall 4x12 with some decent volume, I walked out with one. I subsequently bought the 18 watt version and recently a Grandmeister 36. Great little amps if one wants a very portable unit.
 
Phrasemaker said:
A few years ago when the Hughes & Kettner 5 watt Tubemeister came out I was looking around for a small pretty looking head to put on a shelf in the studio. When the guy in the shop showed it to me I first thought it to be a piece of point of sale material, as in a small non functional piece if counter candy. An hour later having played it through a Marshall 4x12 with some decent volume, I walked out with one. I subsequently bought the 18 watt version and recently a Grandmeister 36. Great little amps if one wants a very portable unit.
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How does the 36 compare to the 18?
 
The Grandmeister 36 having four channels is a very flexible amp, since buying it a barely use additional FX. The main advantage with it is not only does it do clean very well, the over-driven channels are superb, something that I couldn't get to grips with to my liking on the 18. It has to be played to really appreciate the wide range of tones available from it. The 18 is good for what it is, the 36 is something else altogether.
 
Phrasemaker said:
The Grandmeister 36 having four channels is a very flexible amp, since buying it a barely use additional FX. The main advantage with it is not only does it do clean very well, the over-driven channels are superb, something that I couldn't get to grips with to my liking on the 18. It has to be played to really appreciate the wide range of tones available from it. The 18 is good for what it is, the 36 is something else altogether.
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I agree about the 18. It's forte is clean to edge of breakup. I has a unique clean tone that works well in my music. It's very pristine, not dark like a Fender or bright like a Vox. I love it, it records so well.
 
surprised no one has mention Vox. THESE little amps can get clean, nasty, and great for a home studio..just my opinion ohh ,just changed my mind after listening to the fender champion..loved it!
 
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clean clean very clean

Nola said:
Hi Jdod. I think 2k is the most I'd spend, but I'd be much happier around $1,200.
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Hands Down Fender Deluxe Reverb for clean tone in small package...22watts of all tube power and a 12 inch speaker and in the price range you quote
 
Check out the Mesa Mark V 25. It's like having 6 amps in one and the tonal possibilities are endless. Has the cab clone for direct silent recording, headphone output for late night jam sessions, EQ. 2 channels with 3 modes each. Can also be switched between 10 and 25 watts.
 
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pinhedgtr said:
Check out the Mesa Mark V 25. It's like having 6 amps in one and the tonal possibilities are endless. Has the cab clone for direct silent recording, headphone output for late night jam sessions, EQ. 2 channels with 3 modes each. Can also be switched between 10 and 25 watts.
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One of the big box online sellers--maybe Sweetwater?--has an in-depth demo vid of this amp. It sounds beautiful!
 
Robus said:
One of the big box online sellers--maybe Sweetwater?--has an in-depth demo vid of this amp. It sounds beautiful!
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Yes, the sweetwater video with Andy Timmons is the bomb! I've had this amp for a little over a year now and I am still amazed with it every time I play.
 
Ok, I am pretty sure I got the dropbox thing figured out (look out tone thread, here I come...). I spent a little time this evening recording a few of my little combos to give an idea of the clean channels of the amps for the OP. All were recorded with an Audix i5 with a little time spent on trying to find the sweet spot on the speaker - considering it was a clean tone, I didn't spend too long messing around with mic placement. The i5 was generally more towards the edge of the speaker on all of the tracks. Guitar used was a Fender US strat, swamp ash body with texas special single-coil pickups - each track starts off on the neck pickup and switches to the bridge around halfway through the clip. Each amp had the EQ (when applicable) set to straight 12 o'clock, flat all the way across. Volume levels vary; I tried to get them just under where the amp starts to break up a little but may have flubbed on one or two. Nothing between the guitar and the amp except a 15' cable and no post processing.

Fender Blues Jr.
This is a modified Blues Jr, so it's kind of a party foul unless you want to buy a used one and put the $$ into it. It has had the BillM mods - bright cap removed, bias trim pot added, upgraded output transformer (NOS from the 60's) and a Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker installed. Tubes are all upgraded from stock as well.

Blues Jr. with "Fat" switch engaged

Vox AC15 C1 Normal Channel
My AC15 C1 is stock and loaded with the Celestion Greenback from the factory. Had no control over the EQ on this one; the EQ on the amp is only for the top boost channel.

AC15 C1 Top Boost Channel

Orange TH30 combo
This was my first thought in response to the OP. This amp does clean...and everything else. Takes pedals like a champ and can do everything from a whisper to a scream with ease. By far my favorite and my go-to amp for most anything. It's running the stock Celestion Vintage 30 speaker; what more do ya need?

Marshall DSL40C
This amp does the clean to the dirty with ease BUT...as has been mentioned in other threads, it has a shared EQ section between the channels. If it's set for cleans it is hit-or-miss for the dirty and vice-versa. It's a fun amp to play on and if you're only recording with it then the shared EQ shouldn't matter that much. This one came loaded with a Celestion Creamback in it.

Ignore the crappy playing; I did a little percussive rhythm and little chording just as a short example... :facepalm: Hoping that gives the OP something to consider.
 
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