Advice for First Real Amp: Best bedroom tube amp.

[darrin_h2000]

...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.

You could turn it up louder if you just got more blue barrels and strangled the rest of your roomates and dumped them in the river...lol.

Is that an old Ibanez Roadstar you are playing through?...I had one of those too.

 

[darrin_h2000]

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.

I think either has plenty of gain when I put it out through the 4-12 cabnet.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

You could turn it up louder if you just got more blue barrels and strangled the rest of your roomates and dumped them in the river...lol.

Is that an old Ibanez Roadstar you are playing through?...I had one of those too.

Nah, one of these babies:

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Rectifier_Series/roadster/roadster.html

Mine has a custom faceplate - the "normal" Rectifier flat diamondplate instead of the half leather and curved diamondplate. But, this is probably the best amp I've ever played, much less owned. It's pretty staggeringly amazing.

 

[shuasetter]

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.

This is a really good point - and I have played the Super and Vibro Champ XD's and really liked them. My question then is, on the Vox AC4TV it has the power switch for 1/4 1 and 4 watts respectively. Is this different from a power attenuator? I liked the idea of using 1/4 or 1 watt but cranking it.

On the other hand you've made a great case for a solid-state considering my usage right now: Bedroom levels during day, headphones or low volume at night.

Right now I am deciding between:

Fender Super Champ XD
Vox AC4TV
Tech-21

On an appearence basis, the Vox is what I want. but obvioulsy looks aren't the most important ;-)

 

[darrin_h2000]

Ive had a super champ...bought it for $3 broken at a garage sale...its OK for your needs...but the Tech 21 should be the best bet of anyone shopping for a little practice amp for the bedroom based on all the sounds you can get from it.

 

[Tadpui]

This is a really good point - and I have played the Super and Vibro Champ XD's and really liked them. My question then is, on the Vox AC4TV it has the power switch for 1/4 1 and 4 watts respectively. Is this different from a power attenuator? I liked the idea of using 1/4 or 1 watt but cranking it.

On the other hand you've made a great case for a solid-state considering my usage right now: Bedroom levels during day, headphones or low volume at night.

Right now I am deciding between:

Fender Super Champ XD
Vox AC4TV
Tech-21

On an appearence basis, the Vox is what I want. but obvioulsy looks aren't the most important ;-)

The 1/4 and 1 watt settings might actually be right up your alley as well. It is different than a power attenuator, but the result is pretty much the same. You still get to overdrive the power section while keeping the overall volume relatively low. I guess it depends on how efficient the speaker is on the AC4TV as to how loud a 1/4 watt or a single watt will be. The plus of that Vox over the Mini Colossal is the 10" speaker versus the JSX's 8" speaker.

It'd definitely be worth a try to see how the Vox or the JSX fit your needs by test-driving them. If you can't coax a satisfactory tone out of them at the volume levels that you require, then I'd say that the Tech-21 would be the winner for your situation.

 

[shuasetter]

well whatever I get, its going to be really nice compared to what I have now...

Fender Frontman Pr 241.. its awful...

 

[shuasetter]

Bugera V5

http://www.bugera-amps.com/EN/products/V5.aspx


Tried it out at the GC today.

It is apparently a tube amp with a power attenuator and reverb and $150.

techincally exactly what I was looking for.

However since I now have the holy grail, I am still looking to get the Vox AC4TV.

That said, has anyone else used this, any thoughts. It only has 8" speaker i think compared to the superior Vox's 10". No headphone for the vox but thats okay.

 

[Walt-Dogg]

I do not suggest any mid-sized Fender tube amps, just as a heads up, even some of the lower wattage ones. As the volume sweep, and I don't know why, is generally in between .5 and 4 on the volume control and slightest tap can take you from a whisper to a loud roar.

Might I suggest though as I've read in this thread, a low-wattage amp with an output selector switch, but it all really depends on your budget.

 

[sgulley]

I just got the JSX Peavey Mini Colossal last week. It has an attenuator on the back so that you can overdrive the power tube with the speaker volume very low. I bought it so that I can record late at night. It works great since it has an XLR output to go to a recorder or PA. It also has a speaker jack port to go into 2x12/4/12 cabs w/o disconnecting anything.

The one nit was that it was a little muddy with very little room for clean tones. Once I replaced the stock preamp tube (12AX7) with a 12AT7 magical tones started coming out. This is one great amp when you do the replacement.

I saw one blimished at Guitar Centers site for $263 today. I'd get one while you can since Peavey already discontinued them this week. I think they are more interested in selling their Vypers and the Windser Studio ($400).

The great thing about the new Peavey tube amps is they are good and come with a Power Sponge (attenuator) and XLR output.