Amplification Advice

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Royston

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I currently have a Fender Deville 4 x 10 combo, I have one slight problem with it. It's way too loud and powerful for me! I don't intend on playing live anytime soon and it's too much of an amp for me to use, anything past #2 on the volume makes my house shudder.

I would love a Vox AC30 but that's way over my price range, I would like an amp that gives that 60's sound with built in warm fuzzy distortion, reverb and tremelo effect (all controllable by a footswitch). Any advice from you guys?
 
The Fender 65 Reverb Deluxe is a very good low watt amp. 1x12, 22 watts, all tube, tube driven tremlo & reverb. Classis & clear tone (like a Twin) & gets gritty around 5. Had one but sold it for a gtr processor...more versatile & value. Some of the new processors sound really vintage...that could be an option for you.
 
How much is a GTR processor, you think that would be a better choice for me? Does anyone have a Vox cambridge 30 amp? Was considering getting one of those.
 
you could go the rack gear way.... though not cheap either.

guhlenn
 
The Boss GT-3 is a great piece of equipment! The best $380.00 I've ever spent & worth far more. It's packed w/ everything Boss effect & blows away the Pod. An excellent value!! AMS & Muscians Friend have a return policy. If you don't like, send it back for your money. Email if you like.
 
My Johnson J-Station is an amp modeller with all the classic, vintage amps like 50s Deluxe, 65 Twin, 69 Plexi, AC 30 Top Boost, etc. Currently, they are selling just under $300. Go to the Johnson Amplification web page for samples of these and other tones it has onboard.
Has effects also and is footswitchable. I gig with it. Can be set as the front end of an amp, go straight into the board, or s/pdif into your pc.
If you want a real amp, I'd suggest a Fender Princeton (all tube), app. 20 watts, suitable for home or small club use (as well as recording!).

Tom
 
The First bigger amp I got was a Blues Deville, the tweed covered one. And, like you, I realized how LOUD the thing was. I shopped around for my next amp, which became a Pro Jr. It is 15 watts through a 10" speaker, like 1/4 of the Blues Deville. This has made a great recording amp, as well as sometimes using for small shows. And it has a similar circuitry as my Vox AC-30. I would stay away from the Cambridge. It is a solid state amp with a tube pre and doesnt some close to an AC-30 or AC-15.

H2H
 
what about laney? i can get for about $175 a 15 watt laney all tube ... 3 x 12ax7 en 2 x el84 . think i can put a preamp before that (high gain)

thanks guhlenn
 
Have you tried a power attenuator like the thd hotplate?
It will allow you to drive your tubes while playing at a sane volume. You could hook it up to your amp and be set.

Also, theres a unit by Palmer wich takes the impedance load of the amp and allows you to run it direct, so you use your amp like a pod sort of. And, even better use the amp for its tone, and a device like the pod for its amp sims and room feel.

Id say either try a power attenuator or one of the amp suggestion. If your in a situation where you can mic your amp thats the way to go. But, there are lots of other units available for direct amp simulation. Units I find intruiging are the yamaha dg stomp and the boss vf 1. Or you could use the palmer to record your amp direct, and maybe run it through a modeling/efx device for its speaker and room sims.
 
A bit confussing isn't it?, you've been recommended the BOSS GT3, Johnson J-station and numerous amps. Just before I answer the question, no way does the GT3 blow away the POD. I was going to get a boss multi-effects, so glad I didn't. Just a bunch of effects (tacky shit like auto riff and that-just a cheap gimmick). The POD delivers a almost any tone that you could imagine you just have to work with it. It blows the J-station away though the J station does have a few bass patches if I ain't much mistaken.

I bought the POD pro (rack-mount POD version), played into it and listened through headphones (as you can have it any volume you desire). That isn't practical though is it. I then bought a tube amp and the floorboard (with wah pedal, volume pedal and footswitches to control the POD-ideal for live situation. I therefore now have a unit for direct recording, general all purpose at home and practical for live use, delivering not a bunch of effects, just great tones.

Anyway back to your question. I would buy a VOX cambridge 15 or 30. These are relativley cheap, low wattage whilst maintaining that vintage sound. These are truly magnificent, I wish I had bought one instead for use at home instead of my Marshall VS265R. There is no comparison, I'm thinking of selling my marshall and buying one of these for home use (even though I'll loose a shit load of money). Don't take my word for it, test them.

This amp would only suffice for home use I must stress. I would not use it live. There is no point really in wasting money on buying an expensive amp for home use. Getting a relativley small amp that you can turn up to high volumes yields far better results than an amp set to 2 or 3.

Alternativley you can buy my Marshall. LOL.
 
Dude,
All you need is a power attenuator if you like your amps tone. That will give you the cranked tone at a reasonable volume.
 
robert,

have you actually HEARD an attenuator? cuz i did, and i do not reccomend it to anyone, besides the hotplate is for vintage non-master amps, it wont do much good with a mastervolume amp. and i don't think much of POD, but POD seems to divide the guitar playing crowd in extremes; the lovers and the haters... choose ...

guhlenn;)
 
i don't think so. that's what a poor attenuator does too. it doesn't sound good. it might even hurt your amp... thogh i don't know about that.

guhlenn
 
I think variacs and attenuators are a bit different though I dont know the particulars. I think dofferent attenuators give different results so its unfair to lump them all together. I also think that an attenuator will cost about the same as a good old 10 watt amp wich would probably be the best option in retrospect.

Attenuators can be used on master volume amps most definately. The idea is to use the POWER tubes sound instead of the pre amps, they sound quite different. Try before you buy definately. Attenuators may lead to more frequent retubings. And they do change the tone in different ways.

www.amptone.com
 
Variac is the secret of Van Halen's "brown sound".He sags the voltage down to about 85 volts.Sounds great, but the trouble is that it eats power tubes real fast.Not recommended unless you have a lot of bucks to spare for constant re-tubing.

Tom
 
Well Krysto,
The PODs a piece of crap & the GT3 is a piece of crap. Different strokes for different folks & all of our fingers stroke differently. Remember, tweek, tweek & tweek.
 
-steveaustin-

You know I agree on the GT3 but the POD, well, have you ever tried tweaking your ears?
 
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