Any experience with very low-wattage tube amps?

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Whoopysnorp

Whoopysnorp

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My main amp is a Marshall TSL601 which I usually pair with a Hughes & Kettner 4x12. This is great for live playing, but lately I've been getting the urge to buy a second tube amp. Since I live in an apartment and like to record, I'm wondering whether one of those little 1 watt or 1/2 watt tube amps that various manufacturers offer might be to my liking. I figure if I get one of those and a 1x12 cabinet (so I can store my 4x12 at my rehearsal area), that will be a low-cost solution to having something that sounds great that I can play around the house. Does anybody know of any specific makes and models of amps like this that are cool? One that I'm looking into is the Zvex Nano.
 
They have sound clips on their website.

I personally think it sounds small, but thats just me. Those tubes are like the sise of kidneybeans so I don't really by they whole "tube" sound thing. They clips did sound better than most solidstates at low volumes, but they still sound small.

Not that its bad, you are only looking for a practice amp....but just don't be expecting too much.
 
you might be better off buying a fender champ or so (8 watts ?) ... and run the 1x12 from there

you might even be able to sell it afterwards :-) ... and you can still use it for small live acts ... seems so much more versatile to me

just a thought ...
 
i second the champ reccomendation. not very pricy for the sweet tone these things put out.
 
The thing is, my roommate already has a Fender Champ (actually it might be a Super Champ), and I've never thought the tone out of it was that great. On the other hand, the tubes in it are really old. Still, though, will it crunch in any way that resembles a Marshall? It also kind of seems like even at 8 watts or whatever it is, when cranked enough to really push the tubes it'd be too loud for apartment playing.
 
i don't remember what years the super champs were, but upon doing a search, i'm not seeing any made before 1982. i like the late 60's vibro champs. the super champs i see listed are 18 watts, not 8, and definately do not have the sweet-sounding vintage parts that the older models would. for a marshall sound on a small amp, my vote would probably be toward something like a late 60's vibro champ with a marshall guv'nor overdrive pedal. it's not perfect, but you can get a fairly marshallish tone with the combination.
 
One of the better sounds I ever got was for a slashing heavy guitarist a few years back...amp- Pignose....Completely enclosed in an old Ampeg 4-12 cabinet(empty)...Goboes all around...1 LDC mic....incredible
 
I have a pignose, and it sounds pretty cool. Kind of a gentle blues overdrive. I also had a 70's silverface vibro champ. THAT THING ROCKED!!!! I ditched the 8'' speaker and jigsawed it for a 10". I beefed up the first gain stage in it(very easy to do), and used an old "L" pad from a hot spot monitor. (The volume attenuator from a blown stand mounted monitor) I could turn it up to ten and use the pad like a power soak. It sounded great! I even giged with it on a few occasions just for kicks. It was great for recording, and late night practice. Sadly..... it was stolen from a practice room. I was really pissed!! That was the single most valued piece of equiptment I'll probably ever own. Some day I'll pick up another off e-bay. (I was lucky enough to see mine at a yard sale for $50.00 !!!)
 
I tried the nano amp head through an orange cabinet at a local guitar shop and thought it was a joke at the price they wanted. its a novelty item IMO.

for the same amount u need to look into the GIBSON GA-5 Goldtone Les Paul Jr. 5 watt tube amp. you will get pure tube distortion that sounds SO sweet! They run about $450-$500. theyre handwired boutique quality.

http://www.goldtoneamps.com/ga5.html

heres review in guitar player

http://www.guitarplayer.com/archive/0604/0604_BenchTests6.htm

Awesome for practice and/or recording.
 
i've got a 76 fender champ (silverface) and plugged into a 12" speaker, the tone is really hard to beat. the 8" speaker gets "farty" when you dime the thing out, but the 12" really makes it sing. well worth the couple hundred they go for just about everywhere.


cheers,
wade
 
I don't think any tube amp, even the Goldtone at 5 watts, is going to be apartment friendly.

Though......

As goldtopchas mentioned, and attenuator would be the best idea. Then you can crank your 100 watt head or whatever you have and play at bedroom volume with all the sweet sustain of real powertubes.

THD makes one called the HotPlate for about $250-270. Thats a lot less than the Nano amp.
thdelectronics.com/

No they don't damage your amp. Thats a common misconception. (well, maybe some crude first generation attenuators from way back when....)
 
Have you considered a modeling amp? Like a Trademark 10 or the Line 6 stuff? That'll get you pretty close on sound for recording - plus you'll have an arsenal of amps/cabs to work with.

I have a Trademark 10 and I run an ART MP tube preamp in front of it. Works for me...
 
Fusioninspace said:
Have you considered a modeling amp? Like a Trademark 10 or the Line 6 stuff? That'll get you pretty close on sound for recording - plus you'll have an arsenal of amps/cabs to work with.

I have a Trademark 10 and I run an ART MP tube preamp in front of it. Works for me...
Click to expand...

I'm just not really convinced about modelling stuff. My friend has a POD, and it sounds pretty good, but there's something just not quite right about it to my ears.

I was thinking about getting an attenuator but I would like to be able to leave my TSL601 at the rehearsal space so I don't have to haul it back and forth from there to the apartment. I'm considering changing gears a bit and looking into something from that new MTS line that Randall has out (the tube amps with the interchangable tube preamps). They just came out with a 15 watt combo. I wouldn't be able to saturate the power tubes, but since depending on the preamp module I used I could get plenty of preamp gain, that might work for having around the house. I think there are a few stores that carry Randall stuff in some Chicago suburbs, so maybe I could drive to one and test one out. I'd have to save up a bit more money though.
 
One other Idea that I'll mention is.....A friend of mine built an isolation booth into his closet. He took out the drywall and packed it full of insulation, re- drywalled it and added a solid core wood door that he got cheap somewhere. He hung a sleeping bag on one wall to diffuse a little.
It did a nice job of keeping the noise down when he tracked his amp. He also did vocals in it sometimes. Just ran the cords under the door. It worked pretty good.
 
I thought it'd be cool to put an isolation booth in a closet like that, but unfortunately I only have one closet and it is jammed with stuff that won't fit anywhere else. Maybe the next place I live will have more closets.
 
Whoopysnorp said:
I'm just not really convinced about modelling stuff. My friend has a POD, and it sounds pretty good, but there's something just not quite right about it to my ears.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that there is a HUGE difference between Tech21's "modelling" stuff and other modellers like the Pod or V-Amp and such.

Analog vs. Digital
There is no doubt that the Pod and other modellers are digital devices. They digitize the input, do whatever processing they want, and then convert back to analog. On the other hand, the Tech21 amps and SansAmps are 100% analog. No digital conversion or processing. Too many people equate digital and solid state for some reason. The Tech21's, while solid state, are not at all digital

Amp Modelling vs. Tube Modelling
All the other companies (Line6 etc) use their DSP technology to try to recreate the sounds of famous amps. Marshalls, Fenders, Voxes, etc. They model the sound of the amp as a whole. Tech21 said screw that, and decided to use analog technology to model the characteristics of tubes, not amps. Whole world of difference. A byproduct of their tube modelling is that the amp is capable of producing the tones of famous amps at a quality that would make you have to stop and listen really hard to tell the difference from the real thing.

Don't just write off the Tech21 stuff, go find a dealer and play through one for a little while. I use a Trademark 60 twice a week for live stuff, and whenever I get pulled over onto bass, my main preamp is a SansAmp Bass Driver.
 
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