Cheap tube amp for les paul

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VirtualSamana

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Just picked up a faded cherry Les Paul Special at guitar center. I bought it with the intention of playing around with it for a month and then taking it back being that I'm broke enough as it is. Now I really have fallen in love with it. Damn you Guitar Satan!

I would like to buy a small tube amp to go along with the guitar. I am borrowing my friends Blues Junior and so far I am a bit unimpressed. I played a Tele through the BJ and got sweet bluesey warm tones without any effort. The LP (2 Humbuckers - 490's ?) sounds a bit muddy. I am tweaking but the guitar still doesn't sound so great.

Can anyone suggest any other amps I should try out for around the same price range as the BJ? I'd like to get a warm bluesy sound but also would like a crunchy zep sound as well.

I probably won't be playing live with this amp so it doesn't need to be powerful just want good tone.
 
How cheap ?

Marshalls sound fantasic with a Les Paul. Get your ass down to a store and try a DSL 401 or 201, or AVT 50. The AVT's are solid state (one preamp tube) but I have played them twice and I think they sound very good. DSL's are more expensive and the clean tones might be sweeter because of the tubes.

Used Marshalls- a better deal than buying new, but it could be a hassle finding the right one. Check your classifieds.

Peavey Classic 30- (tube amp) I play a Classic 50 and if I did it again I would buy the 30 because it's better for bedroom recording. Excellent blues tones and very "vintage " sounding. $400

I play a 1976 LP Standard (with a DiMarzio SuperDistortion pup in the neck position) and a 2001 LP Standard with 490-498. I tried the Blues Jr. too and my 1976 Paul didn't really gel with it.

Congrats on the new guitar VirtualSamana.
 
well... here we go

mesa boogie studio .22 +
Fender champ 12
Peavey classic 30
LAney LC15

or go to AX84.com and build your own! even less power so more nice distortion from those TUBES...hehehe

Guhlenn;)
 
Thanks Wide Awake, gibs, and guhlenn

I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I took them all to heart.

So far I tried out the following:

Champ 12 - pretty decent sound for a solid state amp.

Marshall AVT - Not my cup of tea but didn't get to play around with it enough to come to a real conclusion.

Peavey 30 - better than the Fender BJ

Mesa Boogie .50 - I like! Surprised at how good the clean channel sounds. And the lead channel has great distortion. No mud just crunchy and creamy. I want one! Guitar Center had one that was beat to shreds but still sounded good. They were charging $550 for it. Ebay looks like the way to go.

Thanks again for all your help!
 
The Carvin Bel Air 212 or Nomad is the best tube amp you can get for a small amount of money. The Bel Air is $550 brand new and I beleive the Nomad (same amp, just 1 12" speaker instead of 2) is around $499. I have had a Bel Air for a couple years now. I gaurantee you no matter what anybody else says, you can't beat it's clean channel for any amount of money. The distortion channel isn't quite as good, but it is still awesome. bOb
 
Your Les Paul probably has pretty hot pickups in it, getting some good Seymour Duncan`s or other oldstyle PAF`s would give you a sweeter, less muddy sound



Amund
 
May God forgive me for this, but I'm going to recommend a couple of Behringer products here.

If it's a reasonably-priced tube amp you're looking for, this one has been getting rave reviews as the best "bang-for-your-buck" tube amp you can get right now....
http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=AC112&lang=eng
It costs only $289 at just about any on-line music store.
That's pretty darned cheap for an amp with so many cool features.

There's also the non-tube version that only costs $229, and it has been getting phenomenal reviews at harmony-central for it's killer tone and value...
http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=GX112&lang=eng

I'm probably going to get the Vintager as soon as I sell my Peavey 2-12 TransTube which weighs a whopping 80 lbs!
(I'm tired of lugging it around)

Here's the reviews on the Blue Devil....
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Behringer/GX_112_Blue_Devil-01.html

It seems to be a great amp for the money.
I think both of them are worth a serious look.
 
Buck62 said:
May God forgive me for this, but I'm going to recommend a couple of Behringer products here.
Click to expand...

I just got off the phone from God here, and he had just sent your files down to satan@hell.com .
You`ll be hearing from him shortly.
 
definitely go with a Marshall DSL401. I recently bought one. It sounds great! I got it for $630 from guitar center. All I had to do was bring in an email from Music123 stating they would sell it to me for that price. That's $630 after tax! Woohoo!
 
Reverend make an amp called the hellhound40/60 its a combo running a 12'' speaker this amp seems to have the goods im most impressed with its features and price as well here you go check it out

http://www.reverenddirect.com/
 
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4X10" that I love. It is all tube, except for the reverb, which is solid state. The smaller version of the hot rod starts out at $550 i think.
 
Ashdown (any model)... anyone else have one? I want to have its baby.
 
I agree on the Hot Rod Deville, though a cheaper route is the Fender Deluxe 112. Sounds fucking great. I got mine for around $400 at GC several years ago, no idea what they run now.
 
Just stick a distortion pedal in front of the Blues Junior. You can get a lot of tones out of it.
 
Amp

A few thoughts:

- If you love the guitar, but you prefer the way another guitar sounds, um ... do you really love the guitar?

- Les Paul -> Marshall is sort of a classic set-up. Les Paul -> Fender Twin has it's adherents as well. Neither of these is going to be cheap, though. When I say "Marshall," I'm thinking the real Marshall amps, not those "Tubestate" things.

- Oh, gotta get one of the Behringer "tube" amps, with exactly one 12AX7 preamp tube in them! Okay, I haven't ever heard one, so perhaps I mock them too quickly.

- Fender Champ. Not some silly recent model that Fender stuck the name on -- the real Fender Champ. Silverface is fine; they're virtually the same as the blackface ones (or so I'm told). Tweed is cool, but you don't want to pay for one. Seriously ... a used silverface Champ will set you back about the same amount as a Pod.
 
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