I think I want a more recent amp

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antispatula

antispatula

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I've decided to stay away from all the old tube amps that I've been looking at to buy, I think I just want a decent tube amp that is not as old. I don't want to have to replace the filter caps or any other thing like that, I just want to play my guitar, you know? I don't want to have to a. try and figure out what the problem is if there is one and or b. have a pro fix it for a bunch of money (that I don't have :) ) I'm young and simply want to play my guitar. I do understand that there is standard work done on all tube amps no matter the age like replacing tubes and biasing it, but the older it is, the more problems it becomes seceptable to, right?

So there are a few on my mind that I'm thinking of: The traynor yvc40, the Fender blues Jr, the fender hot rod deluxe and the fender hot rod deville. I've heard from a few that the traynors don't really have that tube tone, but I've heard others that really like them. I've heard the deluxes's distortion sounds kind of muffled, and have heard the deville is good....then again, I've never heard any and am pretty new to this altogether. I like playing minimalist garage rock when it comes to how I like the distortion, but I'd also like a really vibrant clean channel. Thanks a lot!
 
antispatula said:
I've decided to stay away from all the old tube amps that I've been looking at to buy, I think I just want a decent tube amp that is not as old. I don't want to have to replace the filter caps or any other thing like that, I just want to play my guitar, you know? I don't want to have to a. try and figure out what the problem is if there is one and or b. have a pro fix it for a bunch of money (that I don't have :) ) I'm young and simply want to play my guitar. I do understand that there is standard work done on all tube amps no matter the age like replacing tubes and biasing it, but the older it is, the more problems it becomes seceptable to, right?

So there are a few on my mind that I'm thinking of: The traynor yvc40, the Fender blues Jr, the fender hot rod deluxe and the fender hot rod deville. I've heard from a few that the traynors don't really have that tube tone, but I've heard others that really like them. I've heard the deluxes's distortion sounds kind of muffled, and have heard the deville is good....then again, I've never heard any and am pretty new to this altogether. I like playing minimalist garage rock when it comes to how I like the distortion, but I'd also like a really vibrant clean channel. Thanks a lot!
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I would try out the Traynor ..... they sound like tube amps because they are tube amps. I have owned many amps. IMO if you don't need a head banger amp they are tops. Great clean channel If you need that dark tube sound get the 50w model.
 
Look at the Mesa F Series. They sound great and are indectructable. My F-100 literally fell out of a moving van and played when I plugged it in at home. They don't eat tubes and both channels are really nice. The dirty is this mean arena rock sorta dirty and the clean is warm and jangly (the output tubes are 6L6s if that gives you any ideas).

scott
 
antispatula said:
So there are a few on my mind that I'm thinking of: The traynor yvc40, the Fender blues Jr, the fender hot rod deluxe and the fender hot rod deville. I've heard from a few that the traynors don't really have that tube tone, but I've heard others that really like them. I've heard the deluxes's distortion sounds kind of muffled, and have heard the deville is good....then again, I've never heard any and am pretty new to this altogether. I like playing minimalist garage rock when it comes to how I like the distortion, but I'd also like a really vibrant clean channel. Thanks a lot!
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The Blues Jr is a great little amp, but it doesn't really get that sparkling clean tone that some of the other Fender amps (like a Deluxe) produce.
 
I play a Traynor YCV80 and it has great tube tone. Very smooth and sweet if you know how to tweak the knobs just right. I even retubed it with JJ tubes and its even more sweet sounding now.

I haven't played through any of the smaller amps in the YCV line, so I"m not sure how the YCV20, 40, or 40WR sound.

My only knocks against my amp are that it tends to rattle pretty bad (but I think any 80 watt tube combo is going to shake itself to pieces anyways), and that its tone tends to degrade when you really really push it hard (you run out of headroom pretty quick in the upper 1/3 of all 3 channels). But if you have to crank an 80-watter often, then I feel sorry for your ears.

But I can say that my amp will handle everything from squeaky clean at moderate volumes to classic rock to more 'classic' sounding hard rock (like Sabbath, and early Ozzy). I think that the knobs all stop somewhere before heavy metal, and it definitely doesn't have that nu-metal chunk that a Mesa has.
 
I've played all of the Traynor amps, and they are darn nice. I got the YCV20WR just because my ears are more tender than they used to be. But make sure you are playing the "WR" version, because it has the Greenback speaker that the regular YCV20 doesn't have.

I agree, any tube amp is gonna shake itself to bits sooner or later. The answer to that is, of course, using external speaker cabs. I plug mine into a 1x12 or 2x10 Weber Michigan cab, and it is the most inspiring tube tone I've heard in ages.

The only step up from that is Rivera. But Mesa is good and gets the most recommends of all other brands combined.
 
antispatula said:
gaaaaah I couldn't help it, I broke down and got an old amp! :rolleyes:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...00000769811&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

I couldn't resist it's charm, and the fact that I got a twin reverb that is in working condition, had it's pre tubes recently replaced, comes with footswitch, and has celestions intalled, has master volume and line out, for $530!
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with the right tubes, those can be awesome sounding amps. i've heard a few with newer tubes that sound pretty sterile and the reissues sound about the same to my ears. hunt down some nice tubes for that baby. also, that's gotta be one of the heaviest 212 combo's i've ever had the displeasure of toting. hope you have a good back.

it looks like you got a pretty good deal on it.
 
Check out the small Riveras. I have a 55w-212 that is just a monster. Put a KLON in front of it and you have instant MEGA guitar.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
with the right tubes, those can be awesome sounding amps. i've heard a few with newer tubes that sound pretty sterile and the reissues sound about the same to my ears. hunt down some nice tubes for that baby. also, that's gotta be one of the heaviest 212 combo's i've ever had the displeasure of toting. hope you have a good back.

it looks like you got a pretty good deal on it.
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Put some casters on it!
 
haha yeah it looks heavey. That's ok, I'm a strapping young lad, I could handle it :rolleyes: (I'm 17)
 
ggunn said:
Put some casters on it!
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Definately. I'm not kidding. That's a damn heavy amp especially if you're coming from solid state land.
 
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