Looking for a new amp...Help?

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
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elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
I currently have a SCXD and LOVE it. It gets loud enough, but when it's loud enough it's too distorted. If only it was 30W and not 15, it'd probably be just about perfect.
But who knows. I'm not saying I'm only looking for 30watt amps. More like 60 or so I think would be best.

So any suggestions on a new amp? I'd prefer a head, due to I hate carrying around huge ass combos... I turned my SCXD into a head, so a head is WAY preferred.

I was looking into fender, due to how much I love the super champ, but they really only do combos. But I really don't know.

Thanks,
Elliot

EDIT: Also, I only need one clean channel, I use pedals so no need for a high gain channel.

EDIT:
I should add, I'm only looking for tube amps, I've done enough with solid state amps...They just don't work with me. Too sharp.
That being said. I'm not ONLY looking for a 30watt amp. I just want an amp that has good clean headroom, 100watts would be just fine if it did what I need. I need to be heard over a drummer without having my amp's tubes really burnin'.
 
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There's a whole universe of 30-watt amps out there; it's hard to know where to start and your musical preferences should be guiding your choice.

That said, the modern Vox AC30 is a very versatile amp tonewise, and it's tube rather than solid state. It will do clean up through medium-high gain, and with an overdrive pedal you can get into full-tilt distortion.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
A Rt. 66 might be worth a look too, at 32 watts:
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Absolutley LOVE my RT66 (thought when I first got it I kinda' hated it)...but after awhile the sound becomes infectious! :cool:

And I have a few other really nice amps to comapre to...but the 66 really kicks ass!
It's not as variable as my THD Flexi, which is without a doubt my studio desert island guitar amp...
...but the RT66 can really do it's couple of tricks well....it's got a very unusual tone that you just learn to love.

I think of all my amps...the Flexi and 66 would be my current keepers if I had to reduce things down to only two amps.
 
I am a tube amp fan, but for recording purposes, the Line 6 Flextone III style amps sound great and you can have great, easy options on the fly while in between takes. Lots to be said for amp modeling (for those doing it well). Again, I don't have one (I have a 50w Ampeg Reverb Rocket that I love) but I think I'd buy a flextone. Other than that the AC30 is a great sounding amp and I'll agree with other posters on that.
 
If you really love the Super Champ, you may get the added volume by running it through a 2 X 12 cab. Extra speaker real estate can make a very big difference.
 
Zaphod B said:
There's a whole universe of 30-watt amps out there; it's hard to know where to start and your musical preferences should be guiding your choice.

That said, the modern Vox AC30 is a very versatile amp tonewise, and it's tube rather than solid state. It will do clean up through medium-high gain, and with an overdrive pedal you can get into full-tilt distortion.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if 30 watts would really be enough or not, but I've always eyed the ac30. Is there an ac30 head version?
DrewPeterson7 said:
It's not MUCH higher wattage, but there's a lot more to an amp's output than wattage - one of the best clean amps I've ever played was a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia. I spent an afternoon with one, my strat, and a Fulltone Full-Drive 2 (I think), and I still covet the thing.

http://www.humbuckermusic.com/drzcaghheinb.html

A Rt. 66 might be worth a look too, at 32 watts:

http://www.humbuckermusic.com/drzro66heinb.html
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Those amps look awesome. Absolutely perfect, the only thing that bothers me is that they still aren't THAT high of wattage, so I'm not sure if it would work or not... Would 32 watts be that much more headroom than my 15w super champ? I really don't know at all.
But thanks for the notice, I love the compact size.
miroslav said:
Absolutley LOVE my RT66 (thought when I first got it I kinda' hated it)...but after awhile the sound becomes infectious! :cool:

And I have a few other really nice amps to comapre to...but the 66 really kicks ass!
It's not as variable as my THD Flexi, which is without a doubt my studio desert island guitar amp...
...but the RT66 can really do it's couple of tricks well....it's got a very unusual tone that you just learn to love.

I think of all my amps...the Flexi and 66 would be my current keepers if I had to reduce things down to only two amps.
Click to expand...
Good to know, I'm going to definitely keep looking into those amps.
sonic67061 said:
I am a tube amp fan, but for recording purposes, the Line 6 Flextone III style amps sound great and you can have great, easy options on the fly while in between takes. Lots to be said for amp modeling (for those doing it well). Again, I don't have one (I have a 50w Ampeg Reverb Rocket that I love) but I think I'd buy a flextone. Other than that the AC30 is a great sounding amp and I'll agree with other posters on that.
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Modeling amps really don't appeal to me. I've had my runin with line6 as well, don't want anything to do with them anymore. Thanks for the suggestions though.
Milnoque said:
If you really love the Super Champ, you may get the added volume by running it through a 2 X 12 cab. Extra speaker real estate can make a very big difference.
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I DO run my super champ through a 2x12. 2 V30's. It helps a little, but not enough.
 
I realize you like the sound of the amp, just not the volume, but you could look if there is a more efficient speaker. That should boost your volume quite a bit.

EDIT
Nevermind, I see your are running V30's. Those are up there.
 
If you have the chance (and some $) check out a big Orange amp, or an old Hiwatt stack - listening to your tunes earlier, I think I could hear those in there.

Back in the 80's I got into volume wars with the other guitar player in our band -- I was using a 50 watt Marshall JCM-800 half stack (which is *loud*, btw), and he had a 100 watt Hiwatt full stack, and we were in a small-ish room. 25 years later, my ears are still ringing :) - I remember having every knob on my Marshall dimed, and still kneeling down with my ear in front of the cab trying to hear the sound of a an aggressive open string strum - he had me completely eclipsed :)
 
One of the best values out there is the Peavey Classic 30. If money is an issue that one is worth a look. I have seen it in a head version. It has plenty of clean headroom and good volume from 30 watts. It's not the best at anything but is pretty good as most everything. Also, like The Tick, it is very hard to kill. I suggest you give it a listen before you decide. A Classic 30 with a tube upgrade is a very good amp indeed.

+1 on the Vox
 
A used Music Man Would be another good choice I don't know if they made head versions, but they delivered screamin' clean out the ass. Very affordable
 
elenore19 said:
I'm not sure if 30 watts would really be enough or not, but I've always eyed the ac30. Is there an ac30 head version?
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Yes, there is a head version.

30 watts through a very efficient speaker (like a Celestion Blue, which has SPL of over 100dB) will be very, very, loud.
 
I thought I'd posted this before, but I must not have submitted it...

Have you thought about trying a 4x12" cabinet? I'm not sure if the SCXD has external speaker outputs that'll drive an external cabinet, but 15 watts through a 4x12 pushes a lot of air and can be surprisingly loud. It might give you the headroom you're after without the pain of auditioning a bunch of amps to try to find a louder version of what you've already decided that you like.

That being said, 100 tube watts is insanely loud. You'll get LOTS of clean headroom, but you might find it difficult to drive the power section of a 100-watt tube amp enough to get good power tube breakup, leaving you with the relatively harsh breakup of the preamp tubes as your main source of distortion. I think that you're on the right track with a 15-30 watt tube amp, either a combo or a head/cab.
 
elenore19 said:
So any suggestions on a new amp? I'd prefer a head, due to I hate carrying around huge ass combos...
Click to expand...

If you think a tube head and a cabinet to match is going to be easier to haul around you got it all backwards.
 
357mag said:
If you think a tube head and a cabinet to match is going to be easier to haul around you got it all backwards.
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Not necessarily; it really depends on which head and cab and which combo you are talking about.
 
As has been already said on here, the vox ac30 is pretty much superb as far as clean tone goes. You said like Fender, and they make a couple stacks. One is the 40 watt Band-Master, and the other is the 60 watt Super Sonic. the super soinc costs a good deal more, but from the sound of things would be better for you due to the higher volume and the fact that the Band-Master messes around with more built in effects that you probly wont ever end up using. the Super Sonic is pretty straight forward with only a couple channels. give those 2 a listen and see how they compare.
 
357mag said:
If you think a tube head and a cabinet to match is going to be easier to haul around you got it all backwards.
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What ggunn said. I just bought a Mesa Roadster head to replace a Rectoverb combo (I already had a Recto 2x12 lying around, it was offered to me at a good price and I figured going for a Roadster was inevitable, lol). Combined, the Roadster + the 2x12 weighs more than my Rectoverb, sure... But the Rectoverb weighs in around 70-80 pounds and has to be carried in 1 piece, while the Roadster head and 2x12 cab are each individually more portable than the Rectoverb. Sure, I have to make two trips instead of one... but each trip is quite a bit easier (and it's not prohibitive to carry the head in one hand and a guitar case in the other).

Elenore19 - Hmm... I don't know what to tell you there, as it really varies by the amp. I haven't had enough experience with 6V6 designs to really tell you how much headroom they have, or even enough experience with that particular model to tell you how it stacks up to other similarly-rated designs. I've played 30 watt amps that would annihilate all but the hardest hitting drummers (Mesa F-30, for one), and I've played 30 watt amps that really just aren't up to the task of staying clean. I will say that my experience with the Dr. Z Carmen Ghia was that it didn't seem to be designed to stay pristinely clean - with a stock strat, there was a touch of grit to the clean tone at drummer volumes. If you're using hot humbuckers, this might be a problem, as it might if what you're looking for is a super-clean amp. If on the other hand you're playing blues rock and going for the Jimi/SRV clean thing, then you might be in heaven even with the Carmen Ghia.

Best I can tell you, is go play one - they're some of the better amps I've ever played for what they do.

EDIT - hell, also, I have no idea what you're looking for, but maybe a Mesa Lone Star Special? The Lone Star has the best clean tone I've ever played - I plugged into one with a Mexi strat, and about a half hour of knob twisting went by before I even realized I hadn't even made it to the gain channel. It's that good... The Lone Star is 10, 50, or 100 watts, channel-assignable; the Special is 5, 15, or 30, again assignable per channel (i.e. - you can set your gain channel to 5 watts for poweramp saturation, and your clean channel to 30 for maximum headroom).
 
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