Most versatile small home recording amp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Clit Torres
  • Start date Start date

Most versatile home recording amp

  • Total voters
    128
BJW said:
I'm awaiting shipment of a peavey classic 30 ............. they are impossible to beat for the money...........
Click to expand...


Classic tones still rule??
 
Hi,

I'm using a Gorilla GB-30. Works well for everything at moderate volumes, especially for guitar and for synth percussion sounds. Currently, I have it miked inside two accordion bags.
 
a fender blues jr is probably going to be something i buy myself in 2006. i'll probably go try one out in the next few weeks. looks like i'll be asking for guitar center gif certificates for xmas (even though i hate buying things there).
 
i'm not a fan of vox modeling amps. i had three of them and the quality control is terrible. they build them in the orient as opposed to England and the craftsmenship reflects this. i ending up going with a little lanilei from songworks. it's a boutique little amp that is outstanding for recording and does exactly what we want all recording amps to do: IT CUTS THROUGH THE MIX!! It costs a tad more but is bulit far superior, you can talk to the guy that made it if you ever had a problem, and he backs his stuff up like no other. I went with the 33/50 model which allows me to use it's internal 6" speaker in the studio or power a 4x12 cab live. The sound is definately vintage and runs off a couple of 12ax7 tubes. Check it out at http://www.songworks.com. I even purchased his rotating speaker which is a mini leslie called the rotary wave. Those two run together are pure heaven in the studio. I should have some clips up in the next few weeks on my bands website www.steelpetals.com
 
one of my pickin buddies down here has a Z28 he`s been using for a few months now. It's really nice and gets a sweet tone without having to drive it like he does the Fender deluxe or the Matchless.
 
If you are on a budget I highly recomend the Gibson made Kalamazoo tube amps Models 1 and 2. Stay away from models 3 and 4 they were solid state.

Models 1 and 2 were all hand wired class A with three tubes. They used all quality electronics for the day (1965-1967) but cut prices by using by using particle board for the cabinet.

I picked up a Model 1 on e-bay for just over $100 with the original tubes in good working condition and compare favorably to the 1960's Fender Tweed Champ 5F1.

More here
http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kalamazoo/

There are several articles and resource links for modifications on the link above.
 
THD Univalve...mix and match valve combos on the fly get the sound you're after without collecting a dozen heads.

I bought one today. It's a fun amp to play.
 
BJW said:
That said, I'm awaiting shipment of a peavey classic 30 - but that might be overkill for bedroom recording. They are impossible to beat for the money, though.
Click to expand...

(slightly hi-jacking the thread)

Kinda depends on who's around your bedroom ;) . While they can still sound really good at bedroom volumes, they really come into their own once you start cranking the post gain.

Whether you're getting it new or used, check the tubes in it right away. If they are Chinese or Sovtek tubes, I would recommend switching them out right away. My personal favorites are the JJ Tesla tubes from www.eurotubes.com (Bob knows his stuff), but people have also gotten great results with Groove Tubes, and those lucky and rich enough to get NOS Mullard tubes have been extremely happy. The stock tubes in the C30's contribute a lot to a rather harsh sounding distortion, rather than a good warm, smooth-sounding distortion.

Oh, and just for the record, totally ignore the boost switch. Pretend the amp doesn't even have it.
 
I have a Zinky Blue Velvet, 25watt hand wired, all tube, analog 112. I use it with a Mesa Recto 212 Cab. As a 312 Combo. Absolutely stunning tones. Don't need really need to many effects with it. Course my monster wattage main amp has a record out so you can record silently.
 
There are a lot of good amps. One often overlooked aspect is the combination of guitar and amp. Simply put, some guitars just sound better through certain amps, and some styles of music are more suited to particular amps. Personally I have several different amps and a variety of speaker cabs to connect to them, each one has it's unique sound. My most frequently used ones are; for general purposes, Fender Princeton Chorus, for slide, Kalamazoo model two, for super clean, Austin AU15G, for mellow tones, Ibanez GX60B. IMO there is not one amp that works for everything.
 
i scored a fender princeton chorus on craigslist for $75 about a month ago and its allowed me to pretty much retire my bassman. great for home recording and band practice (no more carrying around a head and 2 x 12 cabinet!).
 
It's not small and it's not cheap, but the Rivera Knucklehead is the only amp I've used that I've felt comfortable using on any session. It's been used on death metal, punk, country, and more with tones ranging from mega clean to Megadeth to much heavier.

Run it through a 1x12 cabinet and I guess it's "small", but be careful not to blow the speaker.

Brandon
 
steelpetals said:
i ending up going with a little lanilei from songworks. it's a boutique little amp that is outstanding for recording and does exactly what we want all recording amps to do: IT CUTS THROUGH THE MIX!! It costs a tad more but is bulit far superior, you can talk to the guy that made it if you ever had a problem, and he backs his stuff up like no other.
Click to expand...

:cool: Shame on you for posting about such a cool amp. :cool:
http://www.songworks.com/images/QTR_TubeAmp.jpg

Didn't you know that I was going to look at this, download the sound clip and immediately start saving up for one..... :D

Seriously man, I'd love to hear the clips when you get them up. The little moster really hit the "cool" button for me.
 
For a strat-type guitar, I have a poor man's Champ, a tweed Peavey Classic 20. I bought it years ago and it sat for a long time because 20 watts wasn't quite enough to use it out. It always sounded good recorded, though. It's not the most versitile, either, as I've never gotten useful clean sounds through it for recording (as I normally go direct for that). It was cheap and in a laboratory environment gets a great barely-distorted bluesey sound all the way to super crunch with no stompboxes. It's also small enough to put in the refrigerator. I had mine modified a long time ago with a line out, but it came with a headphone out and I've used it as a preamp for recording bass, too.
 
Ronan said:
I would not choose any of the amps on your list to record guitars with on a regular basis.

Be careful about putting too much emphasis on versatility unless you just record jingles. You will be much better off with an amp that does a couple things really well than one that does a lot of things half assed. Also I strongly recomend going for an all tube amp. The amp itself may be less versatile on the front panel but it will be far more responsive to what happens in front of it, like changing guitars, pick ups or even how hard you play.
Click to expand...

Well said Ronan, I couldn't agree more.
 
The best home recording amp of all time is a fender champ. But current production I like an epiphone valve junior with the power filament mod. If you can buy the head version of this amp that allready has the correct power filaments. They do not sound like champs but do sound pretty good. The come stock with Weber ceramic speakers. I love my valve junior/tech 21 GT 2 combo. I've owned vintage JMI vox, fender and marshalls. This combination gives me all of those sounds for under $200 and also for recording I just keep whatever settings I have on the GT2 and plug it into it into the board or protools and I am set.

PS I second the post on JJ tube recomendation there great. I've had both mullards/brimars. I can't really tell a difference between the JJ and NOS ones except price and I don't worry about them. JJs are great sounding tubes that are very affordable. Kalamazoos are great amps but worry about the particle board cabinets. I've seen them go on ebay for around $120 needing cap jobs. You should have filter caps changed on any 40 year old amp anyway
 
Ronan said:
I would not choose any of the amps on your list to record guitars with on a regular basis.

Be careful about putting too much emphasis on versatility unless you just record jingles. You will be much better off with an amp that does a couple things really well than one that does a lot of things half assed. Also I strongly recomend going for an all tube amp. The amp itself may be less versatile on the front panel but it will be far more responsive to what happens in front of it, like changing guitars, pick ups or even how hard you play.
Click to expand...

Unlike the guy who total agrees with you, I have to somewhat disagree.

Just because an amp is more simplified doesn't make it better at the few simple things it does. On the contrary, there's a lot of amps out there that simply sound like poop, even though they may only have a single channel or two-channel operation and zero on-board effects, save for reverb. Most sub-$250 (new) amps aren't all that great. And just about any tube amp under $400 doesn't get near it's potential until you swap out the cheapo stock tubes for some better (more expensive) ones. I'm not saying you can't get a good tube amp for under $250, because you can find good used ones if you keep your eyes open. But many new tube amps in the lower price range need better tubes to live up to their potential. Let's call this for what it is, here... we're all using the infamous "general rule of thumb" in our opinions. Today's modeling amps are definitely better than the way you're slamming them as "only good for jingles." If that's truly your opinion than you either haven't heard the Vox ADVT amps or you're just completely biased with an "old school" way of thinking. Most people who record these days are doing it for fun, not to send demos to Capital Records. Hence, modeling amps are a good alternative to spending the money on a higher-priced tube amp + an arsenal of high-priced effects.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top