tube amp recomendation

D

doctornads

New member
Hey guys. I currently own a mesa boogie dual rec. and the oversized 4X12 cab. It was great for gigs when I was in a band but im not anymore and I want to get something a smaller so i can get the full tone out of it when i play at home and record. Something 5-30 watts or so. All tube. obviously im going to decide by playing it but i just wanted to get some opinions on what you guys like as far as small wattage tube amps go. Cleans i dont really care about so an amp with great distortion. Thanks alot!
-Josh
 
Nope. I havnt checked any out yet. Im just seeing what everyone likes and then im gunna go and check some out. Thanks for that suggestion i shall look into it!
 
Mesa Subway / 44 / 440 - best all around brand, imo.

Traynor YCV40WR or YCV20WR or YCV15 Blue. (not 50 Blue) but Traynor's do not have the best distortion, unless you like tube overdrive. They take pedals really well, and perform flawlessly even with 2 ohm load. Built like a small tank.

Peavey Classic 30 or Delta Blues, better distortion than the Traynor. Built well, much better product than the Fenders, me thinks.

Fender Blues Junior, or one of the next size up (Hot Rod? Or Deville?). Good all around, but Fender sound has never been my favorite. Wouldn't turn it down though! If it was a gift, I wouldn't turn around and sell it! The Blues Jr is actually a really nice amp for what is there. I bet it would surprise you if you plugged in a 2x12 cab.

With extra $$$$$ you can look at the smaller Orange amps, their new combos are really screamin right now! And they are putting premium speakers in them, they aint made in China. These things really sound fantastic to me.

If you have money to burn, dont overlook Rivera, Badcat, Dr Z. Laney is supposed to have a decent sound, but as good as it was, it wasn't even close to the Orange when I did side by side.

Never heard/played a Carvin, but it is being recommended by several people.

The Vox ADxxVT series are decent, good and varied sounds but just not built for the road. If you are going to leave it sit in the studio, it would be great for recording. Check out the AD50VT. Celestion speaker, 12 classic models and our favorite fx built in, with seperate compressor and noise gate. 3 user programs can be saved and footswitch selected, ext speaker jack, power soak on the back for setting speaker volume without changing the tone. Very affordable, I think the AD30 has the same features, but with a 10 inch speaker.
 
Crate V16 or V32 Palomino, Peavy classic 30, Carvin Nomad (Hasserl Mods) or a Carvin Belair (same as Nomad but with 2 speakers)
 
thank you all for the suggestions. 2 things i forgot to mention. 1. price range. Whatever i would get for my dual rec and the cab. so hopefully price limit will be 1300-1500 if i need to throw in a xtra 100 or 2 thats fine. 2. I have heard of all the amps you guys suggested but i never looked for them in a store. The place i would be going to to look for them is guitar center. I know its the devil but Guitar Center and Sam ash are the only good places that sell stuff near me and Sam ash suck with selection. So does guitar center have all of those amps?
 
doctornads said:
So does guitar center have all of those amps?
Click to expand...

Each GC has its own selection, though with a lot of overlap. The ones here in Austin do carry a lot of different amps, but not exactly the same selection, especially with (duh!) used gear. Go look.
 
Well i know that but i mean for instance. Sam ash does not carry mesa boogie amps or gibson guitars and some other things where as guitar center does. Like does guitar center not carry certain brands such as some of the ones that were named.
 
www.Parkwaymusic.com

a shop near me, and

www.Adirondackguitar.com

also near me, are two of the best shops I have been in recently, and both have a great 'online' reputation, as well as tons of inventory,.....

both are owned, and run by musicians who are actually out there doin it.....


and I personally would check out the other online shops,.... they are avail.
well known, and between them all, you can find just about anything made.....like,Musicians Friend, and Sweetwater, Music123, and many others.


I have pitted them against one another for the best price,.... once I decided what I wanted,....

same method works for local shops too,......

make friends with a clerk in two or three shops,..... then start the bargaining,...


all the names mentioned above are good choices, and each has it's own fans, and place in the tone rainbow,.....but ultimately, you will be the one who hears the 'right' sound.....

Tubes make a difference,... speakers make a difference,.... type of circuit makes a difference, too many variables to say one is better than another.....


there is also another possible,..... if you are handy with a soldering gun,... and have some time,..... there is always the DIY alternative,....

Lots of great speaker cabs out there, just achin for a nice tube head.....


Lots of choices there as well,.....

Go to www.schematicheaven.com
and see for yourself.... and www.avatarspeakers.com

hope this does not confuse the issue,....


You can also buy one from me...... STAND amplification.......


won't go into that here, but....... I and another buddy are building some low wattage tube amps......


lots of choices,...... none of which are for the posters,..... they are yours,.....

Steve
 
So why can't you achieve this with the Mesa? Ever thought about getting an attenuator like a THD Hotplate?

Is it an issue of physical size or just practical volume?
 
doctornads said:
Well i know that but i mean for instance. Sam ash does not carry mesa boogie amps or gibson guitars and some other things where as guitar center does. Like does guitar center not carry certain brands such as some of the ones that were named.
Click to expand...

I'm really not being a smartass, but why are you asking us instead of GC themselves? Here's their pertinent web reference:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/guitar/navigation?N=100005+324279&page=1

There are tons of amps there (ten pages), but which of these your local GC will actually have in the store is a question only that store can answer, because each individual store's inventory is different. Also, they have used equipment which won't be on the website. Your best bet is to go look, or if you see what you want on their site, call them and ask if they have one.
 
ggunn said:
I'm really not being a smartass, but why are you asking us instead of GC themselves? Here's their pertinent web reference:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/guitar/navigation?N=100005+324279&page=1

There are tons of amps there (ten pages), but which of these your local GC will actually have in the store is a question only that store can answer, because each individual store's inventory is different. Also, they have used equipment which won't be on the website. Your best bet is to go look, or if you see what you want on their site, call them and ask if they have one.
Click to expand...


I didnt even think to do that. ha my bad. I shall look through that.
 
metalhead28 said:
So why can't you achieve this with the Mesa? Ever thought about getting an attenuator like a THD Hotplate?

Is it an issue of physical size or just practical volume?
Click to expand...

I never heard of an attenuator or a hotplate. I did i quick read up on what they are. Sounds like what im looking for cuz ya my amp just gets to loud to get the tone I want. Thats why im looking for a smaller combo with less watts. Quickly what is the difference between the attenuator and thr THD hotplate and which would you use
 
doctornads said:
thank you all for the suggestions. 2 things i forgot to mention. 1. price range. Whatever i would get for my dual rec and the cab. so hopefully price limit will be 1300-1500 if i need to throw in a xtra 100 or 2 thats fine. 2. I have heard of all the amps you guys suggested but i never looked for them in a store. The place i would be going to to look for them is guitar center. I know its the devil but Guitar Center and Sam ash are the only good places that sell stuff near me and Sam ash suck with selection. So does guitar center have all of those amps?
Click to expand...

Guitar center doesn't sell Carvin gear unless used. For $1500 you can get 3 or 4 of the amps I mentioned.
 
doctornads said:
Hey guys. I currently own a mesa boogie dual rec. and the oversized 4X12 cab. It was great for gigs when I was in a band but im not anymore and I want to get something a smaller so i can get the full tone out of it when i play at home and record. Something 5-30 watts or so. All tube. obviously im going to decide by playing it but i just wanted to get some opinions on what you guys like as far as small wattage tube amps go. Cleans i dont really care about so an amp with great distortion. Thanks alot!
-Josh
Click to expand...

One thing (well, two things) you can do is (are) remove one push-pull pair of the 6L6 quad to cut the output power in half, and then replace the remaining pair with a couple of THD Yellow Jackets (http://www.thdamps.com/products/yellow_jacket.htm). That will trim it back to about 20 watts. Total cost about a hundred bucks.

Another alternative would be to get an Epiphone Valve Junior (http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/guitar/navigation?q=valve+junior&x=3&y=5). Five watts, all tube, very inexpensive, and readily available at GC. Read other threads in here to see the great things folks have to say about them.
 
doctornads said:
I never heard of an attenuator or a hotplate. I did i quick read up on what they are. Sounds like what im looking for cuz ya my amp just gets to loud to get the tone I want. Thats why im looking for a smaller combo with less watts. Quickly what is the difference between the attenuator and thr THD hotplate and which would you use
Click to expand...

A THD hotplate is simply a specific model name. It is an attenuator. A couple of other companies make them but the concept is the same. You connect it between your amp and your speaker cab. You can crank up the amp as much as you want in order to drive the tubes, but you can independantly control the volume of the speaker. It's great for keeping the volume of large tube amps managable while still getting the tone you want.
They are not exactly real cheap, but it's alot cheaper than buying a nice smaller amp and you get to keep the tone that you're used to from your half stack. Just a suggestion. ;)
 
Then thats what i shall get. Which is a good one? The THD Hotplate? And i read a few reviews and they say the because of the noice cancellation it takes away from your tone. I dont want that so is that true and is there another good one that doesnt do that?
 
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buy this amp and dont ever look back.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...e-20th-Anniversary-Model-Combo-Amp?sku=480426

I own two and they are the best sounding,loudest,cleanest, most versitile 20watter all tube you will find. The closed back cab gives it an extra thump that WILL trump most 1/2 stacks. Ive been to auditions with one and been laughed at with guys with full marshall stacks and by the end of the jam they were crying.

the clean channel will make you cry, then if you crank the master to about 1-2 o'clock you'll get a nice overdrive with your guitar volume on full, back it off and it cleans up. I play alot of variety, and with a quick change of the eq and gain settings you can get any sound your looking for.

if you crank the master volume and turn the gain to about 3 or 4 is where the sweet spot is for that cranked power amp tube distortion. When you want to play quiet, turn down the master volume and turn up the preamp distortion.

i was playing vanhalens song panama tonight and I swear i was hearing the brown sound with crisp clear highs, tight bottom end, and plenty of squak when you want it.

just do it.
 
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