Question Small amp for practice

[jakedawgwhite88]

Hey guys my band is practicing in a relatively small space and I need a small tube amp to practice. I've been using our bass players cube and its alright but I really could use a small amp with good tone that I can haul around. I really liked the vox ac4tv but we use pretty focused heavy guitar tones. I have thought about using the little vox (I like el84's) and running a pedal in front for gain. My birthday is this month so its a great reason to do this any advise??

 

[ScoobySteve]

Blackstar HT-5 and run an OD in front of it, or a quality simple, single channel tube amp w/ a good quality distortion on it.

Before i moved here to Korea, I ran a Blackstar HT-5 with my 25th. I used my Keeley TS9+ to overdrive the crunch channel for heavy stuff, and added comp for lead tones. Worked great for me.

 

[DrKev]

HT-5 is good but I prefer the Laney LC15-110, same speaker as the HT-5 but I much prefer the sound overall of the Laney. The HT-5 seems just a bit dull and doesn't inspire me. The Laney is also a fantastic gigging amp when mic'ed and is great for recording too. HT-5 is two channel though, so that may be a deciding factor.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

I have the HT 5 - mini stack and I love it
although it wasn't my first choice back then when I bought it, for sure I do not regret it at all now, definitely I will buy it again if I was to choose something - best quality for the money - underpriced in my opinion, and is so cheap in US as I saw.

The clean channel is not fabulous -OK though, but the drive channel is really nice.
I play my JP6 through it, and don't use a distortion pedal in front - it has a lot of gain, I was afraid not being enough for me , cause I like bad heavy distorted stuff but is just great.
I have MXR super comp and MXR carbon copy delay and the sound is nice too when adding them
Keep in mind that is very loud, you can do small gigs for sure with it (depending on cab size, no of speakers - 12" ...)
for example for home practice I can run it only with the vol level at 8.30 o'clock, 9 is too loud for neighbors (and its a pretty big room 5X6 m , 3 m tall)

later edit: I tried Laney LC 15 and I had the Laney VC 15 - great amp, but for blues and hard rock, the sound is very nice, but it didn't sound so good with distortion pedals. and 15 w tube is toooo loud for a room (main reason I sold it)

 

[andynpeters]

I had a Vox AC4...it has plenty of distortion so I doubt you'd need the pedal. I found it got dirty too quick for me & I needed more clean headroom.
.The Laney LC15R is gorgeous....I'm also interested in the new Blackstar 1 watt amp when available. Bear in mind I'm not a rocker

 

[mikeller]

I know you said tube - but I have the same situation, small practice space etc. I take a Roland Cube 30 with me and it really does a very sufficient job.

 

[Stratty316]

I have a Fender Princeton Reverb 65 reissue (15W-Single 10inch) that I practice with. The clean tone is to die for and when you throw a good OD pedal like the Fulltone OCD in front of it you get a nice dirty tone out of it.

I can get everything from a nice Floyd(ish) sound to a Zeppelin on steroids (don't tell congress)tone.

 

[andynpeters]

I have a Fender Princeton Reverb 65 reissue (15W-Single 10inch) that I practice with. The clean tone is to die for and when you throw a good OD pedal like the Fulltone OCD in front of it you get a nice dirty tone out of it.

I can get everything from a nice Floyd(ish) sound to a Zeppelin on steroids (don't tell congress)tone.

Quite an investment for a practice amp!

 

[fsmith]

I'm still loving the HT5. With a couple of OD pedals, (Zendrive, Wylde OD, Tim) I can make it sound like 3 or 4 different amps with the clean channel alone, then I can boost the overdrive channel for even more tones.

I like the fact that it's only 5 watts so I can practice without bothering the family but when no one is around I can rattle the windows too.

I run it into a 2x12 but can also run it into my studio monitors for quiet practice.

fred

 

[Coffeemug]

I've heard and read great things about the new Engl Gigmaster...don't know about the US pricing but it's very moderately priced here in Germany.

 

[Jimmyb]

I'm fairly interested in the new Blackstar as well.

A friend has the Vox, which he loves the sound of, but says it is too loud to crank up in the house.

 

[bazxkr]

I use the Roland Cube RX as a small bedroom practice. Few effects and options to keep it interesting plus input for ipod or even has built in drum backing.

Have a bigger Peavey 30w in music room but may change that to a tube HT5 or the new HT1 watt when it appears or Superchamp XD or the like.

Have to be careful on volume cos of neighbours

Just cos they are small some of these beasts are very effective in small room environments

Cheers
Baz

 

[aleclee]

I know you said tube - but I have the same situation, small practice space etc. I take a Roland Cube 30 with me and it really does a very sufficient job.

The Fender Mustang II is another modeler getting some love from tube snobs.

 

[nathanhny]

I use the Roland Cube RX as a small bedroom practice. Few effects and options to keep it interesting plus input for ipod or even has built in drum backing.

+1

The Micro Cube RX is great for practicing. It's not a tube amp but it has some cool tones and packs alot of punch for such a tiny amp. The four small speakers as opposed to the one means that you don't lose any sound from stereo recordings when played through the amp

 

[browndog]

There are the Fender Vibro Champ XD & Super Champ XD

The VC is 5w, 8" speaker, 1-6V6 & 1-12AX7 tubes - about $200
The SC is 15w, 10" speaker, 2-6V6 & 1-12AX7 tubes - about $300

Boths amps have effects and 16 amp voicings. The SC has a second clean channel that takes pedals.
I don’t believe the VC takes pedals.

I have the Super Champ and I’m very impressed with it for the low cost.
Theres lots of YouTube demos on both amps showing the 16 voices.

 

[wolfbone07]

Tech21 Trademark 30. Great sounds. Accutronics reverb. Headphone out. XLR out.

 

[Slingy]

The new Line 6 amps look hot! Comes in a 1x12 all tube switchable 25/50 watt.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQMBoG2k_r8]YouTube - Line 6 DT50 Amp Head Demo[/ame]

 

[andynpeters]

The new Line 6 amps look hot! Comes in a 1x12 all tube switchable 25/50 watt.

YouTube - Line 6 DT50 Amp Head Demo

That's a "small amp for practice"??

 

[jakedawgwhite88]

Thanks for the help guys I guess I should have specified a price range but I would like to get away LOL with getting something in 2-3 hundred dollar range We have a gig this weekend where there is a guitar center (probably the smallest in the us) I plan on playing through a couple and see what I find. Currently I just have the one peavey head for gigs so getting a little tube amp would probably be best seeing how this will probably be my backup. I look forward to trying out these suggestions if possible i've been looking up the videos. along the lines of pedals to put in front (if needed) I looked at the cool cat metal pedal by danelctro (who doesn't want a true bypass for $30) does anybody have any experiences with those or any good pedal that might produce a crushing focused mark tone? Still open to all suggestions though Thanks Alot!!!!

 

[Oh3AreSicks]

Definitely a Cube. They sound great and they're cheap. haha