Help! 5 w full tubes amp for my JP6 ?

[PaoloGilberto]

hi guys,

I had a thread last weeks on tube amp vs solid state - acoustic amp for the piezo...and I was telling about my intention to buy (and after buying my feedback) Laney VC 15 - 110 - full tubes
last week I bought that amp, did not like it neither for distortion or piezo to go with, too much bass, not enough gain, so this week I sold it. it works great for blues/jazz but not that JP heavy distorsion
anyway with others guitars: Epiphone les paul for ex, the amp did not have at all to much bass, so I think is the JP particularity (I tested with my Vox Valvetronix also and is the same). have you JP owners noticed that?

so my choice now would be a 5 w full tube amp for practice (combo or head + cabinet)...with heavy distortion JP style without the need for a pedal (if that could be found on a 5 w amp ) . if not an amp that would go along great with a pedal to have that heavy distortion similar with JP sound (of course I do understand that his gig is different, more expensive, and so on)
I would really appreciate your help/recommendations/feedback

what I have found to be the best options at a decent price (I could spend maybe 500-600 euros maximum ~ that's around 650 - 850 USD):
1. BLACKSTAR HT-5 MINI STACK - U.K. International Cyberstore
2. Buy Blackheart BH5H and BH112 Little Giant Half Stack | Amp Stacks | Musician's Friend
3. MARSHALL CLASS 5 - U.K. International Cyberstore

thank you very much in advance

 

[Oh3AreSicks]

I know guys that have the Blackstar and absolutely love it. I personally have no experience with any of them but I hear nothing but great stuff about the HT-5.

 

[JoeDogInKC]

The HT-5 is a great amp, but their matching cabinets are terrible IMHO. If you with it, get a nice oversized 1x12" instead of the 1x10" matching cab and you'll be much happier with it.

 

[fbecir]

Hello

You can find some useful information here :
Low wattage guitar amplifiers, amps 1, 2,3, 5, 6, 7 , 10 watts.

Laney is also producing new models the CUB8 and CUB10 :
Laney Amplification | Product Range

Perhaps, I will also buy an HT5 ...

 

[V_S]

I dunno... all these low-wattage tube amps are made to enjoy power amp distortion at lower volumes. They go all more towards rock and blues. I think for JP sounds you need pre amp distortion. You probably will be more satisfied with a small modelling amp.

 

[jamminjim]

I don't know - this is one to look at..
FRENZEL FM - 5E1SSC COMBO CHAMP SUPER SPORTSTER

or this one
orangeamps.com - The Official Orange Website

the Frenzel is really class....

and V-S has a good point as well.....

this thing rocks too...
FRENZEL HBX - AC15 Sweet Little 15

 

[TonyEVH5150]

I can tell you from personal experience that the Blackstar HT-5 is an unbelievable amp. It has a good clean channel, and an even better overdrive/lead channel. You can get anything from a British style classic rock gain, to a very nice US modern gain. I can cover VH to Foo Fighters to Three Days Grace with this amp. If you are going for a metal tone, you may need to add a distortion pedal.

I think another thing to keep in mind is that a 1X10 may not have the head room that a larger cab might. If you go for the Blackstar, get the head version, and find a good 1x12 or 2x12 to play it through.

 

[JoeDogInKC]

Sounds like Tony and I are on the same page

 

[DrKev]

I would think the VC15 was the wrong amp for you. A vox-ish type amp with a jensen speaker wouldn't be my first choice for heavy distortion.

You should try the new LC15-110 (I own one and I love it). It uses the Celestion G10N-40 speaker (designed by Celestion for Laney but also chosen by Orange for their AD5 combo). It's a great rock speaker for a 10" and I'd be surprised if the amp doesn't have enough gain for you.

There are some great youtube demos of the LC15-110 and you can get it for under €500. Do try it out!

 

[metalmarty]

The new Marshall Class 5 seems to be nice too. A fellow guitarist on a dutch forum, who is a massive tone-freak, just bought one for the livingroom and he's thrilled. Tones goes from clean to AC/DC-ish but takes pedals excellently.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I go with "Oh3" on the Blackstar evaluation. I used one (OlPlayers 5 watt combo) live last week and preferred driving it with my Tokai Overdrive stompbox. Lovely amp though - for practice/studio environment.

 

[oldstrat]

I have a blackheart with a tung sol 12aux7 and a eh EL34. It sounds like magic, but never what I'd call heavy metal. Can't beat it for the price. The cleans are great and for blues rock it's fabulous. It actually sounds great with my variax acoustic as well.

 

[Oh3AreSicks]

Buddy from another forum demoing the HT-5 through a Randall 2X12.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDFQi_jBN20&feature=related"]YouTube - Blackstar HT-5 Metal demo[/ame]

 

[PaoloGilberto]

thank you all very very much for the quick and precious opinions.
fbecir that was a great link with all those low power amps.
DrKev LC 15 is too loud for what I want, I tried it...(and had the option to buy it new at 255 euros)

after reading all your posts, until now it seems the best 2 options (if considering a head) will be Blackstar and Egnater.
that Egnater seems the real s...t, been able to set from knob a level from 1 to 20 W that is really great.I don't really get what that tubes mix does in terms of sound !?
but blackstar is half the price....hmmm
someone said the the cab 1X10 is not good at blackstar stack.
any suggestion to buy a 1X12 or a 2X12 cab at a decent price? (100-200 euros new)
and another thing I don't understand: if the head is let's say 5 W and the cabinets are 40 W each - like blackstar stack, when I have the vol level to max, the total ouptut level in my room will be only 5 w not 80 w right?

the list is still open for heads/combos/cabinets
thank you all again

 

[DrKev]

if the head is let's say 5 W and the cabinets are 40 W each - like blackstar stack, when I have the vol level to max, the total ouptut level in my room will be only 5 w not 80 w right?

Yep. Think of the rating of the cabinets as the highest power they can accept before the amp might damage the speaker. The amp does all the work, the speakers can't do anything on their own. The speakers can safely accept up to 40 W of power from any amplifier but you will never have more 5 Watts doing the work with that amp.

 

[WeeGee]

Personally, I'd go for a HT5 with a 2x12 Cab (which I what I currently have). On the cab front, in terms of value this one Cab Info from Thomann is pretty good (as the Celestion Vintage 30 speakers alone would cost about £70 each) and although I don't have the same cab, I can vouch for the speakers.

Best bet is try (before you buy!!) the HT5 though various cabs along with the Egnater and let your ears decide

 

[PaoloGilberto]

thanx for the insight DrKev I thought it was so

Weegee, I was looking at that Harley Benton too, is this really a reliable company ?
unfortunately I live in Romania , there is no big music store to have all this kinds of amps and cabs to have an opinion after playing them with my guitar also

 

[fbecir]

Weegee, I was looking at that Harley Benton too, is this really a reliable company ?

I believe that Harley Benton is a brand owned by Thomann. They sell their entry-level products under the Harley Benton name.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

can someone confirm that? and are they reliable ?

second: what you would think would be the best option if the distortion in the 5 W amp is not enough: boost pedal, tube screamer pedal , distortion pedal (I have a Rocktron Metal Planet), overdrive pedal?

thx

I believe that Harley Benton is a brand owned by Thomann. They sell their entry-level products under the Harley Benton name.

 

[fbecir]

can someone confirm that? and are they reliable ?

There is an article on Wikipedia :
Harley Benton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The quality of a cab is mainly defined by the quality of the speakers especially when you play with a low volume (when you play with a high volume, if the cabinet is not strong enough, you will have vibration noises). Thus check if the speaker is good for you.