Off Topic Combo Amp

[wolfbone07]

I am a big fan of the Tech21 Trademark amp. I have the Trademark30 and will soon be picking up a Trademark 60 4x10. Reverb is great, tones are amazing, and it is a light combo amp. Supply your own effects.

 

[Smellybum]

Wow. Lots of ideas! I didn't realize that so many are guys are using Spiders. I like the Flextone III but never messed with the Spiders much.

I have a flextone III - pretty good - not tube but close enuogh, there's a mark IV coming - so stores are clearing them now!

or Marshall Class 5! - killer with an Albert Lee

 

[Purple ASS]

Mesa/Boogie DC-3 1x12 combo

Mesa Boogie DC-3 Studio Caliber - eBay (item 280434932080 end time Dec-13-09 12:38:59 PST)

+1 on the DC 3. A great little amp, quiet enough to play at home , loud enough to gig with. Very versatile with great cleans. Prefer mine to my old MK4.
They appear on Ebay every now and are great value.

 

[telemike]

Crate Palomino V32. Nice warm clean channel (More Vox than Fender), gain channel is British voiced. Celestion 70/80 speaker.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIRFySEJCxw"]YouTube- Crate Palomino V32 212 Demo[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNgbwm8S0MI&feature=channel"]YouTube- Crate V32 Clean[/ame]

 

[ScoobySteve]

+1 on the HT-5, I use the HT-5 combo for home practice.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I would give the Blues Junior a second look.

I bought one at an exhibition and the pro demonstrators on the EB stand were very impressed by it.

If you use a stomp pedal out front it will give you all the gain you want.

I used one last Thursday live in a small venue and quite a few people were knocked out by the tone - I used it with my Albert.

A 15 watt would be perfect for your circumstances. I tried a blackstar 5 watt combo and it didn't have the headroom in the venue.

I'm lucky to be able to choose between my Mesa my Marshall and the Fender when I play live and right now I go to the Fender - it is a fantastic amp for the money.

 

[Astrofreq]

I personally can't stand Line 6 amps, they just sound papery. Furthest thing from warm in my opinion. For the $600 range, I would suggest a good Fender tube clean amp and throw a pedal in front. It will sound infinitely fuller than a Spider.

The Fender Blues Jr. NOS amps are pretty great for the money. Simple clean sound. If it counts for anything, a church I play at has a Line 6 and I plug into a monitor instead.

 

[cjl5150]

I would give the Blues Junior a second look.

I bought one at an exhibition and the pro demonstrators on the EB stand were very impressed by it.

If you use a stomp pedal out front it will give you all the gain you want.

I used one last Thursday live in a small venue and quite a few people were knocked out by the tone - I used it with my Albert.

A 15 watt would be perfect for your circumstances. I tried a blackstar 5 watt combo and it didn't have the headroom in the venue.

I'm lucky to be able to choose between my Mesa my Marshall and the Fender when I play live and right now I go to the Fender - it is a fantastic amp for the money.

I will definitely give it another listen. Do you suggest any pedals for a good overdrive/distortion?

"I personally can't stand Line 6 amps, they just sound papery. Furthest thing from warm in my opinion. For the $600 range, I would suggest a good Fender tube clean amp and throw a pedal in front. It will sound infinitely fuller than a Spider.

The Fender Blues Jr. NOS amps are pretty great for the money. Simple clean sound. If it counts for anything, a church I play at has a Line 6 and I plug into a monitor instead."

Wow...

 

[izzy]

Do you suggest any pedals for a good overdrive/distortion?

Depending on how much overdrive you need I'd start by looking at xotic effects ac booster or bb preamp or fulltone's ocd pedal. I've never heard bad tones from these pedals. Mileages vary.

 

[hbucker]

I have a Peavey ValveKing 112 combo that I use weekly in the same context playing the same music you describe. It works very, very well. Great clean channel. Versatile lead channel with a boost channel that basically functions as a third lead channel.

If you look for a decent used one, you can pay around $300 or less. A great value.

FWIW...

 

[ScoobySteve]

I would also endorse Spud's urging to get a Blues Junior.

15w sure, but you can mic it up, problem solved.

Look into the Keeley modded BOss DS-1. BEAUTIFUL Distortion pedal. It's not an overdrive, so you wont be able to crank out blues riffs with single coils, but gives you a nice fat, warm distortion that does not go into metal territory. Think cranked Plexi.

 

[telemike]

Palomino V32. Was gonna get a Blues JR, but the V32's gain channel is great.

 

[jamminjim]

the PV Valve King is a pretty good value --- look at this

Peavey ValveKing 112

 

[cjl5150]

I would also endorse Spud's urging to get a Blues Junior.

15w sure, but you can mic it up, problem solved.

Look into the Keeley modded BOss DS-1. BEAUTIFUL Distortion pedal. It's not an overdrive, so you wont be able to crank out blues riffs with single coils, but gives you a nice fat, warm distortion that does not go into metal territory. Think cranked Plexi.

I have been looking for a 'cranked plexi' kind of pedal but most seem to have too much gain and seem mushy or something. Either that or they are fizzy. I imagine with the Blues Jr it's good to have a distortion and an overdrive?

I tried out a used Hot Rod Deluxe and I really like the clean channel not so much the dirty side. It seems to get real loud real fast.

 

[telemike]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D28dWjt1euM&feature=related"]YouTube- V-series Crate tube amp w/ Greenbacks... a better Marshall?[/ame]

 

[panther_king]

I'll also recommend the Randall MTS series; either an RM20, 22, or 50. I like to describe it to unfamiliar people as a rack set-up, with a tube power amp and your choice of tube preamps to just swap in and out.

Of course, with 22 or so different stock modules, there is alot to chose from. The real quality stuff comes from small builders though, who strip the modules PCB boards and copy circuit diagrams of the actual amp they want to emulate down the the caps, and then rebuild the whole thing. There are some AMAZING products out there by the small-time hand-build crowd. Of particular note to me, are Pete from Gigmods and Antonin Salva, of Salvation Mods. They do some amazing stuff, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the actual amp from the Randall. CHECK OUT THAT FIRST 'Matchvox' CLIP!

Anyways, here's a pic of my Silo and my RM50, that I stuck a cane grill and piping on.

 

[jamminjim]

Those Crate V32's are pretty cool. Great distortion out of a tube amp. 4 el84. Not bad. There's some good ones on ebay. Last I knew, the Crates were made in St. Louis, right?

 

[Spudmurphy]

Pedal? - well this opens another can of worms!!!

I would love an Xotic BB plus but they are expensive over here.
My playing requires that the amp is driven harder so you get natural distortion from the amp plus I want a bit of distortion from the stomp box.

I use a cheap behringer blues over drive or a Tokai Metal Zone which goes from a cleanish db boost to a chunk of overdrive. They don't make them anymore.

I will definitely give it another listen. Do you suggest any pedals for a good overdrive/distortion?

"I personally can't stand Line 6 amps, they just sound papery. Furthest thing from warm in my opinion. For the $600 range, I would suggest a good Fender tube clean amp and throw a pedal in front. It will sound infinitely fuller than a Spider.

The Fender Blues Jr. NOS amps are pretty great for the money. Simple clean sound. If it counts for anything, a church I play at has a Line 6 and I plug into a monitor instead."

Wow...

 

[telemike]

Those Crate V32's are pretty cool. Great distortion out of a tube amp. 4 el84. Not bad. There's some good ones on ebay. Last I knew, the Crates were made in St. Louis, right?

Most were made in USA of imported parts. The last of the bunch were Vietnam before LOUD bought Crate and ruined the amps with the V18/33 series.

I really like the V32 for an inexpensive amp.

 

[busboy]

Well I'll through a humble plug in for Mesa F-series (F30 or F50). The F50's got amazing tone from clean to drive and will play basement volume to gig volume very well. Mine was available at a decent price, but I hear they're becoming more desirable.