OT: Smaller Amps With Good Tone?

[ruso]

There are a few ways to get that at lower volumes- power scaling (I have a Suhr Badger with PS and it kills at all volumes)

OMG, I just checked out the sound clips on Suhr's website, particularly this one:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/downloads/audio/stevens/SS_BadgerDemo.mp3

Now that is one bad-ass amp! So you can basically rail the power stage but keep volume levels down? They are a little pricy but the combo could definitely be a possible solution. See, I'm the type of person who will pay to get what I want even if it means putting more hours in at work for some extra cash. I don't play out or really even jam with anyone. I'm currently 100% a home musician, and considering that most, not if all of my playing will be here at home, I should probably skip the practice amp category and go straight to something with some balls that has some form of scaler/hot plate.

 

[whitestrat]

one amp I can definately recommend is the Laney VC15. it's a 1x 10" Jensen speaker, and it's also a 15w full tube amp. 3 x 12AX7 and 2 x EL84 tubes. lots of punch... Only thing is, the onboard amp distortion gives a vintage vibe OD at best. Couple that with a good pedal, and you've got a killer amp. I use it with my MI Audio Tubezone Overdrive. It eats bigger SS amps for breakfast... Heheheh...

 

[Earplayer]

the best "small" amp for me: KOCH - STUDIOTONE ... very versatile and GREAT tone. never found a better amp in that price-range. also great for gigging!

 

[candid_x]

Do 2x12 cabinets have similar characteristics to a full 4x12 cabinet? It would seem to me that the 4x12 would have more bottom end. But given my experience in the home and car audio, technically the 2x12 should have similar frequency response if the internal volume is exactly half of its 4x12 counterpart. Hmm...

Imo, a good 1x12 is all that's needed, especially for home playing. I can rattle the widows plenty with my rig, but it still sounds good when turned down to practice or noodling levels. I've personally never played through a 2x12 I liked.

Some gigging size amps sound awful at low volumes, but this isn't the case for all amps. The only thing "boutique" about my Laney LC50 and LH50 is the NOS V1 tube. They can be found on the used market for around $400, and they sound great with re-tubes and a good 1x12. And, they do as well in my living room as they do at a gig or jam. No, they're not a Bruno, Two Rock, D13 or even a DrZ, but who cares? They sound great to me, and in the end that's all that matters.

 

[greeny]

There are some great low powered amps.

I have a Cornford Carrera (5 - 8 W) which with 12" speaker and large (ish) pine cabinet provides a decent bottom end.

The Suhr Badger would probably also do what you need, a bit more powerful but a great power scaling implementation.

Then at the cheaper end there's the likes of the Orange Tiny Terror 7/15 watts.

 

[beej]

OMG, I just checked out the sound clips on Suhr's website, particularly this one:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/downloads/audio/stevens/SS_BadgerDemo.mp3

Now that is one bad-ass amp! So you can basically rail the power stage but keep volume levels down? They are a little pricy but the combo could definitely be a possible solution. See, I'm the type of person who will pay to get what I want even if it means putting more hours in at work for some extra cash. I don't play out or really even jam with anyone. I'm currently 100% a home musician, and considering that most, not if all of my playing will be here at home, I should probably skip the practice amp category and go straight to something with some balls that has some form of scaler/hot plate.

I totally agree with Candid that a 1x12 is more than enough. FYI, I gig a lot with my Badger and 1x12. It's 18W and plenty loud for what I need. I love my bigger setup, but this one does not lack for volume or oomph.

The Badger is a bad ass amp, for sure. Yes, basically you have a preamp gain control and a "drive" control for power section. As you scale down the output, you can vary the level that's fed to it. So you can control the amount of power amp saturation and the compression that it produces. There's a good Peter Thorn (Canadian guitarist, plays with Chris Cornell) vid on YouTube where he demos it. You can see it on the Suhr site. That's what sold me.

It's more of a cranked Marshall with Vox flavour, though. You won't get liquidy Petrucci gain with it. With a good OD pedal you get there, though (I use a BB Preamp and it gets there). But that said, only a Mesa is really going to sound like a Mesa.

Anyhow ... it's not a bad idea to get something you can jam with, but that works at home (that way you're always ready to play when the opportunity arises). So with that in mind there are quite a few amps that will fit the bill.

 

[terdrocket]

noob here. 1st post.


I like the Fender Blues Jr. for a small amp.
15 watts, tube, 12" celestion speaker, and easy to modify.
I own two and run in stereo.

btw, bought my first Ball this Christmas - Rosewood Axis. I love it.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

YOU ARE ALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (just kidding)

I have been absolutly blown away by the new Laney Lionheart 5w combo. Amazing tone and a great price.

J

 

[RocketRalf]

noob here. 1st post.


I like the Fender Blues Jr. for a small amp.
15 watts, tube, 12" celestion speaker, and easy to modify.
I own two and run in stereo.

btw, bought my first Ball this Christmas - Rosewood Axis. I love it.

I almost bought a Rosewood Axis when i was shopping for my Silo in FL! And I play it trough a Blues Jr. too! (just one). And we both have rocket in our names! Am I a fan of you or what?

Yes the Blues Jr. is great for it's price, and when mod it can beat more expensive amplifiers, but if he has more money to spend, something like the MESA Express might be a better choice for him. Amps are a personal choice after all, there's not one right answer. Just try as many as you can. I did not have that chance when I was shopping for my amp or my guitar, but I'm still really happy with both. Internet is a great resource for this.

terdrocket what kind of stomps/effects are you using on your Blues Jrs.?

 

[terdrocket]

terdrocket what kind of stomps/effects are you using on your Blues Jrs.?

Right now I'm in the market for more effects. I currently run a line 6 echo park into a dual channel compressor/limiter/noise gate

 

[Spudmurphy]

The blackheart amps are getting a great reputation - for such a low price too.

These are bedroom "Killers" !!

 

[mb99zz]

I had some time on my hands a few weeks ago and stopped by my local guitar shop. I fully inteded to buy a Roland Cube and just wanted to hear the differences between the 15x, 20x, and 30x. I played each cube and thought there were OK -- but I just wasn't overly impressed by their sound.

I also tried two of the newer Fender Champ models. I can't remember the exact units I tested. One had a ton of different amp models to choose from. It was almost too versitile for my liking.

Overall, I felt dissapointed in the Fender Champs and the Cubes. Then I saw the Blues Jr and gave it a shot. For me personally, it was the best amp I tested that day. Yes, it's more expensive than a Cube and has way less features, but it sounded great. It had fantastic clean tones, great bass, and the volume was easy to control.

As a side note, I ended up buying a used USA made Fender Deluxe because it has similar clean tones (I got a GREAT deal on a used on)...and I wished I had bought the Junior. The Deluxe's volume is hard to control in my house. The junior would have served me much better.

 

[candid_x]

YOU ARE ALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (just kidding)

I have been absolutly blown away by the new Laney Lionheart 5w combo. Amazing tone and a great price.

J

I've been really curious about this little amp. Not inexpensive, though.

 

[dannymusic]

I know you've all heard it before, but...

microcube

BTW, if you have a EBMM piezo equipped axe, there are mag and piezo inputs from stereo cable. what else do you need, mun??

 

[matty]

You may want to check out some of the smaller builders. A few months ago I purchased Richter 5.8. It's 5 or 8 watts (class A) depending on whether you use a 6l6 or 6v6 tube. Sara Richter makes these amps outside Chicago. I made some sound clips and posted them on YouTube. Here's a link and I hope this helps!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnXZYe7crA"]YouTube - Richter 5.8/Ernie Ball MusicMan Silhouette Special[/ame]

 

[Jonny Dubai]

I've been really curious about this little amp. Not inexpensive, though.

It is a real beauty. And cheep next to the cornford!!!!

J

 

[seahwk51]

I recently purchased a Fender Super -Champ XD comes in 5 & 15 watt its similar to the line 6 Spider as it has 2 tubes and is also component based. Lots of variation of sounds from old blues , blackface ,British metal.I bought it strickly for home use , sounds good even at low vol levels and the price point was good too.Check them out on youtube.

 

[spkirby]

Cornford Harlequin... 6 watts, 12" speaker, point to point, all tube, pine cabinet. Sublime...

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Has anyone here tried a Mackie guitar amp? From the spec they seem like an ideal small gig / rehearsal amp. Never seen one in the flesh though!

 

[wolfbone07]

For at home play I like my Tech21 Trademark30. It sounds good at low volume, has sansamp XLR out, and reverb.