Good tube amp from $300-$700?

Hi Corbind,

I must agree with Wes all the way. I have a fender red knob twin all valve 2 x 12. It cost me a fortune, yet it's the only amp I will ever need. My advice is to buy a good quality tube amp and never look back. It could last you a lifetime and you may live a long life.

Goood amps are not cheap and like most things in life you get what you pay for ... if you can stretch then go for the fender hot rod and never worry about amps again ... (ever).

High quality tube amps can always be repaired and re-tubed brings them back to life again.

My two pence worth as usual.

So far I've seen lots of votes for the HR Deluxe, Deville, or maybe in the Blues Jr. I'm surprised the Marshall crowd has not come by and talked a little about their tube amps and uses. Or maybe it's just that tube Marshalls start at $900 and scared ‘em away with my post saying $300-700 as the limit. Wish I knew more about Mesa Boogie amps. A distant friend plays a few of them and claims the go from sparkling clean to bone-chilling distortion. I can't remember which he had. I think he used to have a Mark 4 and now has something else. All high-end stuff.

Mesa's are great amps. But they are very expensive. But know what? The original Mesa's were based on Fender design.

Probably the only reason no one mentioned Marshall is because of the style of music you mentioned you play. Marshall's are great amps, I love the Marshall tone, but I think it is best suited to heavy music. But no one will tell you that Marshall clean can compete with Fender clean.

If you get a chance try out the Peavey Classic 30. That is a very popular amp with gigging musicians. It is said to have a clean almost as good as Fender, and a better, tighter Distortion channel. It is 30 Watts. You can probably get more volume from the clean channel without breakup than the Blues Junior, but earlier breakup than the HRD. So it is right there.

Right now on the Fender Forum there is a discussion about favorite gig amp. I think more people have mentioned the Peavey Classic 30 than any other amp.

Fender Forum- Performers Corner

Look for "what gigging amp do you like best and why?"

There's lots of good info on other amps as well.

Let us know what you finally decide Dennis.

Wes

This is true if your looking for tone and not just sound, Marshalls and Mesa Boogie's will give it to you. I have and have used marshall for sometime, then a couple weeks ago I changed to running a saturated Mesa Boogie into the attenuator then Eq, then into a Marshall. I do have a rather large selection of amps to experiment with. Yes, don't count peavey out by any means, many years ago I ran a peavey mace at unheard of volumes for playing private parties. good old southern rock was what everybody wanted to hear.

Their are a few Mesa's and Marshall's that fall right around that price range, maybe more toward the higher end. most of the Marshalls I listed earlier would be the ones to look for their small with one speaker and tone for days. You may even want to consider rack mount. A tube pre-amp, Eq, Tube power amp, case, speaker cabinet. can be had for about that price range also.

If your interested in something like that I'll put together a list for you. Their just as easy to carry around and set up as a small amp.

Joe

Hey Wes, I was over there reading for about two hours and did not see that post. Could you get the exact link? I like that forum. Pretty funny stories kept me readin'!

Dennis

That link I gave above should have led you there. But anyway, go to
FDP Forum and then find "Performers Corner". Then, the actual thread on there is titled "what gigging amp do you like the best and why", the author is "blues note".

I think you will get a lot of great ideas from that thread.

Wes

If you get a chance try out the Peavey Classic 30. That is a very popular amp with gigging musicians. It is said to have a clean almost as good as Fender, and a better, tighter Distortion channel. It is 30 Watts. You can probably get more volume from the clean channel without breakup than the Blues Junior, but earlier breakup than the HRD. So it is right there.

Right now on the Fender Forum there is a discussion about favorite gig amp. I think more people have mentioned the Peavey Classic 30 than any other amp.

Dennis-

If I had to choose one tube amp in a middling, non-switchable power level, 30 watts would be the close to the mark. Whenever I've had a chance to plug into a Classic 30, I keep wishing I'd gotten it instead of the Classic 50 -- because of the price/value ratio, (similar) tone and much greater gigability factor (smaller, lighter). And it would have saved me from "having" to buy the lower powered Blues Jr. OTOH, I now have another cool tube amp to help keep all those solid staters cowering in my attic.

My perspective on buying used equipment with "disabilities" is admittedly outside the norm. I usually view problems as an opportunity to get a better price, as I fix most things electronic and mechanical myself. Most people are a bit more reticent about buying the imperfect, so it's quite likely that YMMV.

-G

Guys, keep it comin'! I feel like it's Christmas with all the ongoing great response. This makes me proud to be a part of GN! Whoo hooo! Sorry about that, but I am pretty excited about the aforementioned.

Well, I'm going to piss off the experienced guitar player in the band and I'll tell you why in a bit. At practice Tuesday night I used (as always) my Roland KC-100 keyboard amp and (after not hearing it for a month being down in Florida and cancelled practices) the tweeter on that thing was killing me. I was playing well but the amp was ‘tweating' at me. I turned down the high on the amp before I even started playing.

Anyway, both KC-100's are getting sold soon. That is, once I figure out which amp I'm going to get and decide to get it new or used on Ebay. So after band practice the guys said I sounded good and seemed more confident. Maybe because they had not seen me in a month or maybe because I had a little bit of a tan. Who knows.

Before practice Frank suggested I play through a 10 watt Crate that was in his closet. I took it out and plugged it but never used it. I changed the guitar strings on his acoustic and the other guys showed up so I was in a rush to get my guitar tuned up. Besides, I figured no way would a 10 watt amp be able to keep up with the the other guitarist and the drums. Heck, I got the Roland channel 1 volume up to 7 and the master volume up to 7 with my volumes on my guitar full out. Still I was not overpowering the sound of the band. And that's a solid state 60 watt amp. After practice I was mad at my amp and tried that little Crate. I though it sounded better than my Roland because it did not have a tweeter to accentuate the upper frequencies you' normally not hear on most amps.

Yea, it sounded okay so that affirms just never to use a keyboard amp again. I have a 10 or 15 watt Crate I leave at my buddy's place so when we jam I don't have to lug an amp over there. I don't like either Crate nor hate either. I just figure both are quite inexpensive amps and put out some sound.

So, back to how I'm going to piss off Frank (the other guitar player). He's always been on me since day one to get rid of the multieffects (I've had two since I've known him), get an amp for maybe $300, and a pedal or two. I've been following the Vox Tonelab SE newsgroup for awhile

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040714153951067165153076972707/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/150314/

And I think I'll give it a whirl. I'll sell my current processor for maybe $560-600 and put a couple of bucks toward the SE. I'm thinking I'm not using the features on the Roland VG-88 processor but can use the ones on the SE without having 20 foot pedals and doing a dance every song. I like to have things pre-programmed so, when your're ready to play song X, you look your notes to tap on bank 13, patch2 with the tone selector on the guitar flipped to the middle position.

If I had a bunch of stomps I'd have to re-tweak each between songs (especially going form a rocker to a sort-of-rocker to a mellow song).

So I'll have the SE that has a tiny tube built in. Yea, I don't know if it really does much but maybe it would dirty up the sound a little. Now, since the SE is really a digital modeler, would it make sense to go through a tube amp to get some natural tube warmth or with a solid state without effects? I could go back to the Tech21 Power Engine or Bronzewood? I don't think I want to do that. But I'm just asking if a tube amp will work with the SE digital processor or will the clash. Silly question, but I'm willing to look foolish. :oops:

P.S. Now that I said we played the second half of the night with my volume pots on 10 (full out) and on 7's on my 60w solid state amp, what tube amperage would be able to sound about like that?

Good chocie on the tonelab, they rock! I don't know it is because of the tube, but I like the sound of it a lot more then the sound of a Boss GT6, which costs about as much. As for what amp: both can. Sending it straight to a PA or to a solid-state amp is most common, but there is actually a tube amp being released that is made specifically for digital modeling pre-amps. Try solid-state first, and if that seems lacking, try a tube poweramp. I guess the average tube poweramp would colour the sound too much, so you might have to shop around a bit.

Oh, you might wish to check out the Vox AD120VT, should be availlable for $700. It is a 120W amp, with digital modeling, a small tube poweramp and a big solidstate poweramp. Sounds very nifty, and is tonewise quite similar to the Tonelab.

That's good to hear the ToneLab sounds twice as good as the Boss GT-6. I was going to buy the GT-6 but opted to get the more expensive VG-88. Both of them actually have the same COSM amp technology. That being said, I hope the ToneLab sounds twice as good as the processor I'm using now. That would be a big boost. A 120 watt amp? Good gravy, I think I'd incinerate the drywall of this room!

I just checked out a Bogner Cube 1 x 12” cabinet. It's just a cab and it's $450. The head recommended for it was a Dr. Z Route 66 head (35 watts but $1,500). That's insane to spend two grand for two pieces. I suppose that's why it was highly recommened in the Fender forums I perused yesterday and today. But that head is for Marshall sound so the guy recommended going with a Bogner head for more versatility. All that is out of my league for now. Too much cash for sure. :twisted: But at least they are fairly light and easy to transport.

Hehe, Bogner is a very, very, pricy brand. Not for normal people. :) The Higher-wattage vox amps in the AD series have a control that allow you to set the output wattage between 1 and their max. So that 120W thing can be 120 when needed, or 1W at home. And if you think you'll never need 120W, there are always smaller models, for less money.

I'll sell my current processor for maybe $560-600 and put a couple of bucks toward the SE. But I'm just asking if a tube amp will work with the SE digital processor or will the clash. Silly question, but I'm willing to look foolish. :oops:

My Tonelab SE sounds great through my Peavey Duel 212 (120 watts A/B, all tube, Twin 12" Black Widow speakers).

I've been running through the clean channel, and loving the sound I get, but Vox suggests that you run straight into the power amp via an effects return or power amp input. I'll do that with the Vox or the Fender, but doing that with the Peavey both terrifies and fascinates me.

I mean, this is an amp that's had people suggest that I not run through the PA after a sound check for an outdoor gig - and I wasn't IN the PA at all, and the master volume was on 2 1/2.

But still, the thought of the Tonelab into all that clean tube power...
It's SO seductive.....
:twisted:

Right on Slipper, glad to see some other wickedly-detailed folks out there. Funny, I posted earlier how it can actually be a handicap when it comes to the arts, but it's good for many other things. At times, I wish I were more “go-with-the-flow-and-let-it-happen-type,” but it's not in my nature. Well, unless it involves some cold ones I get much less structured.

I hope you pick your guitar up and rock with it. By the time you are retired you'll be out there rockin' the bars and other venues. Guitar is a great instrument. Right now I have mine unstrung and am cleaning ‘n restringing. It still looks funny all sprawled out on the table playing doctor with it. Oh well, by midnight it will be back together and fresh.

As Ryan Spencer would put it, “Rock On (engineers)!” Even though I'm not an engineer, nor many of us, I hope we can all rock on.

Hey MoonRider (and everyone else), I just posted a topic specific to the TLSE so if you want to comment if you have one just go to:

https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=70500#70500

Just for fun ... ever seen or heard this?:

http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/zvexnano.html

-G

Dennis

First off, you should buy the gear you like. You are the one who is going to play through it. Having said that..........

FRANK IS NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY.

It seems from the start Frank was not too crazy about either your multi-effects or your solid-state amp. The question is why??

The truth is, I know why. He doesn't like the sound. And I can relate. I have tried just about everything at gigs. At one time I used a Digitech RP12 through a solid state amp. But the truth is, I could only find about 4 or 5 of those presets that worked live, and I had to tweak them way down. Effects that sound great through headphones or bedroom volume just sounded horrible (to me) live. I think this is what Frank is complaining about.

And solid-state amps never made me too happy as well. Regardless of these tests you hear where people could not tell the difference between a tube and solid-state, I think I could tell. Or at least let me put it like this. I have never been able to get a tone from a solid state amp that I truly liked. It always sounded a little harsh and artificial to me. But that is me. I guess I am just old-school. My favorite sound is a tube amp that is breaking up just slightly. Think of "Good Lovin" by the Rascals or "I'm Free" by The Who.

But the point is, those are my personal likes and dislikes. And maybe your friend Frank is the same way. Who cares??

You like effects. They sound good to you. You are going to play best when you sound good to yourself. And maybe the best way to use effects is through a solid state amp. They do have that new ATOMIC tube amp that was designed to provide tube warmth without coloring the sound. These amps are designed especially to work with multi-effects. Maybe you should look into that.

I only write this because we started out talking tube amps and maybe a few pedals. Then it steered back toward effects and solid-state.

Anyway, all this was pointless. I guess I could have said this all in one sentence. Get what YOU like, and #@%! Frank!