Amp Decision

Hmmm for some silly reason I think most will try and steer you to
the 5w Epi. That's what I would get if I didn't already have a Hot Rod Deluxe, which BTW I'm completly happy with. :)

Hmmm for some silly reason I think most will try and steer you to
the 5w Epi. That's what I would get if I didn't already have a Hot Rod Deluxe, which BTW I'm completly happy with. :)

The epiphone valve standard is a AB class 15 watt tube amp with a 12" speaker, effects and reverb for $ 299. I have the 5 watt epi valve head. Its great for the price of $99, but you will want a EQ, reverb, and some kind of overdrive. Then you will need a speaker :D :lol: Epi alo has a 5 watt class A combo with effects, reverb, and a 10" speaker( the Epiphone valve spacial) for about $230 but I would spend the extra $70 and spring for the standard.

The HRD is probably a better amp, but it depends on your budget :wink:

HOT ROD DELUXE... u can't go wrong. or get the Blues Deluxe if you feeling a bit on the wild side. They basically the same, but where the hot rod has a lot of punch and claen the blues is dirty, adn well bluesy sounding. both great

DON"T QUOTE ME:

Hot Rod Deluxe.......$699.00 -799.00................or I got mine brand new on ebay for $444.00 just got to look.

Blues Deluxe..........$899.00

Yea I know that expensive, but you will never buy another amp in your life unless (in my case Katrina) puts it under 22 feet of water for you.

I've been looking at some of the Fenders but since i can't play the Carvin i'm just curious as to how good it actually is. My buddy has one of the Vai models but never seen or heard the Bel Air. I'll probably just break down and get the Epi or Fender.

I've played with a couple guitarists that have had them. Also few months ago I got to spend a weekend with one. I used a tube pre-amp and art 341 eq before the amp and a altair attenuator after. It will hold its own and then some when running with the big dogs. Remember every amp has its own tone. Choosing the one that just says I'm the one is a personal choice. One amp my work well for one guitarist may not for the next. Their a worthy investment.

You may also want to look into the ampeg and peavey tube amps also.

Joe

I wish companies would stop making amps because there are so many good ones i'm almost afraid to buy one. Its never been this hard shopping for a guitar because i know what i want but these tube amps don't really make sense to me.

What tubes are better for what style, and what should i be looking for in an amp that translates to a good sound. I know everyone has different taste but what would be something in one tube amp that another may not have???

here is a simple example.......

The Hot Rod Deluxe I have, has punch and hardly will get a overdriven tube sound without volume past 4..(its a 40W amp) if you can with stand it past 2 you good, this amp will get louder than anyones Marshall 100W 1/2 stack..... My buddy has the Peavey XXX and his was on 8 and it was loud, my hot rod was on 4 and you could hear it over his.

The Blues has a dirtier bluesy sound.... It starts to overdrive the tubes at volume 3 and just gets dirtier and dirtier you don't even need the lead channel....

I've known several people who've been very happy with the BelAir, but it is a big, heavy, very loud amp.

I wish companies would stop making amps because there are so many good ones i'm almost afraid to buy one.

Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat, even though I am not actually considering buying one right now -- just eventually. The only thing I've really learned is that each amp has a different level of "clean" vs "dirty" tone. The key is to find the tradeoff that you like. This probably means trying out a lot of amps; for me this is a problem, I don't get to spend that much time in music stores, and if I had time, I would rather practice than shop..

I've seen some opinions that the Carvin amps are very good for rock/hard rock, but not so great for clean...but that's second hand. Colleague of mine has a Legacy, he loves it. He is a big Steve Vai fan, has the JEM as his main axe..

What tubes are better for what style, and what should i be looking for in an amp that translates to a good sound.
In general, you'll find that amps that have EL84s (think Vox, Matchless, Orange, Laney - the "British" sound) tend to be cleaner sounding than those with EL34s (think Marshall). Marshall actually started out with EL84 driven amps (the 18watt was a copy of the British Watkins Dominator amp), but sells EL34 driven amps, these days - "muddier" cleans and heavy distortion.

This may not be right and i'm just guessing but does the type of tubes in the amp play the biggest part in the sound, and the watts play the biggest part in how loud it can get?? I'm probably wrong but it seems like a good guess.

This may not be right and i'm just guessing but does the type of tubes in the amp play the biggest part in the sound, and the watts play the biggest part in how loud it can get?? I'm probably wrong but it seems like a good guess.
The tubes do play a part, but so do many other factors, like the speakers. It's a generalisation, but, if you look at the specs for a lot of the "clean" sounding amps - e.g Vox AC30, Peavey Classic 30 - have EL84s, whereas the "heavier" sounding amps - Marshalls - have EL34s.
Many EL34 based amps also offer the ability to substitute other tubes - 6L6, 6V6 or 5881 - for the EL34 to give a different output and tone.

This is a great question. lets see if I can explain a good answer. As other have mentioned the different tube all have different tones. That comes down to individual taste and the sound you want to create. about the only way to decide that would be to play on as many different amps that have different tubes in them and go from there.

This part of the reason I combine so many amps together to create one over all sound. They all have different output tubes which creates their own personality. The power amp I use as a preamp has two 12AX7 and two 12AT7 preamp tubes and eight EL84 power amp tubes, final stage amps one have four El-34's, and a couple others have 6l6's. They work together as a team to create the total bigger picture.

joe

When looking for an amp you have to ask yourself how you are going to use it. If you are only going to play at home then you want a lower powered amp, maybe 5-15 watts. This allows you to crank the amp up a bit, but even a 5 watt amp is very loud. You can even play Open Mics or small gigs with amps this size without mic'ing. You can mic them into a PA at bigger gigs. Some gigging musicians prefer smaller amps like this because they can really crank them into saturation at gigs. They just mic the amp.

If you are (or plan to be) in a band, you want a more powerful amp, maybe 30-50 watts if tube, 50-100 watts if solid state. These amps are real loud and easy to gig with. 1 X 12s are popular because the are fairly lightweigt and portable. A 2 X 12 will give a fuller tone, but these amps tend to be very heavy and not fun to move around at all. Big stacks look great on stage, but trying to cram a 4 X 12 cab in your car gets old real quick.

The most important thing about an amp is that it has a tone you really love. What good is a 100 watt amp with a 4 X 12 cab if you hate the way it sounds?? You would be far happier with a small amp that really ROCKS.

The Hot Rod Deluxe was mentioned. This is one of the most popular tube amps in the world. It has an excellent clean channel, it is fairly portable, reasonably priced, and is easily loud enough for almost any gig. A downside to the HRD is the overdrive channel sounds more 60's-70's. You cannot get Metal tones out of the overdrive channel. Most people simply use pedals into the clean channel. I own one and this is what I do. But the overdrive channel of the HRD is not very popular.

Hot Rod Deluxe

Another very popular gigging amp is the Peavey Classic 30. It also has a great clean channel, perhaps not quite as good (in most people's opinion) as the HRD. But the overdrive channel is known to be pretty great. These amps are getting hard to find. Here is a site that only has 3 left.

Peavey Classic 30

Other popular amps in this price and power range are the Traynor

Traynor YCV40

Never personally hear this amp, but it gets very good reviews.

The new Epiphone mentioned

Epiphone Valve Standard

Fairly new, but getting very good reviews. The price is great.

Ampeg doesn't get mentioned often here, but they make excellent, and great sounding amps. I have seen many gigging musicians with these amps.

Ampeg Super Jet

Another Peavey that is popular is the Valve King 112

Peavy ValveKing 112

This is fairly new also, but gets good reviews. The price is very good.

So this is just a few of the more popular 1 X 12 tube amps. They are popular because of their reasonable price, portability, gig power, and good tone. You can get better amps of course, but they usually cost a lot more. And some people would not want to take a super-expensive amp to a gig anyway.

Then there are solid-state and hybrid amps. Yeah it gets confusing, you just have to read lots of reviews, and try to go down an listen to an amp in person. But the most important thing is get an amp that you truly love the tone.