Right, so the chancellor (aka the missus, wife or 'er indoors) has given little old me a nice little chunk of freedom to exercise my gaseous instincts.
I have my beadies on an old Ibanez AS50 or AS80 guitar (ES335 clone) and I'm looking for a nice tube amp in the 10-15W range. I'd like 2 channels, but it's not obligatory - anyone got any good suggestions, other than Epi electar, which seems to be about as rare as hen's teeth?
Anyone got any ideas about the Peavey Classic 20 (15W)? The reviews on harmony central seem somewhat mixed/confused/unenthusiastic.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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335, eh? You got the blues?
Try a Fender Pro Junior to start, they aren't too difficult to find, nor very expensive. If you like it , great. If not, it will give you a bit of an idea where to look next.
Do you want a gain stage or spring reverb (who doesn't want spring reverb, I ask you?)? Then check out a Blues Jr.
Do you need an effects loop or footswitchable channels? then see if you can find a Traynor YCV-20 (I've been waiting a month for my shop to get one in so I can try it).
How about the option of switching from 15 down to 5 watts? Order a Reverend Goblin and tell me how it sounds: I'll bet it's great.
I haven't played a Peavey Classic 20, but the Classic 30 is brilliant and loud.
The Fab amps, that Joe mentioned in another post, seem a great deal.
I'd look in the used market too. I got a Kalamazoo Model 2 for $135, which is like an old Fender Champ or a Pro Junior. It sounds unreal. Put a good overdrive pedal in front of it like a Z-Vex Super Hard-On and BAM, you have two channels.
A search on ebay can find a lot of small tube amps (for example, search 'fender champ' with a check in the 'titles & descriptions' box, or search 'small tube amp' with a check in the 'titles & descriptions' box). You might want to check out the Gretsch 6150T, Premier 50, silver or black face champs. Also, look around guitar stores for used tube amps. All of this stuff can be found for under $300.
A chunk to me is probably different from a chunk to you (American to Euro, I hear in your neck of the woods it's a little more expensive) but, all in all you got some money to spend. I would look at the Fender Blues Junior. Here is a link to MF if your interested http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/480512/
As things stand, I've got a used Ibanez AS50 (cherry) and a new Ibanez AS83 (Violin sunburst) in my sights - they have really slim, fast necks and are very well finished (sound good, too).
I'm watching a guy on ebay, who's selling some Electar 10W amps. He's currently asking €199 ($245), which I think is way over what they're worth. As he has no takers, I'll watch until his price drops.
Ebay also has some very nice Hughes & Kettner 20W tube amps, but they're the current hot amp and fetch very good prices.
There's a Peavey Classic 30 going tonight, but that's more oomph than I really want (or my attic can handle).
If there's enough, there are a couple of acoustics I'm eyeing.........
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
If you can find a Champ, those 6 watts are really amazing. If I was thinking of spending $250-350, I would look for one of these over an Electar (though I've never actually seen one of these in real life). They are probably more expensive in Deutschland, though. Fender really should make these again, because they are getting harder to find.
If the Kalamazoo's are anything like them, that would be good choice.
I wasn't impressed with the new Gibson Pro Jr., but that was just my taste in sound I think. $500 for a brand new point-to-point wired 6 watter is not bad. It's just too... fuzzy... for my taste. I like that Fender 6V6 chime.
The Crate vintage 15 watt tube was a bit thin sounding to me, but the salesman seemed to love it. That was going for $300.
The Peavey Classic 30 was very nice and very warm sounding, if you want that. It's sound goes nice with a Strat, so it probably would sound great with the Marquee. It goes loud, but sounds nice even at lower volumes, where you'll get a warm clean. You just won't be getting the saturation you can get from the Champ, etc.
Just some recent experience from the great amp hunt...
