Good tube amp from $300-$700?

Greg, which tube amp did you get and why? What guitar, effects go through it?

Wes, I just read your reply. I'm late for a meeting so I'll respond later tonight I hope. I just configured about 7 pages of help stuff for some friends and most of it was excerpts of stuff from posts/replies from GN members. Cool!

The Peavey Classic 50 4x10: classic blues and rock sounds with tight bass. I usually play it with a G&L S-500 or a Reverend Slingshot (P90 pups). The typical effects I use are a Crybaby, a Line6 Delay Modeller (for slapback), and a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive (boost and/or some chunkiness).

The problem with the Classic 50 is it's really too powerful for most of my needs -- the sucker is block party loud. It also weighs a metric ton. Sometimes the spectre of its weight makes my little Cube 30 "sound" a lot better. So, I'm also in the market for a small wattage tube amp plus attenuator.

'Course I'll keep the 50 for those summer parties.

I checked out the Blues Jr. and like that it would break up early but I think it has only one channel, doesn't come with a cover or footswitch. Well, it has the “fat” button to add distortion but you have to use your hand to switch it.

My guitar teacher has a used one with a broken reverb and said he'd sell it (the Blues Jr.) for $200-250 and an Ibanez TubeScreamer for like $70. Maybe I'll ask if I can borrow the amp for a day or two to check it out. Or maybe I'll get off the computer here and head down to Sam Ash to check the amps out side-by-side before practice tonight.

Dennis-

That's a good price for the Blues Jr. I tried one, as well as a Pro Jr. and an Alessandro Working Dog yesterday. The Working Dog was the best, but goes for $1200 and is fairly large for a 1-12. Nevertheless, the Blues Junior was pretty good, so I took one home for "further research." It sounds great with every one of my guitars and is plenty loud for a small club gig.

The "fat" switch is actually gain boost, not a distortion switch. And it is footswitch controllable. And though the footswitch is not included, all that's required is a cheapo, old fashioned push on/push off with 1/4 inch phone plug -- probably 10 bucks.

It works really well with a booster pedal (my trusty Sparkle Drive). The only thing I didn't care for: the reverb. If it wasn't there, I wouldn't miss it.

If you can get a reverbless Blues Junior for $200, go for it. I'm keeping this one.

BTW, the Pro Jr. is a good amp, too. But I think the Blues' tone stack, extra gain, master volume and 12 inch driver are worth the extra $60.

-Greg

So, if Rob will sell me the Blues Jr. for $200 with the broken reverb you think it would be a good deal? Could I even try it for a month and resell it on Ebay for the same? I may as well pick up his Ibanez Tube Screamer, too, for $70 to check it out. But I may just get that amp Thursday at my lesson. A guy can't turn down cash, LOL. Heck, I bought each of my Roland KC-100 amps for $200 so I would not mind buying that one and selling the Rolands on Ebay. Unfortunately, the going rate for my Rolands back in December were from $220-250 when they now go for (in the past 2 weeks), gasp, just $125 so I'd lose $75 per amp, yuck!

Oh, to be the truth, I'm wanting to sell both of my keyboard amps and my Roland VG-88 to shore up cash for a decent amp and likely a Tone Lab SE. We'll see how it turns out over time….

You could consider buying the amp and looking on the internet (if not ebay) for a spring reverb unit and fit that as a replacement for the broken one (depends what is wrong with it, of course, it may not need total replacement). You may find that a specific part is as much as a complete unit, particularly from ebay.

Dennis

I think you should try the amp at one of your practices before buying it.

If you can get enough clean volume to compete with the other loud guitar player go for it.

Getting that Tube-screamer is a great idea.

The Danelectro PJ & B Delay pedal also makes a great reverb pedal. If you turn down the repeats it gives you an awesome reverb. And I mean that, a great reverb. If you go to Harmony Central and read reviews you'll see that many guitarists buy it just to use as reverb. But you can also get the Country slapback delay and longer delays as well. I own one of these and it's a great pedal. It's only downside is that it is small. But I haven't had any trouble stepping on the buttons.

Danelectro PJ & B

Wes is right with the "try before you buy," Dennis. Given that option, always use it. It would be a shame not to have enough "clean" tube volume, as it sounds so nice and chimey. Me, I have no clean volume worries with a Blues Jr. since I already own a larger tube amp, but YMMV -- give it the band practice tryout.

Ditto on Wes' reverb advice -- I like use a Line6 delay modeller for 'verb and slap, but the principle is the same with the PB&J for a much lower cost.

-G

It's strange, with the Blues Jr., I've played 2, one had great reverb, so good I was ready to buy the amp, then the one at the shop was kind of mushy. I didn't expect a Fender fullsize reverb tank, but the first one left me with such high expectations. I really need the spring reverb.

$200 is an awesome price, but $70 for the TS sounds rather high to me. I know you could probably sell the Amp in Holland for about $350.

Yea, I see you said stuff sells for insanely high prices over there (evil government!). So you think $70 id too much for a TS? There seem to be 3 models ranging from $70-150 new. I have no idea what makes one better than the other except you'd expect the higher prices garner more features/sound.

Yea, I'm hoping Rob will let me borrow it Thursday to give it a whirl next Tuesday at band practice. Too bad it won't help me tomorrow night at practice. I'll still have to play through the keyboard amp.... :cry:

If the fender amp has the a part thats no functioning I would think twice before buying it, there has to be a reason why that reverb unit stopped working. For $200.00 you can buy a new Epiphone Galaxie 10 from about any of the big music chains, and for around that same price most of the amps I listed in a couple posts can be picked up for that. most of them are use but will be in complete working order.

I don't mean to rain on the parade about the fender, I just don't want to see you get it and have tons of problems with it. Just makes me leary when something like a reverb unt which is something that usually dosen't stop working breaks. I just looked that the schematic, interesting. Without testing it can't really offer advice.

joe

I took a look at the schematic as well. I noticed the reverb circuit is driven and buffered with an IC (instead of a tube). That and the small size of the reverb unit explains the so-so reverb sound -- it's the only non-tube path through the amp and short length of the springs limits the max delay for the effect.

As far as reliability, it's a tough call. Reverb driving/buffering IC's have been known to fail in a number of amps. It could be that. Maybe not. Reverb spring units themslves are pretty tough -- failure there is usually at the connector. In any case, the reverb circuit is fairly isolated from the design and function of the rest of the amp. That somewhat mitigates the risk.

Dennis,

You are probably feeling tossed about by all this advice. Well, this is not advice, but a suggestion. You seem to be on a tight budget. Now that's something I can truly relate to.

Myself, I don't like to buy used amps. I'll buy a used guitar or a used pedal, but amps are more complicated. I want an amp that nobody else has touched. I wouldn't buy that Blues Junior. It would just bug me that that reverb didn't work.

Anyway, I tried to find a gig worthy true tube amp (new) for $200. Here is what I found, the Pignose G40V.

Pignose G40V

I went to Harmony Central and read the reviews on this. The only bad reviews were from people who couldn't spell. The reviews from intelligent people who could write were very good. The reviews from very experienced musicians were good. Always consider the source.

Pignose G40V Reviews Harmony Central

If I was on a tight budget (always am), I would strongly consider this amp for your needs.

Otherwise, spend the money and get a new Pro Junior, Blues Junior, or Classic 30.

I went to Harmony Central and read the reviews on this. The only bad reviews were from people who couldn't spell.

Good one Wes! :lol: I almost fell out of my chair!

Nope, I don't feel overwhelmed by the responses. Actually, I'd prefer more info than less to make an educated decision. Keep the posts coming. I'm reading each one twice! :wink: