Hello,
I just got a Gibson Les Paul standard, I want to upgrade my amp to match my guitar.
I want a tube-combo amp 30-60 watts, I would like it to be simple, I get all my effects from pedals. And not too horribly expensive.
Any suggestions?
-oilpit-
Are you sure you want that high of a wattage tube amp?
Ask yourself this question: Do you have neighbors?
Are they deaf?
Does your town have police?
Or is this strictly a band practice and gigging amp?
To get that many tube watts to sound "right" you have to crank it to a point where you might get evicted or burned at the stake.
"How could you possibly be scared of being bad? Once you get past that, it's all beautiful." -Trey Anastasio
Are you sure you want that high of a wattage tube amp?
Ask yourself this question: Do you have neighbors?
Are they deaf?
Does your town have police?
Or is this strictly a band practice and gigging amp?
To get that many tube watts to sound "right" you have to crank it to a point where you might get evicted or burned at the stake.
haha, mayb I've gone mad with power.
You think that is too high? Yeah your right, right now I have a Fender Cyber-Twin. It is 165W solid state I believe.
So, less wattage? What would be good for that.
I've not had much experiences with other tube amps, but I really enjoy my Fender Blues Deluxe. Others swear by the Blues Jr as an amp that's plenty powerful, yet not too powerful so that they cannont turn it up enough to saturate the tubes. It's really an issue like dl0571 was elluding to. Look at the live sound forum a couple of groups up on the board index. Quite a few threads about this.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
You may want to check out the Vox Valvetronix line; I have the AD30VT because you can adjust the wattage from 30w to .1w, so it cranks when I can get away with it but more often than not sounds great at bedroom practice levels.
"...I don't know - but whasomever I do, its gots ta be FUNKY!"
My brother picked up a Fender Super Champ XD at Christmas and I think it is a terrific amp.
This amp has great tube tone, and you can get everything from Fender clean to Marshall crunch to outright Metal distortion. It also has great effects. You can easily play it at bedroom volume, but it is loud enough to easily gig with. And it is very portable and easy to carry around. Fantastic value.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I don't know if they still make them, but Carvin made some great amps that were 33 watts (give or take) but you could cut that to 16 by pulling the outer two power amp tubes. Still loud as hell, but manaegable for practice and shows. I think what some others are trying to tell you is that if you want to use a tube amp for its best qualities, you really have to crank it up, and even low wattage tube amps can be very loud. I have a 12 watt amp that is almost as loud as a mesa 2x12 100 watt but sounds a lot better (my opinion, of course. I could list a lot I don't like about mesas but they are good amps).
I'm a huge fan of pushing a tube amp but never look down my nose at those that use pedals for tone with and use a SS amp. Hell I use a POD or NI guitar rig somewhat frequently and there's no tubes in there! I used a SS L7 for long time and it never needed service or new tubes or inexplicable fuse melting but I ultimately looked for more than my pedals could provide. In my search, I found that a lot of my favorite guitarists might use multiple 100 watt stacks live, but they didn't record the songs that way (many using the aforementioned fender champ). I'd like to be a fly on the wall in a Dinosaur Jr recording session. I have never hear a louder live guitar in my life than J Mascis or maybe Bob Mould circa 1984 (and he was all SS I think).
At any rate, If you can find a Carvin Vintage 33 or a Bel Air on craigs or the bay they are both really good (IMO) for what they're going for. I wouldn't expect support as I think they're discontinued both but get the right tubes in there and they rule. I retubed my 33 with JJs from whatever Carvin put in there and it was my favorite practice amp ever until I switched to the 12 watter.
Just my $.02
Peace
Jicky
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Oh and just to be more of a nuisance to the thread:
The Epi Valve Jr ain't bad
I love the Tech 21 Trademark series SS amps, you can dial in a tone with their emulation or whatever and it stays pretty consistent between low and medium volumes.
Sell that Cyber-twin. I brought one home for a week and i thought it was the biggest waste of money I've experienced. But hey, Buddy Guy likes 'em.
Peace,
Jick
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Also yesterday I tried out a (GASP) Line 6 micro-spider with a LP standard. Really not bad! Sorry tube snobs (I'm one too) but this might be the home practice amp to beat the Tech 21...
Peace,
Jick
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