Combo Amp for Pedulz.

[t-rey]

Looks like I'm going to lose my dedicated office/guitar room...so I'm in the market for a smaller combo amp. It's not so much the space of the head/2x12 as it is the ease of sticking a combo in the closet that's motivating the decision. I've not had a combo amp, or paid attention to them in a very long time, so I'm looking for some suggestions/guidance.

My priorities are a good clean (that's brighter than my Ampeg GVT), that takes pedals well (especially fuzz and distortion), and sounds good at low/medium volumes. That's really it. I think I'd prefer a 1x12 for more low end, but I could just be talking out of my ass and there are a lot of 1x10 combos that put out plenty of punch/bass, so feel free to tell me so. Hoping to keep the price at $700, but the lower the better.

I play hackneyed stoner/doom/psych stuff. Primary dirts are Elements, Pharaoh, and Frazz.

Amps that currently have my interest:
Vox AC15 (or maybe 30, or hell, maybe even the 4)
Fender Blues Junior
Fender DRRI
Peavey Classic 30
Laney VC-30
Blackstar Artist 15

Feel free to offer feedback on any of those amps, or point me in a better direction.

[popvulture]

AC30 is great, but super fucking heavy. Also not exactly quiet. AC15s are pretty damn nice IMO, but they'll have a little more breakup the louder you get, obv. If you ever come across one of the pretty rare AC15 2x10s, they're fantastic.

If I had that list to pick from, I'd probably go with the Peavey.

[t-rey]

Right on. I actually didn't know they had done a 2x10 AC15.

On paper, the Peavey looks like one of the best options for me (especially when factoring in the price).

Anything else you'd suggest that isn't on my hastily assembled list?

[Muff_Diver]

Silverface fender champ. Upgrade the speaker if need be. I think a lot of those on your list arent gonna hit the sweet spot at "low/medium volume".
Blues jr seems pretty alright as well, I'm just a "vintage is better" snob.

Edit-Maybe an ampeg jet/gemini?

[tremolo3]

Clean ass fender amps don't take fuzzes well unless you crank the volume up.

[popvulture]

Yeah I agree with Muff Diver especially when it comes to Fenders. I like the sounds of the Devilles etc, but they have such awful reputations in terms of longevity... I believe the Blues Jr MIGHT be a little more reliable than those, but I'm dubious. The Peavey lives in that realm but is a little better built... also sort of an American voicing, but iirc it's got British tubes in it? EL34s? Can't remember, but I've never been disappointed playing one. I used to have a Classic 50 head and 410 cab that I sooooo wish I kept.

[Kacey Y]

Peavey Classic 30. You can get them used cheap, they do Fender and lower gain vintage Marshall tones pretty easily. Fender blackface or silverface RI stuff is good, the DRRI I would only do if you actually want the reverb and tremolo, otherwise it's probably more money than you need to spend and you might still want to upgrade the speaker. I kind of like the sound of the '68 RI a bit more than the '65, but it's kind of overkill for a pedal platform combo.

[gnomethrone]

I love my peavey classic 30. I was hunting for a cheap blues junior for awhile but the peavey popped up for a steal and I'm glad I went for it. Its pretty comparable to the blues junior at low volumes but I think its the better of the two when cranked. I pretty much always use pedals into the clean side but the drive channel is nice. It may be a little too much depending on your definition of "bedroom level playing" but if you don't mind dialing your volume knob between .5 and 1.5 you can make it work. Oh and I play downtuned sludge stuff with a fuzzrocious demon and a pharaoh as my main dirt.

[popvulture]

Fwiw DRRI also has no bright switch, rather a bright cap always on that'll make your signal pretty glassy at low volumes. Trem mentioned that clean Fenders can have problems with fuzz, which is totally true—they can sound really harsh. I've found that you can tame it a bit by putting a little bit of gain before fuzz, with something like an EQD Speaker Cranker. It helps a lot, but you're gonna run into this problem more on a DR than you would with a Twin due to that bright cap. You can always clip it though.

[The Eristic]

Out of the ones listed, I'd probably go with an older US-made Classic 30, too, or Delta Blues if you can find one.

Other stuff you might want to look at I found with a brief dig of the GC site.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Burris ... 3265294.gc This is at the top of your budget, but it's a $3000 amp new. Will absolutely eat the DRRI for basically the same money.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Mesa-B ... mbo-Amp.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Mesa-B ... mbo-Amp.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Hughes ... 3400069.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Yamaha ... mbo-Amp.gc Designed by Soldano, great clean all the way to super high gain, also has surprisingly great reverb. Sounds good at lower volumes despite its power.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Fender ... mbo-Amp.gc Rivera designed, fantastic cleans.

Additionally, as uncool as the brand is, there's a million great deals on US Crate Vintage Club amps, which sound excellent.

[tremolo3]

Fwiw DRRI also has no bright switch, rather a bright cap always on that'll make your signal pretty glassy at low volumes. Trem mentioned that clean Fenders can have problems with fuzz, which is totally true—they can sound really harsh. I've found that you can tame it a bit by putting a little bit of gain before fuzz, with something like an EQD Speaker Cranker. It helps a lot, but you're gonna run into this problem more on a DR than you would with a Twin due to that bright cap. You can always clip it though.

You know what I've found recently in my Twin is that setting volume around 6-7 and tone pots really low, like below 3-4, it delivers a really noice gritty tone otherwise not possible if doing the opposite, vol pot below tone pots.

And with this, fuzzes don't sound like ass!

Like a week later I read someone in TGP suggesting exactly that to get a dirt tone out of the Twin (besides obviously cranking in and putting some inefficient speakers).

Need to do some research because fuck I am so intrigued, and it's weird that I haven't heard of that before. Maybe is the most common approach in setting amps and I'm like years behind?

[popvulture]

Ah shit yeah that sounds fun... never tried that approach before. I know what I'm doing when I get home.

[t-rey]

Silverface fender champ. Upgrade the speaker if need be. I think a lot of those on your list arent gonna hit the sweet spot at "low/medium volume".
Blues jr seems pretty alright as well, I'm just a "vintage is better" snob.

Edit-Maybe an ampeg jet/gemini?

Those Ampegs get pretty bright?

Champs bring the toanz with the little speaker?

I love my peavey classic 30. I was hunting for a cheap blues junior for awhile but the peavey popped up for a steal and I'm glad I went for it. Its pretty comparable to the blues junior at low volumes but I think its the better of the two when cranked. I pretty much always use pedals into the clean side but the drive channel is nice. It may be a little too much depending on your definition of "bedroom level playing" but if you don't mind dialing your volume knob between .5 and 1.5 you can make it work. Oh and I play downtuned sludge stuff with a fuzzrocious demon and a pharaoh as my main dirt.

Keeping volume at .5-1.5 on the dirty channel, or does the clean have to be set that low as well? Funny you mention the Demon - that's next on my dirt list.

Out of the ones listed, I'd probably go with an older US-made Classic 30, too, or Delta Blues if you can find one.

Other stuff you might want to look at I found with a brief dig of the GC site.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Burris ... 3265294.gc This is at the top of your budget, but it's a $3000 amp new. Will absolutely eat the DRRI for basically the same money.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Mesa-B ... mbo-Amp.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Mesa-B ... mbo-Amp.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Hughes ... 3400069.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Yamaha ... mbo-Amp.gc Designed by Soldano, great clean all the way to super high gain, also has surprisingly great reverb. Sounds good at lower volumes despite its power.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Fender ... mbo-Amp.gc Rivera designed, fantastic cleans.

Additionally, as uncool as the brand is, there's a million great deals on US Crate Vintage Club amps, which sound excellent.

DUDE! Thanks! I always forget about guitar center's used site.

[t-rey]

Other thoughts without wall of quoting:

I never realized that Fenders got picky about fuzz. Good to know.

Lots of love for the Peavey so far. I'll start looking for those (older US made ones) more diligently. I figure I can sell my current amp and cab for enough to cover a Classic 30 and a JM Jazzmaster...

Is there anything solid state that should have my attention given my lame-ass-dad volumes?

[gnomethrone]

Keeping volume at .5-1.5 on the dirty channel, or does the clean have to be set that low as well? Funny you mention the Demon - that's next on my dirt list.

I just looked at my settings and my clean is a little over 1 from trying not to bug my downstairs neighbors last night but I do like to run my pedals pretty loud. The dirt channel actually tapers a little slower but I dunno if they're all that way. I have the older USA one with the fender knockoff metal name plate.

and the demon is raaaad. Mine has the momentary feedback stomp and it's fun as shit.