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When I went through this pain of looking at low wattage tube amps, I finally settled on the ampeg gvt15h. They were super cheap on musicians friend when they were discontinued ($250) and have a footswitchable effects loop, spring reverb, baxandall tone stack with an active mid control, and 1/2 power switch... Basically the ideal low volume pedal platform. If you can find one for cheaps, I'd definitely recommend it. I had the microterror before that, and it just can't even compare to how much better the gvt sounds.

- Didn't like the dark terror at lower volumes - just sounds like a fizzy metal amp when you don't crank it.
- blackstar ht5 is alright, if you are okay with some solid state business in front of the tubes.
- The Hughes and Kettner tubemeister series sounds terrible IMO. Sterile, no low end, boxy...
- Never heard it, but the cock amp is awesome.

D.o.S. wrote:Valve Jr. is super legit for this.

Junior is legit and their is a clean one locally here for 65 bucks right now

I have owned a few, they sound great

hbombgraphics wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Valve Jr. is super legit for this.

Junior is legit and their is a clean one locally here for 65 bucks right now

I have owned a few, they sound great

I'm also in favor of these. I had one for a bit, and they sound great out of the box, but there's also a ton of mods that can be done to them. I also had the jet city 20watt combo for a while, which is also available in a head, just without the reverb. My only complaint is you run out of clean headroom quick, but as you've said, that isn't an issue. The thing is like a mini marshall, and I wouldn't hesitate to own another.

I’ve been down this rabbit hole…

If you want a clean platform, it doesn’t get better than a silver face Champ. Actually, it does - a Vibrochamp. Want to do it on the cheap, get a C600 - same basic circuit as the standard champ, but with fixed values for the pots.

I haven’t gotten along with any of the new lower end Vox stuff. Night Train didn’t grab me in the store, and the AC-4 that I bought I couldn’t sell fast enough.

I used to really dig the Pro Jr (and hate the Blues Jr) but it’s really not a great home and/or clean and/or FX platform amp. It’s a ghetto 18W blues hammer kinda thing.

Epi Valve JR can sound decent, can sound great with some modifications, but sounds best at way above “strumming during commercials” volume

Orange Micro Terror > Tiny Terror, but still not that impressive. Hard to beat for the $cratch, but I’d rather have a C600 for the same amount.

Biyang Wang? Chung? Hadn’t seen those prior to today. Is it P/P? IF so, then yeah I’d consider that.

But I’ve been down this rabbit hole. Have had far too many so called “bedroom” amps - champ, vibro champ, C600s, 3 different Gibson GA-5s both modern and vintage, GA-15, an old Harmony, a recabbed Kalamazoo, Micro Terror, a couple three Valve Jrs, at least two Pro Jr (one actually killed a mouse…), half dozen Blues Jrs (mostly for resale), Peavey Classic 20, Classic 30, the Blackhearts 1W, Marshall Class 5, probably more that I can’t remember….

So what do I use now? 50W+ Traynor and Laney heads, with two 2x10 ported bass cabs with tweeters. Obvs this is all IMO and YMMV, but to get the headroom I want for FX with a good MV and the option to get usable onboard dirt AND massive low end response, big bottles, big transformers, and big cabs are the only cab to go, even at low volume.

Little amps can sound better though bigger cabs, but I’m happier with my home noodling toan now than I ever was during the decade of futzing with “bedroom” amps…

If you want/have to go with a smaller amp, IMO EL84s suck - at least for the kind of sounds that most of us here are going for - aim for 6v6 or better...

Totally been down this rabbit hole as well. VHT Special 6 is OK, but gets loud quick, and the stock tubes are shit. The Ultra version is way better, and has a watts knob and more EQ options.

I'm considering checking out a Quilter Micro Pro since it supposedly handles 1 to 200 watts well, and is pretty versatile for solid state, multiple instruments, etc. Solid state though.

insubordination wrote:Totally been down this rabbit hole as well. VHT Special 6 is OK, but gets loud quick, and the stock tubes are shit. The Ultra version is way better, and has a watts knob and more EQ options.

I'm considering checking out a Quilter Micro Pro since it supposedly handles 1 to 200 watts well, and is pretty versatile for solid state, multiple instruments, etc. Solid state though.

nothing wrong with solid state yo

they had a quilter at local GC for a while, thought about grabbing it

I don't completely get what he wants to do though, rock out with just the amp itself or use it as a clean platform?
Personally I think an amp that does both, especially in the low watt / low budget range, is going to be too much of a compromise.
For playing tubes at home on low volumes you need a real low wattage amp, max 2 watts I'd say.
In that realm I really dig the Fender Greta for clean to overdriven sounds and for lead / chunky rhythm sounds the Marshall JMP1 and JCM1 are pretty much unmatched so far in my experience, or get one of those little Zvex Nano amps, you might be surprised, it's pretty great to rock out with.

doommeow wrote:If you want/have to go with a smaller amp, IMO EL84s suck - at least for the kind of sounds that most of us here are going for - aim for 6v6 or better...

Forgot to add this. For sure stick with 6v6 for low watts.

if you're not married to toobz... vox pathfinder? that's what is in my living room.

Isn't the Pro Jr an EL84 amp?

Good "bedroom" and recording amp IMO.

I know OP wants head+cab, but I love my SF Champ for the bedroomz.

I gotta recommend the Laney CUB-Head. I've got the CUB 12r and it's my favorite amp ever. It's pretty bassy for a small amp, the cleans sound amazing to me (basically what I've always wanted an acoustic guitar to sound like), and I love the way it breaks up. The breakup sounds very similar to the Fuck Overdrive to me.

silverface champ.

ryan summit wrote:SHIT MEC THAT REEVES LOOKS PERFECT!
wheres the $600 link

Reeves Custom 12 - Fur Sale

Where do you live? There's a Mini-Mat combo version for sale in Montreal for $800 CAD ($665 USD). They don't actually make that version anymore. Montreal used to be where Matamp was distributed in NA so they show up once in a while... http://www.kijiji.ca/v-amplificateur-pe ... nFlag=true

doommeow wrote:
I used to really dig the Pro Jr (and hate the Blues Jr) but it’s really not a great home and/or clean and/or FX platform amp. It’s a ghetto 18W blues hammer kinda thing.

I had a Pro Junior and loved the sound it could produce. But, it wanted to be pushed harder than bedroom level to get there. At low volume it was way too noisy.

I feel like for a tube amp really work in this range it needs to be low watts (5 or less). Then you start making other compromises in design. I like the hybrid Micro Terror because it gives me, what I feel is, a nice tube tone. In fact, I'd bet, in a blind test, there wouldn't be many that could tell it has solid state power. Yet, I believe the 20W gives me a bit more to fill in low frequencies. The worst thing I can say about it is its lack of headroom. Some people swap in a 12AU7. I have one on the shelf. But, I've never been able to bring myself to put it in there. I think I'm starting to become superstitious about ruining "the magic".