ilovefuzz.com

blakestree wrote: I feel like for a tube amp really work in this range it needs to be low watts (5 or less).

Like I said, YMMV - I just disagree with you entirely.

I haven't tried the top dollar bedroom amps - Carr Mercury is on my bucket list, and Alan Sparhawk makes is sing on stage and in the studio. But the mass produced and/or lower priced low wattage amps just don't work for me.

- Lots of them don't have a Master Volume. So to get any grit at all, you've got to push them past bedroom friendly levels.
- Those that do have MV always disappoint me. I don't know if it's a design thing or just inherent in low wattage amps, but you start playing with the MV to get a little dirt and it's fizzy, like a cheap dirt box - and not in a good way. The only MV I've ever liked on a sub-50W amp is on the Frenzel stuff, but those seem to be hard to find used these days - but would be a good solution for the OP.
- The low end response just isn't there. Maybe for the bluesman, the cock rocker, or the cowboy that needs to sit in the mix that's fine - but me, I want as wide a soundstage as possible. Partially due to growing up playing bass, but also due to the space and economic realities that often have me using one amp for guitar and synth/noise/whatever duties.
- EL-84s. While it's gotten better, when the modern SE craze started with the Epi VJ you couldn't spit without hitting a low wattage EL84 amp. With a monster cab (I was using a Musicman folded bass 15" at the time) the EVJ isn't bad, but IMO EL84s just don't have the grit of a similarly spec'd amp with larger tubes. The one exception being the Gibson GA-15RV - that's was a beautiful little amp, mainly because it wasn't designed by Gibson's fascist patriot penny pinchers (Still too loud for 'round the house though).
- Low wattage combos are almost always opened back, which I find to be louder and harder to control in a small space. Maybe it's only my perception, but with a closed back cab you've got sound going in one direction bothering one neighbor/roommate - openback, it's going in two...

For some reason I have strong opinions on this subject.

I don't have a problem with solid state power sections - they seem to fix a lot of my complaints re: bass response. In fact, if my rig was stolen or I needed to add another head, top of the list would be one of the Trace Elliott Bass Heads - rack mount, SS power stage, Tube pre, all sorts of switching and EQ options. Had one for a couple of weeks last year. Killer amp, some of the best doom and all out filth dirt I've gotten from an amp at home W/O using pedals. If I'd had the space, wasn't attached to my current stuff, and didn't have need for the stupid profit I made on the thing, I would've gladly kept it.

I'll also admit to being curious about the Marshall JTM 1 watt.... Tried it at GC for a minute. Interesting enough that I still perk up when I see one for sale, but I'd have to try it through real cabs - and I'd have to sell one of my current heads to afford it.

But to the OP, if this is just a fool around amp and you've already got stuff you like elsewhere, look hard at the Fender Champ 600 (or whatever the Gretsch model is called? Elctromatic 1234 or something?) and the Micro Terror. Champ if you want cleans, Micro Terror if you want dirt, both if you spend too much time on ILF. You can get either one in the $100-$150 range. Both are best in their class for freq response - with the little champ having a surprising amount of thump for that little 6" (TWS....). Both are cheap to ship if you're buying (or eventually selling) used. And both seem to be retaining their resale value when you get bored and need a nice vintage 100W practice amp.

(With open back cabs, the sound really goes all over the place...)

Valve Jr. head is okay (IMO), it's not very versatile (only a Vol. knob). EQ requires a mod or a pedal (and many people think the stock Valve Jr. is 'dark'). I wouldn't consider the Valve Jr. a "treat" it's more like a low budget option.

How close are the neighbors? If you live in an apartment building, 5 watts can be pretty loud.

I've always heard combos had to be open back, to keep tubes cool.

doommeow wrote:
Like I said, YMMV - I just disagree with you entirely.

I don't really see the disagreement. You read the sentence I wrote after the one you quoted, right? I meant low watt tube amps are needed for bedroom use so that the tubes can be driven sufficiently. Your examples are some of the compromises I was implying. (I don't have a problem with EL84's, though.)The biggest that comes to my mind is the limitation on the number of tubes used. Further, your comments about the advantage of solid state power seems to support what I was extolling about the Micro Terror's hybrid design.

Anyway, I think the Champ is a good rec. But, I haven't found a guitar speaker under 12" that I was truly satisfied with.

Personally, I would really, really like to try a Mini-Mat.

If you want balls out cranked tube amp sounds at apartment levels, 5 watts is too loud without help like an attenuator. If you want a big sounding clean platform in a tube amp, the closer to a full sized amp in architecture you can get, the better. If you want to sound like a Twin Reverb, a Deluxe Reverb or Vibrolux Reverb is gonna get you closer than a Champ or even a Princeton Reverb with its cathode biased output stage and cathodyne phase inverter. If you want lows from a smaller amp or a non-cranked one, the right cab can help, like an EV-loaded TL-806 or similar ported cab. Mine makes even a battery-powered Smokey Amp sound fairly decent.

For cleans, I just use solid state at home. A Yamaha JX series is really close to a clean blackface or silverface Fender, easy to control volume on, and cheap. One of my faves for at-home amp dirt is also solid state: a Marshall Lead 12 is surprisingly good, and can still crop up cheap occasionally, though may not have the best big low end for doomy folks.

sorry i should clesr this up
for years i used a vox pathfinder
did the led mod
loved that sound and grat pedal practice amp
led mod gives you mad headroom
and with an extension cab can get fairly loud
love that amp and suggest it to anyone who wants a lil combo
and wants to use their full board
headphones, b/r level, or kinda loud

i also have a wooden box crate iir
that thing sounds good
looks cool
and gets 60 watt through an extension
kinda rare
and ill sell it to whoever wants it

and then ive got the behemoths downstairs
soundproof jamroom
dual 300 watt SS amps and 612s
plus bass rig and drum kit
so i dont need to get my loud out on this thing
and i already have SS amps i could use for this


im bringing the emperor 2x12 upstairs
thats what this new head would be played though
i appreciate all these suggestions sincerely
im learning a ton about what im actually looking at
but solid state and combos are not options
im flush at this point

im in the solid state camp
you dont need to convince me that it would be sufficiant
it was suggested to me
because i have so many SS amps
that a nice tube amp would be cool up there
and look good to pass the girlfriends L/R design test
dont worry about the noise issue

forgot to put laney cub on list
AND HOLY SHIT THAT LIL AMPEG
good call ole angel

haphazard order at this point
im gonna do a poll
i havent priced them out yet
anything over $500 new is out of question
and (even as a joke) if the WANGS wins the poll
i will buy it
and jet citys are fairly modable as well too right

orange tiny or micro terror (#1 choice right now)
vht special 6 (highly mod-able and cheap/close 2nd)
ampeg gvt15 (duhhh...may be the winner)
epiphone valve JR ($65 and one knob...sheeeeit)
vox night train(zz top)
laney cub
laney lionheart(cool as fuck...too metal?)
egnater tweaker
marshall haze (SOMEONE CHIME IN ON THIS)
jet city pico
biyang WANGS
bugera (funeral home doom)

looking for/looking into/buy in a second/porno
mini-mat
reeves (if i had the$$$, id buy this)
hovercraft (theres a discontinued 5 watt)
accoustic 165 (recommended by....i forget but)

Hmmm, you didn't like that Rooster suggested in post #3? Now that I hear a bit more about your situation, I'd be looking at it. In fact, I am...

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uAE6Il6OTcs[/youtube]

oh man you want me to get that rooter hu?
its so close to my max
it would be the most expensive gear i own

theres a ampeg gvt for 169
and a tweaker for like 150
see what im sayin mec
vht are sub 200 and sold from ice cram trucks
i cant in my righ mind buy a low nd boutique thing
tone means shit to me
im half deaf
paying 200 more fr a rooster
and boutique being like a guarantee or some shit
thats not me
im a construction dude
i eat raw meat,and shit vegetables
mol would love that rooster though
fuck you and the rooster you rode in on mec

50 watters and under with master volume seem to work fine for me at low volumes. My living room rig is a traynor yrm into an emperor 2x12, it's what I play when my 4 year old goes to sleep at night.

I also have a 66 ampeg jet and an early 70's fender bronco (vibro champ w/ different graphics at usually half the price) both of those are low wattage combos but usually need cranked some to sound good. With no master volume these are usually my daytime players. The jet is a personal favorite of mine as its 15w and houses a 12", also has a quite a bit of break up when cranked to 10, it's light and makes the perfect grab and go when I'm baked and don't feel like dicking with a stack.

Tons of options though, but would suggest one with a master volume. Leave the non master volume stuff for the stage, unless you don't mind pissed off neighbors or the police at your doorstep.

ryan summit wrote:oh man you want me to get that rooter hu?
its so close to my max
it would be the most expensive gear i own

theres a ampeg gvt for 169
and a tweaker for like 150
see what im sayin mec
vht are sub 200 and sold from ice cram trucks
i cant in my righ mind buy a low nd boutique thing
tone means shit to me
im half deaf
paying 200 more fr a rooster
and boutique being like a guarantee or some shit
thats not me
im a construction dude
i eat raw meat,and shit vegetables
mol would love that rooster though
fuck you and the rooster you rode in on mec

I'm a construction dude too so I get what you're saying about the Rooster.

I've owned the Ampeg GVT 15, Egnater Tweaker 15, Fender Excelsior & the 5w Bugera.
I liked the Tweaker the most of the four because it was the most versatile.
You can really dial in a lot of different sounds with out needing pedals.
I liked the Ampeg best for bass guitar though and the Bugera has a headphone jack
which is good for the really late night.

On the other hand, the Excelsior would look coolest in your living room and it's the amp
"Knobs" uses in his demos.

I have a micro terror which I traded for a Devi pedal. I like it, but if you want to venture into tube world and treat yerself I think that's what you should do. I vote for ampeg gvt. Played that, blackstar (either 1w or 5w can't remember), vht and the ibanez tube screamer amp that's 15w and I liked it the most. Eventually I went for the trade, but that was mostly just because.