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Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:02 pm
by dronemachine
Hey people!
I'm about to move to the big city to finish my last year on academy of art.This time/year,I want to bring my jag and some of the pedals with me.
I can't drag my old piggyback bassman,so I'm thinkin' of buying some small tube apartment friendly amp...
I was thinkin' of this one,so if anyone had experience with it,some info would be nice.
Also,any input/idea will be appreciated.
Thanks.
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:21 pm
by smile_man
Maybe a Vox AC15 or a Blues Jr.
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:32 pm
by ohsojayadeva
i have a vox ac15. it is
not what you are looking for. it is
loud. i really can't say that enough. it is as loud (maybe louder?) than the 5150 i used to use.

Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:35 am
by Louie62
Well, it all depends on how loud you want to play!!
Valve/tube amps are AT LEAST 3-5 times louder than their transistor equivalents - so a 15w valve amp will blitz a 50w tranny amp (and give tons of tone

). It also depends on your valves imho. I re-valved my Peavy 30 Classic from Sovtec valves to high gain Harma and had a significant increase in both gain and volume.
You considered an amp with headphones socket?
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:13 am
by dorfmeister
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:58 am
by Louie62
Good call dorfmeister!!

Or possibly:
http://www.matamp.co.uk/minimat.htm
Just a thought..........
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:32 am
by jrmy
If you're willing to go the DIY route, you could get the Beavis/OLC Tube Cricket kit:
http://www.olcircuits.com/olc_tubecricket.html
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:03 pm
by metalmariachi
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:44 pm
by ohsojayadeva
i've heard a lot of good things about those blackhearts, but i've never played one myself. i've come pretty close to pullin' the trigger a couple of times though, definitely.

Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:51 am
by dronemachine
Thanks so much guys!
I'll see where this takes me...don't have the money to go for Z.Vex,maybe sometimes later when I get rich
I was thinking about those blackheart amps...dunno anything about amps with headphone option,is that a good solution?
And yeah,vox ac 15 is too loud for my application,as is the blues jr.But I love both of 'em.
Thanks again!

Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:58 am
by dorfmeister
C W Y wrote:Thanks so much guys!
I'll see where this takes me...don't have the money to go for Z.Vex,maybe sometimes later when I get rich
I was thinking about those blackheart amps...dunno anything about amps with headphone option,is that a good solution?
And yeah,vox ac 15 is too loud for my application,as is the blues jr.But I love both of 'em.
Thanks again!

Check out the Zvex's on e-bay. I've noticed that you can often get a used one for about $300.
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:18 pm
by Tell-Electro
Definitely a Vox AC15 CC2, around $600, and quality.
Nice!
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:20 am
by ifeellikeatourist
This all really does depend upon what you mean by a "low volume" tube amp. Obviously a 15 watt tube amp is low wattage, but still too loud to crank in the apartment, so as you said, the ac15 and blues junior are out. The epiphone/blackheart 5 watters are sweet (I'm under the impression that these amps are the same basic design, though the black heart has a few more features) but you (a) don't get much clean headroom, and (b) with the absence of both gain and master volume knobs, are probably unable to get much gain at lower volumes. However, if quiet is what you're looking for, or you're playing through headphones or something, then maybe clean headroom isn't an issue; similarly, if you're using pedals to get your distortion, you might not mind the absence of a gain knob. Just my take on it. I don't know much about the Fender that you posted, but I think that having a 6" speaker would be a big downside for the amp. Just my opinion.
Re: Low volume tube amp?
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:48 am
by hazelwould
I'd get a Champion 600. I demo'd one and of sounded awesome.
I tried the valve jr. And was pretty unimpressed. Maybe of was just the setup. Cause I usually love el84's. I tried a Peavey Delta Blues... Man that thing sounds sweet. And my little Velocette sounded rad as well. Any of these with an attenuator would be awesome at low volumes.
You could also just get an attenuator for your bassman... Tedweber.com is supposed to have some nice ones at reasonable prices.