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I have a Special 6 combo and it's my only amp. I don't have a lot to compare it to but I'm definitely satisfied with how it takes pedals and the tone sweep on it is pretty broad to compensate for darker or brighter guitars/pedals.

i had the mustang 1
im not gonna go into an all out bash
but after a few months with it
i wanted a special six and a lil night train
ended up getting a pathfinder
sounds like too much of a coincidence
but its true and documented somewhere
i couldnt get it to play well with pedals
rfurtkamps got the big one
and has better luck with it
always liked the way that vht sounded
even at low volumes

I have had a pathfinder and a special6... The box is the best practice ss amp ever considering the price and the ability to take pedals. The vht is certainly more useful for jamming and it can hang with most drummers if cranked. Both are good pedal platforms, are well built and are priced well.... So you can' t lose with either option.... But the vht has tubes....so for me it is the clear winner...imho.

If you like pedals don' t waste your energies looking at small fenders or modellers. As for the ac4 tv, it is a great amp and very competitive to the special six, but with those two extra amps i find it has more clean headroom at a lower price.
Plus te special 6 has more cabinet options than the ac4's 16 ohm out.

Don' t forget to add a used epi valve junior to your list, they pop up every once in a while for a decent price...but if it isn't dirt cheap or heavily modded the special 6 takes it easily.

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i was gonna put in my post
but forgot
theres an easy mod for the pathfinder
gives more clean volume
supposedly nice if you rely on pedal distortion
i never did it
cause breakin out my board at home
is a pain some times
if im just tryin to get a riff outta my head
i think you just clip a couple leds
its easily reversible too
it aint as cool as a new amp though

Haven't tried a VHT Special 6 but I do own an Ampeg GVT15H, the head model, and it fucking RULES! Tons of clean headroom, 2x 6V6 power section, LOVES PEDALS, insanely powerful EQ (baxandall plus midshift), great reverb, good effects loop, 15W and 7W modes, etc, etc....

The reason I mention it is I noticed places are dropping prices something fierce. Sweetwater and Sam Ash have 'em for $349 which is an unbelievable steal imo.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GVT15H/

Nice find.... Wish that was available a few months ago when I picked up my tiny terror...but I guess shipping would kind of kill that deal for us Canadians
.

I had the ac4tv for a while and it was a really fun little amp, but it sounded really boxy to me. What I've been using is the laney cub 12r, it's a fantastic amp! So far, it's the best sounding tube amp I've used, but it might be a little too powerful for what you're doing. I've heard good things about the night-train, I played a show with a guy who had it plugged into some Marshall 4x12 and he sounded great!

The vht special 6 looks great to me, though. I don't think tubes are excessive for a home amp, a 300w tube amp might be, but...

I have a Special 6 and I think it sounds great (the only other tube amp I've owned is the Orange AD15). However, I do find it difficult to tame as it lacks a master volume control or an attenuator and I would maybe consider trying an AC4 or a Pathfinder in the future. Or even one of those Bugera/Behringer things with the built in attenuator (V5?). The Blackstar HT-1 might be a good option too.

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hiorgos wrote:^^ Yap, I understand that I'm not going to get any overdrive from the amp playing at low levels, but it's not the intention.. How loud do you think is it totally clean?

The Ampeg does look good, but I can get a brand new VhT for about $150, so it's this or a Vox AC4, that is also cheaper than any Fender (here in Japan). I did try the AC4v8 once, and the best sounds were with the amp at 4w, the lower settings were "less". There's also the new blue AC one, and the lil' night train with just 2W.

I'll report on Thursday!

I think it depends whether the Special 6 is going to be your main amp. I still have my AD15 so it probably makes sense for me to acquire something that is more suitable for practicing at low volumes. The Special 6 Ultra is probably a good option as it provides a lot more control over the volume and tone.