advice: need a small valve amp that'll have a nice punchy clean sound and generally be lovely, dirty and organic. doesn't need loads of features. would be quite nice if it didn't fuck up every twenty minutes. quite liked a vox ac15 i tried the other day. ac30s are too heavy and too expensive.
any other suggestions?
Ive got a marshall dsl 401
though if youre after a punchy clean sound im not really sure it would be the best thing. I really wish I got an ac30 or a fender hot rod now.
look at the fender hot rods or deluxes or whatever theyre called. I think thats what youre after
Your back thanks you for not getting an AC30, though.
Those mofos are HEAVY.
i know
it's even worse when the handles come off...
I'd avoid the new marshalls
the reliability on them isn't great, I've had a DSL100 head die on me, apparently they've got so many parts that it's easy for them to fail.
One word:
Orange
A couple more words:
Not the big ones obviously, though they do sound gorgeous... Something like a Crush should do the job...
apparently the orange tiny terror
sounds really nice (particularly if you want a warm slightly dirty sound), and deceptively loud for it's size.
The Fender Hot Rounds are quite nice, but i've heard mixed things about the reliability of the newer ones. They take pedals quite well though.
the crush isnt a valve amp.
But it does sound ace...
and it's cheap...
I find
the clean channel on mine amazing, the distortion 'channel' (distortion button ON) awful.
Even my ProCo RAT doesn't make it sound nice, and the RAT makes even my old Squier 6 watt freebie practise amp sound teh sex.
Maybe I'm not turnin it up loud enough. That must be it, more loud.
i recommend Watkins
I tried a couple of Watkins (WEM) 30w Dominators out and they're awesome - i think they do 15w, 30w and 50w. They are very pure sounding, break-up nicely, take pedals well (as do most valve amps) and look cool as...
http://www.rabowen.co.uk/images/WEM%20Guitar%20Amp.gif
Also, Carlsbro used to do nice stuff
http://www.chambonino.com/routework/routewk25dd.jpg
that's a 50w combo; they're a bit rarer than the WEM stuff so they cost a bit more.
Oh!
And... not a valve amp but:
Sessionette 75
It's an absolute monster. It's small enough to carry around, and it sounds fantastic...
bf
get something less well known. Ie- avoid vox, marshall, fender etc
Most of them use standard circuits, and people just end up payin for the name. Linear conchord amps are good value
ooh, that reminds me
Sound City did one called the Concord which looks pretty nifty. 70's-tastic.
bf
sound citys used to be great value, and still piss on marshal/orange/vox. I remember seeing the 120 watt head plus a four by twelve cab for £120 in a local music shop a few years back!
i was looking to get the 120w head
a while back, just to push the boundaries of noise decency, but could never quite get the money together.
£120 is a steal - wonder if it's still there? :D
bf
nah, it was a few years ago. But that sort of thing occasionally does still go cheap...
My 'least bargainatious' tip is those v fronted greeny blue Watkins Dominators. A mate of mine has one he paid three quid for off some lad at school, who had painted it black and written metallica on it...but the going rate is a GRAND. Paying for looks/name above all else.
unfortunatley
most people know these days that sound cities used to be made by hi-watt - so they're not as cheap as they used to be.
mmmmm - hi watt. best build quality you'll find from the 70's. also, the old hi-watts are actually better than the new re-issues...
sorry, i digress.
bf
there are still loads of bargains out there though. I got a couple of hacker valve amps that were made to go alongside their record players. Probably about 3-5 watts, with a valve rectifier, and they were £25 each on the 'bay
true true
selmer treble and bass amps are well worth the 200 ish they go for on t'bay as well - i've got a chrome face and its ace. weighs an absolute ton mind.
If anyone wants
a 70s Vox solid state AC-30, I've got one for sale yo.
Thanks.
there;s a cracking little ampeg
i can't remember what it is. 12-15 watts, trem, reverb. should be able to find one for a hundred or so quid. great amp.
What's yr budget?
I agree with Grockle...
...if you avoid the big desirable names, you can get many more bangs for your buck. I recently got 70s valve Peavey classic twin for £200 and it's lovely. Deeply unfashionable make, but it sounds awesome.
few hundred
ac15s are about 360 and that's fine. i'm gonna part-ex my marshall valvestate for a hundred and something, and am considering offloading a 50's/60's futurama III which was a never-used impulse purchase on ebay...
You should be able to get something pretty nice for that
and I agree with the others, see what oddball amps are available.
What's the futurama III?
it's an old
czech guitar. george harrison used to have one:
http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/hofnerfs/futurama/fut.html
voila
i'll have it!
why have i never seen it?? or is it expensive....?
x
i'm sure you have
it's with the rest of our gear at nik's house. i'll pick it up tonight, along with bass...
sorry, everyone. you probably don't really care...
bf
I care, but it was a little too pricey for me. Nice guitars though...I've got one of the 'II' models and even though it feels a bit crazy it sounds ace. I love crazy old guitars
crazy old guitars
are like crazy old men. they have a place.
i'm not sure where it goes after that.
Fender Blues Deluxe
http://www.dv247.com/invt/41567/
'Tis not shit.
check these out
bad cat
mesa boogie
cranford
fender
for small valve amps you can't go wrong with these.
in case
anyone cares, i got a watkins dominator. sounds the shit. love it.
and i'm still selling the futurama iii, if anyone fancies it. opening negotiations at a couple hundred quid.
Suggestions
for any places to get a second hand valve amp from apart from ebay?
Thanks..
tricky but
occasionally on gumtree,
http://nottingham.gumtree.com/nottingham/5148_1.html
this shop which is going internet only:
http://www.rockonmusic.co.uk/Mainamps.htm
but mainly ebay. you can get a decent price if you look for something that isn't fender/marshall.
cheers
thanks.
So Many People
Posting here plainly know nothing about valve amps.
If your budget is around the 400 mark, you're limited in what you can buy.
You can get a second hand fender deluxe 1x12 definitely for that money. Perhaps a 2z12 or 4x10 if you're lucky. They aren't the most hard wearing of amps but for the money they sound great.
Soundcity have started making new amps again and for the valves/wattage they appear to be good value, although I haven't played the new ones.
http://www.arbiter.co.uk/soundcity/index.htm
I would recommend avoiding vintage stuff unless you're super fussed on it. It will break down and cost you money and if you don't know much about amps, you're very likely to get ripped off and buy a piece of shit.
400 isn't a lot of money to spend on an amp so people suggesting botique stuff is silly as it's just not going to get you anything decent for that kinda price.
15watts is all well and good but I'd recommend getting something 40 watts + because if you're doing gigs with a vocal pa and no mics on the amps... a 15watt amp will struggle against a kit/bass amp.
Got my Orange
for 450ish on Ebay - 30watt Rockerverb
And it really is worth splashing that much on it if you can, as it is pure sex.
More than loud enough - normally at gigs I get told off by sound techs for having it above 4/10, and even without a PA I didnt need it on full volume; and lets face it as long as youre not playing a village fete there will be a PA!
Agree about the Blues Deluxes, they are well worth a look too. But mine is orange. Ha.
Is that the head or the combo?
I'd love an orange amp, they're pretty pricey though.
Do you know what the reliability is like with them?
Orange
Are alright. Dead dead overpriced and really not all that.
Ignore him below
It has one of the cleanest, punchiest sounds Ive ever heard for the price, and Ive played far more expensive amps in other peoples studios!
Reliability wise its just big fucking valves, so if one goes, put another in - had mine for 18months and not one has gone yet....but thats why theyre so heavy, they are built strong!
Ive got the combo, agree with aprice21 about eq control on the clean channel, but its such a pure signal you can mess around a lot just with pickups/tone control on guitar. I bloody love it.
Sorry him above
The person below is right!
I have
a Rocker 30 and it is great. No eq on the clean channel so you might want to get an eq pedal to boost the clean sound. The distortion channel is immense. Pretty heavy though, but you can just about carry it a bit if you are tough. I got mine brand new on ebay for 500 quid.
Blackheart Little Giants have been getting good things said about em
I may get one for my electric.
^
I have a little giant head - switchable between 3 and 5 watts and it sounds amazing for the price - especially if you switch out the chinese valves. It's loud for that as well, certainly too loud for home, and easily loud enough for rehearsals. It only really breaks up in the final third of the volume (certainly alot earlier than my 50watt marshall plexi) so is clean through the majority of the range and the drive is progressive and nicely dirty. For the price I can't imagine better(got my head for 80 quid when sound control went down the pan the other month).
It may be tat for a larger gig you would need something louder - the 15 watt Handsome Devil is still fairly cheap - unless you were to mike it through the PA.
Agree that good though orange are, they aren't good value...
do it
Fender Twin
try
Fender Vibro Champ would be ideal..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Vibro-Champ-Amp-1966-Great-Condition_W0QQitemZ160253376850QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160253376850&_trkparms=72%3A638%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
musicman 112 or similar
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MUSIC-MAN-110-RD-FIFTY-GUITAR-AMP-MUSICMAN_W0QQitemZ320265771279QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320265771279&&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177#ebayphotohosting
Someone above has suggested WEM amps
they are great but for the most common type, the dominator, 15watt models are still really large and heavy compared to Vox/Fender etc!
i got
an orange combo, the one with built in distortion channel, its very very nice and under £500. 2 big tubes :)
I run it along side a fender bassman 1970s head with a matching cab. These are awesome amps and you can pick up on ebay if u are able to travel to get for very cheap i got mine at an utter bargain of £300 with the cab. The thing has 6 tubes! :) and sound summer warm.
A bassman for that cheap?
I thought the bassmen (?!) went for loads these days- how long ago was this?
I got a 70s Bassman head for around that too....
It's lovely...
It's the 50s and 60 ones that people need a mortgage for - they had a lovely distortion on them. 70s onwards the Bassman has masses of clean headroom and you can spend the spare cash on some really REALLY good distortion pedals...
I've got quite an arsenal of pedals already
hmm.. I may look out for a bassman head! How often do they crop up?
There's a few up at the moment...
All at decent prices...
The one that's been 'blackfaced' looks interesting - the blackface ones are the older ones that everyone wants...
I'd go cheaper though - a working silverface does a lovely clean tone that's approaching an Orange amp (approaching - not exactly like), but for a fraction of the price.
Cool, I'll have a look.
I tend to use a pedal (or two) for my tone anyway!
Cheers for looking.
.
i have this amp you can see in this picture for sale http://flickr.com/photos/ricksflickr/2100656499/
a lot of bands have used it and loved it... rare 50's amp by fenton weil, that i've never seen anywhere before... the head even slots into the cab for transport, and it has a really great white leather padding.
YES! White leather!
This makes me think of David Coverdale for some reason...
TSoB - no probs, I'm always on the look out. I use six pedals for my tone, it handles them well...