Relatively Inexpensive Tube Amp?

[lo-ky-stro]

Alright, I'm sure this question presents itself all too often, but I'm looking for a good tube amp,

(either a combo or a head that I'll run through 1-2x12 cab). Looking for something in or below the $500-$600 range.

 

I've been messing around with some at my local music store that sound just amazing, but my concern is that with the lower wattage on most of them that I won't be able to be heard. I'm playing in a six piece band, and we rarely have the opportunity to mic the amps at our venues.

 

I've been looking at the Bugera v55, but haven't had a chance to play through one, so if anyone has any experience with them that would be helpful as well.

 

Thanks a bunch!

[Chris Loeffler]

Quite a few options with your budget. What sort of sound are you looking for?

[Tomm Williams]

60's era Univox tube amps are tone monsters that often go cheap as they're perceived by many as junk.

[DeepEnd]

My first thought is the Kustom Defender 15H. AFAIK they're discontinued but if you can find one they're cheap and 15 Watts can go a long way with the right speaker.

After that, in order of price, various 15-20 Watt heads:

Fender Super Champ XD2 HD (actually a hybrid amp if that matters)

Jet City JCA22H

Peavey ValveKing II Micro

Fender Bassbreaker

Orange Dark Terror (used)

[daddymack]

Deep..check Reverb.com, it is one of the best used gear sites I've found. They are based out of Chicago [CME owns it] but have gear from all over the country.

I just got a Crate Vintage Club 20 there for $260 [$50 shipping included in that price]. I have bough several amps through Reverb, some were local pick-up...

A 15 watt tube amp should be plenty of power as long as your drummer is under control.

Also look at the Crate V series amps are well in your range, including the 60W used...Vox Night Train 15 [i really like mine, even with the digital reverb], Vox AC15, Blues Juniors, Laney Cub 15R, Fender Vaporizer [i had one, loved the sound, but it was too heavy and had a big footprint for small stages], or beefier stuff, again used, like the Blues Deluxe, Mesa Subway Rocket...and I agree about the 60s Univox amps...also Lafayettes.

The BassBreaker is going to be just outside your budget new, but Reverb has some used/mint units in your range...negotiate!

[DeepEnd]

Deep..check Reverb.com, it is one of the best used gear sites I've found. . . .

. . . The BassBreaker is going to be just outside your budget new, but Reverb has some used/mint units in your range...negotiate!

Thanks but I'm not the one looking for the amp. I've known about Reverb.com for a while now. Never bought anything through them though. The OP's price range is $500-600 and he wants either a combo or head. The Bassbreaker 15 head is right at $600: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BassB15H?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=none&utm_term=ProductType3guitar_amp_heads&creative=9338692705&device=c. That said, I'll stick with my recommendation of the Kustom Defender 15H. You can find them used for $150 or so or new for well under $300: https://reverb.com/item/3378414-kustom-defender-15h-black.

[WRGKMC]

6 piece band? I'd be looking at something like a Fender Hot Rod deluxe III or a Blues Deluxe. Both are Excellent sounding amps for cover bands. The Bugera is a fine amp too. My buddy uses one in his Blues band and gets some fantastic tones out of one. Personally I like the Marshall tones and something like a DSL40C would give me enough power in a large band.

 

Not sure what kind of music you play. Material is a big factor. If you play heavier stuff something like a Peavey 6505 is an amp metal players like. The Valve King or Classic 30/50 will give you more traditional tones similar to Fender.

 

Egnater makes some decent amps too. My buddy who uses the Bugera runs an Egnater too for larger gigs. I've used both separately and together at several open mic nights and either can easily fill a medium sized club.

 

Most of these amps are in the 40W ranges. As someone mentioned, knowing the type of music you play is essential. If you're playing lead all night you may get by with a cranked 15W amp, but you cant get clean chords from a lower watt amp at live drummer playing levels, no less a big band.

A 30W amp with the right speaker can just match a normal rock drummer playing clean chords and you can punch it up to his hard cymbal crashes playing leads. Again in a large band you may sound a bit anemic unless you mic it. I played in a 4 piece for years and the other guitarist could barely be heard half the time. A 40/50W will let you get out front to the audience and you'll be able to run it clean with pedals as well.

 

I'd check and compare what the other players are using. A 50W will keep up with a 100W SS amp. An un-miced 15/30W will get buried for sure.

[daddymack]

The drawback with the Kustom is 1) lack of b/m/t tone control [single knob] 2) lack of reverb and 3) no separate master/gain controls. If he is going to use pedals in front of it, then it would work fine. Another issue is the combo comes with a 10, rather than a 12, which is not a deal breaker, bit something to consider. I do like the output impedence switching for additional cabs, though, and the XLR line out is a handy feature as well.

[DeepEnd]

It also lacks a standby switch. But the OP specified ''inexpensive'' and the Kustom fits the bill. Between the bass contour switch and the single tone control there's some tonal flexibility. You can't expect too much for $300. If his budget is $600 and he can get an amp for $150-300 that's $300-450 left over for pedals, say delay, OD, EQ, etc. I had a chance to buy a used one a while back and I kinda wish I had.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I agree - something like a used Hot Rod Deluxe would be what I'd recommend. 15W might not be quite enough to hang with a six piece band.

[onelife]

The HRD is definitly loud and I'm happy to play through them when they are provided but I have no desire to own one - too much bulk and niose for what they sound like.

 

The Blues Deluxe, although still noisy, does not have as much gain as the Hot Rod and that results in less noise and (IMO) a much better and 'more Fender' sound.

 

On those amplifiers I like to put a compressor in the effects loop and turn up the Volume on the amp. This provides a much better signal to noise ratio (the Volume control is in the early stages of the circuit and a lot of the noise is introduced later) and I can turn the whole thing down - including the noise - with the output level control on the compressor.

 

 

 

.

[daddymack]

I don't think the size of the band is the issue but it depends on how well the band cooperates and communicates. I use Blues Juniors or a Vox Night Train 15 with my six and seven piece bands all the time.

[WRGKMC]

I can see why you'd think the amps noisy sticking a comp in the effects loop. The compressor is going boost the ambient noise floor way up plus any noise that occurs in the gain staging of the preamp or pedals before the amp. At idle it will sit there and hiss like crazy without a noise gate to clamp it down.

 

The key to using a compressor is to feed then the cleanest signal possible, that way you only hear the the hiss of the comp itself when its gates are wide and signal at maximum volume.

 

If you want to attenuate an amp its better to use a clean gain pedal in the loop. This way you wont magnify the ambient noise floor up.

 

I have used comps in an effects loop to give a SS amp a more tube like touch but its only good for clean tones. Drive gain sounds like crap before a comp. You can use drive pedals after the comp in a loop but before you're simply begging for a noisy and nasty sound.

 

A comp is a volume automation device. Its no different then turning the guitar volume up and down either on the guitar or on the amp, both are staged early, the guitar pots after the pickup or the volume before or after the first gain stage.

 

It responds best to a highly dynamic signal coming directly off the pickups. This will produce a smoother change full on to full off. When you put a comp after a distorted signal you're feeding it a noisy squared off wave with a narrow threshold window forcing a hard on and off condition more like a gate then a comp. Of course you can set some comps to act like a limiter which will simply limit the peaks.

 

Maybe this is what you're doing and simply using the makeup gain to act as a master volume. That's going to add allot of coloration and a whole lot of noise. A low gain boost pedal using and low noise FET would be a much better way of doing that job however, especially if you want to push the preamp into saturation. Or you could use a purely passive attenuator and get no added noise if you simply want to run the preamp at a higher gain levels.

[SteinbergerHack]

knowing the type of music you play is essential. If you're playing lead all night you may get by with a cranked 15W amp' date=' but you cant get clean chords from a lower watt amp at live drummer playing levels, no less a big band. [/quote']

 

This can't be stressed enough. It takes a lot more power to get a good clean tone at a given volume than it does to get a smooth distorted tone at the same volume. A 25-30W amp might work OK for use when playing all "crunch" and "metal lead" tones in a group with good volume control, but to get a good jangly or country clean tone unmic'd you may need 100W if the rest of the band is loud.

 

It would also help to know why you want tubes specifically. What sound quality are you looking for that takes you in that direction? (I'm a die-hard tube snob myself, but there are styles and price points where a modeller or SS amp is the right tool for the job).

 

[nice keetee]

Bugera

[cliffenstein]

Jet City Custom 22 lunchbox head would do great for you. Jet City's full size Amelia head will see release in just a few weeks and is 50 watts...it is a true two channel amp with clean and gain settings. Both the Custom 22 and Amelia heads were designed by Martin Kidd (of Cornford fame) to be distinctly British in sound and utilize the excellent Soldano designed transformers. Either option is WELL within your target range brand new. Jet City has a fantastic reputation for quality control, too.

[Chris Loeffler]

Also, it looks like Blackstar is discounting their entry-level tube line right now...

[Delmont]

A used Hot Rod Deluxe sounds like a great solution, but I have to agree with Daddy Mack, too. Every week I take a Strat, a King of Tone overdrive, and an eighteen-watt Fender Pro Junior to a VERY loud open mic at a pretty rowdy bar, and with the OD kicking it up a notch, the PJ cuts through admirably.