Sold my Hot Rod Deluxe, now what?

[vexed73]

A DRRI or a Carvin V15. I would definitely get the Fender though.

[funkywrench]

The two cheaper clone-makers that I'm aware of are:

Ceriatone - www.ceriatone.com

Nik is really helpful and will answer any questions (no matter how stupid they are!) and makes probably the cheapest handmade clones around. Only downside is their website isn't the greatest and there's not really any info on the amps themselves.

Frenzel - www.frenzeltubeamps.com

Jim is also really good in responding to questions and they have several clones with a twist. They often combine fender and marshall type amps and usually offer them in a few different wattages too.

I have no experience with either but going from the opinions here, in the review section and on the gear page, they both seem pretty good. Also check out youtube for clips but there's not much up there.

As I said before, I'll probably be going for the Frenzel 5E3 deluxe plus for the Fender and Marshall inputs and at 25 watts it would be perfect for me. I just have to wait until I sell my current amp and a couple other things first!

[mattoverb]

Silverface deluxe reverb. Why get a reissue:idk:

[asdfjkl semi]

Silverface deluxe reverb. Why get a reissue:idk:

 

 

Probably beyond my budget.

 

Less expensive ones may need re-capping, retubing, and new speaker -- at additional expense. I can do the labor for free, but the parts cost money.

 

Late 70s DR's have the crappier tone circuit, would require rebuilding the circuit to get the mid 60's tone.

[yellow_se]

I really like my Fargen Blackbird, got it used on ebay for a good price, but still not cheap.

http://www.fargenamps.com/ampblackbird.html

Next suggestion would be a Deluxe Reverb II (82-85 or so).

[guitarbilly74]

Thanks for the good questions. I play mostly rock, alt-rock, post rock, and indie styles on electric. It's usually lightly overdriven or clean. Recently I've been diggin' sounds like the Killers, Modest Mouse, Against Me, Explosions in the Sky, and Nada Surf. (All very different, I know). I've been the only guitarist in every project I've been a part of. I play a strat. The eq of my tone is usually focussed on a strong low end, with the bass and mid knobs on the amp turned up about 70 and 80%, respectively, with the highs pulled down a little bit to make room for keys. I like to push the amp until right before the low end starts to break up. When I'm playing with a bassist, however, it's the inverse and I'm playing slightly crunchy high-mids to highs so that we have good separation. Reverb isn't a requirement, nor are separate channels. I mostly need a good platform (i.e. strong clean tones) to start with. I can add gain with pedals, and reverb if need be. I've played out a few times, looking to continue doing so occasionally in small venues like bars and parties. 20 watts from a tube amp should be more than enough. I have a pedal board, but don't need an effects loop. I had been running everything before the pre-amp. My setup is tuner > eq (used as boost) > delay > drive > amp.

 

 

after reading this description, I'm curious as to why did you sell your HR dlx??

It seems like it would be a good amp for what you need...

[KnewMono]

tiny terror anyone??

[Bbreaker]

Just sold my HRDX for $455 through Craigslist. YESSS! I need something in the 15-20 watt range, and I can spend as much as $600. I was originally thinking about a used DRRI or AC15, or maybe a NOS BJ. What would you get with those constraints?

 

 

 

 

Look for a used DR Z Carmen Ghia.

[Brick]

tiny terror-sexy as hell, DRRI-as others have mentioned, VOX Ac-15-horror stories, and if you can bump up your budget a wee bit more(i know) look at the THD univalve,-15 watts, and is tweakable as hell or go used with the thd

[asdfjkl semi]

Let me send out a very sincere thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys.

 

I got a chance to play almost all the amps recommended in this thread. For some reason the DRRIs I played sounded less than stellar. They were just a little wierd and didn't sound good until they were nice and loud. As Metallica_00 and some others had warned, the Blues JR models (even the Tweed one) sounded a little small and boxy and didn't really have much clean headroom. The AC15 was a little too fizzy for me and didn't really have the low end I was looking for. The Crates were pretty nice, full sounding amps, but they started to show it's limitations and low points after a while (the tubes and speakers weren't that great). The Tiny Terror was great, though. It did everything from lush cleans to fairly high gain and sounded great at all volumes through the Orange 1x12. The cab was a little pricey ($350) for just having one Celestion V30 in it, but it really sounds amazing. The low end was nice and thick and the highs sounded heavenly with my strat. It was really sensitive to the volume knob on my guitar, letting me go from rich cleans to overdrive with just a twist of the knob or a change in strumming power.

 

All in all, the decision was a pretty easy one. I wound up falling in love with the Tiny Terror, which I picked up on New Years Eve. I was able to get the head for $450, so it was a fair deal. I had posted some pics in a New Amp Day thread about a week ago, but here's one of my new amp with its cab and my strat: