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Home player looking for my 'one and only' tube amp...


AlexMC

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Whats with up all the Twin Reverb suggestions? Thats way overkill for what he wants IMO. A Vibrochamp or a Princeton Reverb would be perfect, or a Deluxe Reverb if you ever plan on gigging. Princeton has gorgeous cleans right before it breaks up.

 

 

 

He mentioned BB King, SRV, and David Gilmour. And that he'd be using pedals for dirt and compression.

 

That tells me he's trying to stay as clean as possible with the amp. Princeton breaks up WAY early...you aren't going to get BB King cleans out of it above TV/conversation volumes. The tweeds have the wrong sound...too much Marshall...and the Deluxe is JUST what I would consider loud enough. I would rather have it and not need it, than need it sometime and not have it.

 

That = Twin Reverb.

 

 

Thinking on it for the last few days...check out Vintage Tremolux, Bassman (blonde/blackface/early silverface), or BandMaster amps. Those are the sweet spot of what you're looking for. For new production, Twin Reverb is it. Someone mentioned Delta Blues which is a great amp too. Also a Blues Junior would probably work...though I believe the TR is "best" for a "one and only".

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I've been restricted to the use of a POD T for as long as I've been playing seriously, and the time has come for my first - and last - tube amp...


The sounds I'm predominantly after are: Peter Green, BB King, Hank Marvin, SRV, David Gilmour.


I'm under the impression that a small Fender amp that gives me a great clean tube tone (which happily takes pedals for more dirt) would be the most appropriate 'compromise' for these tones, and this leads me to the
Princeton Reverb Reissue
(15W all tube; 10" speaker; tube-driven spring reverb and tremelo).

 

 

Good call, that's a great sounding amp.

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He mentioned BB King, SRV, and David Gilmour. And that he'd be using pedals for dirt and compression.


That tells me he's trying to stay as clean as possible with the amp. Princeton breaks up WAY early...you aren't going to get BB King cleans out of it above TV/conversation volumes. The tweeds have the wrong sound...too much Marshall...and the Deluxe is JUST what I would consider loud enough. I would rather have it and not need it, than need it sometime and not have it.


That = Twin Reverb.



Thinking on it for the last few days...check out Vintage Tremolux, Bassman (blonde/blackface/early silverface), or BandMaster amps. Those are the sweet spot of what you're looking for. For new production, Twin Reverb is it. Someone mentioned Delta Blues which is a great amp too. Also a Blues Junior would probably work...though I believe the TR is "best" for a "one and only".

 

I haven't gigged a reissue princeton but the original I've played got loud enough for excellent cleans, and I always used dirt pedals in front of it for gain. Even a DS-1 in front of it sounds pretty awesome. He wants Gilmour/SRV in a tiny box at lower volume, the Princeton is a good choice for that IMO. A Twin's best clean is when it's turned up to around 4, and thats loud as {censored}. Princeton can approximate that base clean at a much lower volume, which what I think the OP is going for. :idk:

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I haven't gigged a reissue princeton but the original I've played got loud enough for excellent cleans, and I always used dirt pedals in front of it for gain. Even a DS-1 in front of it sounds pretty awesome. He wants Gilmour/SRV in a tiny box at lower volume, the Princeton is a good choice for that IMO. A Twin's best clean is when it's turned up to around 4, and thats loud as {censored}. Princeton can approximate that base clean at a much lower volume, which what I think the OP is going for.
:idk:



Exactly - I'm looking for a classic basic Fender clean sound with all the goodness that a full tube amp can bring, with the ability to get great tone and natural tube overdrive at manageable volume levels. I can stick a couple of pedals in front for more versatility but the main thing is a good base tone.

I'm been playing a POD XT Live forever, and whilst it's great for high-gain stuff and lots of FX, it just doesn't sound very nice for cleans and vintage OD sounds. I.e., whatever amp model and knob settings I dial in, the inherent tone of the POD just sounds nasty. No warmth or natural harmonics. Sterile and scratchy with little sustain and no interaction between guitar and speaker. It's putting me off playing my guitar... and frankly at 34 with a bit of cash in the bank I feel I should own a proper tube amp by now!

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I need bass/treble controls and onboard reverb.




Someone speaking sense re the Twin! "Way overkill" is exactly what I thought. I'm a bedroom player, never gigging, never turning up the volume. I thought the Twin was all about 'clean tone... at ANY volume'.




I WANT to get typical Fender blackface breakup at apartment-friendly levels, pushing into more dirt with an OD pedal if necessary
. I tried a Delta Blues at home for a couple of weeks but it was just TOO loud. But then, it pushes 30W into a 15" speaker in a fairly large cabinet. A Blues Jnr (model III with cream/wine red tolex, looks awesome!) is on my shortlist but I believe it isn't as 'refined' as a PRRI (EL84s, below-par reverb, boxy sound).




Exactly - I'm looking for a classic basic Fender clean sound with all the goodness that a full tube amp can bring, with the ability to get great tone and natural tube overdrive at manageable volume levels. I can stick a couple of pedals in front for more versatility but the main thing is a good base tone.


I'm been playing a POD XT Live forever, and whilst it's great for high-gain stuff and lots of FX, it just doesn't sound very nice for cleans and vintage OD sounds. I.e., whatever amp model and knob settings I dial in, the inherent tone of the POD just sounds nasty. No warmth or natural harmonics. Sterile and scratchy with little sustain and no interaction between guitar and speaker. It's putting me off playing my guitar... and frankly at 34 with a bit of cash in the bank I feel I should own a proper tube amp by now!

 

 

I had been looking around for a while for something that could get those fender tones at very low volumes and I ended up being pretty satisfied with my Mustang III. Try it out if you can. Tube amps are just going to have a harder time with bedroom volumes.

 

If you do go tube, I would stick with something around 5 watts or less (either that or something with power scaling).

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Whatever you get is going to be loads better than that POD stuff. I say you pull the trigger before 2011 is out. PRRI's got everything you want, and nothing you don't. If you're 34 and possibly going to have rugrats in a few years you'll appreciate the portability.

edit: just saw your most recent post. Good luck checking out the DRRI and Blues Jr.

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And OP...your OP didn't mention wanting breakup from the amp...you mentioned loud clean players and said you'd use pedals for distortion...like those loud clean players.

 

 

Oops, you're right... I guess I assumed I'd need an overdrive pedal no matter what amp I get. But natural power amp breakup at room levels (rolling back the guitar volume to clean it up) would be perfect!

 

UPDATE: I think I've found the perfect amp... the Brunetti Singleman 16:

 

- Class A 16W (6V6GT)

- 12" Celestion V30

- footswitchable Accutronics spring reverb

- 16 ohm speaker out

- onboard attenuator allowing 4W/1W power output

- FX loop

 

http://www.brunetti.it/products_item_en.php?cid=123456789&pid=1252227764&ccid=1213709472

 

 

 

Specs and tone are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. Can't find a UK dealer though, and no idea on price... can anyone help?

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Whats with up all the Twin Reverb suggestions? Thats way overkill for what he wants IMO. A Vibrochamp or a Princeton Reverb would be perfect, or a Deluxe Reverb if you ever plan on gigging. Princeton has gorgeous cleans right before it breaks up.



This. Plus, I'm probably in the minority here but Twin Reverbs (the RI's anyway) are about the most vanilla sounding amps out there. Very loud, very clean, and borderline harsh. :o

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