2-3 Watt TUBE Bedroom(practice) AMP

[thunder100]

Hello

 

Can you be so kind to recommend me a silent-->good sound practice amp which complys to following criteria

 

can be played relatively silent(I live in an apartment)

Prefer a tube amp but if their is great sound solid state I think about it(I had a look to the smokey cigarette box but its way into distortion)

I play(practice) mainly clean

 

Till now I use a Fender Vibro Champ which I can play at Volume 3(Tones arround 6) which is maximum before police comes.The VibroChamp starts to life(has an acceptable sound) at 2,5

 

Any serious recommendation is fine

 

Thanks

 

Roland

[-todgemistro-]

Zvex Nano? Its half a watt and from what I've heard it sounds great.

[larryguitar]

I've yet to find a tube amp that sounds great at whisper volumes-even my modded VJ with an attenuator gets too loud for late-night play.

 

VERY quiet tone remains, IMHO, the province of modelers, primarily because they can model the tone of a cab moving a lot of air. That's something no ultra-quiet tube amp can manage, as far as I can tell.

[LaXu]

I haven't tried a very low wattage tube amp that sounds as good as a higher powered amp with a good master volume turned down. The super low watt amps have been IMO very disappointing, usually quite raspy sounding when cranked.

[thunder100]

 

VERY quiet tone remains, IMHO, the province of modelers, primarily because they can model the tone of a cab moving a lot of air. That's something no ultra-quiet tube amp can manage, as far as I can tell.

 

 

 

Any suggestion in this direction?Thanks a lot

 

So far the Suggestions were

 

POD-->I have Line 6 UX-1-->OK but sound is not tube.Distorted gets close clean does not

 

ZVex Nano Head

Vox AC4TV

 

Thanks again

 

Roland

[huskerjohn]

The Carr Raleigh is 3 watts and was designed specifically for what you are looking for. It is pricey, and even 3 watts can be loud.

 

 

http://www.carramps.com/raleigh.html

[thunder100]

 

The Carr Raleigh is 3 watts and was designed specifically for what you are looking for. It is pricey, and even 3 watts can be loud. http://www.carramps.com/raleigh.html

 

 

Hi

 

a (bigger/1250$!!))bit too price but sounds great on the cleans

 

Roland

[zygoat]

I've been using this Fargen Bastage amp, it's 4 watts and is manageable in the bedroom.

 

[realtree71]

Move

[thunder100]

 

Move

 

 

How is the tiny terror?

 

Can be played low volume?

 

Roland

[.homewrecker.]

I have a 1/2 watt amp, it just can't be done. Even at 1/2 watt it fills the entire house and there's no way I could play with the windows open in the middle of the night. You're best bet is using something with a good master volume and a modeler.

[JM350]

 

Hello Can you be so kind to recommend me a silent-- can be played relatively silent(I live in an apartment)

 

 

 

Not that a good low wattage tube amp isn't great for practice and recording but the apartment is your real problem.

 

The guy who said move isn't being an ass, he is right.

 

If you play an instrument you need your own four walls.

 

The Vox AC4 has a quarter watt setting that's the kind of power level you should be looking at if you are even considering an amp. Two to five watts is actually quite loud as you know from using the Champ.

 

You might just consider going with headphones as an alternative. A little mixer with a SansAmp or something of that sort (or the POD if you are into the digital thing) would take care of the problem.

 

Another silent route is to get a device that you can plug an amp's speaker output to and plug that into a mixer with headphones. Careful with this however as some devices don't load the amp and you still need to plug speakers in as well or you can damage the amp. A couple of units that do load the amp (no need for speakers) would be the THD Hotplate, the Weber Mass, and the Palmer PDI 03 and PGA 04

[thunder100]

What about an ATTENUATOR?

 

Actually I like my Vibro Chmaps sound.Will this work?

Anybody with experience?

 

Thanks Roland

[JM350]

Sure attenuators work but even with good ones there is a point where you loose tone due to either the device itself or simply that you start going so low in volume that you simply are not driving the speaker well enough for it to sound great.

 

Your choices are:

 

1. Move (sucks, I know)

 

2. Get an amp less than 1W (might still be loud for an apartment)

 

3. Get an attenuator (might sound crappy if you go really low volume)

 

4. go with headphones

[thunder100]

 

Sure attenuators work but even with good ones there is a point where you loose tone due to either the device itself or simply that you start going so low in volume that you simply are not driving the speaker well enough for it to sound great. Your choices are: 1. Move (sucks, I know) 2. Get an amp less than 1W (might still be loud for an apartment) 3. Get an attenuator (might sound crappy if you go really low volume) 4. go with headphones

 

 

So far I am IN

 

1. let the idiot of an neighbour Move(Buy Orange tiny TERROR)

 

2.)Yes this I will try but first test how they do relatively silent

 

3.) Attenuator if 2 isnt an option

 

4.)No no headphones

 

Thanks for the realy valued input

 

Roland

[grego7]

It's not tube, but I'd give a look at a Tech 21 Trademark amp. The Trademark 10 has great reviews. I have a TM 60, and it sounds great clean, at the edge of clean and driven, and with distortion. The control layout is a little unusual, but you have a huge amount of control over the sound. There is an XLR out so you can go straight to a small mixer or multitrack recorder. There's also a headphone out, but I've yet to find a headphone out on any amp that sounds any good.

 

Oh, and the XLR out uses the sansamp technology and does sound pretty close to a mic'd up amp.

[YngwieReid]

Amp head -> Sequis Mother Load

[LaXu]

Depending on how thin your walls are and what kind of neighbours you have, you may be looking for the impossible.

 

Any amp, solid state or tube, sounds better when it's turned up. Even playing songs thru your hi-fi stereo sounds better when there's some volume involved. I find there's a point in most amps where they seem to come alive. This doesn't mean window rattling volume, but it may be just loud enough to annoy the neighbours.

 

No matter what you do, you will not be satisfied by playing below that volume point. It'll sound like a can of bees no matter what you use. Headphones and a modeler can be usable for late night practice but that's about it, the tones you get that way IMO aren't anywhere close to using real speakers into a real room.

 

I've tried attenuators, low wattage amps, really low wattage amps and have deduced that at least for me the best solution is a good higher wattage amp and a good master volume implementation. The 100W Egnater and the 50W Diezel I have don't have to be cranked to sound great and using an attenuator with them will only make them sound worse, with an attenuator they sound less punchy and clear. The wattage doesn't really matter because 5W is still too loud to crank in an apartment.

 

In the meantime you can try a few things:

 

 

 

EQ differently. I tested my Egnater with an attenuator and noted how the tone changed when cranked, then took out the attenuator and EQ'd accordingly: treble down, mids and bass up. The end result was a very similar sound but with more clarity and dynamics.

 

Set your combo or cab so that it's preferably not near a wall shared by neighbors and on a chair so that the bottom end will not travel as much thru the floor (getting better clarity is an added bonus because floor reflections aren't muddying the lows). If you have any visible pipes in the room you may want to maybe have a curtain or some thick material in front of them so the sound doesn't travel around thru them.

[pencho]

Check out a Red Iron Little Mo 1w. I have one and its a great practice amp.

[thunder100]

 

Depending on how thin your walls are and what kind of neighbours you have, you may be looking for the impossible. Any amp, solid state or tube, sounds better when it's turned up. Even playing songs thru your hi-fi stereo sounds better when there's some volume involved. I find there's a point in most amps where they seem to come alive. This doesn't mean window rattling volume, but it may be just loud enough to annoy the neighbours. No matter what you do, you will not be satisfied by playing below that volume point. It'll sound like a can of bees no matter what you use. Headphones and a modeler can be usable for late night practice but that's about it, the tones you get that way IMO aren't anywhere close to using real speakers into a real room. I've tried attenuators, low wattage amps, really low wattage amps and have deduced that at least for me the best solution is a good higher wattage amp and a good master volume implementation. The 100W Egnater and the 50W Diezel I have don't have to be cranked to sound great and using an attenuator with them will only make them sound worse, with an attenuator they sound less punchy and clear. The wattage doesn't really matter because 5W is still too loud to crank in an apartment.

 

 

Dear LAXu,dear ALL

 

Thanks a lot

 

Aabove I am afraid is fully true.Sound is not only the amp ,it is speaker and the volume and responce of the air it pushes too.Tube per se need a minimum voltage(power) to life you are fully right.Ill try the EQ idea as I have a modded pedal

 

In the last 3 days(after my last police exercise) I read a lot and I really thank the HC community for your valuable input

 

I will test a few 1-3 watt amps and finally make up my mind(not too easy her in Europe)

 

I ll report the result soon (Could be from jail though) but what I am looking for seems to be the impossible quest.Find an amp which brings the sound my Vibro Champ delivers at 4,5(break up is about 5-5,5) with much less volume.Lets see

 

Again thanks a lot,I learned a lot

 

Roland

[YngwieReid]

Why not just get a roland cube?

[thunder100]

 

Why not just get a roland cube?

 

 

Hi

 

Here I am again

 

and a step forward

 

I am moving to the dark side-->SS

 

Just now(1/2 an hour ago ) I worked through some solid state's.I have to confess that SS made a step forward and there a very good ones and medium bad ones.Still none is tube,really not but so far I like a Roland(Because of my name probably or above suggestion) Cube 30X(actually a SS with Mods) which has a very nice clean setting (JC clean) and has a very OK(hate to type good) sound at a bit louder level then Stratocaster unplugged playing.

 

This is plan A if I can make a deal on the price(200 Euro's)

 

BUT there is plan B

 

In the very past (maybe 20 years ago) I allready had an attuenator which sat in the effects loop and was sh...t.Now I ordered (and risked 70 bucks) a Weber Minimass and a friend(of a friend) will lend me a "Little Sucker"(cool name,wouldnt want to use it in a gig in the 80's).If this works to tame the Vibro Champ and maintain its sound/and dont colour it on the cleans then I'll try what it does to my Hodrod Dlx(of course not flat out,The LSucker probably flys to the moon then)

 

If this is OK I can move to what I always wanted as a practice amp (Played one in late 70's 3 gigs can never forget it,although after a time you exagerate the nice things and forget the bad things a

 

65' Princeton RI (12 Watt)

 

By the way new ones life up to the old boy?

 

Keep you updated

 

Roland

[Kidbs]

I definitely think solid state is your best bet if your neighbors are that sensitive. If you want some variety, perhaps a Peavey Vyper 30 would be a good match. The Roland Cube is also good.

[pioneerprogress]

I've heard some speculation that less than one watt doesn't get your speaker really moving and therefore still doesn't sound that great. And one watt is probably louder than what you're wanting to play at. So a good tube amp with an attenuator with the actual volume that low still may not be doing you justice.

Rethink the solid state or modeler options. Many solid state amps are designed to sound good at bedroom levels. Look into a Peavey transtube series...these I have experience with and can tell you they have an excellent clean sound and are pretty good if you decide to crank up the gain. And they won't break the bank.

[Azhrei]

Here's a couple more things to look at:

 

1/ Blackheart "Killer Ant" 1w head. ** I have never played one, but if it sounds like the 5w "Little Giant" it's a good sounding amp, IMO.

 

2/ Should you go SS, look at the Vox Pathfinder series. I've played the 10w and 15w versions, and I think they are some of the best SS amps I've ever heard.