Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Looking for one that has a good amount of clean headroom and under $1k new or used. Any suggestions? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hal9000 Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Looking for one that has a good amount of clean headroom and under $1k new or used. Any suggestions? Thanks!Mesa F-30 and Express 5:25. The F-30 is more aggressive on overdrive, while the Express has lusher reverb. Both have excellent cleans and breaking up tones, so the choice will probably be down to how aggressive you want your amplifier to sound. Of course, the AC-30 also comes to mind which has a ton of clean headroom, but the newer CC series doesn't get the highest reliability mark from owners I've talked to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 The clean channel on Carvin's Nomad is stupidly loud and clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Mesa F-30 and Express 5:25. The F-30 is more aggressive on overdrive, while the Express has lusher reverb. Both have excellent cleans and breaking up tones, so the choice will probably be down to how aggressive you want your amplifier to sound.Of course, the AC-30 also comes to mind which has a ton of clean headroom, but the newer CC series doesn't get the highest reliability mark from owners I've talked to. Reliablilty is an issue for me, so I would most likely not consider newer voxes. The Express 5:25 has a 10" speaker, doesn't it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 The clean channel on Carvin's Nomad is stupidly loud and clean. I hadn't even considered Carvin. I'll have to look into the Nomad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hal9000 Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Reliablilty is an issue for me, so I would most likely not consider newer voxes. The Express 5:25 has a 10" speaker, doesn't it??Yes, the Express 5:25 does have a 10" speaker, but sounds a lot bigger than the size suggests. Also, it makes a smokin' mini-stack with the 5:25 head and two of the 1x10 cabs. Of course, you haven't mentioned what kind of music you play, so I'm shooting in the dark here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 I hadn't even considered Carvin. I'll have to look into the Nomad. I have one. I was thinking about selling it, but I'm not sure any more. It claims 50 watts which is unusual for an EL-84 amp and even dimed, the clean channel hardly has any distortion at all. Nice small, portable package too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members draelyc Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 If you aren't afraid to deal with the popular bias against the brand name, check out the Crate V Series V3112 combo (the American made one). The clean channel is ridiculously (imo) clean and stays that way up into impressive volume levels. It's too clean for my tastes, actually; I prefer a dirty-clean sound. But it's definitely worth checking out. And at a much more affordable price than some others you may be considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 If you aren't afraid to deal with the popular bias against the brand name, check out the Crate V Series V3112 combo (the American made one). The clean channel is ridiculously (imo) clean and stays that way up into impressive volume levels. It's too clean for my tastes, actually; I prefer a dirty-clean sound. But it's definitely worth checking out. And at a much more affordable price than some others you may be considering. That's a good choice too. Nice sounding amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mustaine-who? Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 VHT Pitbull 45? See them fairly frequently on Craig's List for Supposed to be a very good sounding EL84 amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 If you aren't afraid to deal with the popular bias against the brand name, check out the Crate V Series V3112 combo (the American made one). The clean channel is ridiculously (imo) clean and stays that way up into impressive volume levels. It's too clean for my tastes, actually; I prefer a dirty-clean sound. But it's definitely worth checking out. And at a much more affordable price than some others you may be considering. I saw that MF had one with a Tone Tubby speaker. That one looks interesting to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members draelyc Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 I saw that MF had one with a Tone Tubby speaker. That one looks interesting to me.Haven't tried it with the speaker upgrade (mine has the Celestion Seventy/Eighty, or whatever the stock cheaper Celestion is), but folks on here have said the TT speaker is smoother overall, fwiw. They're solid amps, imo. Plus, you won't find the name "Crate" printed anywhere on 'em. :poke: lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roadstar II Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Perhaps a Classic 30? I haven't personally tested the headroom on mine, but it's always another amp to consider. Should be easy to find one in your local guitar store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hamer95USA Posted November 7, 2007 Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 VHT Pitbull 45? See them fairly frequently on Craig's List for Supposed to be a very good sounding EL84 amp. +1 for the VHT Pitbull 45/12 combo amp. I got one in a the hard to find British racing car green vinyl. The clean channel sounds wonderful. The drive channel can get a good classic rock/blues crunch, but not any kind of heavy metal/nu metal kind of tone though. The shift, bright, ,boost, & edge (drive channel only) buttons on each channel allows you to shape each channel the way you would like it to sound. The 4 button footswitch (drive/clean, boost, effects loop, reverb) is quite useful in its functions. I use the effects loop in series and use the effects level knob as a master volume for the amp. It works great in that setup. Great boutique amp for under $1,000. Guitar George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Haven't tried it with the speaker upgrade (mine has the Celestion Seventy/Eighty, or whatever the stock cheaper Celestion is), but folks on here have said the TT speaker is smoother overall, fwiw. They're solid amps, imo. Plus, you won't find the name "Crate" printed anywhere on 'em. :poke: lol... Thanks. I'm going to look into this amp, as it sounds like it might be the right fit for me. Sounds are much more important to me than a logo on the amp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 Perhaps a Classic 30? I haven't personally tested the headroom on mine, but it's always another amp to consider. Should be easy to find one in your local guitar store. Great amp, but not quite enough headroom for what I need right now. I wish they made the 50 in a 1x12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2007 +1 for the VHT Pitbull 45/12 combo amp. I got one in a the hard to find British racing car green vinyl. The clean channel sounds wonderful. The drive channel can get a good classic rock/blues crunch, but not any kind of heavy metal/nu metal kind of tone though. The shift, bright, ,boost, & edge (drive channel only) buttons on each channel allows you to shape each channel the way you would like it to sound. The 4 button footswitch (drive/clean, boost, effects loop, reverb) is quite useful in its functions. I use the effects loop in series and use the effects level knob as a master volume for the amp. It works great in that setup. Great boutique amp for under $1,000. Guitar George Boy, this looks nice. Footswitchable effects loop?! Thanks! I'll look into this as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 Is anybody familiar with the Budda Superdrive 30 1x12? How is the clean headroom on that amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members potaetoes Posted November 8, 2007 Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 if you want clean headroom, why exactly do you want an EL84 amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JBecker Posted November 8, 2007 Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 Dr. Z Carmen Ghia, Dr. Z Mazerati Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 if you want clean headroom, why exactly do you want an EL84 amp? Fair enough. I am running a two amp setup, but want to blend two amps of different tube types together. I know that for pristine clean tones, that el84 amps are not ideal, but there has to be a few out there that will do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members draelyc Posted November 8, 2007 Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 Is anybody familiar with the Budda Superdrive 30 1x12? How is the clean headroom on that amp? I had the 18 watt version for a brief while. I sold it because it was, if anything, too smooth & clean for me ... However, the clean channel did start to growl a bit when the master volume CRANKED. Still, for the most part I thought it stayed too clean, for my tastes, unless the amp was just wide open. I'd assume that the 30 watter would stay cleaner at louder volumes than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 I had the 18 watt version for a brief while. I sold it because it was, if anything, too smooth & clean for me ... However, the clean channel did start to growl a bit when the master volume CRANKED. Still, for the most part I thought it stayed too clean, for my tastes, unless the amp was just wide open. I'd assume that the 30 watter would stay cleaner at louder volumes than that. How did it take pedals? How was the dirt channel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZX-Matt Posted November 8, 2007 Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 Great amp, but not quite enough headroom for what I need right now. I wish they made the 50 in a 1x12. Classic 30: V3=5751/12AT7 = more headroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shinequwa Posted November 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2007 Classic 30:V3=5751/12AT7 = more headroom. I'll have to check one out. I know these are easy to get. Thanks for the tube advice to increase headroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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