Buying a small tube amp for home/performance use... suggestions?

[GAS Man]

I'm pretty impressed by the Fender '68 Princeton (although they are a tad dark with the stock speaker) but they have a deep tone for a 10".

 

Tomorrow I have a new Vox AC10 arriving from the MF'rs. I bought their tan model since it was a bit more unique and they're selling it for $50 off. I also own a Pathfinder 15 which has always impressed me with how deep and resonant it sounds for an 8" speaker SS amp, so I'm figuring I'll be pleased with the AC10

 

I also have a Pro Junior from the '90s that came stock with an alnico speaker. Great sounding amp, but it gets fairly loud before breakup. Pound for pound I actually find my Pro Junior to be a deeper sound than my Blues Juniors (a NOS version and the Woody Butter model). Those have a more shallow sound in comparison, but I find the Blues Juniors to be better paired with thicker sounding pickups, i.e. P-90s to HBs.

 

I've bought several small watt amps, i.e. in the 4 or 5 watt range, and my Laney has been the most impressive of that crowd, so I'd look at their bigger brothers.

 

But these days there's also some good SS amps to consider too. Like the 35 watt Orange Crush. I have the previous model which sounds very nice and i understand the newer model is even better.

 

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts. My ears can be fickle/moody and a lot has to do with the sound I'm going for or getting at that time, like how much clean I'm going for, versus early break up, and whether I'm using single coils, P-90s and HBs, or adding or not adding an OD pedal.

 

But I'm looking forward to that Vox AC 10 arriving tomorrow. I'm hoping for a nirvana of 3 attributes, more depth of tone that one should expect from a 10" combo (it does have a fairly good sized cabinet) good sounding natural OD tone, and chime on tap for when I'm in the mood for cleans.

 

 

[steve_man]

man, that is a NICE looking amp! Gonna try one out this weekend. Probably will try out one of the smaller Fenders, too.

 

As far as SS amps, I have two pretty good ones. I have a Vox Pathfinder (which is just amazing for such a small amp) in red, and an older Roland Cube 20XL. Great for practice, but I am just missing the tube amp sound and feel. Don't want to spend a fortune, and don't want a boat anchor (used to have an AC50cp2) either. Let me know how the new amp sounds!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Yup - I used a simple bridge rectifier.

[Phil O'Keefe]

One suggestion guys - if you get a Vox, get a cover or a case for it. I'm pretty gentle on gear and the Tolex on my AC15 got dinged up pretty quickly. It seems a bit on the thinner side.

 

I do agree that the tan vinyl on that AC10 looks great!

[Into Nation]

Oops... Got sucked into one of those tan AC10's.

 

I've been looking for something like this for a while, most had no reverb included which is a deal breaker for me. Reverb, valves and $50 off was too much to resist. Plus that unique color. Youtube reviews on this sounded really good.

[billybilly]

man, that is a NICE looking amp! Gonna try one out this weekend. Probably will try out one of the smaller Fenders, too.

 

As far as SS amps, I have two pretty good ones. I have a Vox Pathfinder (which is just amazing for such a small amp) in red, and an older Roland Cube 20XL. Great for practice, but I am just missing the tube amp sound and feel. Don't want to spend a fortune, and don't want a boat anchor (used to have an AC50cp2) either. Let me know how the new amp sounds!

Those Roland cubes take acoustics very well, I miss mine, might have to purchase another.

[billybilly]

 

 

Those are re-badged Laney Cub 12R amps.

Source?

[steve_man]

I'm pretty impressed by the Fender '68 Princeton (although they are a tad dark with the stock speaker) but they have a deep tone for a 10".

 

Tomorrow I have a new Vox AC10 arriving from the MF'rs. I bought their tan model since it was a bit more unique and they're selling it for $50 off. I also own a Pathfinder 15 which has always impressed me with how deep and resonant it sounds for an 8" speaker SS amp, so I'm figuring I'll be pleased with the AC10

 

I also have a Pro Junior from the '90s that came stock with an alnico speaker. Great sounding amp, but it gets fairly loud before breakup. Pound for pound I actually find my Pro Junior to be a deeper sound than my Blues Juniors (a NOS version and the Woody Butter model). Those have a more shallow sound in comparison, but I find the Blues Juniors to be better paired with thicker sounding pickups, i.e. P-90s to HBs.

 

I've bought several small watt amps, i.e. in the 4 or 5 watt range, and my Laney has been the most impressive of that crowd, so I'd look at their bigger brothers.

 

But these days there's also some good SS amps to consider too. Like the 35 watt Orange Crush. I have the previous model which sounds very nice and i understand the newer model is even better.

 

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts. My ears can be fickle/moody and a lot has to do with the sound I'm going for or getting at that time, like how much clean I'm going for, versus early break up, and whether I'm using single coils, P-90s and HBs, or adding or not adding an OD pedal.

 

But I'm looking forward to that Vox AC 10 arriving tomorrow. I'm hoping for a nirvana of 3 attributes, more depth of tone that one should expect from a 10" combo (it does have a fairly good sized cabinet) good sounding natural OD tone, and chime on tap for when I'm in the mood for cleans.

 

 

Hows the new Vox?

[mistersully]

Source?

 

sure looks the same

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

 

sure looks the same

 

Apart from the Tolex colour and the Brand name, looks identical

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

References to it everywhere BB:

 

http://bit.ly/1TltykE

[Mikeo]

Depends what you are looking for in a tube amp.

 

The Fender Blues Junior is a good small amp to have around. You can actually gig with if you needed to. Just mic it.

 

I kind of dug the Egnator Tweaker too.

 

Fender just came out with a Bass Breaker series. I was a at a local shop here in the area and a guy was making the purchase on one of the bigger ones. They also make a smaller Bass Breaker in both 7 watts and 15 watts. It's more of a modern rocker, but I heard it cleans up nicely.

 

[video=youtube;qsyqzltlHFw]

 

 

Me on the other hand, I'm probably more of an old school Vintage 47 amp kind of guy.

 

 

 

[GAS Man]

 

Hows the new Vox?

 

It was at least 7:30 last night when the UPS man dropped it off, so between that, having dinner, and my wife (after spending a couple hours in the kitchen) not being ready for an evening of "Amp Demo" I haven't had enough time with it yet. I also wasted part of my demo time because I plugged it in through my set up and didn't realize I had a couple pedals turned on. I had a TS turned on kinda low and also a reverb pedal on (both of which I thought were off) so I started over again.

 

So far I do have one complaint though, it's a little hard to get the volume down to where it sounds somewhat full, but yet not too loud. The volume knob really jumps from being too quiet with not much body to the tone, to getting quite a bit louder. It takes little tiny nudges to get a good living room volume and that has me putting the master volume knob at about 8 o'clock. But I'll jump back on it tonight and come back and edit this post with some more comments on its tone.

 

The first thing I was doing with it was pushing some of its piping down into the groove a bit more with a guitar pick. Some areas were higher than the tolex other areas were lower than the tolex, so there was some evidence of "less than perfect finish" from the loving hands of that Chinese factory. (Made me wish for the golden years when they made their amps in Vietnam LOL) Speaking of which, I recently noticed my older Pathfinder 15 was made in Korea. It's interesting to see how these manufacturers keep looking for cheaper and cheaper places to get their products made.

 

I just gave it another minute of play - gotta get ready to go to work - but it reminded me that last night I was thinking that it could possibly benefit from a bit more of an articulate speaker. Possibly something like a Celestion Greenback 10. But there's some lack of presence or definition in the mids to lower mids. But my guess is that the stock Celestion VX10 is voiced to give the amp a good amount of bottom end, and I do not find myself wanting more in that area. The AC10 can fairly quickly get a bit woofy sounding if you roll up the bass too much. But I'm thinking that where this amp will shine will me at more medium throttle and a medium amount of gain. I think that speaker will then bloom and show it's "special purpose". So I'd say my first blush with this amp was not "nirvana at first pass" but I do think it has potential. And the size is right for me. I really wouldn't have wanted another amp that is any bigger than the AC10. It's already 20.5" wide, and I've got an older Vox AD60VTX standing by (currently out of "rotation") should I need a bigger Vox tone and a couple AC4s if I want a smaller voiced amp. I'm hoping this will be the "momma bear" amp, i.e. "just right".

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Fender just came out with a Bass Breaker series. I was a at a local shop here in the area and a guy was making the purchase on one of the bigger ones. They also make a smaller Bass Breaker in both 7 watts and 15 watts. It's more of a modern rocker, but I heard it cleans up nicely.

 

[video=youtube;qsyqzltlHFw]

 

 

Me on the other hand, I'm probably more of an old school Vintage 47 amp kind of guy.

 

 

 

I'm talking with Fender and trying to get a demo unit of the Bassbreaker 15 to do a review of it here on HC. It might be another month or so though...

 

 

 

 

[GAS Man]

One suggestion guys - if you get a Vox, get a cover or a case for it. I'm pretty gentle on gear and the Tolex on my AC15 got dinged up pretty quickly. It seems a bit on the thinner side.

 

I do agree that the tan vinyl on that AC10 looks great!

 

 

I've gotten into the habit of buying covers, mostly to keep dust/grit out of the pots when they are not in use and sitting idle for extended periods. So I also think they are a worthwhile investment. (my gigging stints have been very limited)

 

But I was looking for a Vox cover for that AC10C1 and haven't found a "factory" model yet. I know I could order a custom model, and I've had to do that for some of my amps, but I'd be happy if I could just find a simple vinyl Vox branded version since it would be a bit cheaper and still adequate for my needs. The after market covers I've bought from http://www.amplifiercovers.com/ are better quality (i.e. thicker and more durable) but the fit hasn't always been spot on.

 

So if anyone happens to see a Vox branded cover come available for the AC10, please give me a thump.

 

 

[GAS Man]

Speaking of small tube amps, one that has been tempting me for some time, but basically, just because it's so dang cute, is the IbanezTSA5TVR

 

 

 

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TSA5TVR

 

These days the "Mid Century Modern" style furnishings are back in style, which is interesting since, although some of that stuff looks like props from The Jetsons, construction for that era of furnishing were largely cheap crap, i.e. molded plastic chairs, laminated particle board construction, etc. but still, a lot of that stuff looks neat.

 

But at $400, no way would I guess it to be close to the best "tone bang for your buck", but I think it might be hard to find an amp that might score higher on the "wife factor", well, unless your wife has good taste in "tone", then she still might whack you with a Mid Century Modern rolling pin. [video=youtube;iRF0JVB6phI]

 

But I doubt I'll ever get one, I just don't have enough footprint space left in my "modest sized" late century house.

 

 

 

 

[Mikeo]

 

I'm talking with Fender and trying to get a demo unit of the Bassbreaker 15 to do a review of it here on HC. It might be another month or so though...

 

 

 

 

 

 

There ya go

 

It actually sounds like a good amp.

 

Some folks were having an issue with the FX loop, so hopefully Fender can get that bug worked out.

 

I'm not sure where it's made, but the lowest price on the net right now is $649.99. At that price it's worth looking into.

 

 

 

[DeepEnd]

One suggestion guys - if you get a Vox' date=' get a cover or a case for it. I'm pretty gentle on gear and the Tolex on my AC15 got dinged up pretty quickly. It seems a bit on the thinner side. . . .[/quote']

Thanks for the heads up. I'm still not that happy with my Fender and I've been looking at Marshall and Vox.

[Tidal Rhythm]

For the OP, have you considered looking for a 5e3 amp? There are a lot of kits for them and builders list them regularly on reverb and other gear sites. If you like Fender tones right at the point of breakup, it sounds like the type of amp you might enjoy.

[Grant Harding]

Do you run the reverb pedal into the effects loop? If not then you're distorting the reverb as well as the guitar. I find that sounds mushy.

[steve_man]

That's great! Wonder if the sound will open up a bit once it breaks in? Gonna try one this weekend. Glad you're enjoying it so far!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Will do GAS Man!

[Phil O'Keefe]

I've seen them at NAMM a couple of times but have never heard one. I would love to review this adorable little (and it is pretty small) Ibanez.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Maybe that's why it's going to be a bit until I can get my hands on one - I don't know either way. But I'll be sure to check into those reports and check the effects loop out - thanks for the heads up!

[GAS Man]

The AC10C1 does not have an effects loop. I hadn't realized I had those pedals on when I first demoed the amp.

 

But the volume knob control still bugs me. It can go from "too low" then turn it up a bit and then the volume really jumps up, like it's hit a ridge rather than a good audio taper. I'm wondering if they all behave this way. So even for the living room, it can go from too quiet and shallow sounding, then too loud. So I've got to give it these little micro bumps up on the volume dial to hit the right volume level. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with the volume pot on mine. (?) I find myself dealing with it more by using the guitar volume since the amp volume knob is hard to hit my desired room level.

 

But I played it a bit more last night, however, my wife arrived back home shortly after I started playing while I was trying to see "what it can do". Then I looked over and she's wearing noise canceling headphones. :-O

 

Another comment I might make about the amp is that I'm really not that impressed with its reverb. I read other comments about its reverb being a very high level, and that is true compared to, say, a Marshall, and it's not that I have anything against a good digital reverb, but it just doesn't produce the kind of deepening thunk I like from reverb. It also makes the amp sound a hair thinner and more trebley, so you then need to adjust your bass up and treble down a bit for a quick fix. As a comparison, I own a SS Orange Crush 35LDX, and its digital reverb is far more impressive for creating perceived depth of tone. So I'd say the reverb on this amp is fair, but not bad, and certainly better than nothing. And for the price, I'm really not complaining about the reverb that it has in it, it's certainly better than having no on-board reverb, so you can grab and go without hauling along a pedal board. But I'll probably end up favoring some of my better reverb pedals. These days I'm still loving my EarthQuaker Device Dispatch Master. It's combination of a hall-like reverb plus a warm delay that gives my amps that deeper vintage "spring-reverb-like" sound that I enjoy, without altering the perceived EQ. It's my new fave after having been a fan of my old Boss RV-3 for many years for the same reason. I think one of my worst reverb pedals for making an amp sound too trebley is the Boss FRV-1 '63, although other folks love it. I originally bought the Boss FRV-1 pedal to pair with my Bassman, but unless you turn down the tone control, it creates an unpleasant sharpness to the treble.

 

But I am straying OT - I'll have to get a Reverb Pedal thread going. ;^)