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30 watt or less amp recommendations

venturehead

By venturehead
in Electric Guitars

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gt5litre Newbie

gt5litre

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I recall reading posts on this forum several years ago mentioning the use of a volume pedal with the Mesa F-series amps to get good tone at lower volumes. i do not recall if the pedal was inserted in the effects loop or in the line out and line in jacks.

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soundcreation Newbie

soundcreation

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Used Crate V1512......I have one and it's amazing. Great clean sounds (albeit with somewhat limited head room) but the distortion is out of this world. I've compared mine to AC15's, Blues Jnr's, and other low end 15w tube amps and I think it is nicer than any of them.

 

Master volume with the power tubes run at full all the time (glorified class A) so at low volume it sounds pretty much as good as high.

 

Made in the USA as well. There are two on ebay right now for around 200 bucks.

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docjeffrey Newbie

docjeffrey

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First of all, 15--30 watts is going to be just about as loud as your Mesa. In fact, a Vox AC30 is going to sound louder. If you are looking for an amp to play at home, you might want to check out the various 1-5 watt offerings. Blackstar probably offers the best tone in this arena, but check them out first.

 

I have a bunch of 15 watters. I like them because I gig with a pretty loud drummer and I can crank them and mike them if needed. Here's what I have along with some comments:

 

  • Vox AC15CC2x--Good (not great) tone. Loud as hell. Celestion Blue. Good chimey cleans and decent OD, but I use pedals which work very well with this amp.

  • Vox AC15TBx--Made in England. Not nearly as loud as the CC. Not as much OD. Some fantastic boutique-like tones. Designed by Tony Bruno in the 90's. Hard to find.

  • Vox AC15H1TV--Sort of handwired but with a through plated PCB. EF86 channel sounds killer. Organic OD. Perfect for Classic Rock but loves pedals, so modern is not out of the question. Loudest of all of my AC15's. Top Boost Channel is gorgeous. Overpriced for a Chinese built amp, but decent quality (birch ply, Celestion Blue, etc.)

  • Orange AD15--Classic and Southern Rock lives in this thing. Not a lot of headroom, but who cares. It's fruity, juicy, loose, and loud. Good bass. Celestion V30, birch ply, made in England. Much better than a Tiny Terror.

  • Fender Tweed Deluxe--way too expensive, but what a killer amp. 12 watts, sounds like 100! Loves pedals, has amazing cleans but they live between 1 and 3 on the volume knob. After that, with a tele this amp is the sound of rock and roll. Think Keef.

  • THD Univalve--I think that this amp will do 15 watts with a big bottle, but it doesn't matter because it's loud and proud. Well voiced. Not good for live work unless you want to stay on the drive channel. The clean channel may not get loud enough for a band situation. Fantastic boutique-like tone. Tube swappers delight.

  • Marshall JCM2000 DSL 201/401--I've owned both, but currently have the 401 (40 watts). I included it here because it's not a very loud 40 watts, but it's a terrific sounding amp. Cleans are fine for live work but there's not a lot of depth/dimension. Drive tones really sound like a Marshall until you get the gain past 1/2 way on the red channel. After that, it's a bit buzzy. But with moderate levels of gain and lots of master volume--oh, and a speaker change--it's a very good channel switching gigging amp.

  • Vox AC4--bought one, hate it. Need to sell it to someone who's doesn't know tone.

  • Krank Rev Jr.--High gain metal mayhem. Loud as hell 20 watts. Plenty of metal approved bass response, especially with the closed back solid poplar 1 x 12" speaker cabs

  • Marshall 1974x--saved the best for last. Loud as hell and you have to crank this thing because the tones are absolutely perfect for classic rock, blues, alternative rock (whatever that is), country, Hendrix, Cream, Zeppelin, etc. But add a distortion pedal and it will sound modern. Tasty as hell, too expensive but you're paying for all of the retooling and sourcing of old vendors to build this thing.

 

Things I'd consider for all round performance with good cleans and drive:

 

Blackstar HT series

Orange TH30

One of those little Swart amps

Bad Cat's new 15 watter

Dr. Z's new Maz 8 or Carmen Ghia or just about any of his amps

Mesa Mini Rectifier

Anything by Victoria

Tone King 12 watt Falcon:

 

falcon_turquoise_f.jpg

 

And, I just bought one of these:

 

hk2.jpg

 

Go Here for clips

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warriorpoet Newbie

warriorpoet

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That's some serious lawyer gear right thar!










Nah, I'm just bustin' your balls. What a rig. Very tasty.

 

Ha! Thanks!

 

That's my main work rig. It gets played live 2-3 times a week. One nice thing about buying better gear is that it stays longer (or comes twice, in the case of my beloved goldy). I only hope that PRS is done at the shop today, so I can play it again tomorrow :)

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venturehead Newbie

venturehead

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I ended up buying a used Peavey Classic 30. Thanks everyone for the awesome suggestions.

So far this seems like a very cool amp-great cleans, amazing really, and the drive channel is great, much better than the Fenders I've tried. So far, I am very very happy with the versatility. Full practice with the band later this week, we'll see how it goes.

Interestingly, yesterday someone posted on San Diego Craigslist a Mesa F30 for $450, which is an absolute steal, and I was very tempted, but in the end my desire to try something different won out.

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tlbonehead Newbie

tlbonehead

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If you like Mesa and can spend a bit more and check around you might consider the Transatlantic TA-15. It is 2 channels, one voxish and one fender/marshall/mesa. Goes 5/15/25 watts and I love mine. I got mine for $750 but that was a while ago and while they are still $900 new I would think there should be some used ones cheaper these days but I really don't know since I got mine I'm done with buying amps

 

 

That or the Express 5:25. Two very nice amps.

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realtree71 Newbie

realtree71

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I've got a few 15 watters and my Fav is the Marshall Studio 15..... perfect amp but hard to find. My next fav is all rock n roll its the Orange Tiny Terror ran through a Silver Jubalee 2x12 with v-30s..... The TT is kinda limited but man it does rock

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guitarman3001 Newbie

guitarman3001

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Another vote for the Bugera V22. I've been through a ton of amps and out of all of them, the warmest sounding one I've had is the V22. That would be my #1 pick.

 

A couple others that have been mentioned that I'd also recommend are the Crate Palomino V32 and the Peavey Delta Blues. I'd recommend any of these over the Classic 30. Even though the C30 is the same amp section as the DB, the DB's larger cabinet makes it sound way better. Much warmer, fuller, and for some reason it seems to have more clean headroom even though on paper it should be the same.

 

The Palomino is a great amp and I have two of them - a combo and a head - and while I love them and sometimes gig with them, for a 30 watt amp they are LOUD as hell and just way too loud for any of the venues I play.

 

I've found the Bugera V22 to have everything I need. Amazing tone, two channels, reverb, and switchable between 13 and 22 watts. I have yet to play a gig where it didn't have as much volume as I needed.

 

::edit:: Just read that you already bought a C30. Cool. I owned one and sold it but a lot of people love it.

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