There is a lot of really experienced guitar players on this forum, so I gues you will help me to choose a new guitar amplifier.

So far I only have a Fender Frontman 15R, which was good for playing my Squiers, but now I bought myself an US Standard Strat and I really feel sorry for the guitar to plug it in that amp. Sure, the most important thing is to go and try as many amps as possible and then to make a decission (and I will do that), but I guess that reading other people's experiances and advices might be very helpful.

Now, I want a tube amplifier (of course) for playing at home (only). I would like probably a Fender, Vox or Marshall might be an option too. When I checked the net, I found Fender Super Champ 15W, which has an unbelievable price for a tube amplifier, I saw some demonstratons on youtube, thad sounded good, but it has a lot of digital stuff inside - effect and modelling other amps, so I guess that for that price it can not be really good tube amp. I red some opinions that the tubes and the speaker are actually quite bad.

So then there is Fender Blues Junior 15W, which is more expensive, but it is pretty much for the price I am willing to pay, it looks and sounds good. For that price I could also get the VOX Custom Serie AC15C1 15W, which might be a good choice too I think.

Then if I would pay a bit more, there is the Fender Hot Rod DeLuxe or Fender Reissue Blues Deluxe, but they both have 40W, which is way too much for a home practice. I think it is bad to have such an amp and play it only with the volume to the minimum, so I don't really consider these.

Then there are some 5W amps, but I think that 15W is somehow good. Or...?

So what do you guys use for a home practice and what would you recommend?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-07-08 15:18 by Happy24.

among the amps you mentioned i'd go for the hot rod or blues deluxe. even if you only turn them up to 1 or 2 (!) they sound fantastic. ih use mine at home aswell!

Hi Happy 24

You should check out the Fender Blues Junior, Orange Tiny Terror and Vox Night Train.

Or if you want to spend more and go for an amp that you'll keep forever either a Princeton Reverb Reissue or a 65' Deluxe Reverb Reissue.

Good luck

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

Koch Studiotone. 20 watts. All the amp you'll ever need, so worth every cent - it's not cheap! BUT, it sounds great and has great features for a "stay-at-home" player.
[www.koch-amps.com]

Studiotone II
The baby of the bunch perhaps but packing a big sound into a very small package. This is a three channel amp with shared EQ. All channels can be selected from the supplied footswitch (on a stereo jack). The EQ section is enhanced by a mid shift switch and a bright boost/cut switch allowing for some fine tuning. The EQ is well voiced with every setting providing a useful tone. You would buy this amp just for its sounds and be getting a bargain but you also get a huge array of features:

Recording output with speaker emulation (switchable between 4x12 and 1x12 settings).
Direct outs - one without speaker emulation, one clean only and one for headphones. The amp has a built in power soak and speaker on/off switch allowing the amp to be used silently with headphones - not many valve amps can make that claim.
Serial effects loop.
Accutronics spring reverb.
Switchable speaker impedance settings between 4, 8 and 16 for external speaker.
Compact size: Combo is 44x23x42cm, Head is only 44x23x24.5cm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-07-08 13:51 by Child Of Clay.

I was just checking out some amps for playing at home. I decided to get the Vox AC15C1. Great amp if you ask me. It has the classic Vox sound. If you're looking for that particular sound, you'll be happy with this amp.
I did also choose this one, because I already have a Fender DeVille, Fender Super Reverb 65 and an Orange Rockeverb and I wanted something different.
Fender amps are almost ever great. I never played a really bad one.

fender super sonic 60 list $1399.00

Quote
John1982
Fender amps are almost ever great. I never played a really bad one.

Well, I would not call my Fender Frontman great :-) But sure, I understand we discuss "real" amps here :-)

Thanks for all your thoughts guys so far they are all very helpful.

Hey Happy, you've mentioned some good amps yourself and others have aswell.
Imo, you're underestimating the Fender Super Champ though especially since you'll be using it around the house.
with all the didital bells and whistles in it, this is not a one-trick-pony and yet a tube amp.
best of all it doesn't brake the bank.
make sure to check one out and see if ya like it.

I have 3 different 5 Watt amps and each one supplies enough power at home.
my original Fender Blues Deluxe sounds great but it only sees rehearsing rooms and stages. 40 watts is way too much for home use.

By the way - I bought myself this beauty, for which I am looking for an amp...







Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-07-08 15:33 by Happy24.

Great looking guitar!

Get a Fender Twin reverb. More than you need but it is what you want. I speak from experience.

Good luck!

Doug

VOX AC4 TV
EGNATER REBEL
PRINCETON REVERB
CARVIN VINTAGE 16

If you live in the US, see if you can find on ebay an old Ampeg Jet, just any model made in the 60's. For some reason, save the SVT head, old Ampegs seem to be out of the "vintage mania". They go for very reasonable prices (approx 350 USD) because they are not yet fashionable and replacement tubes can be expensive. I have one my self, and it is a wonder. More or less the kind of sound you hear on Exile: not bad, I tell you!

C

Blues jr are great but eat tubes!
Night train!
Egnater rebel 20( sounds similar to a Marshall)

Go Dawgs!

I've got a Hot Rod Deluxe and find it WAY too loud for home use. It's a loud amp and it rattles the windows even at low volume. Correction - it just doesn't do low volume.

For home use only, I would suggest that you want as little output as possible. There are lots of low wattage valve amps coming on the market just now. One that might be worth checking out is the Epiphone Valve Junior which, at 5W, may still be too loud to run flat out at home (you get the best sound from a valve amp running it flat out). Good price, though.

I've got a Cornell Romany amp which is rated at 10 watts, but will switch down to about 1.5 watts for home use. This is still fairly loud! I've had a few small amps, but this one suits me best and I never feel the need for another house amp. Mine is an old model similar to early Fenders and it's also a great recording and small gig (no drummer) amp. I will never part with it and it's great for lap steel too. Mine's a very simple version. The make became more popular when Eric Clapton started using them and the current Romany can switch all the way down to 0.05 Watts.

My advice would be to look for a low wattage valve amp so that you can crank it for a decent sound without deafening yourself, the cat and your neighbours. If you move on to gigging, then look to a more powerful amp, but less is more for me when it comes to home valve amp use. Don't associate price too much with wattage. A really good small amp will still cost a bit, but you're paying for tone and reliability. Have fun.

Has anyone played a Telecaster JA 90?? It looks amazing with those P-90s PUs and the F hole...................... I'm in love with it (and with the squier Telecustom II)

I had a Fender Blues Deluxe and it had to be cranked too loud in order to get a good tone. I have a Vox AC15TBX and a Fender Blues Jr., both of which are wonderful 15 W amps. I'd recommend either one- it just depends on whether you want a Vox sound or Fender sound.

Ive got a Fender Blues Deluxe as well - bought it new in 94 - never had a problem with it but yeah,it can be a bit loud around the house especially as children enter the family.The Bugera v5 is supposed to be a reasonably good amp,not highly priced - I dont have one so I cant really comment on it. All I can suggest is to go out and try as many as you can,find the sound that youre after,and will be happy with - enjoy the search, youll find it. Good luck.

I am not expert on this, but I have wasted some money on amps.
My end result advice would be, why do you want a tube amp? Do you know?

I have heard from the plethora of experts that the best thing about
a tube amp is on stage, when cranked, tubse will "cut through" the rest
of the band.

If you are looking for something at home, maybe you do not need a tube amp.
From what I understand unless you crank those tubes WAY UP you are not going
to get the benefit...AND IF YOU DO CRANK IT UP .....you might blow out your ears, piss off your wife and the nighbors and the cops ...

I am not wanting to argue, as I said I am not expert on this ..so please just
put my words in the mix, if I am wrong, so be it... But 2 years I went out to
buy my Marshall Stack.....and fk me if I did not come home with a gdamned
Mesa Boogie 50 watt tube amp. I soon discoveredd that mthrfkr was ruining my ears
pissing off my dog and the nieghbors were unhappy.

I started on that journey becasue my old other amp was sounding not as good
( could be me ) so I wound up replacing the speaker cone in my junky old Marshall
crap amp.. and it sounded great again..so I boxed the Mesa Boogie up...and I
sold it 2 months ago for $300 less than I paid for it..and it had less thna 10 hours on the tubes...

anyway ...for what it is worth.....
Know WHY you are want ...what you want....have a reason.

I wanted a Marshall stack because it is FKING COOL!!! but in the end
I decided I do not need that, what I really need ...is to practice more...so says the dog anyaway.....and the nieghbors agree.

good luck.

PS
Epiphone make a lil Tube head if you wanna try a tube something on the cheap..
[guitars.musiciansfriend.com]

Max'sKansasCity, you make a great point at the end of the post - the most impotrant thing is to play, play, play, the guitar and the equipment are secondary. But they sure make some difference. But I gues that if Clapton would play my old Squier and I would play his guitar, he would be still slightly better :-))

Anyway - to your question - why do I want a tube amp. Because I already have a non-tube amp (transistor - is that the right word?) and the distored channel sound is awfull, pretty much useless. So I only use the clean channel and make the distortion with my digitech, which is not bad actually, but it surely is not the real thing. I am looking for nice natural tube distortion and because I want to play it also on low volume, I want the amp to have both volume and master volume or 2 channels to get the distiortion with low volume too.

Not cheap, but the best I can highly recommend these (Look for the new 5W)

Swart Amps

Me, personally, I don't need an amp that goes up to a massive loud volume for at home, just loud enough. The shame of getting some of the amps you listed is they are made to be played loud.

I'd go with a good ol' Fender Champ. Tube, it's only got three knobs on it, it sounds great and it isn't LOUD but you can turn it all the way up and have plenty of volume.

That's what I have for recording and playing very small shows. I've got a Hot Rod and a Super as well that I use for the big rooms/festivals. The Hot Rod is pretty good. Someday I'll find an old Fender Deluxe because those are the bomb. Until then it's the newer models. All the amps I've mentioned are tube amps.

For shits and giggles I got one of the battery powered amps, some Fender one, it's a stack, and it actually sounds pretty good. I use it when I record demos.

Did I miss any mention of a Fender Super Champ XD? I play a tele through it, and even with the commonly panned stock speaker it sounds decent. They got for $300 new... I've had some real amp snobs tell me they like it better than the Blues Jr. It actually sounded better side by side w/ the Blues Jr in the store. I think it has a few too many "custom voices" but for an inexpensive amp, I am quite impressed.

Tate, I mentioned Super Champ in my original post - it is just that it has so much digital stuff inside...and for that price I am suspiciuos...but maybe it is a real treat. I will see when I play it.

For home use, there’s hardly any amp that has a good cranked tube tone at home playing levels. There’s a couple with ¼ or 1/8 watt settings (Romany, AC4TV, and some) and these sound quite decent, but you will always miss the sheer volume and 3D nature of sound. I prefer a larger amp that can produce a good clean sound at normal volume levels like a Princeton or a Deluxe Reverb, or even powerful amps like a Boogie or Ampeg, and get the grind from a truly good overdrive pedal like the Barber LTD. With a Tweed Deluxe and a good drive pedal you can play from bedroom to an 800 seater. For a hard rock sound (think AC/DC, GnR, Metallica, Soundgarden) I think the Blackstar HT-5 combo is excellent as well, as it gives truly good sounds at bedroom levels. But it certainly isn't a Stones kind of amp.

One remark about the Super Champ XD….I think this was the worst amp I have ever owned, and I literally have owned dozens of amps. First, I hate digital. To date, I have not heard anything digital –pedals, amps, simulations etc- that sounds any good. The XD is not a tube amp in the true sense. It uses a digital pre-amp, and the power is supplied by a cold 6V6 and the pre-amp as phase inverter. This means that your signal is always processed by the digital processor –you never hear your guitar’s true sound, but always a digital approximation of what a Fender engineer thinks that your Strat/Tele/LP should sound like. And in my book, all models fail miserably. It’s all harsh, trebly, thin and fake sounding. Worst is that there seems to be slight delay in what you play and what you hear, like the processor is too small to cope.

Mathijs

Not a tube amp, but the Vox Pathfinder 15R is a damn nice little gem for 100 bucks. While louder than you might expect, it is really not for band playing, but a fine amp to have for the bedroom or office. Kinda looks cool, too...

You could also get a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket Reverd...

Mathijs, I think maybe you're being a little harsh on the SC (?).. I certainly understand your complaints, and I think maybe Happy is looking for something better, but... I've spoken to too many respectable guitar players/ vintage tube amp folks around my neck of the woods who are pretty happy with the SC XD, once they put in a Jensen or some other speaker. Adds $50 or so to the cost, but they all say it's worth it. I've heard the common complaint about the stock speaker (which I thought sounded ok, but I'm not a real connoisseur).

Quote
Tate
Mathijs, I think maybe you're being a little harsh on the SC (?).. I certainly understand your complaints, and I think maybe Happy is looking for something better, but... I've spoken to too many respectable guitar players/ vintage tube amp folks around my neck of the woods who are pretty happy with the SC XD, once they put in a Jensen or some other speaker. Adds $50 or so to the cost, but they all say it's worth it. I've heard the common complaint about the stock speaker (which I thought sounded ok, but I'm not a real connoisseur).

I agree that he's being a bit harsh on the Super Champ but we all know how Mathjis is. He's expirienced and knows what he likes and what he doesn't. I'm sure the Super Champ is not the amp for Mathjis, but in my opinion, the Super Champ, or Vibro Champ, are exactly the amp(s) that Happy24 needs.

Quote
Happy24


Now, I want a tube amplifier (of course) for playing at home (only). I would like probably a Fender, Vox or Marshall might be an option too. When I checked the net, I found Fender Super Champ 15W, which has an unbelievable price for a tube amplifier, I saw some demonstratons on youtube, thad sounded good, but it has a lot of digital stuff inside - effect and modelling other amps, so I guess that for that price it can not be really good tube amp. I red some opinions that the tubes and the speaker are actually quite bad.

So then there is Fender Blues Junior 15W, which is more expensive, but it is pretty much for the price I am willing to pay, it looks and sounds good. For that price I could also get the VOX Custom Serie AC15C1 15W, which might be a good choice too I think.

Then if I would pay a bit more, there is the Fender Hot Rod DeLuxe or Fender Reissue Blues Deluxe, but they both have 40W, which is way too much for a home practice. I think it is bad to have such an amp and play it only with the volume to the minimum, so I don't really consider these.

Then there are some 5W amps, but I think that 15W is somehow good. Or...?

So what do you guys use for a home practice and what would you recommend?

Think the Fender Super Champ or Vibro Champ (similar but about $100 cheaper) is exactly what you need. These people who are suggesting 40 and 60 watt tube amps seem to be forgetting that you're only playing at home. You're obviously not a professional musician (and this is no criticism of you at all) so the short comings of this amp described by some of the more expirienced players on this board won't matter for you. You're not playing concerts, only playing at home so these amps will do fine.

I draw this comparison......many people compare Epiphone guitars to Gibsons and mexican made Fenders to American made Fenders. The wonder if paying the extra dough for the Gibson or American Fender is really worth it. Well, it depends totally on your situation. If you're a working musician, playing and recording often, then you want better stuff. If you're recording for a major label, you certainly want the Gibson's and high end Fenders. But if you only do it for fun, a hobbyist of sorts, then a mexican made Strat or Tele or an Epiphone would be perfect.

I just bought a Fender Hot Rod Devile myself, and I own two Peavey 30watt tube amps (a Classic 30 and a Delta Blues) but I also own a Vibro Champ XD and a Super Champ XD. The smaller amps are my practice amps. The other ones are my stage amps.

If you want the best money can buy, by all means, go for it. But if you're only gonna play at home, I think the Super Champ XD is the absolute perfect amp for you.

+ 1 on the Fender Champs. I have a old tweed Champ myself and could not be happier. With a stompbox or two its really all you need for most purposes. If you need a little more bang I´d suggest a Fender Princeton, for instance the Blackface reissue with reverb and tremolo. Keep it simple.

RB