recommend me a valve amp
Discussion
it's time to buy a decent amp
I've been playing guitar for about 14 years (where did that go?) but have always had fairly bad guitars and amps!
In the last few years I've mostly played a fairly decent Fender Jazzmaster through a variety of ropey solid state amps of various sizes - currently an epiphone firefly
I now think it's time to get a proper valve amp - it can't be too mahoosive - no Fender Twins as much as i'd like that - they're too loud and far too pricy!
I do like Fender amps though - esp with a good reverb - I play lots of twangy surf stuff so need a good clean sounding amp...
but I've also finished rebuilding an old Gibson Sg, put in some decent pickups - and am currently playing at being Jimmy Page - so would need some distortion
max price would be about 300 quid i guess?
any ideas?
I've been playing guitar for about 14 years (where did that go?) but have always had fairly bad guitars and amps!
In the last few years I've mostly played a fairly decent Fender Jazzmaster through a variety of ropey solid state amps of various sizes - currently an epiphone firefly
I now think it's time to get a proper valve amp - it can't be too mahoosive - no Fender Twins as much as i'd like that - they're too loud and far too pricy!
I do like Fender amps though - esp with a good reverb - I play lots of twangy surf stuff so need a good clean sounding amp...
but I've also finished rebuilding an old Gibson Sg, put in some decent pickups - and am currently playing at being Jimmy Page - so would need some distortion
max price would be about 300 quid i guess?
any ideas?
I'll probably get slated for this but i've had Marshalls,Mesa boogies etc but i stumbled across a Line6 Flextone vetta III amp and they are fantastic!Im getting all the sounds i ever wanted from the one amp,plus there's loads of effects,amps,cabinets built into it!Then you can go to the Line6 website,download direct to the amp your favourite guitar player's sounds!Give one a try,you'll get one new for your money or second hand for around the £200 mark.One thing that puzzles me about the amp is you get a great,natural sweet sounding feedback from the amp but it's a tranny?How the hell does that work?
Only thing i would have done different was get the 2x12 version to give a better spread of sound,but i don't lose sleep over it.
Only thing i would have done different was get the 2x12 version to give a better spread of sound,but i don't lose sleep over it.Edited by rumpelstiltskin on Thursday 4th September 22:34
I'll probably get slated for this but i've had Marshalls,Mesa boogies etc but i stumbled across a Line6 vetta III amp and they are fantastic!I know it's not a valve amp but i don't miss my valvers?Im getting all the sounds i ever wanted from the one amp,plus there's loads of effects,amps,cabinets built into it!Then you can go to the Line6 website,download direct to the amp your favourite guitar player's sounds!Give one a try,you'll get one new for your money or second hand for around the £200 mark.One thing that puzzles me about the amp is you get a great,natural sweet sounding feedback from the amp but it's a tranny?How the hell does that work?Only thing i would have done different was get the 2x12 version to give a better spread of sound,but i don't lose sleep over it.
Only thing i would have done different was get the 2x12 version to give a better spread of sound,but i don't lose sleep over it.Edited by rumpelstiltskin on Thursday 4th September 22:36
Are you gonna use it for gigging or just at home and the odd rehearsal/jam ?
Loads of good small valve combos from most of the major manufacturers for around the £300 ish mark new..
Laney VC30 (2 x 10 version)
Fender Blues Junior
Epiphone Blues custom
Orange tiny terror
Peavey Classic 30, Valve King,
Sound City sc30
Loads of good small valve combos from most of the major manufacturers for around the £300 ish mark new..
Laney VC30 (2 x 10 version)
Fender Blues Junior
Epiphone Blues custom
Orange tiny terror
Peavey Classic 30, Valve King,
Sound City sc30
I love how in typical PH style, no-one suggests something the OP has asked for! 
Personally, I would avoid Line6. I think at low volumes their stuff sounds quite impressive, but if you use it for recording or playing live it loses something. I'm not sold on their build quality either (this is from personal experience, not web-hearsay).
A few friend's have Marshall TSL's which second-hand, might fall in to your price-range. Very nice and very valvey, if you know what I mean. Perhaps an obvious choice and not quite clean/twangy enough though. Great amps though.
It sounds like you maybe want something like a Vox tbh, or something of that ilk.
What are you going to use the amp for? Home practice, recording or gigging? You can get very simple 5w valve-amps for less than £100 (e.g. Epi Valve Junior's).
Personally, I would avoid Line6. I think at low volumes their stuff sounds quite impressive, but if you use it for recording or playing live it loses something. I'm not sold on their build quality either (this is from personal experience, not web-hearsay).
A few friend's have Marshall TSL's which second-hand, might fall in to your price-range. Very nice and very valvey, if you know what I mean. Perhaps an obvious choice and not quite clean/twangy enough though. Great amps though.
It sounds like you maybe want something like a Vox tbh, or something of that ilk.
What are you going to use the amp for? Home practice, recording or gigging? You can get very simple 5w valve-amps for less than £100 (e.g. Epi Valve Junior's).
cheers for the replies - as the previous poster stated -- I am looking for a valve amp - I've had lots and lots of differnt bits of kit over the years but am now looking to keep it simple
no gigging in the forseable future so home use - I don't want something that needs to be cranked up to 11 to sound good
no multi effect pod things (sorry if that makes me a luddite)
no marshall - tried them - great with the sg with distortion - never liked their clean tones esp with the jazzmaster
the Fender Blues Junior did catch my eye -- anyone tried this??
I guess for me the most important thing is a good Fenderish clean sound where if necc i can use a good pedal to get some distortion??
no gigging in the forseable future so home use - I don't want something that needs to be cranked up to 11 to sound good
no multi effect pod things (sorry if that makes me a luddite)
no marshall - tried them - great with the sg with distortion - never liked their clean tones esp with the jazzmaster
the Fender Blues Junior did catch my eye -- anyone tried this??
I guess for me the most important thing is a good Fenderish clean sound where if necc i can use a good pedal to get some distortion??
fryske said:
no gigging in the forseable future so home use - I don't want something that needs to be cranked up to 11 to sound good
Have a look at my thread re Power Attenuators... to achieve good tone you have to (IMHO) turn up the power stage of the amp. This helps with natural overdrive, sustain, dynamics... basically everything you want from an amp. To be able to do this in the house is very difficult to achieve. Even something like an Orange Tiny Terror will be too loud even switched down to 7 watts. Something with a true master volume will be megabucks.Have a read of this site, hopefully it'll help http://www.amptone.com/
Good luck!!
Marshall all the way. I have a DSL401?? and it sounds lovely.
http://www.marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCod...
g
http://www.marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCod...
g
Bill Carr said:
chevy-stu said:
Bill Carr said:
...I love how in typical PH style, no-one suggests something the OP has asked for! ..... (e.g. Epi Valve Junior's).
That's odd... I thought that's exactly what I suggested. !!! ..... (e.g. Epi Valve Junior's). 
Edited by chevy-stu on Friday 5th September 17:09
fryske said:
the Fender Blues Junior did catch my eye -- anyone tried this??
I 'traded down' from a Marshall half stack to the NOS lacquered tweed blues junior and it was the best decision I ever made. The only difference between that and the standard blues junior, aside from the tweed, is the Jensen C12N speaker, but it's a big improvement.It's got a gorgeous tone and it's really responsive to how you play, and if you turn it up and play something with humbuckers it really sounds quite solid and thick too. It breaks up quite easily and does some great overdrive tones. It's small, light, sounds good at low volume and gets surprisingly loud when you need it to
The only thing is I hate the reverb on it, maybe it's just mine but I get all sorts of humming overtones if I have the reverb set at anything past two
Edited by Bob Loblaw on Friday 5th September 17:13
Edited by Bob Loblaw on Friday 5th September 17:15
edited because I'm retarded.
Edited by Bob Loblaw on Friday 5th September 19:37
Bob Loblaw said:
fryske said:
the Fender Blues Junior did catch my eye -- anyone tried this??
I 'traded down' from a Marshall half stack to the NOS lacquered tweed blues junior and it was the best decision I ever made. The only difference between that and the standard blues junior, aside from the tweed, is the Jensen C12N speaker, but it's a big improvement.It's got a gorgeous tone and it's really responsive to how you play, and if you turn it up and play something with humbuckers it really sounds quite solid and thick too. It breaks up quite easily and does some great overdrive tones. It's small, light, sounds good at low volume and gets surprisingly loud when you need it to
The only thing is I hate the reverb on it, maybe it's just mine but I get all sorts of humming overtones if I have the reverb set at anything past too
Edited by Bob Loblaw on Friday 5th September 17:13
Edited by Bob Loblaw on Friday 5th September 17:15
Line 6 are good at what they do, creating a variety of different sounds with tons off effects, and most will have a valve amp modeller.
They don't come close to the real deal though. Valve amps just seem to have effortless power and sound so much crisper.
Fender have a very good range of combo valve amps so just get best you can afford from them. Just remember that valve amps need to be taken care of and will need maintenance every few years when a valve goes!
They don't come close to the real deal though. Valve amps just seem to have effortless power and sound so much crisper.
Fender have a very good range of combo valve amps so just get best you can afford from them. Just remember that valve amps need to be taken care of and will need maintenance every few years when a valve goes!
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