Low wattage tube amps

tonefight · Post by **tonefight** » Monday Nov 02, 2009

Any suggestions on low wattage tube amps like the Fender champion 600, Vox AC4TV or the Gretsch G5222 ? I was really looking into the Bugera V5 combo till I found out it was made in China. Haven't been able to find out where these other ones are made. The Vox gets great reviews the Fender seems to have reliablilty issues and haven't got any reviews on the Gretsch.

Looking for a practice amp but hoping to find something that also sounds great and I can throw a mike in front of for Live stuff.

The Shadow · Post by **The Shadow** » Monday Nov 02, 2009

I've played alot of the low wattage stuff and ended up buying an Egnater Rebel 20. They, as well as all of the affordable low wattage stuff, are made in China. The price jump from made in China to made in USA or UK is substantial btw. Depending on how much you have to spend a THD Univalve is a very good choice also and is made in the US.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Tuesday Nov 03, 2009

Orange Tiny Terror
VOX Nighttrain
Blackstar HT-5H
Epi Valve Jr.s with the mods
Blackheart BH15

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Tuesday Nov 03, 2009

Here ya go Tony...$100 & free shipping:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=481661

Most of the others just have a knob. This has 3 knobs with a master volume and a tone control.

The Blackheart BH5 Little Giant head looks interesting too at $200:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=483077

tonefight · Post by **tonefight** » Tuesday Nov 03, 2009

The Peavey's gotta be made in China, I think if I would settle for China ( wich I won't ) the bugera would be my pic. The Orange Tiny Terror is made in the USA, $700 @ Pianos and stuff. Looks like the lower dollar Crush series is made in China.

Found a place where I could go to London and build my own in a 3 day course, that would be at least $2000 but that would be cool as hell. I did find a couple nice kits.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Tuesday Nov 03, 2009

tonefight wrote:I did find a couple nice kits.

Ya, there are few of those around that look pretty nice. The 18W Marshall
looks cool.

hicksjd9 · Post by **hicksjd9** » Tuesday Nov 10, 2009

The value jr. sounds good at stock with the right tube. It's cheap, sounds amazing, and there are some really cool mods for it.

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Tuesday Nov 10, 2009

Still lots of vintage stuff out there... I have a Silvertone 1482 15W that was very sweet before the power transformer burned out. It doesn't say Fender on the case, but close your eyes, and it says it just fine.--->JMS

BloodyFingers · Post by **BloodyFingers** » Sunday Dec 13, 2009

lonewolf wrote:Here ya go Tony...$100 & free shipping:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=481661

Most of the others just have a knob. This has 3 knobs with a master volume and a tone control.

The Blackheart BH5 Little Giant head looks interesting too at $200:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=483077

I have this amp and it sounds great. It's bluzy, and it can get ruwchy....The Peavey

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Sunday Dec 13, 2009

Here's an amp with anything from (better than) vintage Fender to Marshall to Mesa with all the clean or gain you need. Its also loud enough to gig with and has a speaker emulator that's better than a mic. Come on, you know you want it:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=studiotone

tonefight · Post by **tonefight** » Sunday Dec 13, 2009

lonewolf wrote:Here's an amp with anything from (better than) vintage Fender to Marshall to Mesa with all the clean or gain you need. Its also loud enough to gig with and has a speaker emulator that's better than a mic. Come on, you know you want it:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=studiotone

I do most certainly want it but I sure as hell don't want to pay for it. WOW

That's pricey to say the least. Would probably be the last amp I ever had to buy though.
Right now if I do anything its gonna be a Torres princeton reverb kit, its actually $50 bucks more than the actual princeton reverb reissue but it would be all point to point wiring.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Monday Dec 14, 2009

tonefight wrote:
lonewolf wrote:Here's an amp with anything from (better than) vintage Fender to Marshall to Mesa with all the clean or gain you need. Its also loud enough to gig with and has a speaker emulator that's better than a mic. Come on, you know you want it:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=studiotone
I do most certainly want it but I sure as hell don't want to pay for it. WOW That's pricey to say the least. Would probably be the last amp I ever had to buy though.
Right now if I do anything its gonna be a Torres princeton reverb kit, its actually $50 bucks more than the actual princeton reverb reissue but it would be all point to point wiring.

Ah yes, all those little antennae to pick up stray signals in the air. The claim that point to point wiring is somehow better than a circuit board is utter bullshit. Well, unless you want to have that "vintage noisy" sound.

There is nothing better than a well designed PC Board with a noise killing ground plane.

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Monday Dec 14, 2009

just aquired a 67 deluxe reverb (all original) and a 68-69 deluxe reverb. 2 in 2 days. local. sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

KEEPERS!

they're out there,,,, somewhere, hard to find though. that why, when you do find them, you gotta scarf'em up.

orangekick · Post by **orangekick** » Monday Dec 14, 2009

I never thought that I would ever post a positive post about any low wattage tube amp, ever. But... Here I am.

I got a Matamp Little Rock head in a trade that I did with someone from another forum. It's 5 watts, class A from a single 6V6 with 2 12ax7's. It has 6 modes, three dirty voices and three clean voices. I can play it low enough that I can still hear my strings and yet it sounds amazing cranked up. Through a 4x12 it's probably loud enough for just about any gig that has a PA.