29 replies to this topic

[JF4ever]

any good tube amps out there right now. my solid state amp is making my ds2 sound like shit.
also what does breaking up mean. people say that the amp will break up something pertaining to the ds2.

[fenderfunk14]

there are plenty of good tube amps out there. what is your price range? what do you plan on using it for, gigging or practice?

breakup is when the tube amp starts to distort due to the increase in volume. a solid state typically stays clean with added volume, but a tube amp will begin to "break up" at a certain point. If you turn the volume up on the amp, and down on your guitar, you can usually create and control a natural distortion by how hard you hit the strings when you play (think Can't Stop sound).

a tube amp will help your ds2 sound more organic and not so boxy in turbo mode

[Unreachable]

Get a Dumble Overdrive Special

[JF4ever]

fenderfunk14, on Jul 24 2009, 10:51 PM, said:

there are plenty of good tube amps out there. what is your price range? what do you plan on using it for, gigging or practice?

breakup is when the tube amp starts to distort due to the increase in volume. a solid state typically stays clean with added volume, but a tube amp will begin to "break up" at a certain point. If you turn the volume up on the amp, and down on your guitar, you can usually create and control a natural distortion by how hard you hit the strings when you play (think Can't Stop sound).

a tube amp will help your ds2 sound more organic and not so boxy in turbo mode

ok
well im willing to spend any amount of money on a amp. it'll take a while to save up my money but still, in the long run it'll be worth it. something around 50 watts for gigging and practice. i was looking at the jcm 800. the ones from the 80s. cuz personally all the reissues suck IMO. the only good amps out there would be vox and fender. from my experience at guitar center.
and also if i turn the volume up on my ds2 will it break up the amp? will the volume get as loud as it would on a solid state amp?

[frustastic]

JF4ever, on Jul 25 2009, 06:05 AM, said:

fenderfunk14, on Jul 24 2009, 10:51 PM, said:

there are plenty of good tube amps out there. what is your price range? what do you plan on using it for, gigging or practice?

breakup is when the tube amp starts to distort due to the increase in volume. a solid state typically stays clean with added volume, but a tube amp will begin to "break up" at a certain point. If you turn the volume up on the amp, and down on your guitar, you can usually create and control a natural distortion by how hard you hit the strings when you play (think Can't Stop sound).

a tube amp will help your ds2 sound more organic and not so boxy in turbo mode

ok
well im willing to spend any amount of money on a amp. it'll take a while to save up my money but still, in the long run it'll be worth it. something around 50 watts for gigging and practice. i was looking at the jcm 800. the ones from the 80s. cuz personally all the reissues suck IMO. the only good amps out there would be vox and fender. from my experience at guitar center.
and also if i turn the volume up on my ds2 will it break up the amp? will the volume get as loud as it would on a solid state amp?

Yes, if you set the volume on your Ds-2 high enough. It will break up your tubes. And keep in mind that a 50 watt Tube amp has not the same volume as a 50 watt solid state. It way way louder. A 50 watt tube beats the crap out of a 100 wat solid-state. Most of the time a 50 watt tube amp is way too loud for a normal gig. And 50watt tube is way to loud for only bedroom practise. Cuz tube amps sound best on higher volumes


Hope this helps

[JF4ever]

any good amps from vox or fender that are 30 watts

[JF4ever]

o and by the way i dont want those amps that have those stupid effects on them. they dont sound good and there annoying.

[hockers]

A 15 watt amp is, generally speaking, 70% as loud as a 50 watt amp. The speaker makes more of a difference than the power rating. 15 watt amps like the Orange Tiny Terror and Blackheart Handsome Devil will be loud enough for band practice and small gigs (anything larger will likely have their own PA system). Orange amps don't really take pedals very well, although the Blackheart does, and would make a good amp for a basic clean sound over which you can use your pedals to find a particular sound. The TT is more of a one trick head. For home practice, it would be ideal if you got an amp with a master volume switch, or if you got an atteunator for the amp, particularly if you get a anything above 15 watts.

For your purposes, I wouldn't recommend anything above 15 watts, unless regular band practice will be an issue, as using a 15 watt amp for this purpose, it is inevitable that the amp will start to break up and alter your tone. If clean is important to you in this situation, you should consider 30 watt amps such as the Peavey Classic 30. Anything above that would probably be overkill and you would not be able to use it at home without knocking the walls down.

Alternatively, you could get a 30 watt head and a 1x12 cab for band practice/small gigs, and you could pick up a 1 watt head, such as the Blackheart Killer Ant, which is in the YouTube link below, for home practice at reasonable volumes. Of course this depends on your home situation, but I'm generalising.

If I remember correctly, you have a few pedals, and it will be important that these will work effectively with your amp. Orange amps, strictly speaking, work poorly with pedals. I think it's best that you try a good range of guitar amps with your pedals at GC to make sure they work well. Like I said earlier, Blackheart amps work well with pedals, and things like the Fender Blues Jr. work quite well, in which case you could use the clean of the amp and use your pedals to colour the sound. A good pedal to get a Marshall-type sound with another amp would be the EHX English Muff'n, which would be an effective choice to a Marshall type overdrive, and keep the cleans of the amp, if they're good to begin with.

This is an extreme example of what I mean by the effect of amp power/speakers on volume: link

Here are some useful links to demos on YouTube:

Blackheart Handsome Devil - The head version will sound a little different, based on the cab you get, but a good demo nonetheless.

Fender Blues Junior - Just because I like the amps tone, and it is often considered a good choice for a tube amp.

There are a lot of helpful demos to be found on YouTube of these and many other good amps, a bit of research will yield a lot of good results. Remember to try the amps out yourself, to ensure it feels right to you and your style of playing. Also consider using a preamp pedal such as the English Muff'n with an amp to get the Marshall type sound John often has.

[Response to your previous post] Vox AC30 is a good amp, quite expensive though. Fender wise I'm not really sure, they tend to jump straight up to 40 watts (Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Blues Deluxe etc). Tube amps are usually much louder than solid state amps, which is important to bear in mind. I also totally agree with you on the built in effects thing, and I think one of the reasons why I wouldn't recommend the Marshall Haze series of amps, at the moment at least.

Some manafacturers links:

Marshall Haze
Fender Hot Rod Series
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey Amps
Hope some of this made sense and is of some use to you.

[JF4ever]

hockers, on Jul 25 2009, 10:00 AM, said:

A 15 watt amp is, generally speaking, 70% as loud as a 50 watt amp. The speaker makes more of a difference than the power rating. 15 watt amps like the Orange Tiny Terror and Blackheart Handsome Devil will be loud enough for band practice and small gigs (anything larger will likely have their own PA system). Orange amps don't really take pedals very well, although the Blackheart does, and would make a good amp for a basic clean sound over which you can use your pedals to find a particular sound. The TT is more of a one trick head. For home practice, it would be ideal if you got an amp with a master volume switch, or if you got an atteunator for the amp, particularly if you get a anything above 15 watts.

For your purposes, I wouldn't recommend anything above 15 watts, unless regular band practice will be an issue, as using a 15 watt amp for this purpose, it is inevitable that the amp will start to break up and alter your tone. If clean is important to you in this situation, you should consider 30 watt amps such as the Peavey Classic 30. Anything above that would probably be overkill and you would not be able to use it at home without knocking the walls down.

Alternatively, you could get a 30 watt head and a 1x12 cab for band practice/small gigs, and you could pick up a 1 watt head, such as the Blackheart Killer Ant, which is in the YouTube link below, for home practice at reasonable volumes. Of course this depends on your home situation, but I'm generalising.

If I remember correctly, you have a few pedals, and it will be important that these will work effectively with your amp. Orange amps, strictly speaking, work poorly with pedals. I think it's best that you try a good range of guitar amps with your pedals at GC to make sure they work well. Like I said earlier, Blackheart amps work well with pedals, and things like the Fender Blues Jr. work quite well, in which case you could use the clean of the amp and use your pedals to colour the sound. A good pedal to get a Marshall-type sound with another amp would be the EHX English Muff'n, which would be an effective choice to a Marshall type overdrive, and keep the cleans of the amp, if they're good to begin with.

This is an extreme example of what I mean by the effect of amp power/speakers on volume: link

Here are some useful links to demos on YouTube:

Blackheart Handsome Devil - The head version will sound a little different, based on the cab you get, but a good demo nonetheless.

Fender Blues Junior - Just because I like the amps tone, and it is often considered a good choice for a tube amp.

There are a lot of helpful demos to be found on YouTube of these and many other good amps, a bit of research will yield a lot of good results. Remember to try the amps out yourself, to ensure it feels right to you and your style of playing. Also consider using a preamp pedal such as the English Muff'n with an amp to get the Marshall type sound John often has.

[Response to your previous post] Vox AC30 is a good amp, quite expensive though. Fender wise I'm not really sure, they tend to jump straight up to 40 watts (Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Blues Deluxe etc). Tube amps are usually much louder than solid state amps, which is important to bear in mind. I also totally agree with you on the built in effects thing, and I think one of the reasons why I wouldn't recommend the Marshall Haze series of amps, at the moment at least.

Some manafacturers links:

Marshall Haze
Fender Hot Rod Series
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey Amps
Hope some of this made sense and is of some use to you.

wow thanks a lot!!!

[frustastic]

hockers, on Jul 25 2009, 04:00 PM, said:

A 15 watt amp is, generally speaking, 70% as loud as a 50 watt amp. The speaker makes more of a difference than the power rating. 15 watt amps like the Orange Tiny Terror and Blackheart Handsome Devil will be loud enough for band practice and small gigs (anything larger will likely have their own PA system). Orange amps don't really take pedals very well, although the Blackheart does, and would make a good amp for a basic clean sound over which you can use your pedals to find a particular sound. The TT is more of a one trick head. For home practice, it would be ideal if you got an amp with a master volume switch, or if you got an atteunator for the amp, particularly if you get a anything above 15 watts.

For your purposes, I wouldn't recommend anything above 15 watts, unless regular band practice will be an issue, as using a 15 watt amp for this purpose, it is inevitable that the amp will start to break up and alter your tone. If clean is important to you in this situation, you should consider 30 watt amps such as the Peavey Classic 30. Anything above that would probably be overkill and you would not be able to use it at home without knocking the walls down.

Alternatively, you could get a 30 watt head and a 1x12 cab for band practice/small gigs, and you could pick up a 1 watt head, such as the Blackheart Killer Ant, which is in the YouTube link below, for home practice at reasonable volumes. Of course this depends on your home situation, but I'm generalising.

If I remember correctly, you have a few pedals, and it will be important that these will work effectively with your amp. Orange amps, strictly speaking, work poorly with pedals. I think it's best that you try a good range of guitar amps with your pedals at GC to make sure they work well. Like I said earlier, Blackheart amps work well with pedals, and things like the Fender Blues Jr. work quite well, in which case you could use the clean of the amp and use your pedals to colour the sound. A good pedal to get a Marshall-type sound with another amp would be the EHX English Muff'n, which would be an effective choice to a Marshall type overdrive, and keep the cleans of the amp, if they're good to begin with.

This is an extreme example of what I mean by the effect of amp power/speakers on volume: link

Here are some useful links to demos on YouTube:

Blackheart Handsome Devil - The head version will sound a little different, based on the cab you get, but a good demo nonetheless.

Fender Blues Junior - Just because I like the amps tone, and it is often considered a good choice for a tube amp.

There are a lot of helpful demos to be found on YouTube of these and many other good amps, a bit of research will yield a lot of good results. Remember to try the amps out yourself, to ensure it feels right to you and your style of playing. Also consider using a preamp pedal such as the English Muff'n with an amp to get the Marshall type sound John often has.

[Response to your previous post] Vox AC30 is a good amp, quite expensive though. Fender wise I'm not really sure, they tend to jump straight up to 40 watts (Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Blues Deluxe etc). Tube amps are usually much louder than solid state amps, which is important to bear in mind. I also totally agree with you on the built in effects thing, and I think one of the reasons why I wouldn't recommend the Marshall Haze series of amps, at the moment at least.

Some manafacturers links:

Marshall Haze
Fender Hot Rod Series
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey Amps
Hope some of this made sense and is of some use to you.

Don't forget the new Vox nightrain . Takes pedals very well, has bass/mid/treble controls, has that thick vox overdrive and that vox sparkling clean. It switchable from 7 to 15 watts.

[hockers]

frustastic, on Jul 25 2009, 03:17 PM, said:

Don't forget the new Vox nightrain . Takes pedals very well, has bass/mid/treble controls, has that thick vox overdrive and that vox sparkling clean. It switchable from 7 to 15 watts.

Totally forgot about that, and the Egnator Rebel 20. Like I said a lot of great tube amps out there in this wattage range. The Handsome Devil and TT I mentioned are also switchable between 7 & 15 watts, which gives more of a tonal difference than anything. Thanks for that frutastic, I totally forgot about that.

[JF4ever]

how about this amp?
http://www.zzounds.com/item--VOXAC15CC
and im really liking that blues junior too!

[hockers]

JF4ever, on Jul 25 2009, 03:34 PM, said:

how about this amp?
http://www.zzounds.com/item--VOXAC15CC
and im really liking that blues junior too!

That's a nice amp, quite pricey but has nice tones. Not sure how it is with pedals or whatever. Vox often has issues with reliability, which is something you should take into consideration before buying an amp for that kind of money. There are some user reviews of the amp here which you may find useful.

The dude who did the Blues Jr. demo was using the Tweed NOS edition, which is different to the standard tolex version in that it has a different speaker (Celestion Vintage 30, if memory serves - which it probably doesn't). It's limited edition version, and is more expensive. He also shows different settings on the Blues Jr. to get SRV tones, though a lot of it is in the playing style. If that's the kind of stuff you play, I recommend it. If not, it's still worth considering, as it's fairly inexpensive and you can use preamp pedals to get a wide range of tones. Worth checking UG forums/reviews of the Vox AC15 CC 112 as well, they have good reviews on there also.

Edit: Just noticed there is a choice of speaker with the Vox. See what the difference in tone is like and how much your willing to pay for that difference, assuming that's the amp you go with.

[JF4ever]

well could this help with the choosing of an amp. i mostly just play red hot chili peppers music. along with zeppelin and hendrix but mostly just the chili peppers.

[hockers]

This is my opinion, you should definately get other opinions about this.

Vox Night Train, Egnator Rebel 20, Blackheart Handsome Devil would be my 3 recommended amps (I'm keeping the budget fairly modest). For cabinets, I'd recommend Avatar, who make good cabinets at quite low prices. You have to order off of their site. I think the best thing would be for you just to go down to your local Guitar Centre and just try a lot of amps out, including the 3 I listed above. I'm sure there are better amps for your purposes than the ones I've listed, but these are the what I would imagine would be the best based on my knowledge.

Just try amps out extensively is really the best advice I can give really. Do some research about using it with different tubes and whether you have to bias the amp or not - with the Blackheart, for instance, you don't have to bias the amp when you change power tubes (or at least that's what seems to be the general consencus on the Internet). Take into account additional costs, reliability and stuff. I don't think you can really go wrong with the amps I listed, there just may be better amps for your purposes out there.

It's probably worth looking through the amps other users have listed in the 'Your Gear' thread, and see what they think about their amps, I imagine many will use their amps for the same purpose you would.

[Ant0n101]

I apologize for butting in, but as far as the Blues Junior, would it be loud enough in a band practice setting or small gigging? Also, from your experience, would the low end be an issue?

I have played the amp, and like the tone very much, but I'm not able to crank it because the shops where I live do not want me to "blow other customers' ears out", which made me think it got very loud, but I am just looking at other opinions.

Thank you

[hockers]

Ant0n101, on Jul 25 2009, 06:16 PM, said:

I apologize for butting in, but as far as the Blues Junior, would it be loud enough in a band practice setting or small gigging? Also, from your experience, would the low end be an issue?

I have played the amp, and like the tone very much, but I'm not able to crank it because the shops where I live do not want me to "blow other customers' ears out", which made me think it got very loud, but I am just looking at other opinions.

Thank you

The guitarist in my band used to use one for practice, and it was fine for that purpose. The low end was not really an issue, I think one of the benefits of having a 1x12 rather than a smaller speaker that solid state amps commonly have. There was a bit of break up, but it worked fine for practicing with our drummer. Maybe not a metal drummer, but you wouldn't be using it if you were playing with one. He used an EQ pedal as well, but the low end was still fine with it. It might depend on your drummer, but like I said 15 watts tube is significantly louder than 15 watts, or possibly even 50 watts of solid state power.

Blues Jr. also has a master volume, so can turn up the gain (I'm not sure if it's called something different, but it's the same thing essentially) and lower the master volume, to get the breaking up effect at reasonable volumes, so it has the versatility to be used at bedroom practice levels. Hope this helps.

Sorry for hijacking the thread by the way.

[JF4ever]

hockers, on Jul 25 2009, 02:17 PM, said:

Ant0n101, on Jul 25 2009, 06:16 PM, said:

I apologize for butting in, but as far as the Blues Junior, would it be loud enough in a band practice setting or small gigging? Also, from your experience, would the low end be an issue?

I have played the amp, and like the tone very much, but I'm not able to crank it because the shops where I live do not want me to "blow other customers' ears out", which made me think it got very loud, but I am just looking at other opinions.

Thank you

The guitarist in my band used to use one for practice, and it was fine for that purpose. The low end was not really an issue, I think one of the benefits of having a 1x12 rather than a smaller speaker that solid state amps commonly have. There was a bit of break up, but it worked fine for practicing with our drummer. Maybe not a metal drummer, but you wouldn't be using it if you were playing with one. He used an EQ pedal as well, but the low end was still fine with it. It might depend on your drummer, but like I said 15 watts tube is significantly louder than 15 watts, or possibly even 50 watts of solid state power.

Blues Jr. also has a master volume, so can turn up the gain (I'm not sure if it's called something different, but it's the same thing essentially) and lower the master volume, to get the breaking up effect at reasonable volumes, so it has the versatility to be used at bedroom practice levels. Hope this helps.

Sorry for hijacking the thread by the way.

the more and more you guys talk about the blues junior the more i want to play it or ,even more, want to buy it

[hockers]

JF4ever, on Jul 25 2009, 08:35 PM, said:

the more and more you guys talk about the blues junior the more i want to play it or ,even more, want to buy it

They're really best for blues (obviously) which is why I like them and am currently saving up for one (though I'm considering others). Here's a video with a TS9, playing blues and some Hendrix, which is kind of why I'm showing this to you. You could probably get closer with more pedals but it's a good demonstration.

- Go to about 1:30 or so. There's quite a used market as well, which you should look into for amps, you can get some good deals.

[JF4ever]

would there be any good amps for chili peppers.