Help me find "my" low-watt, tube amp.

[Standard 64]

As some have posted around the net,the tweaker 15(which I owned briefly)has a distinct distortion tone,kind of mushy?its hard to explain,lot of people love it,some dont.The tiny terror is classic british tone all the way and is sort of a one or 2 trick pony amp but it rocks big time.I had the Blackstar 5 amp also and it sounded like a pedal(which is its design).

 

[rjwilson37]

I don't think the distortion on the Tweaker is mushy with a good cabinet/speaker like the Rebel 1x12 or Tourmaster cabinet which have the Elite 80 speaker. I played around with the volume at 1/2 which was as loud as bedroom playing would ever want to be and it was a nice full tight beautiful tone/drive.

 

[David Corrales]

Wow...most responses ever to one of my thread (ignoring the Brunette thread ).

I would indeed like to have a two channel amp and preferably with an EQ for each of those (much like the Tubemeister or the Tweaker).

It is not really for gigging purposes (although I can imagine that putting a mic in front of it or running it through a 212 would help volume-wise), mostly for home/practice use.

I have considered the Peavey Classic 30, and I have recommended it to some of my friends. I think that, for my "needs, it might be too loud and/or heavy... The lunchbox amps from Mesa are not an option due to the price although the demo's I've seen from the Transatlantic are amazing. Also, as stated in one of the posts, a custom made amp isn't really an option due to the Atlantic ocean and the different outlet power .

Right now, I'm going back and forth between the Tubemeister/HT5/Tweaker. Price-wise, as it's a graduation gift, I don't really have much to say in the matter . I did make plans to go to a guitarstore which carries the 3 of these and spend a day testing them with my LP. Overall, specs and demo-wise, the Tweaker seems to be winning. The major drawback from the HT5 is the lack of an 3-band EQ for the clean channel (I must say the tones I've heard from demos is great for such a small amp)...

Do keep the responses/suggestions coming !

I have an HT5 Blackstar head and the cleans are very sterile and honky so be sure to try it out first. Distortion is nice though

 

[colchar]

I will say that the AC-15 would be another amp I'd look at if it does what is needed a low volumes, but I've always had the impression that amp is a bit on the loud side. Never tried one out though, and I'd certainly love to.

David.

It can do whatever is needed at low volumes. I was playing mine at 3am last night and it didn't bother anyone else in the house.

 

[Louie]

I've been through the "5W home amp" stage and I've realized that I still prefer the classic configuration of a 12-15W 1x12" combo with 2 switchable channels.

I love the sound of a cranked Champ, but at home that's not gonna happen and live it won't keep up with a drummer, bassist, singer and a noisy crowd in a small bar.

Both my 15W amps can do live gigs and home practice, without losing tone quality in either scenario.

From your list, OP, I'd recommend the Fender Blues Junior with a better speaker.

 

[MesaBoogie]

I've been through the "5W home amp" stage and I've realized that I still prefer the classic configuration of a 12-15W 1x12" combo with 2 switchable channels.

I love the sound of a cranked Champ, but at home that's not gonna happen and live it won't keep up with a drummer, bassist, singer and a noisy crowd in a small bar.

Both my 15W amps can do live gigs and home practice, without losing tone quality in either scenario.

From your list, OP, I'd recommend the Fender Blues Junior with a better speaker.

Isn't it then a bit contradictory that you recommend the Blues Junior ? As it stands now, I'm favouring the Tubemeister and Tweaker over the Blackstar...

 

[Louie]

Isn't it then a bit contradictory that you recommend the Blues Junior ? As it stands now, I'm favouring the Tubemeister and Tweaker over the Blackstar...

Why contradictory? It's exactly the kind of amp I prefer.

 

[chupe442]

Again, the HT5.
Headphones jack, effects loop, and 2 channels. The clean channel is everything that it sucks for. However, throw an eq pedal on it and life is better.. I am ok with mine and run a tubescreamer on it along with a delay. I have the older version. Make sure if you try it, you give the 10" 12" and 2-12" a try since it all changes what you are hearing. The same goes for everything else that everybody it putting in the mix too..

 

[picoman]

Im kinda in the same situation as you...anyway I found 2 amps that are not so "mainstream" but are very impresive.
AMPEG GVT 15 watt
Traynor YGL1
Not much talk aboth these 2 amps but they seem to get very positive opinions.

 

[randelli]

Traynor YGL1 amps are very nice for the money....

 

[Standard 64]

Blues junior isnt bad,great cleans,reverb kinda sucks(boingy)overdrive is decent,nothing special.Some will say to start modding right away with better speaker,tubes and amp mods.

 

[nutsauce]

Care to elaborate? From what I gather, it has only one channel (which might be a good thing) but also a 10" speaker. As I don't know that much about amps, my preconception about 10" speakers might be wrong, but I think they might be to "squeaky" in comparison to a 12" speaker...

I had a C5 combo for a while and it was cool, but if I were going that route again it would be the head with a good cab. I tried my C5 combo through a Ken Jones 1x12 cab loaded with a Clestion Gold and the difference was amazing.

 

[Couldn'tStandTheWeather]

I really like the Tweaker 15. Multitude of tones. Sounds good at low volume levels too.

 

[MesaBoogie]

Why contradictory? It's exactly the kind of amp I prefer.

Sorry, confused between the Pro and the Blues Junior

 

[MesaBoogie]

Blues junior isnt bad,great cleans,reverb kinda sucks(boingy)overdrive is decent,nothing special.Some will say to start modding right away with better speaker,tubes and amp mods.

Doesn't reverb, by definition, always suck I'm not sure if I'd want to mod a "new" amp. Modding guitars= no prob, amps= not so much...

 

[Rhust]

I'm of the philosophy that a new amp shouldn't need a major mod... a new set of tubes maybe, even good amps come with shit tubes sometimes... but easy stuff... pretty cheap stuff too... a new v1 should be $10-20...

if you need to put $200 more into an amp, just use that $200 more and get a $200 better amp...

now, older amps, or cheap amps... go for it if modding is your hobby... look at the cool things twang has done with little valve juniors! or bitmo has done with the blackhearts...

also don't dismiss the used market... sometimes that extra $200 in the used market goes a LONG way! if dollars and quid(or euros) are close on the amp market... then your budget of 650, after $200 mod budget would be nearing mesa territory.. or used AC30? or god knows whateven at 650 there's a lot of great amps out there...

 

[rjwilson37]

I also don't understand modding bottom-of-the-line amps, used for home and small gigs.

Let's not kid ourselves, these are bottom-of-the-line tube amps. That doesn't mean they are bad, but they are among the least expensive of the all-tube options from these companies.

Some people will say "just swap out the XXX tube with a YYY, and put in a ZZZ speaker, and that baby will sing!".

Now you're another $200 into an amp, and you have no idea if it will actually sound and better to you, until you spend the $. And forget about recouping that $ in a resale.

Now you're into a price-range where you can explore A LOT more options.

If you hobby is tinkering with low-cost amps, fine. Do it, learn it, share your creations with the listening world. For the other 99.99999% of us, these amps will go unmodded, and the $200 will go into a pedal or some pickups.

Unfortunately, the 50% of us here that are hobbiest want stuff now and really don't have a lot of money, but because of GAS, we purchase it now because we think it is great. After a while like 90% of us here, our taste changes a bit and we will tweak stuff and try different things out, or possibly sell one thing and buy another. I started off with just the BH HD combo, then got a gift card for GC and was able to buy the cabinet. I then got some more money 3 months later and purchased a nice pedal. I then got close to the sound I wanted and sold one thing to buy some speakers that could handle the amp being cranked. I think there are a lot more of us here than you think that like tinkering with our stuff till we get closer to what we want. Will any of us be totally happy with our stuff... Maybe...

 

[Rhust]

Unfortunately, the 50% of us here that are hobbiest want stuff now and really don't have a lot of money, but because of GAS, we purchase it now because we think it is great. After a while like 90% of us here, our taste changes a bit and we will tweak stuff and try different things out, or possibly sell one thing and buy another. I started off with just the BH HD combo, then got a gift card for GC and was able to buy the cabinet. I then got some more money 3 months later and purchased a nice pedal. I then got close to the sound I wanted and sold one thing to buy some speakers that could handle the amp being cranked. I think there are a lot more of us here that like tinkering with our stuff till we get closer to what we want. Will any of us be totally happy with our stuff... Maybe...

I think his point was if you KNOW you are going to have to do $$ mods from the get go, then maybe spending a little extra upfront would save the headache if you aren't into modding...

personally, an amp would have to be surper cheap before I bought it with the intention of modding... if I found a $50 VJ for instance, then I could see sending that to twang to make it awesome, ot spending some other $ on it... but at the end of the day it might be as good or better than any other $200 amp... but it's still just a cheap amp... the cost of the amp + mods would have to be less than I could find something better...

 

[logen99999]

tweaker is an amazing amp. i put it next to a 70s Marshall JMP. the JMP beat it of course, but it wasn't the slaughter i was expecting. the egnater was able to mimic the marshall nicely. and its really nice at low volumes! my #1 recommendation.

the tiny terror is not a flexible amp, and sounds crappy at low volumes. it's a high gain amp not suited for the types of music you mentioned. but at high gain it sounds pretty huge, big wall of distortion, you could hear Black Sabbath trying to come out. the tone is there!

the blackstar ht5 may be good, i never played one but i heard one being played at a store. at 5 wats your a tad limited, and the egnater has it beat in flexibility. tone wise it sounded good from the short time i listened to it.

the fender blues jr will give you great classic fender tone and will liekly sound best at low volumes out of all these amps. if you know fender, and fender is what you want, you wont even be considering all the other amps. everybody should at least have one fender amp.

peavey classic 30. i have it, and i am selling it. 200$ plus shipping if anybody wants it, it's one of the newer ones. once i got the tweaker, the classic 30 was obsolete for me. so take that as you will.

marshall class 5. from all the small entry-level tube amps i tried the class 5 was the worst. dont know what people hear in these. dull, lifeless, bassy tone at low volumes. muddy farty tone at high volumes. bleh

good luck. you should try these amps out at the store. guitar center stocks most of them.

 

[james beam]

My neighbor has a traynor , he claims he's had it for 9 years , and never changed the tubes , sounds like a very well made amp to me .