Sweet low watt tube amps?

japmn · Post by **japmn** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:41 pm

I just bought a '63 Epiphone Pathfinder.
15 watts, 1X12, Trem and Rev
one of the coolest sounding amps I have ever heard.

$300

Fakiekid · Post by **Fakiekid** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:38 pm

Cornford Harlequin

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:14 am

nothing wrong with the Valve jr head. Its actually a better design than the combo version. Less noisy.
The lack of tone or other knobs besides volume makes it a super great recording amp. Even my basses sound great thru it. Especially with an amperex 12ax7 and a jj EL84.

There are also a ton of mods for the Valve jr on the net.
I mostly use an old Bell and Howell (jensen loaded) for guitars on it.

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:56 am

calaverasgrandes wrote:nothing wrong with the Valve jr head. Its actually a better design than the combo version. Less noisy.
The lack of tone or other knobs besides volume makes it a super great recording amp. Even my basses sound great thru it.

Another +1 for the Valve Jr. I always thought running a bass through it would sound cool, but I have yet to do it.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:40 pm

InvalidInk wrote: Another +1 for the Valve Jr. I always thought running a bass through it would sound cool, but I have yet to do it.

I use it with my Mesa and SWR cabs. It doesnt do gut wrenching lows. But I am sure thats a cap swap away. Besides, I am always highpassing tons of sources anyways.

armanbohn · Post by **armanbohn** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:43 pm

The Blackheart is a good 5w tube amp. It's basically a Epi Jr. with a tone stack (bass mid high).

Bitmo has a mod for it that gives the amp three different voicings.

I posted a bunch of sound clips of the modded Blackheart on my blog. Sort of a "before and after" comparison.

If you like the Epi Jr., you should check out the Blackheart ... just hide the Crate logo.

Blackheart sound shootout

Watch the video clip if you want to hear it in the context of a mix.

kojdogg · Post by **kojdogg** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:40 pm

i'm currently rocking at modest volumes with:
epi valve junior with the cheap tube amp version of plastic surgery addiction (turretboards.com marshall mod, heyboer output transformer, telefunken and jj tubes, tone stack)
and am awaiting delivery on my orange tiny terror with the jule mod from jule amps
2x12 with weber bluedog and silver bell and 1x12 w/ hellatone 60
weber attenuator still necessary, but i can get some awesome tones with the epi (and loved the sound of the tiny terror stock) at volumes that don't frighten my pet bunny or bother my wife
________
Toys medical

these_go211 · Post by **these_go211** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:32 am

nobody mentioned the 1/2 watt zvex nano. sounds delicious thru my orange 2x12! it's a beast of an amp. my mini marshall. size doesn't matter!

Beingbing · Post by **Beingbing** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:58 am

I've got a tube amp pulled out of one of those old blower organs. It was hooked up to a network of piezo accordion microphones placed around the reed boxes for driving a 12". It's got 3 el84's, and a similar size tube for the power section, and 3 ax7's for the preamp. also tremolo. I'ts got a gold chassis and says made in hollywood...but the name is purposely removed, probably by the manufacturer of the organ. really sweet tone that gets nastier as you turn the volume up.

LOOK FOR OLD ORGANS IN THE TRASH!

Professor T · Post by **Professor T** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:29 am

armanbohn wrote:The Blackheart is a good 5w tube amp. It's basically a Epi Jr. with a tone stack (bass mid high).

I've got one of the combos. It is really fun and only $279. I've plugged into my big Traynor 4x10 and it is pretty sweet. It keeps up with drums just fine as long as you don't want a clean surfy sound. I agree that the logo is dumb. Plus, if 5W is too much, you can drop down to 3W!

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:36 am

Fender musicaster bass amp. Best GTR amp I've used, 12AX7Ay and two 6V6's in push pull. Simple , quiet, tone, and growl at a low volume, turn it up and it rips.
They almost last forever.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:58 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:nothing wrong with the Valve jr head. Its actually a better design than the combo version. Less noisy.
The lack of tone or other knobs besides volume makes it a super great recording amp. Even my basses sound great thru it. Especially with an amperex 12ax7 and a jj EL84.

There are also a ton of mods for the Valve jr on the net.
I mostly use an old Bell and Howell (jensen loaded) for guitars on it.

VJ head into a Jensen in an old RCA cab here.

wait, did i say this earlier in the thread?

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:26 am

I just saw that Fender put out a new line of low watt amps. They look interesting:

http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... gemodified

FBH · Post by **FBH** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:56 am

InvalidInk wrote:I just saw that Fender put out a new line of low watt amps. They look interesting:

http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... gemodified

I've played with that Vibro-Champ XD a little bit. To my ear, it puts out a variety of really nice tones. If I didn't have a perfectly good '68 Bronco, I'd probably pick one up. I still might, actually. Stereo Champs FTW!

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:47 am

I reamped some crusty punk/hardcore guitar tracks through a Valve Jr. the other day, and am psyched about the results. I found the low-mids and the sustain to be lacking, just a little. So I added some in with EQ and did some volume automation to lengthen the sustain.

Once I got that squared away, it blended really nicely with the other track... a Marshall JCM2000.

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