Need New Guitar Amp: brutha's recommend!

[AlSmith]

I bought a Fender Deluxe, brand new (not a reissue, but all tube), about 5 years ago. I think I got it for under 500 at Guitar Center. I like it alot more than my boogie (Trem-o-verb) for recording. I put a 57 right up next to the speaker and a 414 several feet back in the hallway -- and it's the best recording tone I've gotten yet. Great clean tones, really good distortion -- the only problem is it's probably not going to cut through live with a loud rock band. As far as Boogie's are concerned, they only sound good when they're really loud, and even then they don't really have their own voice like a Marshall or a Fender. Most of your favorite recordings with Boogies were done with hotrodded Fenders (the Mark I), and then they started coming up with some really shitty generic amps, like the Mark II-Mark IV series, that are probably better for keyboards than anything else. I like the Trem-o-verb for a live amp, although I'd never use it for recording.

[Doppelganger]

One thing I didn't see mentioned, if you're considering a silverface Fender or a Bassman would be an older Musicman 212-HD (basically a twin reverb) These things are pretty inexpensive on the used market these days. You'll get all your volume, plus reverb, and tremolo.

That being said, I own a lot of amps and my all around favorite is the Marshall JCM 800 (I especially like the cleaner tones, which might seem strange) It might not fit your particular needs, but I've had one for about 12 years now and I can't say enough about it.

That Laney knock-off looks pretty interesting. How close does it come to an AC-30?

(I know a guy who has a deal w/ Laney , but he still uses a Matchless - fwiw)

[monkeyboy]

Dopple,
I don't own one. But have heard them described as sound like a Class A amp, not necessarily a Vox but very vox like.

Since my experience with look at them. They seem to have gone up in price. They used to be in the 300-500 range. But apparently something made them jump up in price.

I own an HD150 Head. Highly recommended. You get power you get tone.
And they are economical.

A music go round up in IA has an HD130 212 for 299.

http://www.musicgoround.com/gear/invent ... ?id=322607

[tylernolan]

If you want a Vox sound the best thing to do would be to save for one. If you can't wait that long I would also look at Music Mans. I just bought a vintage Ampeg gemini II for $400 and love it. It isn't a vox and is only 30 watts but it can hold it's own in a live setting and is great for recording. I find myself plugging into it more and more often over mt silver and blackface twins.

[bdp]

Okay... totally over the top expensive suggestion coming up...

You want a Divided by 13 ERT 33 (http://www.dividedby13.com/ert33.html. Hand wired, point to point, two discreet channels, 4 EL84s - very Vox-y, but with more versatility and low end.

A Matchless? The DC30 is kinda the same but buy a Mark Sampson era one; i.e. pre-1998.

A BadCat Black Cat?

They'll cost ya, but you're worth it, right?

As an alternative, how 'bout a Budda Superdrive 30? Same tube configuration, two channels, Vox-y break-up on channel one, thick brown distortion on channel two. It's made from good ole PCBs but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Also, second hand ones pop up on ebay from time to time and you could save yourself some moohlah...

Cheers,

bdp

[jmiller]

Sorry if i sound like a broken record, 'cause I was singing it's praises a few weeks ago, but i've got a nice old Danelectro DM25 that set me back about 325. It's a tube amp (one 6x4, three 12ax7's, two 7189's, and a 6gc7), built in the mid 60's that was supposed to be a lower cost fender twin- but it's got a life of it's own.

It's pretty low frills- no overdrive, just bass and treble for eq. It's got two channels, one with just volume and eq, and another with volume, eq, reverb and a cool sounding tremolo. It breaks up nicely when you crank it or drive it hard, and is all point to point wiring. The trem and verb can be toggled on or off with a footswitch if you can find a compatible one (supposedly the old peaveys work).

I don't know how AC30ish it is, but this amp for me has real character, and stands out from the typical vox/fender/mesa/marshal variety for me. I don't know if it's up your alley but if you find one around you at least give it a listen.

[lonesome_tone]

alright, alright. i'll take the pepsi challenge with one of those fucking crate vintage clubs next time i see one used.

you don't understand, i've been haunted by memories of this pink and grey like, fuckin, neon looking mess of an amp i had when i was 11. all my friends had at least one crate 1x12 combo in their basement too. we used to stack them up, we were really cool.

i've heard lots of good stuff about the laney vc's as well. trace elliot made something called the 'velocette' which is also supposed to be a budget vox-esque amp, in fact, Gibson repackaged them as those weird gold (goldtone?) amps. those things look like Cheers!

[ottokbre]

I just traded an Electromatic Jet with an amp that has been sitting at my local guitar shop for a long ass time. It's an SG systems 2x12 combo. SG Systems was built by the guys who did Standel's late SS amps. It's got new EL34S's in it. I can't quite describe the sound yet. I like it though, I put my Tweed-Dog pedal in front of it and it got really chuncky/ballsy. Far from being Vox/Class-A though. I might try some THD Yellow Jackets on it and see what happens.

[fremitus]

if you can spring a little more, you can often find a mesa 'blue angel' for around $700. Class A, some hot tube options and it's versatile. records very well. awesome bluesy tone cranked and one of the best sounding spring reverbs i've ever encountered. i've got the 410 combo. so i'm biased there...

[tylerbcrawford]

Im looking for the same ac30 type sound as you and ive often thought about doing this mod for the Fender Blues Jr.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/machrone/ ... unther.htm