Best low watt Class A under 500?

[houvin]

I think I have been asking the wrong question. I've been trying to decide between Mesa Studio 22, Mesa Subway Blues and Vox AC15. Maybe I should be asking what is the best low wattage clean amp under 500 bucks. I will mostly use it clean or with a OD pedal for slightly overdriven tones. I play in church and that's about it...but it's every week.

Hook me up!

[armanHammer]

crate

[wsaraceni]

if you want to use it clean with OD pedals, does the wattage really matter? you could get a used fender combo (hot rod or maybe a reissue) and an OD pedal. should be around 500 bucks and do what you need easily.

[edwinhong]

Well that is wonderful that you play in the church
maybe Pevey classic 30 or Fender hot rod would be good for the buck
meas are way over $500 top of that 22 & subway blues are discontinued
or try Vox tone lab or pod 2.0 to PA, this can be great in the church,
don't know how big or small is the church, it could be much easy
to control the sound & make lot of different tone plus you save lot of time set it up, so you can spend more time study bible & pray

[John Phillips]

I think I have been asking the wrong question. I've been trying to decide between Mesa Studio 22, Mesa Subway Blues and Vox AC15.
You're probably still asking the wrong question... none of those are Class A.

(Yes, I know what it says on the back of the Mesa .22 ;).)

If you're looking for Class A (for whatever reason) you can more or less narrow it down to single-ended, sub-15W amps (although the Fuchs Lucky 7 is I think a true Class A 7W push-pull amp.) If you want cathode-biased for the particular type of compression it has, you can eliminate the Mesas straight away - although surprisingly, the larger Blue Angel is cathode-biased and can also run at 15W.

If you're just looking for a really good low-powered amp to mainly play clean or nearly so, you probably need to narrow it down a bit more tonally (the Mesa .22 and the AC15 are nothing whatever alike) to get many really useful suggestions - or there are just too many choices.

Do you need reverb? FX loop? Combo or head? Do you prefer more controls or less? British or American style?

No offense intended, trying to be helpful...

[frankencat]

I play in a church setting with a Fender Blues Jr. and some pedals and it works very well. I have had the Crate and it's also pretty good. Be prepared to swap the stock speakers in any of them though. I have a Mesa C90 Black Shadow in my Blues Jr.

Be blessed :)

[Lance Romance]

Try a Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV. They have a half power switch as well, and go for decent prices on ebay.

[Sniper-V]

Classic 30 would be perfect (although I believe its not Class A):

- Around $500 new
- 30 watts, so it has plenty of power for clean headroom and low enough to be quiet in Church
- Great clean channel and breaks nicely when pushed.
- Very nice OD channel that blends very well for modern P&W.
- Amp sounds great with Singles and Hummers.
- Takes pedals well
- Has an FX loop!!!
- 12" speaker

[Sniper-V]

Blues Jr with pedals is always going to be a great choice too!

I really dig the NOS Jr model.

[houvin]

Actually I'm not sure about the whole Class A thing. I just know that I want tube and it has to be fairly low wattage. I've used a Rod Rod Deluxe and it is a bit much. I do not nead a lead channel or effects loop. Reverb would be nice but not totally necessary. Hmmm...does any of that help?

[John Phillips]

Actually I'm not sure about the whole Class A thing. I just know that I want tube and it has to be fairly low wattage. I've used a Rod Rod Deluxe and it is a bit much. I do not nead a lead channel or effects loop. Reverb would be nice but not totally necessary. Hmmm...does any of that help?Quite a bit, but we still need to know - do you want a 'British' (rich, crunchy) type of sound, or an 'American' (clear, glassy) type of sound? ('Tweed' lies somewhere between the two BTW.) Do you want high clean headroom followed by tight breakup (typical characteristic of a fixed-bias amp) or a more compressed sound with progressive breakup (typical of a cathode-biased amp)? Do you want a basic, simple amp or one you can dial more accurately?

For example - if you want a Tweed-type sound, with simple controls, no reverb, and a cathode-bias feel, you should try something like a Fender Tweed Deluxe (or a modern derivative). If you want the same sort of thing but with a slightly tighter (fixed-bias) feel and a bit more control, and reverb, look at a Blues Junior. If you want a compressed British sound, an AC15. An open, glassy American sound, maybe a Deluxe Reverb.

If you want more control and a stiffer feel, the small Mesas are ideal... but they won't do a Vox or Tweed sound.

Power tube types can make a small difference, but don't shop based on that alone - most of the amps in this power range use EL84s anyway - but if you do specifically want the sort of soft, thick overdrive sound (difficult to describe) that's characteristic of 6V6s, that might help narrow it down.

[Blueser]

How about a used THD univalve. Many options available with that amp.

[Sniper-V]

Actually I'm not sure about the whole Class A thing. I just know that I want tube and it has to be fairly low wattage. I've used a Rod Rod Deluxe and it is a bit much. I do not nead a lead channel or effects loop. Reverb would be nice but not totally necessary. Hmmm...does any of that help?

Blues Jr is you like the Fender tone and get some pedals.

[Voxy Foxy]

Ac15!

[megatonic]

I'd say either a slightly used Laney VC30
http://i5.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/9e/7c/1a0c_1.JPG

or a new Traynor YVC20
http://i2.ebayimg.com/06/i/08/ac/31/2c_1.JPG