MusicMan Amp alternative, advice appreciated.

[Rhumba Rob]

Hello all,

I require some advice about which amp to purchase for a smaller more portable alternative to my current Music Man 2 x 12 amp. The obvious answer I came up with was to buy a MusicMan 1x10 or 1x12, but how much body would I lose by shifting down in size like this? Plus these are rare to find anyway, does anyone know of an alternative to Music Man that would give a very similar sound and do my Telecaster justice?

This amp is fantastic and is the perfect life partner of my Telecaster, the only problem is gigging it!Dragging this thing on the Tube/Subway is a nightmare and not at all practical... it weighs a tonne. Any help on this topic is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Rob.

[Tone Loco]

All three models came in various wattages. If your 2x12 is a 65 watt you probably would be fine with a 1x12 100 as far as the sound. It could be somewhat lighter but how much depends on your current amp. It would be more maneuverable though. Never tried any of the 10s other than the 2x10s. Again it depends on what you have and what the new one has, mostly as far as the transformers, which are not wimpy.

There's not really any "light" amps with the head room of the bigger MMs.

[Rhumba Rob]

All three models came in various wattages. If your 2x12 is a 65 watt you probably would be fine with a 1x12 100 as far as the sound. It could be somewhat lighter but how much depends on your current amp. It would be more maneuverable though. Never tried any of the 10s other than the 2x10s. Again it depends on what you have and what the new one has, mostly as far as the transformers, which are not wimpy.

There's not really any "light" amps with the head room of the bigger MMs.

Thanks for the reply. Its the 2x12 130 I think? its a real heavy mother and I made a general assumption that a 1x12 would be half the weight (I know, I know... never assume).
But seeing as I play in clubs with decent PA's, a smaller amp would be mic'd up and perhaps having the meat of a 2x12 would become less important? Could you recommend an alternative to a music man 1x12? its just that those and the 1x10 are so difficult to find.
Thanks.

[kingink]

Rhumba Rob,

I don't have much first hand experience, but George Alessandro's Working Dog amps are designed to be light weight and portable. They're not 130 watts: there's a 20 watter and a 40 watter. I have played through a 40 watt Rottweiler, this was many years ago, and it seemed very loud and had plenty of headroom. It was the combo with a 2x8 and 2x12 speaker configuration, so take that into consideration, but they make a 1x12. The 40-watt Rottweiler would probably be the closest to your MM, tone-wise. It's in the "Fender" 6L6 camp.

One thing to keep in mind: if you could find another Music Man, a 130 watt 1x12 might still be pretty heavy but, as Tone Loco says, it would be more maneuverable. Don't forget, 100 watt transformers will probably be pretty big and heavy.

So yeah, the next option would be a 65-watt MM 1x12 or 1x10, and that might be much lighter than your 130 watt 2x12, both because of less speakers and smaller transformers.

Back to non-MM options: if you can afford it, the Tone King Metropolitan 1x12 is also supposed to be very light and portable, but it's US$3,000, and I'm not sure how you feel about carrying an expensive amp on the Tube. Of course, the Music Man might have been pretty pricey; not sure what they go for in the UK.

If you're going for mostly clean sounds, you might look and see if the Roland Jazz Chorus comes in a 1x12 configuration. Totally solid state, so it'll probably be even lighter and you won't have to spend money on replacing tubes.

Here's another thought: a digital modeler of some kind, especially if you're playing places with PAs and adequate monitoring. For example, you could plug a Line 6 Pod directly into a PA. You could probably do this with a Sansamp pedal.

Speaking of Sansamp, their amp might be a good replacement for the Music Man. I think it's a 4x10, but might not be too heavy

[Rhumba Rob]

Thanks for the replies, they have provided useful very information. I am still scouting for a smaller MM amp but they are as rare as Leprechauns! Failing that I have decided that a Fender blues Junior could be the amp for me. Obviously its not a MM but it may be the closest affordable option (E.g. <£500). I'm told these fender amps are a good tube option and have substantial body in sound for their size.

Does anyone have any experience with these amps.


Thanks
Rob.

[rhythmrocker]

I have much experience with an an RD50 head and 112 RD50; see here:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=715826&highlight=rhythmrocker+music

Plenty of power + small.

[BeauZooka]

I seriously doubt that a Blues Jr would do it for you. Not nearly enough clean headroom. Give it a try though.
I used to have an MM 2x12 too. I think it had the upgrade EV speakers and it was seriously heavy! Any of the smaller MM's would work great for you as they still have plenty of clean headroom. If you were in the US it would be alot easier to find a smaller MM combo unfortunately.
A 70's silverface Fender Bassman head and 1x12 cab might be easier to find over there and IMHO sounds better than an MM, but similar.
Happy hunting!

[nixhex113]

Obviously these people have never had to bring an amp on the tube before! Such a pain! I would look into various fender 1x12 combos.

[Franktone]

Try out a MM RD50 1x12 combo. It is the loudest, smallest, lightest, tube amp I have ever tried. It has great clean sounds. It is light like a transistorized amp. If you want lighter, you might go with a transistorized modeler amp.

[jbt7764]

I have one of these. It is very light, very loud with a ton of clean headroom. It sounds great for clean and fender style break up. Very under-rated I will not part with mine and if you can find one you probably won't part with it either.
I do not have the ev12 in it. It has the mm speaker in it. I don't know who makes it but it sounds nice and full. The reverb is adequate for everything except surf.
$350 us will get you one of these.

[Tone Loco]

Try out a MM RD50 1x12 combo. It is the loudest, smallest, lightest, tube amp I have ever tried. It has great clean sounds. It is light like a transistorized amp. If you want lighter, you might go with a transistorized modeler amp.
The RD50 amps are transistorized too, to a large degree, FWIW.

For cheaper, smaller, and lighter SS amps with nice cleans, maybe Fender Mustang, or Tech 21. Tech 21 has a 10" model... Trademark 30?