Best "Budget" Tube Combo or stack...? REVISED

[megatonic]

OK guys,

We seem to have a wave of budget priced tube combos, heads & mini stacks that have hit the market. Which one would you choose? Keep the price at...let's say...$1200, give or take a little bit. I'm revising the parameters to limit the choices to single speaker combos or a head & speaker cab(s). I know $1200 is pretty generous for "Budget" so let's keep the price under that. I'm talking about stuff like:

Tiny Terror & cab
Night Train & cab
Marshall Haze
Fender Deluxe VM
Epiphone Blues Custom
Peavey Classic 30
Peavey Delta Blues
Blues Deluxe RI
Gibson GA40RVT
Rivera Pubster/Clubster
Egnater Rebel


Stuff like that.

What do you say?

[earthlydescent]

egnater rebel 20 stack or the orange tiny terror (w/ 2x12 cab instead 1x12) would be my choices.

the night train and haze are miserable amps.

[forgivenman]

I've really enjoyed my Peavey Valveking half stack. The texture knob allows you to pick class A or AB or anywhere in between which really adds to its versatility. With some new tubes (I used a Tung Sol in V1 and a Sovtek in V3) it really sings. Great cleans and great distortion. $6-700 for head and matching cab. Less for the combo.

[FrankieSixxxgun]

Vox AC30 for the win!

[Tubebender]

Used Peavey Classic 50 410 or if your a Fender person, the Fender VM isn't too expensive and I hear the OD is pretty good coupled with the delay, verb (digital), and chorus. I hear the FX sound good and everything is footswichable. duuno about the other amps listed, sure you'll get alot of responses.

[Wuchak]

I think $1200 is out of the "budget" range for most of us. : )

[halorealm7]

I can speak for the Epi Blues Custom. Built like a tank and loud. A little bright and the eq takes some work to get used to but it sounds great with humbuckers. Too bright with singles but most folks are fixing that by clipping a few caps. For the coin its a good sound. I don't run any pedals with it--just the channel switch.

[CharAznable]

Used Mesa 5:25 or Budda SD 18. Hell, the Mesa is $1229 new.

[megatonic]

OK, since $1200 was generous, I tightened up the requirements a bit. Now it has to be under $1200 and be a single speaker combo or a head & cab(s).

Can you work with that?

[the russ]

i have always liked the sound of the Epi Blues Custom, for the money. the Hold Steady use those a lot.

[famouspogs]

A used Peavey Classic 30 with a speaker change and some good tubes will get you incredibley good tones for what it is. Same thing with Traynors, Really under appreciated modern amps.

[jcarpenter]

Pignose 60vr
Bugera 333xl combo 2x12

[ReginaldBisquet]

Originally Posted by megatonic

OK guys,

We seem to have a wave of budget priced tube combos, heads & mini stacks that have hit the market. Which one would you choose? Keep the price at...let's say...$1200, give or take a little bit. I'm revising the parameters to limit the choices to single speaker combos or a head & speaker cab(s). I know $1200 is pretty generous for "Budget" so let's keep the price under that. I'm talking about stuff like:

Tiny Terror & cab
Night Train & cab
Marshall Haze
Fender Deluxe VM
Epiphone Blues Custom
Peavey Classic 30
Peavey Delta Blues
Blues Deluxe RI
Gibson GA40RVT
Rivera Pubster/Clubster
Egnater Rebel


Stuff like that.

What do you say?

My votes are for the Peavey, Egnater and Epiphone and here's why:

For the money, a used Peavey can get you a lot of amp. I picked up my Delta Blues 115 for less than $400 and have enjoyed the heck out of it. They are easy to modify and can take a serious beating without compromise. Likewise, for the Epiphone.

I have only played through an Egnater Rebel at the local guitar shop... and was impressed. I've read a lot of fantastic reviews on TGP for Egnator amps.

Egnator carries a lot of cache among players - so if that's what you're looking for, then you have a winner. However, I have been more than impressed with my Delta Blues 115 for a variety of playing styles as well as the tone & volume it delivers.

I prefer the combo set up for band practice and home playing. But for recording, I would recommend a separate cab and head as you've no doubt read about the tube rattle issue with combos.

[pitseleh]

can you say best? these are all for different purposes.

the blues deluxe is a solid, loud, giggable amp with really nice cleans and usable overdrive (i think it's significantly better than the hot rod's just because with less overdrive, you don't notice as much how mediocre it is). and it takes pedals well. but if you wanted something with more overdrive and brighter cleans the deluxe vm might be better. and i'd choose the delta/classic 30 over both if i wanted an amp with great overdrive, but that wouldn't be my choice for cleans. but then maybe if i wanted really good cleans as well as great overdrive (blues deluxe doesnt have enough, and i dont care for the vm's drive), i'd go with the night train. and if i wanted a marshall kind of crunch, well the choice would be the haze by default.

best is relative to what you need!

[Fifthstone]

The Delta Blues is an excellent amp. Period. I use it as a single channel amp on the clean channel, which gets some nice drive at gig volume. I don't care for the distortion channel, but some do. It takes pedals very well and has a decent reverb.

Another candidate is the Vox AC4TV, which is dirt cheap for a tube amp and great for practicing at home, though I think it might be a stretch for a gig situation.