Best Tube Combo Under $1,000?

[bscepter]

In your opinion, what is the best new combo amp available under $1,000? That's street price, not MSRP. (At least 30w)

For fun, what's the best under $1,500? Does $500 more get you a noticeable upgrade? (e.g. Vox blues in an AC30CC)

Thanks!

By the way, apologies to those who have seen this thread in other forums. I'm just trying to get a broad range of opinions before I shell out a grand or more.

[B Vance]

Best combo under 1 G, in my humble opinion, 65 Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue.

Best combo under 1.5 Gs, from what I have gathered, Top Hat Club Royale 2x12. Don't have one yet, but hope to get one soon. The Bat Cat Cub II is a wonderful amp too, but a bit more than 1.5 g's new, more like 1.8. You can get into a used one for circa $1,300 though.

[bscepter]

Originally posted by B Vance
Best combo under 1 G, in my humble opinion, 65 Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue.

Best combo under 1.5 Gs, from what I have gathered, Top Hat Club Royale 2x12. Don't have one yet, but hope to get one soon. The Bat Cat Cub II is a wonderful amp too, but a bit more than 1.5 g's new, more like 1.8. You can get into a used one for circa $1,300 though.

Hmm. A friend of mine has a Fender DRRI, and he really likes it. It would be slightly underpowered for my application, though. I guess I should have specified at least 30 watts.

I'll check out the Top Hat, though. Thanks!

[r9player]

1000
Holland L'il Jimi comes to mind.
1500
Holland Brentwood for some top notch Tweed tone
Sommatone Roaring 20s
Alessandro working dog series

[EchoGecko]

Check out the Reverend Kingsnake. $700, 60W (switchable to 20W), single channel (three modes), reverb. Only thing is I don't care for the Neodyne speaker it comes with. Kicks ass into a 2x12 cab. MUCH more versatile than the Fender IMO.

Oh, as for BEST, who's opinion is the the BEST in regard to...the...BEST?

[calieng]

Zinky Blue Velvet

[B Vance]

The selection of great combos at or less than $1,000 new and over 30 watts is rather slim. $15 hundy is probably a more realistic expectation for a great amp in this category. Check into the Top Hat. Also, there is a guy here on The Gear Page who makes class A point to point amps. From what I understand they are great too. The website is www.valvetechamps.com. You should give them a look. They are in the $1,500 range, Plus they are customizable for around that price!!! Haven't played one but have read some good posts. The HC reviews don't seem to be too high on them though. You can't put much faith in those in my opinion though.

Best of luck,
B

[mbratch]

Originally posted by bscepter

For fun, what's the best under $1,500? Does $500 more get you a noticeable upgrade? (e.g. Vox blues in an AC30CC)

Dr. Z MAZ 38 Sr. NR lists for $1,499.

[hasserl]

Best combo under a grand, Carvin Legacy. Two true individual channels, lush reverb, beautiful cleans (Carvin does clean tones as well as anybody) w/ an overdrive channel good enough for Vai (PLENTY of gainl). Vintage 30 speakers in a cab w/ removable back for open or closed back sound.

You can't beat it for the money, now way, no how.

[pacomc79]

Orange AD15/12 or if you need more power AD30 more gain, Rockerverb.

Or if you can find one Blackface fender vibrochamps or Princeton Reverbs.

Honorable mention, 65 Deluxe DRRI. (you'll need to change the speaker though)

Also the Fender Vibrolux 2x10 combo. Lovely. An original blackface is preferred but they are like $2200 now thanks to the vintage market.


The Fenders sound great with most gain pedals. If you need distortion the new Black Magic from Love pedal looks to be fantastic.

[bscepter]

Wow -- thanks for all the responses. Definitely food for thought. My other consideration was building a low-power Twin kit from Mojotone (or Weber). I played one of the new Fender Custom Shop hand-wired '57 Twin reissues, and whoa boy, it sounded really, really good.

By the way, I play a Gibson SG with P90s, so that definitely influences my amp choice.

[bscepter]

Originally posted by mbratch
Dr. Z MAZ 38 Sr. NR lists for $1,499.

Actually, that one looks very intriguing. I'd probably opt for the 2x12 model at $1,799, though.

[AshlandBump]

If the Maz Sr. is intriguing you owe it to yourself to check out the Valvetech Hayseed, as mentioned above. The Hayseed is not on the web site but if you do a search for "Hayseed" here you'll find more information.

[madsr]

I would check out the mesa boogie f50--fantastic amp and very versatile..lotsa sounds from that one..and I know this isn't a boutique type of amp but the fender deville 2x12 sounds really great and is pretty cheap also...worth a look..depending on what type of tones you're going for..the fender cleans can't really be beat IMO..

[royd]

Let me give another cheap answer... the Peavey Delta Blues. swap the speakers and still you can buy two for under a grand. I like both the clean and dirty sound, it has reasonable headroom, with efficient speakers it is more than loud enough for any venue I've ever played. It doesn't have the sparkle, life, or reliability of the boutiques and the reverb isn't so good but it is a good sounding amp and could easily sell for more than it goes for and still be a good buy.