Another "Need help with bedroom amp" thread

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I wouldn't consider any tube amps to be bedroom amps, especially if you're talking overdrive and distortion... that just pushes volume levels WAY beyond bedroom levels.

My suggestion would be:

The Lovepedal 1/2watt Vintage - offers drive sounds ranging from similar to my hot-rodded tweed 5F1 Champ to my Matchless Lightning in a lot of ways when overdriven/distorted. Seriously great tube-like tones from this little battery powered solid state amp. Check out the clips floating around these forums. I would actually consider the volume of this amp to be "bedroom" volume - it's about the sound level of someone talking (not yelling) in the loudest voice possible.

 

Sure... With the combo you speak of, is your speaker(s) hard wired to the amp, or are they connected using a plug into a jack? If it's the the latter of the two, you just need to unplug the plug from the amp's jack, and plug it into the lovepedal speaker jack instead. If it's the former, all you'd need is a wiring harness that terminates with a 1/4" plug so that you can plug them into the Lovepedal's speaker out jack. Does that all make sense?

 

All of the amps you mentioned at the start are going to be very loud, when cranked for power tube distortion. Not loud enough to hurt your hearing, as long as the speaker isn't next to your head, but louder than the TV. Of all of the single tube amps, I still think the Emery Super Baby is the most flexible, as well as being extremely inexpensive compared to your list. I've got a 1/2w and if you don't need clean, that really is the best answer. Also, you might look into a reamp kind of solution-either the H&K "Machine" series used, or an ultimate attenuator for your current amp.

 

My Carr Mercury can play gorgeous clean tones all the way to creamy distortion at anything from "easy" conversation levels to very loud. Anything in between with a bit of tweaking. Only caveat, it's very expensive. It also sounds very expensive.

 

I don't think any valve amp will do it alone... a 5 watt amp combine with an inefficient speaker will help reduce the volume. Say a speaker with a sensitivity rating of 92 or 93 dB instead of a greenback or something with a rating of 98 or 99dB.

Remember that a 3dB difference is roughly twice as loud. My lucky 7 with a vintage 30 is louder than my fender deluxe with a jensen (7watts with a 100dB speaker vs 22watt with a 93dB speaker)... Speakers really make a difference in volume!

Add some attenuation and you could get it down to TV volumes and still have some nice tone... It wouldn't be overly expensive either. Weber sell a 25watt load dump for $60 and the speaker replacement would be about $80-$150... plus you could sell the stock speaker out of the combo...

Now you just have to choose a tone. What are you looking for? can you drop some amp models that you've played and really enjoy? Have you listened to the clips of those amps? Any preference? what sounds are expecting with this preference?

 

I'm not convinced that there's anything that can be done to get a true "bedroom" volume with a nice fat tone. I've built everything from 1/2 watt to 50 watts. The 1/2 watters just don't have the tightness on the bottom end and 50 watters won't get a decent sound unless you start pushing them. Modelers are ok, but you don't get the true tube sound from them. I'd only use a modeler for band situations where there's lot of other instruments in the mix.

IMO if you want to play at bedroom volumes, play clean. You'll play better and rely more on technique for sustain and tone.

All that said, the best low volume tones I've gotten are from an old Peavey Rockmaster preamp into a mixer. These things are great little preamps.

 

You could get an Atomic Amp with a POD. I have one, and its a great bedroom amp.

 

My Gjika Mini Amp into most any of my other amps is terrific at silly-low volumes all the way up to whatever the host amp can toss out. Eats pedals, too.

 

I think there are some real challenges with guitar speakers/cabs at very low volumes. I suspect a modeler into a full range monitor is probably gonna work well, if not better, than low power amps to guitar speakers. Guitar speakers need power/vol to sound good. The more the better. I don't play bedroom levels anymore, but if I had to, it'd be my GNX into my JBL EON powered monitor. Just my .02

jon

 

I agree that just about any tube amp of more that a watt or two is going to be too loud, and that guitar speakers need to be pushed to sound good. One possible solution I haven't tried is to use an isolation box with an internal mic, hooked up to monitors. I think much of the feel of playing a tube amp would be diluted, however.

 

If you have a budget, get ZVex's little nano tube amp and connect it to any decent speaker that has been loosened up and broken in. It is an awsome little amp. http://zvexamps.com/amp_view.html
1/2watt true push-pull power amp output, I have heard it in person and it sounds like, "Honey, I shrunk the Marshall". Half a watt is more than enough for bedroom use, seriously.

 

The Zinky BV is a great bedroom amp IMO. I've had mine a few weeks now and am just loving it. I'll be recording some cips this week (hopefully) so you can check those out.