Best Practice Amp?

[on a wave]

Hey guys,

Ive been looking at purchasing a top of the line practice amp. My normal amp is a Vox Ac30, but obviously very loud. Im about to move into an apartment soon and would love to get those Vox kind of sounds at low levels. I know I wont be able to duplicate it exactly - but there must be something out there which should give me some good tone.

Advice appreciated.

 

[AshlandBump]

I'm in the same boat. I'm seriously thinking about the Vox AD50VT. Any home playing I do has to be very quiet and I just can't get the benefit of a tube amp at home. I've tried the AD50VT a few times and I've been impressed by the variety of tones you can get out of it.

 

[sabbath90]

bad cat mini cat into a celestion blue perhaps? never tried that amp but it seems like it would do the trick.

 

[jeffhef]

I just heard a Gallien Kreuger 250ML today that blew me away. Might wanna check it out.

jeffhef

 

[on a wave]

bad cat mini cat into a celestion blue perhaps? never tried that amp but it seems like it would do the trick.

yeah, they seem to be the way to go from all accounts....

one of those with a celestion blue would be awesome....

and this is the blurb from their website....

MINI II
Improving on a previous success Bad Cat will also introduce the MINI II. Ideal for low volume studio recording, the MINI II is a Class A, point-to-point wired, 5-watt powerhouse. Its dual overdriven 12AX7 pre-amp section allows sweet tone without disturbing the neighbors. The MINI II incorporates a 12” speaker and a larger cabinet than the original Mini Cat.

 

[AshlandBump]

5 watts into a Celestion Blue can still get pretty freaking loud.

 

[BoyMambo]

If you want to do it on the cheap, a guitarport or an Epiphone Galaxie 10.

 

[whitehall]

How many grand you want to spend ? no, then either the 50 or 30 Vox valvetronics. Both have the wattage control on the back, the 50 has a 12" and a speaker line out. Both are great amps, OR , the tech 21 TM 10.

 

[JimRayden]

You need one thing: an attentuator. So you could play the same amp but at apartment levels.

Some might say it damages the tone but I think it'll be helluva lot better than a digital modelling station or a tiny amp.

If you haven't heard of it, it's actually just a box you connect between the amp and the speaker. You'll lose some of the speaker breakup but the amp should sound pretty much the same.

Search for Air Brake or MASS or Hotplate, they're all quality products.

----------
Jimbo

 

[BoyMambo]

Originally posted by JimRayden
... but I think it'll be helluva lot better than a digital modelling station or a tiny amp...

This may or may not be a fair coment, if it is a practice amp and maybe extended to a little bit of quite jamming at a friends house or your gigging amp and set up that you need to be quiter. If a small practice amp, then maybe a small class amp (<10W) with a Johnson J-Station / Pod / Adrenalin is a fantastic combination. Some of the J-Station presets really give you the feeling of pushing air and give you real versitality. You can buy a small class A Epiphone or Electra for less then $300 and pick up a used J-Station, Adrenalin or Pod for less than $200. The adrenalinn has the additional benefit of the drum machine as well as really decent models.

If you don't mind solid state, those new Fender practice amps are pretty amazing, some good modelling sounds, and backing tracks.

You may need to do the old right down your requirements and aims, then do the old pros and cons in seperate columns.

 

[mainsale]

Any of the Maven Peal amps will do you. Their adjustable output wattage and sag gives you output tube saturation at living room levels. A Carr Mercury is also very good, but I prefer the Maven Peals.

 

[Tomo]

Fender 80's Champ 12. Great small amp.

I have been using for almost 16 years.
People are looking for this amp..(Japan)

PS, Sorry about that... I was just thinking
for practice amp with clean tone. This amp has
12 watts. I don't use any reverb when I practice.
Set Vol 1, Treble 7 bass 4... work on nuances.



Tomo

 

[on a wave]

What i was hoping to be able to do, was to use a amp like the bad mini cat with my pedals so i can produce similar sounds to the vox.

my pedals being, a sunlion, teesh wah, hotcake - soon to add ocd and mojo vibe. (i will be selling the hotcake)

so having something like the bad mini cat with its line out would be great. i tend not to use the boost on the sunlion that much, unless im playing thru humbuckers...

 

[fatback]

I know you said Vox, but ....

Nothing beats a Princeton Reverb for apartment level tone!

If you go all the way and get a blackface, then you'll have killer tone and and a great investment.

For about half the price, get an early silverface. A few easy mods and it will be a blackface in disguise. Some of the silverface amps will have slightly stouter transformers, very cool for some more extreme mods, (6L6's.)

A Mesa-Boogie Subway Blues is about the cost of a silverface PR and will get you a tone somewhere between Princton and Vox territory due to its' two EL-84's in the output section.

All of these amps love pedals at low volumes and when cranked are quite gigable, miked or on a quiet stage, plus your neighbors will appreciate the 10" speaker.

 

[CitizenCain]

Don't laugh.

Vox Pathfinder 15 or 15R

Seriously nice cleans at apartment volume, pretty good OD when you can crank it.

 

[The Eristic]

Mercury! Though it doesn't really do the AC-30 thing...

 

[MikeyG]

I got a Fender G-Dec. It sounds cheesy, but it's great for working on your timing. Has a phrase sampler, CD input ... it's designed specifically for practicing.

 

[Telecaster]

Originally posted by The Eristic
Mercury! Though it doesn't really do the AC-30 thing...

+1
That "little" Carr is an amazing amp. Actually; it's the Carr I like best. I might buy one someday.

 

[grantster]

If you are moving into an apartment then 5 watts will be way too loud. 1 watt output is loud in an apartment. The best thing that I have found is the Stephenson stage hog pedal for the following reasons;

1. It has a built in amplifier of approx 1 watt that is also power scaled so I can dial it down to television levels. You could plug your AC-30 speakers into the speaker jack on the stage hog. I run mine into a 2 x 12 cab in my living room. Sounds amazing. You get cranked power amp tone at low volume and won't piss off everyone around you. I tell people about it and they roll their eyes at me. Then they try it and their eyes bug out and then they get very interested in it.

2. It is a killer preamp/tube distortion pedal that will sound amazing with your vox. Well worth checking out.

Read some of the comments on this forum about the Stephenson stage hog pedal. I also looked for the best practice amp for home and found everything way to loud. That is why I went to the stage hog, plus is sounds amazing as a preamp/tube distortion pedal.

Just a thought.

 

[BoyMambo]

How about the little Z-vex amp, is it the Micro vex? I have read that alot of bands are using it in the studio with 4 X 12's. Anybody have any experience?