House/Garage/Bedroom Amp Recommendations!

[smilefan]

Well at 47 years old I've called it quits on live playing and retired myself to my very nice large house. The big artillery piece amps are being sold now I need some house friendly toys.

Recommend me some "house boy" amps. Ideal would be a 5-12 watt head with killer cleans, and takes pedals great. Dont need reverb
(got a killer Uncle Spot unit), trem would be cool but not necessary.
I go for high quality new amps, I will spend the $$ to get something good. Tend to shy away from vintage amps.

Bring me up to speed on the munchkin amp world!

 

[markster]

Carr Mercury.
http://www.carramps.com/mercury.html

 

[r9player]

You eh could buy my Auble amp with matching Detuned 1x10 Mad Sound Cab ..
You can find the thread in the Amp Cab Emporium somewhere

 

[trisonic]

Actually my experience of retiring suggests that I agree with Greg (Brewbeck) and Hogy to a large extent.

Small amps are chic and I have a few but the bigger amps sound better. Suggest between 20 watts (minimum) and circa 40 watts. I would like to see more amps of this size range available in a smaller (physically) package but that is a different issue!

The only really small amp I now use is a '67 Vibro - Champ. Kept in the kitchen.

Best, Pete.

 

[fr8_trane]

A 5 watt amp will produce HALF the volume of a 50 watt amp! The only significant difference in low watt amps is head room. If you want clean with pedals, lo wattage amps aren't the ticket. I would suggest at least 15 watt amp for a bare minimum of some clean headroom.

SF/BF Princeton (non reverb)
SF/BF Deluxe (non reverb)
Dr. Z (I forget the model)
Carr Rambler
Allen amps

 

[Randy]

I agree with the above posters - I guess it goes against conventional thinking but in my experience bigger is better at low volumes.

At low volumes you need more bass and treble to sound the same as you do at loud volumes (which is why your home stereo has a loudness button). A big amp with a good master volume will do that much better then a small amp, even at conversation levels. The larger trannys (and power tubes) just provide the depth you don't get from a small amp.

My favorite low volume amp is my 120 watt Uberschall!

 

[Roodboy]

Smile fan, I'm going through the same thing right now. I'm 41 gigging on a regular basis is over and I'm going in circles between small amps (Soldano Atomic/Kalamazoo Model II/ Marshall DSL201/ Tech 21 TM10/ Tech 21 TM60; and large amps attenuated (Superlead/TSL122/Ampeg VL-1002.
The two amps I'm looking at right now are a Maven Peal Tuskadoro or a Zinky Blue Velvet.
The maven peal is a 1-50 watt superlead type head and the Zinky is a 2 channel 25 watt combo with effects loop for @$1350.
The Maven Peal has variable wattage and Sag and seems like a great Superlead type amp at reasonable volumes.
If clean is important the Zinky seems like a great value @ $1,000 and has an effects loop.
Good luck in your amp huntin'

 

[ChrisP]

Love my Princeton Reverb ~ ~ ~

David Allen makes a nice type of PR.

http://allenamps.com/sweetspot.html

Great guy also.


Here ya go...

under his used amp section. He basically did all this to my PR and it sounds awesome.


Blackfaced Princeton Reverb - 79 pull-boost chassis completely serviced with new JJ rectifier and 6V6 power tubes, 2 EH12AX7s (US preamp tubes tested good and quiet so I left them in), new 12 foot grounded power cord, new Mallory M150 tone caps and new Sprague Atom bypass and bias supply caps. A 20uf filter cap was added to the first filter stage for tighter bass. Stokes and Paul C mods for more clean headroom and smoother overdrive. Combination middle/raw control on back panel where the pull boost footswitch jack was for a more versatile amp. New audio taper volume pot replaces the linear taper pull boost pot that was in there originally. Adjustable bias trim pot added. New Mojo finger jointed pine cabinet and repro blackface style faceplate. New Ragin' Cajun speaker (not shown). Looks like the real deal but sounds even better plus it is fully serviced and very quiet (great for recording). Great sounding reverb and vibrato. Cashier's check or money order. 3 day approval.

 

[QuickDraw]

A 5 watt amp will produce HALF the volume of a 50 watt amp!

what? this makes exactly no sense to me.

i own many amps and i would say my ac-30 is about half the volume as my traynor bassmaster (50 watts) ok, a bit more than half, but not much.
and my spitfire is about half the vol as my ac-30
and a champ is about half the volume of the spitfire.

 

[fr8_trane]

keep in mind that not all amps are rated equally. Just because your amp says 50 watts doen't tell you much. Is it avg. power or peak power? How about speaker configuration? Ever run a champ thru a 4x12? Sounds a QUITE A BIT louder than thru the 8 inch stock speaker - trust me. All things being equal (5 watts peak vs. 50 watts peak thru the same cab) a 5 watt amp IS 1/2 as loud as a 50 watter. Its all physics. Go here for a more detailed description.

http://www.amptone.com/g112.htm

 

[Guy from Idaho]

Originally posted by QuickDraw
what? this makes exactly no sense to me.

i own many amps and i would say my ac-30 is about half the volume as my traynor bassmaster (50 watts) ok, a bit more than half, but not much.
and my spitfire is about half the vol as my ac-30
and a champ is about half the volume of the spitfire.

That's because you're equating what you hear with loudness. Very unsophisticated. The internet is full of information that will educate you on why a Champ really is quite loud. Really, it is. Do the calculations.

Better yet, let's jam and I'll bring my Germino Lead 55, and you can bring two Champs. You'll get heard just fine. Really.

 

[LaXu]

Pick an amp and have it modded for Power Scaling. Works for me, using a 15W Stephenson head at home through a 1x12.

 

[Pedro58]

THD Univalve. You get the benefit of choosing different tubes... A tone tweaker's delight. Of course, you'll need a cab.

 

[whitehall]

Were the same age, and my playing out days are behind me. I like the Carr mercury and also the blue velvet. But what you should do is this. Get youself a cheap plane ticket to Indy the weekend of the 22nd. for the Namm show. If you can't scam a ticket from a music store you can buy one for 175.00 for both days. There you will see and hear, and play every amp on the planet worth having . Never mind the amp dorks. Go see for yourself.

 

[teddys]

+ 1 on the Auble.

 

[riverastoasters]

Originally posted by smilefan
Well at 47 years old I've called it quits on live playing and retired myself to my very nice large house. The big artillery piece amps are being sold now I need some house friendly toys.

Recommend me some "house boy" amps. Ideal would be a 5-12 watt head with killer cleans, and takes pedals great. Dont need reverb
(got a killer Uncle Spot unit), trem would be cool but not necessary.
I go for high quality new amps, I will spend the $$ to get something good. Tend to shy away from vintage amps.

Bring me up to speed on the munchkin amp world!

If you have lots of dough, get a Stephenson 40 Watt Reverb. More affordable versions of those are available.

I really dig the Fender Super Champ, also Rivera Clubster '25.

There is a lot to be said for an attenuator as opposed to a low wattage amp.

 

[QuickDraw]

Better yet, let's jam and I'll bring my Germino Lead 55, and you can bring two Champs. You'll get heard just fine. Really.

i'm still not buying it, but next time i have a jam session with my buddy's i'll test it out with a champ and an electar tube 10

if you are correct i'll be surprised.

 

[JimRayden]

Well, I know all the calculations and stuff but tell me if the following is correct (considering that the wattage rating principles, the speakers and cabs are equal)...

50 watt amp into one 12"

vs.

two 5W combos each sent into their own 12"

they'll sound the exact same loud?


Cool.

-----------
Jimbo

 

[James Allen]

Pick up that Peters 3CP1 in the Emporium. Three different levels of boost, which gives three different levels of volume and corresponding gain levels, plus a master volume. You can use a single 12 or a 2-12 cab if you need some umpf.

Jim

 

[QuickDraw]

besides, if it were really true stereo champs would be really popular, lighter and cheaper.