I want a small amp. but I don't know how small, or how loud. HELP!!

I thought I had it figured out... but I realized i got nothing.

I find myself desperately needing a moderate/small sized amp (no bigger than 1x12). I'm an ac30 player and I love the tone, but its not practical for everything I do. I started a thread a while back and I was thinking I wanted a mesa jo). After considering things more carefully, I decided that's probably not the right way to go.

Basically the Vox is WAY too big and heavy to haul around to every practice/jam/tutoring session. I love the wide array of tones and features that I get from it.... but I need something simpler and more practical for everyday stuff. Not looking to supplant my main gigging amp, just looking for a little variety and convenience.

Basically I'm a very big hendrix and zeppelin fan. Play only fenders and gibsons (mostly tele and occasionally LP). Also dig Rory Gallagher's sound (there in spades with my vox)... eric johnson, santana, gilmour, jeff beck, etc. Always leaned more towards the British side of the pond (I think its cause my mom was born in london ).

What i'm looking for in this amp is:

- useable clean tone (doesn't have to stay clean over a drummer, but cleaning up w/ volume knob helps)

- not overly midrangey in the clean.... less plexi more jtm45

- lively low/mid gain tones (yardbirds, the who, etc.)

- not something I'll want to have my pedals plugged into all the time, but should react well to boosts and fuzzes

- PORTABLE. Under 50 pounds.... 1x12 combo or less.

- on board reverb or an FX loop is a plus

- has to get a good crunch tone at reasonable volumes (not bedroom... but maybe garage rehearsal volumes at the loudest)

- No channel switchers, cascaded gain stages, etc.

- Prefer combo

- $400 - $1000. willing to go used/ceriatone/whatever



now for some reason i don't like tweed champs. For some reason I never got along with them. Always either too thin or too midrangey for me.... also clean headroom was almost non-existent. I've owned BF fenders before and I LOVE their clean sound, and the way they take pedals for lead is pretty decent as well, but I couldn't ever get a good natural mid-gain sound out of them.

So, that's why I'll have to say no tweed deluxes, princeton reverbs, or DRRIs please.

amps i'm looking at (and this is where I want suggestions or additional info):

- Ceriatone/Weber 1974x clone. The 18 watter seems like a natural choice.... just not sure if its gonna do the job with cleans.... is the midrange always too oppressive?

- Gibson Ga20 or Ga40. I remember playing one at low volumes and absolutely loving it's clean tone. Very warm and organic sounding. The half-power switch is also a cool feature. Sweetwater has the 30 watter for $850 and its PTP, which is sick. The question mark here is the drive tone.... never had the pleasure of cranking one of these, so it remains a question mark.

- Gibson Ga5. another amp I played at lowish volumes. Liked the simplicity... kind of everything i liked about the tweed champ/deluxe, but without the drawbacks. At 5 watts through an 8" speaker, am i just dreaming on headroom ?? :NUTS

- Supro/Magnatone/Airline vintage amps. These are sort of a wildcard as i haven't had a chance to play one, but they seem pretty cool for what i'm after. Any suggestions about specific models or years??

- Fender blues deluxe RI. Another warm sounding amp.... it may just be too damn loud though. Liked the cleans and reverb, but it would be pretty hard to get a crunch sound... a master volume box isn't out of the question though. I'd love to hear how these sound w/ kt66.

- THD Univalve. Yeah, i'd have to find an Extension cab, but the thought of being able to switch out tubes on a whim and having a line-out for easy recording is pretty appealing. I've heard its a "jack of all trades master of none" type amp, and while it has many different flavors, it pretty much always sound like a univalve.

- Gries 5. Supposed to go between tweed and blackface... haven't been able to corroborate this though.

- Reeves custom 6/12/18. almost forgot about this guy. lotsa hype involved, but its supposed to nail both clean and crunch really well.



well that's my dilemma.... i'd hate to be cliche, but i'm sure others are also scratching their heads about the problem of "grab-n-go" amps.

anyone wanna throw me a life-preserver??

 

heard good things, but i've always been too lazy to e-mail for a quote.

also edited to include the reeves amps i forgot.

 

I don't want to go the ac-15 route since:

1.) I'm mostly parked on the normal channel of my ac30
2.) I want to get a little variety in my tones, so if i want to reach back for a different sound in a recording, i can do it.

the tophat and dr. z are some cool options I hadn't thought about... waiting for a used one to fall in my price range would be kinda annoying though. Also I think they may sound a little too voxy.


the gries sounds really good, slightly weaker in the OD than I thought.

Right now I'm leaning a bit towards the gibson combo, a TMB 18 watter, or a reeves custom 6.

Basically, I'm unsure about the cleans on the 18 watter (never played a TMB one), the distortion of the gibson combo... i think the reeves does them both well, but i'd probably have to for the head version sitting on an avatar 1x12 because I dislike their tiny cabs with neo-speakers.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ampeg-J20-20W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=483053

anyone tried one of these ampegs??? I remember trying an original 60s reverberocket and digging the warm clean sound at low volumes, but i don't know how they crank.

 

the closest Z dealer is almost 2 hours drive from me....not down for that.


I like the roland cubes... but not really for this purpose. The name of the game is simplicity for me.... just something I can grab and bring to jams/rehearsals and get a passable clean tone with cool crunch sounds.

as far as size/useability, i think i may actually be looking at two amps.

first is the grab-n-go jam amp. Between 5 and 20 watts. Simple controls, no FX, or channel switching or anything.

I THINK that the reeves, gibson, or 18 watt is gonna fit the bill here.


the 2nd amp will probably be some sort of el-cheapo solid state "around the house" amp that I can just stick by my desk. Something like a G-dec, vox pathfinder, or roland cube. Something maybe 10-15 watts w/ an 8 or 10" speaker.