Tweed vs Blackface what's most versatile?

[jefrobie]

Need some input as far as purchasing a new small amp. I have a Black Pearl 30 & also a Super Champ XD. Considering either a Clark Tweed Replica or possibly a Headstrong Lil King. As I search threads I'm realizing that these two amps are probably apples to oranges & I need some input. I'm assuming my Super Champ is a BF type of clone & it is an amazing amp for sure (channel one). Between the Tweed clone & BF which would be a more versatile setup OR which would be a good addition to what I currently have? Thanks

Or, I've looked at a Bad Cat Cub IIR...Bananna?

 

[jefrobie]

Need some input here...Bump for versatility question??? And where does a Bad Cat Cub II weigh in here? More blackface, tweed or?

 

[amp boy]

If your looking at Clarks, you should email him.
You'll walk away with a better direction than anyone here can give you.

i haven't played one, but in my mind......i think he has a 3x10 bassman like amp, tiger ??
that extra umph might get you more clean.......though i don't know how close to blackface that may be. You might get as close to both with Clark making some changes perhaps.....fixed/cathode switch etc... though i don't know if that is possible or practical.
Also by small amp, what do you mean ??
Blackface champ and princeton.....
Tweed champ, the 5's, trem, pro....and so on.

personally, i think you get one that nails tweed for your taste, and one that nails black.
might as well not comprimise.

hey, you could then run them both........wooooooo i gotta get a rig like that someday.
hmmmmmmmm....cool.

 

[JDJ]

I've owned about four Clarks, and he's restored three old Fenders for me.

His Piedmont (5F6-A Bassman) is a very versatile amp. Great tweed and can cop BF tones with the mids turned down and the presence turned up. You can get on-board reverb and attenuator, too. Highly recommended.

 

[GBStratman]

Although I don't have any experience with the amps you mention, I do have a SFDR and a home built Mission 5E3. I love them both, but for versatility, I'd have to go with the BF circuit. The tweed is never really very clean (unless it's turned way down) and is always rather compressed - but that's why we love them. The BF can be either clean or dirty and can pretty much be whatever you want with pedals.

 

[CADdrafter]

I purchased a Clark Beaufort (tweed Deluxe) in February 2008. It has the Celestion Blue speaker and a mix of new and NOS tubes.

The thing just smokes!

Visit Mr. Clark's website and shoot him an e-mail. He and I exchanged a number of e-mails when I was deciding to buy that amp and he was/is friendly, delivers a top notch piece of equipment, and packs/ships his amps to survive a bomb blast.

 

[62Tele]

Overall, for my playing, blackface amps are more versatile. I find most smaller tweeds to dark and soft sounding to hold together when I'm playing with my fingers (which I do a lot) - the larger tweed amps have bigger tone stacks and tend to be a little clearer. With the right pedals, you can push black face amps to sound tweedish, but it's very difficult to get tweed amps to sound blackface. Tweeds can sing beautifully though, so if you're into a lot of crunch there are very good reasons why tweed Deluxes are so popular.

You might want to look at the Allen Brown Sugar or something equivalent from another builder. The amp is based on a hybrid of tweed, brown and blackface features and runs a nice range of tones. Whether it's this amp or something like the Fargen Dual or JW models, you don't have to be completely in one camp or the other. There are also mods out there for dual channel Fenders to make the left channel sound more tweed - like. These mods will not make a DR sound just like a tweed deluxe (there's a lot more than pre-amp differences going on), but they can get you pretty close.

 

[Bigtone]

Move up to a tweed super, with the bass, treble and presence, and be done
with it, You can get killer cleans, like a BF, and it roars with mids when dimed, think JTM 45. You should hear the super into a marshall 4 12, I could fool marshall purists. Its THE most versatile amp ever made IMHO. You simply can't get the mids ,unless you mod one channel of a BF fender,
which is another good suggestion,

Victoria makes a nice copy.

Trust me, I have both, and really picky with clean tones, Very light amp to carry around also, much like a DR, which I also have.

Bigtone

 

[jefrobie]

What would you suggest for a tweed super? What model does Victoria make? Thanks,

 

[riffmeister]

I prefer BF. The "mid hump" of a Tube Screamer type OD fills the "mid scoop" of the BF sound very nicely. The BF circuit I like the most is actually a Tone King Meteor. It has 4x6V6 in the poweramp section and is cathode biased. The combination makes for smoother breakup than the usual 2x6L6 BF circuit.

I like the mid scoop of the BF sound because I find it sits behind the vocals better. Hit the OD pedal and viola, great lead tone results.

 

[mad dog]

I just played through the Headstrong Little King today. Cool amp. I've owned and/or played my way through many BF and SF fenders, same deal with mid and larger tweeds. For how I hear things, tweeds are the most versatile. Any of the 35 watters, with the Pro my favorite. Or the low power tweed twin, probably the most versatile overall of any tweed I"ve tried. I'll own BF again someday, most like the Pro Reverb, which strikes me as maybe the most versatile of all those later Fenders. There is no one right answer to your question. It's a matter of taste and what you want to do with the amp.