Amp Recommendation for Country and Blues

[stephwills]

Hi. I've been trolling the forums for about a week now. You guys seem really cool and I'm excited to have found this place. I've just recently ordered my first Telecaster (Highway One, honey blonde). It should arrive next week. It's my first *real* guitar, as I've only been playing for about a month. I've been playing drums/percussion for too many years to mention and recently decided that if I'm going to keep writing songs, I really need to learn guitar. Yeah, I'm apparently a slow learner.

Anyway, my main musical interest is older country. Buck Owens has been a tremendous influence on me and is the main reason I chose a Telecaster. I also really dig Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, The Derailers, Dwight Yoakam, etc. However, I'm also partial to older blues (Albert King, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, etc.) and, of course, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Omar & The Howlers and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

My question is, since I'm just starting out, which amp would you recommend that would allow me to more easily switch back and forth between the two genres. My budget is a little tight right now (gotta pay off that Tele!), but I'm not in any big hurry to purchase something. I figure I can come up with $500 over the next couple of months. And if you guys think I should hold out for something a little more pricey, I'm not opposed to that either.

For now, my main focus is practicing and some recording, which I'll be doing in my house. I don't anticipate playing live within the next year or two.

I've searched the forums and found threads specific to blues and others specific to country, but I couldn't anything specific to both. Those threads may exist but I couldn't find them. If you know of a link, please post it and I'll definitely check it out.

Thanks for any insight you guys have. It's much appreciated!

[maiga]

Cheap, small, and sweet- there's loads of stuff out there!

If it's cheap then you can mess about with it without it being super precious- most folks here seem to swear by vintage Fender amps, which do sound lovely but cost a lot of bucks. If you don't like it, then it's cheap- so try another one!

Small means that you can play it flat out without p***ing off neighbours/family *TOO* badly. This is important- see above- it's good to mess about to find sounds you like, and that includes turning it right up. This changes the characteristics of any amp. I had a 30w Laney which was lovely, but a total waste of time as I never really found out what it would 'do'. My new homebrew 5w is much better (for me) as I know that it does nice things when completely cranked 'cos I can do it!

Sweet- obvious really, country guitar should sound fairly sweet even when it's *pretending* to be mean and nasty, so a Dimebag Darrell (RIP...) signature mega overdrive death metal sound is probably not where you want to go.

Hope this is helpful! You should experiment, play everything in the shop (how can anyone buy an amp on-line anyway?) and again, don't reject anything 'cos it's cheap. Happy twanging!

Mikie

[garytelecastor]

StephWills-Howdy, ya'all. Come on in, kick yer boots off, and set a spell.
Any relation to Bob?
I would check out ebay. You basically want something with some pretty good headroom as "clean" is the tone of choice in country.
For blues I use pedals for my dirt.

[teleon]

Hello, stephwills! Save as much as you can so you can get a 5e3 Tweed Deluxe . Great amps for what you need. There are many companies producing affordable clones. The classified section is a good place to shop for an amp. Not a week goes by that I dont see something great on there.

[jefrs]

Oh no, a drummer wants to become a musician! ;-)

Hi Steph, welcome.

There will be another one along in a minute to recommend a Fender amp for country.
Blues on a tele? -a bit more tricky, spoilt for choice. Normally need to turn it up to get that just overdriven warmth. The big stage amps aren't going to work in a domestic environment. I'm using a Laney L5T, excellent as is its bigger version but over your budget: I record with a special DI box in the spare ext speaker socket. The new Laney LC15 might fit the bill, has reverb, not sure if model still has line out. Ignoring money - various Crate (loud), Fender (very loud), Marshall (too loud), Vox (way too loud). IMO most of the small cheap valve jobs don't cut it for blues and the small cheaper solid states aren't up to it. Roland Cubes of various sizes are good for quiet practice and money, I'm a bit concerned with its recording line out that silences the speaker though - I can't hear it.
Do a search on this forum in the amps section.
Try before you buy.

[gwr]

Just a shot in the dark here but I would say keep your eyes open for a reissue deluxe reverb,with the right speaker AND pickups you can cover trad. country and older blues,I used a c12q (original not reissue) and barden pickups and can go from clean to nasty in a second,good luck...

[Scott S]

Not to be snarky, but an amp's suitability for blues depends mostly on the player. Two of my favorite blues guitarists liked solid-state amplifiers.

- Scott

[Flat357]

Hey Steph .

Like Gary said , you might want to find an amp that doesn't break up too quickly , but can get there if you need it .
Any reasonable amp will put you in the ball park , and you can adjust with various pedals for coloration .
I would look at 60 watts upwards for Country / Blues , so you get enough headroom before it starts to break up .
If you don't have many pedals , perhaps look at some of the 3 channel Peaveys , such as the triumph 60 etc , which are great amps and can be bought cheaply on the 2nd hand market .

[RomanS]

I'd say, get an amp that does a nice clean country sound (BF or SF Fender amps with reverb, like a Twin or a Deluxe Reverb would be ideal, but are probably out of your price range, and you don't need that much volume - so maybe a (used) Blues Jr.? Or a (used) Hotrod Deluxe (quite a bit louder)?)

And for your blues tones, get a nice, warm sounding low-gain OD pedal, something Tubescreamer-ish - the Digitech Bad Monkey, despite it's low price, is one of the best around.

Remember: you can make a clean (country) sounding amp dirtier (bluesier) with an OD pedal - but there is no pedal that will make a dirty/bluesy amp (like a 5E3) sound cleaner...

[RCinMempho]

The new Fender Super Champ XD might be just the thing for you. If you are just starting out, this amp will give you lots of usable sounds. It has the most needed effects built in. It might not be quite enough amp for gigging, but you can afford it now. It will give you a lot of things to learn with, and it would be great for doing some recording.

[stephwills]

Originally Posted by garytelecastor

Any relation to Bob?

lol, I wish.

Originally Posted by jefrs

Oh no, a drummer wants to become a musician! ;-)

Yes, please go easy on me.

Thanks for the awesome feedback guys! I'll definitely check out your recommendations. I'll head out to the local music stores this coming weekend and try out the ones they have.

You guys rock.

[TWANGNUT]

Fender: Blues DeVille, Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod DeVille. For the price, hard to beat!

[3 Chord]

Depends on your budget,

For little money, Fender solid state like a Deluxe 90 or 65 (I know, no cool tubes)

For a little more money, PV Classic 30

For more money yet, Deluxe Reverb RI or Silver Face twin

All three will get you a decent clean country / blues tone. And "generally" the tone gets better farther you go down the list. And I agree, the Bad Monkey is an excellent cheap grit box.

Good luck

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by TWANGNUT

Fender: Blues DeVille, Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod DeVille. For the price, hard to beat!

+1 they dont get much better than these without spending a lot more cash. I would also reccomend a blues junior.d I have the Blues Deluxe reissue, it is sweet.

[ce24]

you might look at a Peavey classic 30 also..great sound and pretty cheap. I'll get flamed for not knowing much on this but my 5E3 has great cleans..BUT i'm running a Boss GT-8 into it and that seems to give me much more headroom for clean...go figure eh? even my wife noticed the great sound of this amp..but when I put a 5150 patch to the 5E3 it just screams..it's a wonder to behold.

Cheers
ce24
oh! and good luck!!!

[petebradt]

Fender: Blues DeVille, Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod DeVille.

To the OP: You should not buy ANY of these amps, they will fail you. They are entry-level amps, built to fail. You might have to wait longer to get an amp, but if you spend a little more money, you'll get a LOT more amp.

Look into a li'l Dawg Dlux (5E3) or similar. Great amps for the money, and good for country or blues if you know what you're doing.

[TWANGNUT]

Originally Posted by petebradt

To the OP: You should not buy ANY of these amps, they will fail you. THey are entry-level amps, built to fail. You might have to wait longer to get an amp, but if you spend a little more money, you'll get a LOT more amp.

Look into a li'l Dawg Dlux (5E3) or similar. Great amps for the money, and good for country or blues if you know what you're doing.

Uhhh..... I believe he said he was starting, thus entry level. Also I own a Blues Deville that I've been playing for about 10 years. It always goes TWANG when I flick the switch. Plus it was stated that he had $500 which is about right for one of these used. True these aren't top of the food chain, but they are excellent ENTRY-LEVEL amps.

P.S. I was privileged enough to play with Brent Mason once and guess what he chose to play through... a Blues DeVille.

[Tony474]

If you're not going to be gigging or playing out for the time being, but concentrating on home playing and recording, you might care to check out the Roland Cubes and maybe the Tech 21 Trademark series. The new small Fenders look like likely candidates too, while for those who just gotta have toobs, the Blues Junior is not only a good choice as stock but can be gently modified by tube substitution to provide less front-end gain and more clean headroom, and can also be further tailored to customise it to your own requirements if and when desired. In fact, when you're ready, it would be quite giggable within its limits.

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by petebradt

To the OP: You should not buy ANY of these amps, they will fail you. They are entry-level amps, built to fail. You might have to wait longer to get an amp, but if you spend a little more money, you'll get a LOT more amp.

Look into a li'l Dawg Dlux (5E3) or similar. Great amps for the money, and good for country or blues if you know what you're doing.

I don't know what you have against Fender Amps, but 10s of thousands of us play these guys on a daily basis with no problem what so ever.

[robt57]

Get a Nashville 400 Peavey [and a roadie to move it], Your floor board with lots of goodies and all the headroom you'd ever need.

[purpletele]

Welcome. I'd check out:

-Fender Deluxe Reverb.

This would be my first choice for blues or country. It may take a pedal to get the overdrive you want though for blues. It's a loud 22 watts. You can find them used in the $500-$600 range.

-Vox ac15 cc1

Good clean sounds. More suited I think for the country side of things, but it certainly can do blues. $599 new

-Peavy Classic 30 or Delta blues.

Good sounding amps. I'm not a fan of the drive channels, but they do take pedals well.

[mudbean]

Originally Posted by RCinMempho

The new Fender Super Champ XD might be just the thing for you. If you are just starting out, this amp will give you lots of usable sounds. It has the most needed effects built in. It might not be quite enough amp for gigging, but you can afford it now. It will give you a lot of things to learn with, and it would be great for doing some recording.

+1

Hi Steph, I'm just starting out, too (been playing acoustic campfire guit & elec bass for many years - got my Tele a couple months ago). From this perspective, I think this is the best approach to take ... an amp like the new Champ XD with onboard effects will be alot more fun for you. As you are just beginning to discover the adventure of the electric guitar, having cool noises to mess around with will keep it interesting and, more importantly, maybe keep you playing more. Also, as you progress to the point where you'll want to "take it out" on stage, you may want to attend open mic jams. The Champ will be plenty loud enough, believe me (I play bass in the house rhythm section for a blues jam on Sunday nites, and small amps are preferred, both for ease of logistics and esp for reasonable volume levels - it always cracks me up when we get guys rolling in with Marshall half-stacks like it's an arena gig.)

My $0.02

mud

[mudbean]

OOPS, double post, sorry.

mud

[Axis29]

I'll put in my 2 cents for a DRRI as a fantastic blues and country amp! I love mine. Granted I can't play country to save my life, but I can get osme country sounds. I do play a lot of blues and some rockabilly stuff and this amp just sings for those styles!

However at home volumes I would suggest the new Super Champ XD or Vibro Champ XD! They have some built in effects as already stated. They are tube so you really get a nice tube sound and they are relatively inexpensive as far as amps go.

Good luck and let us know what you pick!