i need a reality check

anacephalic · June 26th, 2008, 12:47 PM

Hi all. I need a grab and go amp for local jams and small clubs. My current amp is a Dr Z prescription original strength 2x12 full of NOS tubes. It's an awsome amp that is incredibly open and 3-d. That chime and sence of openness is addictive. But its way heavy and it's way loud, though a power brake helps. Over the last 10 yrs playing that amp haz influence my style a lot so i'm now finger pickin with the guitar straight into the amp player. twangy americana played on a strat and gibbies would be a fair approximation of what i want it for.

I've been looking at the amp options and there is the blues jr. delta blues value level, the deluxe reverb reissue value level and then the Carr, Alessandro, Victoria, and cheaper vintage fender value level. Trem and a decent amount of headroom are a must and a 15 would be a nice plus. So i'm stuck on "should i just spend the cash and get the top shelf stuff or is there something out there that is way cool but way cheap so any flaws could be easily overlooked?". Iwould love to spend $250 but $1250 is about max.

I'm fear maybe i've turned into a boutique snob and just have gas for a vicky Regal or Victoriette and i'm trying to justify buying one. the amps available near me to try are pretty limited so the try em till you like one option doesn't work out. suggestions? thanks.

Tim Armstrong · June 26th, 2008, 12:51 PM

Put down any drinks, I don't want to be responsible for you spitting all over your monitor.

Okay, ready?

Vox AD30vt.

Before you utterly dismiss this idea, go put one through its paces. Listen carefully. Look at the price tag...

Cheers, Tim

getbent · June 26th, 2008, 12:57 PM

The Regal is a sweet amp. I played one about a year ago... really, really nice....

what I wonder is if you aren't hooked on the EL84 sound... if so, the more fendery sound may leave you thinking you are missing your sound... what about a maz jr.?

otoh, my favorite inexpensive and smaller combo amp right now is the musicman rp112. you can find them on Craigslist and on ebay for a fraction of what they sound like. they have great headroom and I keep finding them for 180-250.00 even spending 100.00 on a tech to check'em out and you are way ahead sound wise.

echale iii · June 26th, 2008, 01:54 PM

I put a VOX AD30VT through its paces at Kelley's here in Roanoke, with two guitars--a PRS soapbar SE II and a Gibson Classic Antique Les Paul.

I'll put it this way--If I got a good strong offer on my Peavey Triple XXX, I'd sell it and get one and have a chunk of change left over to play with. The VOX Valvetronix amps are pretty sweet...

They are a lot lighter than a tube amp; they have very good sounding amp models on them; they can be set on manual and the controls act like the ones on the amp being modeled, or if you're not adventurous, you can just use the presets, which also sound good; they have a power brake built into all of them but the little 15-watt amp; they have headphone jacks for quiet practice; and on the larger ones, you have a jack for an additional cabinet...

You can take your choice of either the regular Valvetronix line, which has some nice clean models, some crunchy models, and a couple high-gain models, or the Valvetronix XL line, which is the high-gain model series that has two fairly clean models and 9 flamethrower models...

I'd love it if VOX would make an amp and let the user select which models from the two lines to include in their amp, sort of a customized mix'n'match setup... There's a few models on the regular amp that I'd sacrifice to get a few from the XL setup and vice-versa.

golfnut · June 26th, 2008, 01:55 PM

I will be picking up a Dr Z Carmen Ghia for a small amp companion to my Stangray.

teleamp · June 26th, 2008, 02:12 PM

I suggest a 5E3, get yourself a kit (Mission, Mojo, Marsh, Weber, they're all good with a few slight variations), or have someone do it for you or get someone to assemble it for you. It is a lightweight tone monster, I just built one using a custom chassis that sounds as good as any.

here's a clip of one that I just built for someone: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=6664940

If you have any questions about 5E3's PM me.

63dot · June 26th, 2008, 02:13 PM

crate makes some good, small tube amps which deliver and are able to be held in one hand while you carry your guitar in the other hand

parking is a pain on some gigs and sometimes two trips to the car is not practical

i used to cart around a princeton reverb or a deluxe reverb and while they were nice, either was quite heavy for its size and it wasn't exactly a grab and go type of amp

that was in the 80s and today's newer tube amps give you the same stuff in a lighter weight package

roland cube and vox also make small, lightweight excellent sounding amps with the clean channel especially

CatfishStudios · June 26th, 2008, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Put down any drinks, I don't want to be responsible for you spitting all over your monitor.

Okay, ready?

Vox AD30vt.

Before you utterly dismiss this idea, go put one through its paces. Listen carefully. Look at the price tag...

Cheers, Tim

+1 ... These things put out great tone.

getbent · June 26th, 2008, 02:28 PM

how about el84 power at 599.00?

studio1087 · June 26th, 2008, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Put down any drinks, I don't want to be responsible for you spitting all over your monitor.

Okay, ready?

Vox AD30vt.

Before you utterly dismiss this idea, go put one through its paces. Listen carefully. Look at the price tag...

Cheers, Tim

+2 The Fender clean tones will amaze you.

robbysturgis · June 26th, 2008, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Vox AD30vt.

Be sure to play it in a band setting.

Your rehearsal space may not be the best option.

Play it with your drummer in the drum room at GC. The stand 10 - 15 feet in front of the amp...make sure the sound you like will get to your audience.

evol04gt · June 26th, 2008, 03:38 PM

ad30ft is amazing. master volume and attenuator (spelling?) with main volume and gain knob...many good voicings with playing with these alone..

the effects take time to learn how to use

...reverb is fake. only real complaint..im going to be making vox grill cloths for them and selling at some point... the chrome is hideous.

evol04gt · June 26th, 2008, 03:39 PM

dt..not ft..typo

KC · June 26th, 2008, 03:58 PM

ac15 would be a good pick . . . as would an old Gibson Goldtone GA15 or GA15RV if you can find one, one volume knob and one tone knob but they sound sweet. No master on these, though the GA15 has a half-power switch.

The low-end pick of the litter for me, though, would be a Blues Junior -- I've got a weber ceramic blue dog in mine, which brings out the chimy / voxy character of the el84s. It's a light little box with reverb that (with the more efficient speaker) will handle a surprisingly loud situation.

ibobunot · June 26th, 2008, 04:00 PM

..

Tim Armstrong · June 26th, 2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robbysturgis

Be sure to play it in a band setting.

Your rehearsal space may not be the best option.

Play it with your drummer in the drum room at GC. The stand 10 - 15 feet in front of the amp...make sure the sound you like will get to your audience.

Or come see us play this weekend in Ocean City, Maryland, and hear my brother use his in our rock'n'roll trio. Of course, we always throw a mic on it and let our PA do the heavy lifting, but...

Cheers, Tim

e-merlin · June 26th, 2008, 04:17 PM

So, the two biggest problems are too heavy and too loud?

If a 45 watt amp is too loud, a 30 watt amp won't be that much quieter. An AC15 will be a bit quieter, and will probably do the job if the Rx is too loud. Great little amp. Also check out a Crate V15.

But my top pick would be a Peavey Bravo 112. It's a 25 watt class A/B amp with a great clean channel, and if you can find one, it can be had for around $200. Throw in, some of your favorite tubes and your favorite speaker and you're good to go. The downsides are:

A. They are getting a bit hard to find in good shape.

B. The dirty channel is aimed at Metal, and even with a 12AT7 in V2 it still sounds metally, mostly due to the active EQ on that channel.

Also, check out a Peavey Classic 30. While you can't just pull tubes to get it down to 15 watts (due to the power tubes being wired in series) you can mod some tubes for the same effect, and then use a dummy plug in the 8 Ohm output. You'll still need to use a 16 Ohm speaker, though. The upside of this is that, if it's not loud enough, you can swap the modded tubes for working ones, pull the dummy plug, and you're back at full power.

jjh37854 · June 26th, 2008, 04:29 PM

I am seriously considering a ad30vt, my pathfinder starting making a loud buzz, so I need a practice/low vol/low weight amp as an alternative to my Z Mazerati.

I am also thinking it would make a decent amp for my Django thing, low volume, acoustic situations.

-jjh

anacephalic · June 26th, 2008, 05:04 PM

wow my network went down for an hour and i return to a wealth of good suggestions and most of them on the cheap side. cool.

the vox ad30 is a great suggestion i never thought of. at least i know i can find them around here. i should also try the ac15 again. i played on in the store once and didn't like it but it could have been me.

here's a quick question about the 5e3 type amps. and i think this probably includes the Swart which i've been looking at for a while but have never heard. Is the Vicky deluxe tone representative of that type of amp. I tried to like that amp but not near enough headroom or clarity....at least in the room i played it in.

anacephalic · June 26th, 2008, 05:10 PM

just peaked at ebay for the little vox modeler. those things are stupid cheap. One looks about ready to go for abut a C-note definitely worth a visit to listen. thanks for the suggestion

63dot · June 26th, 2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Put down any drinks, I don't want to be responsible for you spitting all over your monitor.

Okay, ready?

Vox AD30vt.

Before you utterly dismiss this idea, go put one through its paces. Listen carefully. Look at the price tag...

Cheers, Tim

gee, tim, you didn't strike me as a brit pop emo boy ;)

rhinocaster · June 26th, 2008, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibobunot

..

Is this a finish option now? I hope not. I've managed to convice myself that I don't need a Swart but this could certainly push me over the edge!

Southern ILL · June 26th, 2008, 09:26 PM

Swart is great but I am with the others....THe Vox is great and light weight and though I'm still honey mooning with mine....I think its great.I have the 60 watt version and really love it...it was minty fresh ebay score and got it shipped to me for around $300....pretty nice amp. I have tried the other modeler amps and none of them really did it for me. Especially in Fender and Vox tones.....Not this one....pretty impressive.

ibobunot · June 26th, 2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhinocaster

Is this a finish option now? I hope not. I've managed to convice myself that I don't need a Swart but this could certainly push me over the edge!

It is sexy....

Quote:

We occasionally do custom orders and the usual charge for a substitute covering is hovering around $100usd although the cabinet guy always grumbles and kicks up some sawdust.

Then again sometimes it's worth living through the muttering, such as with the dark tweed Space Tone.

--Swart News Round-Up--

rhinocaster · June 26th, 2008, 09:52 PM

June 26th, 2008, 12:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
anacephalic TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: omaha ne Age: 48 Posts: 37	i need a reality check Hi all. I need a grab and go amp for local jams and small clubs. My current amp is a Dr Z prescription original strength 2x12 full of NOS tubes. It's an awsome amp that is incredibly open and 3-d. That chime and sence of openness is addictive. But its way heavy and it's way loud, though a power brake helps. Over the last 10 yrs playing that amp haz influence my style a lot so i'm now finger pickin with the guitar straight into the amp player. twangy americana played on a strat and gibbies would be a fair approximation of what i want it for. I've been looking at the amp options and there is the blues jr. delta blues value level, the deluxe reverb reissue value level and then the Carr, Alessandro, Victoria, and cheaper vintage fender value level. Trem and a decent amount of headroom are a must and a 15 would be a nice plus. So i'm stuck on "should i just spend the cash and get the top shelf stuff or is there something out there that is way cool but way cheap so any flaws could be easily overlooked?". Iwould love to spend $250 but $1250 is about max. I'm fear maybe i've turned into a boutique snob and just have gas for a vicky Regal or Victoriette and i'm trying to justify buying one. the amps available near me to try are pretty limited so the try em till you like one option doesn't work out. suggestions? thanks.

June 26th, 2008, 12:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 8,900	Put down any drinks, I don't want to be responsible for you spitting all over your monitor. Okay, ready? Vox AD30vt. Before you utterly dismiss this idea, go put one through its paces. Listen carefully. Look at the price tag... Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

June 26th, 2008, 12:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Age: 48 Posts: 9,539 37 Photos	The Regal is a sweet amp. I played one about a year ago... really, really nice.... what I wonder is if you aren't hooked on the EL84 sound... if so, the more fendery sound may leave you thinking you are missing your sound... what about a maz jr.? otoh, my favorite inexpensive and smaller combo amp right now is the musicman rp112. you can find them on Craigslist and on ebay for a fraction of what they sound like. they have great headroom and I keep finding them for 180-250.00 even spending 100.00 on a tech to check'em out and you are way ahead sound wise. __________________

June 26th, 2008, 01:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
golfnut Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada Age: 48 Posts: 294	I will be picking up a Dr Z Carmen Ghia for a small amp companion to my Stangray. __________________ Dr Z Stangray - 2X12 Open back cab W/Celestion Blues AV52 RI 62 RI Hotrod strat

June 26th, 2008, 02:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Age: 48 Posts: 9,539 37 Photos	how about el84 power at 599.00? __________________

June 26th, 2008, 01:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
echale iii Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Ivanhoe, VA Age: 45 Posts: 353	I put a VOX AD30VT through its paces at Kelley's here in Roanoke, with two guitars--a PRS soapbar SE II and a Gibson Classic Antique Les Paul. I'll put it this way--If I got a good strong offer on my Peavey Triple XXX, I'd sell it and get one and have a chunk of change left over to play with. The VOX Valvetronix amps are pretty sweet... They are a lot lighter than a tube amp; they have very good sounding amp models on them; they can be set on manual and the controls act like the ones on the amp being modeled, or if you're not adventurous, you can just use the presets, which also sound good; they have a power brake built into all of them but the little 15-watt amp; they have headphone jacks for quiet practice; and on the larger ones, you have a jack for an additional cabinet... You can take your choice of either the regular Valvetronix line, which has some nice clean models, some crunchy models, and a couple high-gain models, or the Valvetronix XL line, which is the high-gain model series that has two fairly clean models and 9 flamethrower models... I'd love it if VOX would make an amp and let the user select which models from the two lines to include in their amp, sort of a customized mix'n'match setup... There's a few models on the regular amp that I'd sacrifice to get a few from the XL setup and vice-versa.

June 26th, 2008, 02:12 PM	#6 (permalink)
teleamp Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Central TX Age: 49 Posts: 592	I suggest a 5E3, get yourself a kit (Mission, Mojo, Marsh, Weber, they're all good with a few slight variations), or have someone do it for you or get someone to assemble it for you. It is a lightweight tone monster, I just built one using a custom chassis that sounds as good as any. here's a clip of one that I just built for someone: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=6664940 If you have any questions about 5E3's PM me.

June 26th, 2008, 02:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
63dot Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: earth Posts: 884	crate makes some good, small tube amps which deliver and are able to be held in one hand while you carry your guitar in the other hand parking is a pain on some gigs and sometimes two trips to the car is not practical i used to cart around a princeton reverb or a deluxe reverb and while they were nice, either was quite heavy for its size and it wasn't exactly a grab and go type of amp that was in the 80s and today's newer tube amps give you the same stuff in a lighter weight package roland cube and vox also make small, lightweight excellent sounding amps with the clean channel especially

June 26th, 2008, 03:38 PM	#12 (permalink)
evol04gt Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: NE ohio Age: 27 Posts: 469	ad30ft is amazing. master volume and attenuator (spelling?) with main volume and gain knob...many good voicings with playing with these alone.. the effects take time to learn how to use ...reverb is fake. only real complaint..im going to be making vox grill cloths for them and selling at some point... the chrome is hideous.

June 26th, 2008, 03:39 PM	#13 (permalink)
evol04gt Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: NE ohio Age: 27 Posts: 469	dt..not ft..typo

June 26th, 2008, 03:58 PM	#14 (permalink)
KC Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Missoula, Montana Posts: 1,231 15 Photos	ac15 would be a good pick . . . as would an old Gibson Goldtone GA15 or GA15RV if you can find one, one volume knob and one tone knob but they sound sweet. No master on these, though the GA15 has a half-power switch. The low-end pick of the litter for me, though, would be a Blues Junior -- I've got a weber ceramic blue dog in mine, which brings out the chimy / voxy character of the el84s. It's a light little box with reverb that (with the more efficient speaker) will handle a surprisingly loud situation.

June 26th, 2008, 04:00 PM	#15 (permalink)
ibobunot Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Dullsville Posts: 3,456	Swart AST dark tweed ..

June 26th, 2008, 04:29 PM	#18 (permalink)
jjh37854 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Francisco Age: 35 Posts: 1,149 7 Photos	I am seriously considering a ad30vt, my pathfinder starting making a loud buzz, so I need a practice/low vol/low weight amp as an alternative to my Z Mazerati. I am also thinking it would make a decent amp for my Django thing, low volume, acoustic situations. -jjh

June 26th, 2008, 05:04 PM	#19 (permalink)
anacephalic TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: omaha ne Age: 48 Posts: 37	wow my network went down for an hour and i return to a wealth of good suggestions and most of them on the cheap side. cool. the vox ad30 is a great suggestion i never thought of. at least i know i can find them around here. i should also try the ac15 again. i played on in the store once and didn't like it but it could have been me. here's a quick question about the 5e3 type amps. and i think this probably includes the Swart which i've been looking at for a while but have never heard. Is the Vicky deluxe tone representative of that type of amp. I tried to like that amp but not near enough headroom or clarity....at least in the room i played it in.

June 26th, 2008, 05:10 PM	#20 (permalink)
anacephalic TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: omaha ne Age: 48 Posts: 37	just peaked at ebay for the little vox modeler. those things are stupid cheap. One looks about ready to go for abut a C-note definitely worth a visit to listen. thanks for the suggestion

June 26th, 2008, 09:26 PM	#23 (permalink)
Southern ILL Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Illinois Age: 38 Posts: 900	Swart is great but I am with the others....THe Vox is great and light weight and though I'm still honey mooning with mine....I think its great.I have the 60 watt version and really love it...it was minty fresh ebay score and got it shipped to me for around $300....pretty nice amp. I have tried the other modeler amps and none of them really did it for me. Especially in Fender and Vox tones.....Not this one....pretty impressive.

June 26th, 2008, 09:52 PM	#25 (permalink)
rhinocaster Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oregon Age: 44 Posts: 1,215