Best Blues/tube amp that aint a fender?

[iris186]

Hey everyone, Are there any good alternatives to buying a fender tube amp for blues? Im thinking of investing in a fender deluxe reverb 65 reissue, (my first good amp investment) read good things, still have to try it out in a music store, but for about a grand, its perfect for my price range, not going to gig any stadiums for the time being so its suits the venue size im thinking! Plus, its meant to be pretty lightweight compared to other tubes, which is a bonus. I dont see any of the other fenders with the sound Im looking for, the only obvious step up would be the super reverb, but... maybe a bit out of my price range. But also the deluxe has more pros in my head, regardless of price.

When i say blues, its a bit misleading, I dont have a particular fascination with retro equipment or anything, alot has happened in the last 40 years, (yes most of it in the wrong direction ), but im wondering am I being blindsided with everyone trying to sound like everyone else with gear. And, er, Im not a blues guitarist, , just blues is the easiest way to describe the dynamics and possibility for colour Im sorta into... A tube amp is a must though Im thinking.

There is vox amps I know, but they seem like the amp that youd buy maybe 2nd, if your looking for a new flavour?

What am I missing out on if I let years of fender brainwashing win out?!

Oh, and one other question - How do tube amps work with, say, a big muff or rat infront of them? I like the two pedals so Ive a totaly different set of colours at my disposal, but are there any adverse affects to the sound when running fuzz through tubes? Does it get very messy?! Its a stupid question Ive never thought to ask!

Thanks for your help!

[ASC67]

Marshall Bluesbreaker might fit the bill.

[backalleyblues]

Plenty of tweed Fender clones available at the $1k point-lotsa people here like sara richter's work (look on e-bait for sarasmiles). Tweeds are generally more raw-sounding than a 60's Fender like the DRRI (which is an excellent amp, btw). You can also turn up some of the Fender reissues like the 5F6 Bassman (the classic 4x10 tweed blues monster) at that price point.

Ampegs are another possibility-you can get a an original Gemini for well under a grand-think late 60's Rolling Stones records for the sound of these amps... just avoid the ones that have Compactron tubes in them (like the 6k11 or 6c10-hard to find and very pricey when you do find them).

Older style Marshalls tend to be quite bluesey, since they were based on the 5f6 Bassman-not my cup of tea (too aggressive for my tastes, YMMV). I'd stay away from the later JCM series-very different animal than the old JTM-45 types (Including the BluesBreaker amp).

Voxes are bright, chimey amps-good examples are old Beatles records, Queen, Status Quo... again, not my cup of tea, but I've heard them sound great in the right hands.

The original Big Muff and Rat pedals (in fact, most distortion pedals) were designed and tested on tube amps (especially the BM) since that was about the only decent amp available. Either one will be fine with a tube amp, I use an old Rat with my HRDX...

Franc Robert

[jefrs]

Rory played Vox and got a lot of different sounds out of them. They don't have to be chimey, that's what the top cut is for.
Then there's Marshall and Orange.

[Colt W. Knight]

I like fender, but Peavey makes a delta blues model.

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by iris186

Hey everyone, Are there any good alternatives to buying a fender tube amp for blues? Im thinking of investing in a fender deluxe reverb 65 reissue, (my first good amp investment) read good things, still have to try it out in a music store, but for about a grand, its perfect for my price range, not going to gig any stadiums for the time being so its suits the venue size im thinking! Plus, its meant to be pretty lightweight compared to other tubes, which is a bonus. I dont see any of the other fenders with the sound Im looking for, the only obvious step up would be the super reverb, but... maybe a bit out of my price range. But also the deluxe has more pros in my head, regardless of price.

When i say blues, its a bit misleading, I dont have a particular fascination with retro equipment or anything, alot has happened in the last 40 years, (yes most of it in the wrong direction ), but im wondering am I being blindsided with everyone trying to sound like everyone else with gear. And, er, Im not a blues guitarist, , just blues is the easiest way to describe the dynamics and possibility for colour Im sorta into... A tube amp is a must though Im thinking.

There is vox amps I know, but they seem like the amp that youd buy maybe 2nd, if your looking for a new flavour?

What am I missing out on if I let years of fender brainwashing win out?!

Oh, and one other question - How do tube amps work with, say, a big muff or rat infront of them? I like the two pedals so Ive a totaly different set of colours at my disposal, but are there any adverse affects to the sound when running fuzz through tubes? Does it get very messy?! Its a stupid question Ive never thought to ask!

Thanks for your help!

When trying the amp in the store please be aware that Fender ships that amp with a low bias setting so it may sound a little bit on the sterile side. The bias is the amount of voltage that is going to the tubes. Its a quick adjustment via a potentiometer behind the power tubes (the big ones) and makes a bit of a difference in tone. If you adjust the bias a little hotter than amp will start to break up sooner so if you looking for a little bit of overdrive from the amp alone this is good way to do it. Some folks here will talk about a clipping the "brightness" cap on the volume knob. I personally see no reason to do that. It does not affect the tone of the amp once you go pass 5 on the volume knob. Its there to add treble at lower volume settings.

If the store you are buying the amp from does amp repairs see if you can get them to adjust the bias a little hotter.

But on the other hand you should really try a bunch of amps and see which one fits the bill FOR YOU!! Don't rule out used amps, you can probably find a decent amp and with a trip to an amp tech, get it sounding great for less than a grand.

Good luck.

[telbert twang]

Laney VC range - perfect amps for bluesy stuff and more

"never say never" but i´ll never get rid of my VC15-110, instead perhaps will buy VC30 ( 112/212 ) or trade my peavey classic 50 for that one day.

[Tonemonkey]

That's a lot of wonga for your 1st tube amp. Especially since you will likely refine your taste after playing the amp for a few months and buy another

Plus you can get a lot more Amp for your cash if you try out some used/older amps of whatever make. I'm not sure how often pre-owned tube amps become available in Dublin. Saying that my mate just spent nearly a grand on a Cornford Roadhouse (New) and that sounds sweet.

I play blues/blues'n'roll and my old Traynor YGM-3 is fast becoming my goto amp over and above some Fender and boutique cousins. And it only cost me 200 quid.

[marshman]

Well, ask yourself a couple questions:

How important is the weight issue?

How important is Reverb?

Are you sure that you only need 30-ish watts?

Tube amps are inherently heavy, mainly due to the need for at least 2 large transformers, and the more powerful, the heavier the trannies. Keeping the wattage low will keep the weight low. And for club gigging, 30 watts is most likely plenty (unless you stumble on a really good deal for a Bluesbreaker or bassman) so I wouldn't deliberately seek out a 50 watter.

Reverb is awesome, but many amps don't come with it. I have a couple amps w/o, but they all make a pretty sweet noise without it, so I don't miss it too much. From your general description, an 18 watter might be the way to go.

[601 Blues]

Marshall Plexi, 50 watts with 2/12A cab

[The O.K.]

If I may, I'd like to offer a cheap alternative, the Peavey Valveking. It does nice Fender like cleans, and the 2nd channel is nice for blues so long as you keep the gain down. I have one, don't play it so much as I am stuck on my Blues Jr. But the 50 Watt VK is a good cheap amp, does blues just fine.

[TeleFunking]

Check the small, cheap and awesome sounding Pignose G40V! This amp speaks SRV!

[The O.K.]

Originally Posted by TeleFunking

Check the small, cheap and awesome sounding Pignose G40V! This amp speaks SRV!

+1. I had one. This thing is ideal for blues. However, it can be a little thin with the 10 inch speaker; an easy solution is to plug it into a large cab.

[Singin' Dave]

I think you're on the right track with the Deluxe Reverb RI. I own a '73 SFDR and it's my go to amp pretty much across the board. The DRRI is no PTP vintage amp, but all the pieces are right with these Deluxes - great clean tone, manageable breakup, good size, perfect volume for just about any room or gig (mic'd in larger venues - though I always mic when gigging). All in all a great take on a classic which will need just a bit of tweaking to sound glorious for you.

Now...if you can find a SFDR for that price in Dublin, that's your ticket. But I doubt thats likely.

The old Ampegs and Yorkvilles are also worth a long look (if they can be found)

[muchxs]

Originally Posted by TeleFunking

Check the small, cheap and awesome sounding Pignose G40V! This amp speaks SRV!

If I remember correctly the G40 is a stripped down JTM45/5F6 circuit w/ "one wire" mod. The preamp architecture is like a stripped down JCM800. So... it's roughly a Marshall with 6L6 tubes. Which is a long way of saying it would be an excellent blues amp.

I expect that if it were a newer design Kager might have used 6V6 tubes and lower plate voltages in the power supply. The stock 10" speaker makes little sense. If the amp were to show up on my doorstep in a basket it would be a head instead of a combo the next time anyone saw it.

Originally Posted by ASC67

Marshall Bluesbreaker might fit the bill.

Originally Posted by 601 Blues

Marshall Plexi, 50 watts with 2/12A cab

A Bluesbreaker is a Plexi combo. A Plexi is a real he-man's amp. There are two repetitive themes among Plexi owners, I hear "This thing is loud! How do I tone it down a bit?" and "I could use a little more gain." Boutique clones address both issues, for instance Soultone's modded Plexi uses power scaling to tame the bite and like anything really good... it's built like a tank.

IMHO Dickie Betts gets more out of old Marshalls than nearly anyone. He had Doug Hoffman refurbish a couple of his Allmans era Marshall heads. What goes around comes around so he runs them through modded 4x12" cabs loaded with JBLD120s. The curious part is that he gets that lyrical tone out of them with his Les Pauls. Almost a jazz tone. For blues numbers he plugs in a Strat and gets into that trademark Marshall grind.

[scubadoo]

Have you considered the Hughes & Kettner Statesman, i think the dual 6L6 is the one i tried. It had beautiful, Fender like cleans and the drive channel with boost switch had a ridiculous amount of gain available but stayed sweet. I really liked it but haven't had the heart to sell my Twin or Marshall Jubilee in order to finance it.

There's a demo somewhere of Geoff Whitehorn playing one.

It also looks nicely retro and has a lot of nice features. I like the ability to balance the accutronics reverb across the 2 channels so that you could have lots on the clean channel and none on the drive.

Of course, the new blackstar series one amps will be out next year with the ability to dial down the power if you're playing at home or in the studio.

Grrr, I've made myself want one even more now!

[tele_jas]

Lots of blues players like Dr Z amps..... Maz jr and Ghia both come to mind.

[AmericanStd.]

I have played Fenders and Marshalls for years but I now have a Vox that I just love. You couldn't sell me anything else now.

[twangcaster1]

I think matchless, badcat, dr. z, and divided by 13, and bogner are all way sweet amps.

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by twangcaster1

I think matchless, badcat, dr. z, and divided by 13, and bogner are all way sweet amps.

their prices sure aren't sweet though.