What is a good amp for Tele?

[mke52]

I have a Fender Twin Amp 100W switchable to 25W. A great amp and an excellent couple with my Tele and Strat guitars.
The issue is that it weighs 80 lbs (36,2 kg) and taking it around is a nightmare for my back...
I really don't need 100W and always use it set to 25W but I do apreciate two 12" speakers and do not want to move down to 10" speakers.

So I'm looking for a nice amp with fender clean tones and less weight.

Your suggestions are really apreciated

[Telephonist]

Hi,

the Fender Deluxe Reverb is a really good sounding amp. Soundwise it´s not too far away from your Twin Amp, because it´s also a Fender Blackface, but it has only got ONE 12" speaker. But therefore it´s pretty leightweight and easy to carry around. It has 22 watts, so just the amount of wattage you want. I would testdrive it, if I were you.

2x12" combos will always be heavier, because the speaker weigh a lot. The Jensen C12K speakers for example weigh 9.65 lbs each (4,4 kg). These are the stock speakers in the Deluxe Reverb (and similar to the ones in the Twin). So having just one speaker is the easiest way to save weight.

Please don´t buy a HotRod DeVille. They are a little bit lighter than your Twin Amp - 53.5 lbs. (24.26 kg) - but they just don´t have the sound quality of a real Blackface Amp. You will miss the magic!!! I own a Hot Rod Deluxe and I have the same Twin Amp as you borrowed from a friend for nearly 1.5 years now. So I know what I´m talking about. You just can´t get a REALLY good sound out of the HotRods. I will sell mine...

But as I said, I guess the Deluxe Reverb is a good amp for you, if you´re after the Fender Blackface sound. It has an awesome sound and is easy to carry around. And you can turn it up to get a nice crunch without making your windows break (although it´s also very loud ).

Good luck in finding your right amp!
Daniel

[Joey]

I have owned a TRRI for 15 years now and it permanently sits in my church where I play it every Sunday along with my Tele. It is just to heavy to lug around. My small portable amp is a PRRI which I believe has even better blackface tone than my TRRI with the obviously wattage headroom/volume difference. Just recently, I had to get the TRRI repaired, as it needed a new O/T. I used the PRRI while the TRRI was being repaired and was extremely surprised with the result. My church is very large and my concern was using such as small amp in a large venue playing along with a keyboard and base and a five singers. The PRRI sounded great with my Tele, with plenty of volume and clean headroom. I find the PRRI and a Tele a great match up.

[FenderJunkee]

[Pepi]

I love the Fender Deluxe but my amp I love today is a VOX Valvetronix AD60VT.

I run it though a 2 X 12 cabinet and it is just great. I use the BF Fender setting the most but once in awhile I will got with the VOX AC30 and wow, Brad Paisley sound The clean Dumble is another one that I love with the Tele. Heck they all sound good except for the Recto setting.

[EZchair Picker]

Since you don't want to move down to a 10" speaker, that really only leaves a deluxe reverb as your choice. It'll be about 1/2 the weight as your twin.

I know it only has a 10" speaker, but try a princeton reverb. They really do sound good and have suprising volume and bass response given their size and mix great with a tele.

[octatonic]

I've been using a 65 Amps Soho for the last year.
It is such a brilliant amp.
A bit on the expensive side but they do a 2x12 that sounds huge.
20 watts.

[mke52]

Thanks for all your replies; i will certainly look into the deluxe reverb. I suppose 22 watts should be ok since I was playing the twin set for 25 watts, assuming that those were really 25 watts.

Vox and Orange amps look pretty nice too but i really don't have much info on their sound.

[Durango Twango]

Going from your twin at 25 watts to a DR at 22 watts will be a big difference. That big output transformer on the twin adds a lot of oomph no matter what the setting. I used a half power switch on my '69 Twin (dropped out two power tubes) and it sounded bigger and punchier than a Pro Reverb when it was in half power mode.

[mke52]

Originally Posted by Durango Twango

Going from your twin at 25 watts to a DR at 22 watts will be a big difference. That big output transformer on the twin adds a lot of oomph no matter what the setting. I used a half power switch on my '69 Twin (dropped out two power tubes) and it sounded bigger and punchier than a Pro Reverb when it was in half power mode.

Thanks Durango. So what you're saying is that the 22 watts will not sound as loud as the twin. Then I would imagine that I would be best off with a few more watts (35-50).
But that brings back the weight....

[stantheman]

Originally Posted by Durango Twango

Going from your twin at 25 watts to a DR at 22 watts will be a big difference. That big output transformer on the twin adds a lot of oomph no matter what the setting. I used a half power switch on my '69 Twin (dropped out two power tubes) and it sounded bigger and punchier than a Pro Reverb when it was in half power mode.

That's ONE MOD that I too REALLY LOVE!!!
Mine's got it and it's splendid.

[EZchair Picker]

I don't think a 1x12 vs 2x12 is exactly a fair comaprison. In the majority of the cases, the 2x12 is going to sound fuller and have more punch. IMO, there is no mini twin that offers the same exact fullness through a single speaker.

If you want that 2x12 sound, maybe try a head/cabinet or a 1x12 combo with an extention cab. It'll take two trips to haul everything, but the weight would be much more manageable.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by EZchair Picker

I don't think a 1x12 vs 2x12 is exactly a fair comaprison. In the majority of the cases, the 2x12 is going to sound fuller and have more punch. IMO, there is no mini twin that offers the same exact fullness through a single speaker.

If you want that 2x12 sound, maybe try a head/cabinet or a 1x12 combo with an extention cab. It'll take two trips to haul everything, but the weight would be much more manageable.

Or put a G12-H30 or Celestion Gold in the 1x12.
Both of them are bigger sounding speakers, esp the G12H30.

[EZchair Picker]

Originally Posted by octatonic

Or put a G12-H30 or Celestion Gold in the 1x12.
Both of them are bigger sounding speakers, esp the G12H30.

Yup, more efficient speakers work good too.

Still.....they're not quite as full as a 2x12 twin.

[GeetarMonkey]

This is good information... Thank you!

[davidge1]

I think you ought to try out a Deluxe before deciding that it doesn't have enough volume. It's definitely loud enough to keep up with any drummers I've ever played with. I just bought one myself. I haven't really cranked it up loud yet, but I played in a band for years with a guy who had an original BF Deluxe Reverb, and his was loud... we were a loud band!

I don't agree that the Hot Rod Deluxe is a bad sounding amp. I don't like the way the overdrive channel sounds, but played clean I think they sound great.

[Telephonist]

Please keep in mind that for example 100 watts is not twice as loud as 50 watts. It´s more like this:


* Compared to 50 Watts:
o 40 Watts is 94 % as loud as 50 Watts
o 25 Watts is 81 % as loud as 50 Watts
o 15 Watts is 70 % as loud as 50 Watts
o 5 Watts is 50 % as loud as 50 Watts
o 1 Watt is 31 % as loud as 50 Watts

(Found this on the German wikipedia.de site in the thread about guitar amps)
Daniel


I guess a VOX AC30 maybe won´t help you with your problem. It´s also heavy as hell!

[Wyzsard]

+1 on the DRRI. I've heard a lot of amps the past year, and none sounded better with single coils than the DRRI.

[jrubakon]

A blackface Vibrolux reverb. My tele sounds awesome through it!

[BigDaddyLH]

Does it have to be a Fender?