What is the best versatile amp for around $400?

[blackkeysfan]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good versatile amp for around $400. I would love to find an amp that could produce the "vintage tube" of an old Fender tweed as well as a dirtier rock sound of say a Marshall. I will be playing a MIM 50's Tele and a MIJ Strat through it.
I recently bought a used Peavey Studio Pro 112 and it does a great job of imitating the fuzzed out tube sound. That is what drew me to it. The only problem is that i can't get any other sounds from it. I kicked on a Fuzz Face pedal and i literally couldn't tell the difference!

Anyway, i have checked out the Line 6 Spiders and they seem like they aren't made too well. I also checked out a Behringer GMX212 and it was good but the digital effects were less than desirable. Should i look into a 50W Marshall or maybe a Fender? Any info is appreciated.

[sshan25]

Check out the Peavey Classic 30 or even the Fender Blues Jr. You'll never touch an SS amp again.

[Matt Plescher]

I'm getting Fender and Marshall tones from my Reverend Goblin ($500). The Kingsnake does the same with more watts (and a few more dollars). Check out the Kingsnake discussion below. As far as I can tell the Kingsnake, Goblin and their former amp the Hellhound sound very similar.

http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?t...ight=kingsnake

Cheers
Matt

[David Barnett]

Shouldn't be too hard to find a used Fender Hotrod Deluxe for that kind of money. Heck, a new one is $577 at www.musiciansfriend.com, so you should be able to cut a similar deal at your local Guitar Center.

[Twangbanger]

I just bought a Traynor Guitar mate reverb. Really cool amp. It has el84 power tubes, spring reverb, and tremolo! The stock 12" speaker is not that tastful. Kinda harsh.
I bought it for 89$, you can get one on ebay or if you search for one. Pawnshop prize! About 150-250 on ebay.

I've had nothing but Fenders. Tweeds, SF's, and new production amps.

This amp has more of a marshall/ vox sound.
Today I modded the preamp tubes for more gain and removed the negative feedback loop and now it has that bluesy vibrolux sound.
Tomorrow I'll put a master volume in it.

[stantheman]

and buy a late 70's Peavey Classic, the Hybrid with a solid State pre-amp and 2 6L6's for power - plus the S/S pre matches perfect with a Tech 21 GT-2 box so you're gonna sound like You dropped a couple of grand on your Tone. I'll assume that a Music Man Combo from the same era is capable of doing the same thing but I haven't
tried it.

[PSWoods]

For Fender/Marshall - don't laugh - Traynor YCV20 WR (the one with a Greenback) really isn't horrible out of the box. Some class tubes will help a lot. Looks like they are going for just over $500 on eBay. Decent Fender channel. Decent Marshall channel. FX loop, switching. Takes pedals well. Not a lot of clean headroom, but that might not be a problem if you A/B it with your solid state amp.

I don't own one, but I'll vouch for Peavey Classic 30. Not as schmancy, but it's a real-deal player's amp. I use one to try guitars and pedals at the store. It takes pedals well.

If you're not opposed to digital - doesn't sound like it - and versatility is a heavily weighted priority, I would at least check out a Digitech GNX4. I got one for some of its utils (Boomerang, recorder, etc) + I got it cheap; but it has grown on me. I use mine in my hard rock band and sometimes at church when there is an arrangement or a set that requires a lot of sounds. Makes everything very easy and slickified.

Another idea: if you've already got $400 ready to go, you might want to save just a little more and really hunt for deals on a total sweetheart amp - a lifer. Looks like Deluxe Reverb reissues go for $550-$600 on eBay once in a while. The DRRI will produce jaw-dropping tones and cover a lot of styles with one good boost/OD and one good buzz box. Sounds good with just about any guitar. I'm just sayin' you don't have to think much bigger than $400 to get into something really nice.

Idea III: If you feel adventurous, try cobbling together a decent amp from one of these. Alternately, do like I do and buy off the trash heap at [XYZ giant chain outlet close to you that has a damaged/blem section] and tinker until you have a good amp; IMHO, a decent tube amp isn't totalled unless transformers are blown or the chassis/cab is beyond repair. Anyway, if you can do any work yourself you're way ahead trying to get a good amp cheap.

Always haggle.

[Anonymous]

Here are some you should check out:

Peavey Classic 30
Traynor YCV40
Peavey Classic 30
Fender Blues Junior
Peavey Classic 30
Crate V1512

... and did we mention the Peavey Classic 30? ;-) CS

[eggman]

Howdy,

Hope I don't start a riot here, but I believe Carvin sells a 16 watt All-tube combo amp for $350. It's got reverb and is covered in tweed FWIW. I think it's called the "Vintage 16" or maybe "Sweet 16" I cannot recall for sure.
This depends on wether you require alot of power and headroom. I'm assuming this is..sort of a copy of an AC-15. Sort of.( El-84 power tubes.) I haven't played it yet, but it's an American made Tube amp on a budget. :)
Good luck!

Respectfully,
Eggman

[geddyleedog]

Originally Posted by PSWoods

For Fender/Marshall - don't laugh - Traynor YCV20 WR (the one with a Greenback) really isn't horrible out of the box. Some class tubes will help a lot. Looks like they are going for just over $500 on eBay.

I'm not laughing...I'm agreeing! Or, if you need a higher wattage amp you and can spend a litte more than $400 you could get the YCV40. Both of these amps have had really great reviews. I have the YCV40 and I'm really happy with it. As a matter of fact I got rid of the somewhat boutique Univalve to get it, and I never looked back.

[Rob DiStefano]

As much as I try to avoid threads like this, I eventually get sucked in and hafta espose my opinions, since the topic starter did ask for advice ...

blackkeysfan, I'm not sure you know what you want, in terms of an amp. Getting a $400 amp, let alone ANY amp, to go from Fender tweed to Marshall crunch is a huge feat in itself. I don't see that happening.

More importantly, you didn't say what yer gonna use the amp for - private bedroom gigs, jams, playing out, recording ... ?

So, here's my thoughts ...

1. I always recommend using real tube amps and not solid state or "trans/state" amps. Tone/sound and natural tube compression is the reason why.

2. Typically, PTP amps are simply better than PCB amps in terms of design, build, function and maintenance.

3. The best value in a PTP tube amp is an old one - Fender in particular.

4. I like small tube amps like a Champ, MusicMaster Bass or Princeton. An MMB or a Princeton could work for small venue gigs, depending on the kinda noise ya make. Any mic'd amp can be gigged anywhere.

5. For lots less than $400 you can buy an excellent Champ or MMB, and that includes the health check and required new, efficient speaker.

6. Even small tube amps will be pretty loud, and you may not be able to crank them up to get that nice power valve saturation we all love - so, for saner volume playing, expect to use a mild overdrive pedal, or an amp master volume.

7. Considering the dollars you wanna spend, if you desire reverb, go with a pedal. Ditto for any other FX.

Good luck!

[weelie]

What do the Tech21 Trademark 60s cost stateside? That'd be one simple-to-use and versatile option. It has gotten rave reviews in plenty of places:
http://www.tech21nyc.com/tm60.html
http://www.tech21nyc.com/reviews/TM60_review1.html

(I don't consider a Champ to be versatile, though they do have good tone and many uses. Do you guys use the 2 tone controls on a Champ, btw? If not, you are left with only the single volume... not a lot of tone shaping available.)

[sshan25]

There's a lot of good advice here. I do want to add a couple of opinions based on personal experience.
One amp that I paid $200.00 for and will never sell is my '81 Music Man 112 RD50. It weighs about 33 lbs (even with an EV12L in it), is loud as hell and completely indestructable. It will stay clean until your ears bleed, but loves pedals. You can still find them cheap on Ebay. Peavey Delta Blues. It's the same as the C30 with bigger cab, tremelo and different speaker configurations (1-15" or 2-10"). I paid $350 for mine. The Traynor guitar mate was an excellent suggestion too. Basically it's a Deluxe Reverb from the Great White North. I still see them for $250-350. I should have kept mine and may buy another someday. I want to offer a caveat to what someone suggested above: While Champs, Princetons and even the Tech 21 Trademark 60 are good sounding amps, all three will get buried in any live situation except for the smallest clubs. As stated, you can mic 'em, but be aware of their sonic limitations.

[blackkeysfan]

Thanks so much for all the feedback. I have a lot of research to do now! As i was looking trough my musiciansfriend catalog, i came across the AD30VT/AD50VT from Vox. It's supposed to have tube technology and 11 classic amp models. Has anyone tried either of these? Vox usually makes good products...

[sshan25]

I had a buddy bring one (not sure which model, but it had a metal grille) to a jam a few weeks ago. I thought the OD sounds were pretty good. The clean was ok too. I think the tube was in the preamp section. That brings me to this point. All the best hybrid tube/ solid state amps I've heard were SS preamp and tube power amp like the old Peavey's or Music Man's. They retained the tube amp "warmth" that S/S power sections lack. The hybrid amps with a tube in the preamp section tend to produce pretty good distortion, but still sound sterile to me, especially when clean.

[Kewlpack]

VOX AD50VT owner here...

The tube is used in the Power Amp stage and does work pretty good. The Master Vol controls the saturation of the power stage. Very versatile and many useful tones.

I've removed the metal grill and put in acoustic cloth (metal can undulate sometimes and cause sonic wierdness); I'm also thinking of popping in a V30 speaker.

I'm looking to Carvin for a "big rig" (MTS series).

The VOX is a good, easy to use amp.
~A~

[PhatBoy]

Originally Posted by Chris S.

Here are some you should check out:

Peavey Classic 30
Traynor YCV40
Peavey Classic 30
Fender Blues Junior
Peavey Classic 30
Crate V1512

... and did we mention the Peavey Classic 30? ;-) CS

Your list would be complete with a.....
Peavy Classic 30 8) 8)

PB

[tdu]

I think the new Traynor line are oustanding for a value priced tube amp. I got the YVC-50 which is a limited edition model and a little tougher to find right now then the others in the series.

It comes with 2 El34 and 12AX7A tubes, and a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. All plywood construction, 2 channels....

Personally all the stuff doesn't mean a ton to me. All I know is it's built like a brick, it sounds amazing, and it was $700 CAD. Which means it's about $500 or less US. I also got a nice extension speaker for $150. It's easily comparable to similar tube amps I tried that were over twice the price CAD.

People at the stores around here are raving about them. They get all excited when they hear I have one.

It's hard to find photos online of my specific model, so here is one. It's the blue amp on the right.

[sshan25]

I stand corrected on the location of the tube. That would tend to back up my theory that power tube hybrids sound better. It was a good sounding little amp.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by PhatBoy

Your list would be complete with a..... Peavy Classic 30 8) 8)

(forehead slap) D'oh! How could I have left that one out? Hehe.

Btw, just curious: how does the "Peavy Classic 30" you mentioned compare with the Peavey Classic 30? I'm only familiar with the "two e" Peaveys... does the single e model overdrive earlier? (Or does it just go into "ov'rdrive?") ;-) CS

[weelie]

Originally Posted by blackkeysfan

Thanks so much for all the feedback. I have a lot of research to do now! As i was looking trough my musiciansfriend catalog, i came across the AD30VT/AD50VT from Vox. It's supposed to have tube technology and 11 classic amp models. Has anyone tried either of these? Vox usually makes good products...

One review:
http://p082.ezboard.com/fguitarsbyfe...icID=740.topic

[blackkeysfan]

At this point i really need to get out and play the Vox AD30VT, the Peavey Classic 30 and the Traynor amps. I feel like i can definitely find something i like among those three. Of course i'll have to keep my eyes open for the perfect Fender amp to match my Tele!

[FrankFoxBand]

...I have RI Ampeg J-12T. 15 watts of EL84 chime. I installed a Celestion Blue (removed grill cloth and stuffed, er..front loaded it) and it really does sound good! No MV so "ya gotta give 'er the gas" to get it to sing! $449 new, 200-250 on that auction site.

Jimbo

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Rob DiStefano

2. Typically, PTP amps are simply better than PCB amps in terms of design, build, function and maintenance.
Good luck!

You got me there Rob. What's PTP and PCB?

Originally Posted by blackkeysfan

would love to find an amp that could produce the "vintage tube" of an old Fender tweed as well as a dirtier rock sound of say a Marshall

The only way I know to do that is to have a Fender Tweed and a Marshall... Seriously. I don’t care what amp makers say, you just can’t have that, so you’ll have to make a decision.

If Fender sound is the winner then get a 1970’s Champ and a reverb stomp box like the Holy Grail reverb. Now, the amp will be great to play in your basement with your friends. For a bar/club situation that won’t work unless you mic it.

I like the Peavey classic 30 a lot and it’s a loud amp; great for small venue gigs. The only drawback in your case is that a Peavey sounds, well, like a Peavey. However, I really encourage you to take your Tele and try the amp in any store. If you like it, buy it used.

I can’t comment about Marshalls…

Like Rob suggests, first set an objective: “I’d like a $400 amp for practicing/gigging/recording/jamming with my buddies in the basement that gives me the Fender/Marshall/Peavey/Other sound”

It’d be easier that way.

Good luck