Which small tube amp do you like with your tele/strat?

[Marcus T]

Originally Posted by telefunken

p.s. I change the labels

I have a Limited Edition version of the Blues jr.III. Its the Red October version with the Eminence "Wizard" speaker. Very good combo.

Nice! There is a Blue Tolex LE at Long and McQuade right now, with a Celestion Vintage 30 in it. Anyone seen/heard this one?

[SteveGangi]

Originally Posted by jklotz

You didn't say the type of music you play, or the sound you are after, but IMHO it's hard to beat a little Princeton RI if you like that Fender kind of sound.

You beat me to it. Princetons are small, and sound very good.

[JDRNoPro]

You've asked for a tube amp for quiet at home use but also want to use it at small cafe gigs too........ Some questions come to mind:

1) Do you need natural overdrive or just clean tone?

2) Do you need reverb?

3) How quiet is "quiet home use"?

4) How much volume do you really need for the cafe type gig?

Depending on your answers to 1 and 2, are pedals an option?

Answering 3 and 4 might be a bit more challenging, in that quiet with a new baby might be best achieved using headphones, and often times people think they need more volume/power than they really do for small gigs. As is often stated here, even 5 watts can be pretty loud with an efficient speaker/cab setup.

As for answering your question, I prefer clean and vintage tones and might use a champion 600RI, a 5F1, or most likely a PRRI. I think (for clean) the PRRI sounds great at even low volumes and has a stong voice for its size at higher volumes.

Having said all that, something like a SuperChamp XD might be a good choice for you....and the original versions are now available for very reasonable cost. Although not tube, an excellent and inexpensive but very tubey sounding alternative is the Vox Pathfinder 15R (unless you need a lot of gizmofeatures).

Good luck and congrats on the forthcoming addition to your family!

[bigmuff113]

Fender SCX2

[Big_Bend]

A Princeton Reverb RI with 6V6 tubes will sound MUCH nicer than a Blues Jr with EL84s. Seriously, save up a few hundred $$ more and get the Princeton Reverb you'll absolutely love it, a perfect amp.

I want another Princeton. I have a Blues Jr if anyone wants to trade.

[akukulich]

A Princeton Reverb is all you need.

[Raviolio]

Originally Posted by Televised

Vox "Pathfinder 15R". I'll check again but there has to be tubes in that darn thing some place! Seriously, it's SS but doesn't sound like it and is very very reasonably priced.

Agreed. Amazing sounding clean tones at any volume from the Pathfinder, and can get surprisingly loud when you need it to.

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by Blkteledog

The VHT special 6 ........ Beautiful tone and killer price ..... Quite modifiable
and point to point too boot .

Cheers

100%. Better than the AC4, IMO. Much more versatile. Very good black face and tweed tones. Best value out there for a low watt tube amp.

[swellsmd]

I have to go with the BJ first choice with the BillM mods, but, for 279 (I guess wht they still sell for) the Super Champ XD is mighty stiff competition in a smaller room or on a quiet evening. If it was about 3db louder I would gig with it full time. Actually I do use an A/B switch and if I can get the boys calmed down enough it really sits nice in the mix.

[stnmtthw]

If you like the Fender tone you'll love the blues jr. It does have a lot of "sparkle" but nothing that cant be contolled by the eq. Its pretty loud for the size though, but ok for me since my daughter loves to play through it while we are practicing together. Nowadays her playing wakes me up instead of the other way around.

[DaBender]

I suspect I'd love a Blues Jr. if I had one, but I don't. However, my Hamer Daytona (Strat clone) sounds fabulous through my Pro Jr., and it's smaller, lighter and cheaper than the BJ. When I want to sweeten it up, My Boss FRV-1 pedal works wonders.

Good luck.

[dean]

Here's a link to a brief review I did for three low power amps. They are all pretty inexpensive, they all need a little tweaking with better tubes or speakers, and they all sound good. The VHT Special 6 is my keeper.

Dean

[Hiker]

Originally Posted by bigmuff113

Fender SCX2

Super Champ X2 This one!

[Jope]

Laney cub stack. Its 15w but you can also switch it to 1w mode so you can play it on lower volumes. Worth checking out!

[beep.click]

To my ears, a Deluxe sounds just fine at low volume, and it's loud enough when you take it out of the house. A Blues Junior also sounds really good, but I'm not sure I'd want that as an amp for a gig. I used mine with a drummer, once, but he was a quiet drummer.

[Dave_O]

Ibanez TSA15




EDIT: Shoulda read the OP closer.... The TSA15 is way too loud for nap-time use, even in 5watt mode. Perhaps this might be better suited..

[CAAD8N8]

Another vote for the Peavey Classic 30 here. I have the head unit, which gives me the flexibility of switching up speaker options, which makes an already versatile amp, even more versatile. I wonder if the OP is even goint to be able to follow this thread with his wife being THAT pregnany. She might be in labor by now!

[Chooseyourblues]

I know this may get me burned at the stake, but honestly for real low volume it's hard to beat a Roland Cube. I put a video on YouTube a while ago and had loads of people asking me about what gear I was using to get this awesome tone. It was a Cube 30 with reverb on the Blackface setting and my Telecaster.
Remember for a Tube amp to really sing it needs to cooking over half if not at 3/4 power. A 5 watt amp is far too loud at that vol for the house. Hell even a 1 watt is too loud.
I would suggest the Cube.

[roadkillbill]

Originally Posted by Chooseyourblues

I know this may get me burned at the stake, but honestly for real low volume it's hard to beat a Roland Cube.
I would suggest the Cube.

Can't agree more...I suggested a Peavey Classic 30 earlier because I play one in my den, mostly at low volume.

But I've got another 'venue' where all I've got is a Cube 60, and it's great at low volumes, and can get loud if I ever run into someone to jam with up in the hills.

Maybe if I had them both in the same place and could constantly compare them I'd have problems with one or the other, but I don't.

I have no trouble 'sounding like myself' when I'm alone...hell, I'm content to play unplugged, and still get where I want to be. Obviously the Peavey sounds more like a tube amp, but just as tone is in your hands, sound is in your brain..

The trick for me is getting my sound 'right' at high volumes with three other musicians of varying degrees of experience and talent, who I barely know.

[Justinvs]

From my own experience I'd get a Pocket Pod or other headphone amp to practice with, at least while th ebaby is young. I have several nice SS practice amps, including a Fender G-dec and a Vox, but both are too loud to use when the family is sleeping. And forget using my old tweed Vibrolux. It's only 12w, but they are very loud watts.

AQnother nice thing about a headphone amp is they take up very little space and are a lot easier to safeguard from small and inquisitive hands! About the first time your daughter trips over your expensive tube amp and knocks it flying it gives you a whole new perspective on baby-proofing!