A small amp. for a tele

[MORTRHODIE]

I for sure am realy diggin' my 52 reissue tele. I play it through a Fender Twin Reverb. Great tone with lots of head room.
The only draw back is the weight of the Twin. Dragin' it around for practice and jammin' with a couple of friends can become a chore.
I tried a Fender Blues Jr. wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I was comparing it to the Twin don't rightly know for sure.
Any who my brother in K.C. is gonna let me use his older Fender Vibro Champ. Some one robbed it of the tubes, so I'll get new ones.
I reckon my question is have any of you pickers ever played through a Vibro Champ and if so whats your opinion of the amp.
The one I'll be pickin' up this weekend is a late '60s model I believe.
Just searchin' for a good soundin' small tube amp.

[Joseph's Dad]

...but in all the years I've been playing Teles, haven't found an amp they don't like. It's in there: might have to dial this up or that down, but boom there it is, That Sound.

Then again, trying a ton o' amps is half the fun!

Go thou forth and enjoy.

[endzone]

You'll find a lot of the members here play through some type of Champ. I have a SF Champ and a SF Vibro Champ. I love playing a Tele through either one of them. You can get a great sound out of the VC. If you end up keeping it, you might tweak it with a speaker change if it's got the stock speaker in it.

[woodman]

it's worth trying the tweed Deluxe (5E3 circuit) ... there are a lot of good-quality clones around and, at 15 watts, you can use it in band situations if the drummer behaves.

[SteveY]

If you like a Twin for clean headroom, I doubt a Vibro-Champ will satisfy that, but mic'd up they're killer for Blues.
4 - 5 watts has some limitations for clean sound, but can be given an audible boost with the right speaker array.
4 ohms would be about right (some Marshall 4 X 12 cabinets will switch to 4 or 16 ohms).
The stock speaker is like, 3.2 ohms?

[MORTRHODIE]

What would be a decent speaker up grade? How's about tubes? Any ideas?

[endzone]

The Champ or any other small tube amp is not going to satisfy you if you're comparing it to a Twin. But on the other hand, a Twin can't sound like a Champ either.

[PK]

Instead of getting a new amp get a dolly! Even my refridgerator is light when on the dolly

Just a thought,

PK

[SteveY]

Originally Posted by MORTRHODIE

What would be a decent speaker up grade? How's about tubes? Any ideas?

You can get an 8" (the stock size) from Weber, but I'd opt for an efficient 10" or 12" in a separate cabinet.

My last SF Champ had the stock speaker and a blackplate RCA 6V6. I also put a Torres "Tweed Camp" mod kit into it ($8).
I used a Mesa (Groove Tube) 12AX7. I don't remember the rectifier tube I used.
Champs and Vibros have a spongey midrangey tone when cranked.
They're primitive sounding, vs a Twin's Hi-Fi sound.

[bluetele54]

...I've used the Budda Twinmaster 10 (with a 12' speaker) for 10 years,and with the Teles,it can have this rich,warm sound with tons of bite...I have a good buddy who has just bought one of those new Vox AC-15's...he added the expensive speaker upgrade-the Blue bell--,and then he said his amp tech changed one of the resistors on the treble control,doing so because there is sooo much highend,and now it sounds stunning...it's also cheaper than the PTP Budda,if budget is a consideration...

[dean]

First, the Vibro Champ is a tremendous little amp - it has been one of my favorites. It is simple, easy to mod (e.g. speaker), light, and it has enough oomph to for jamming (if the other jammers are respectful of balance). It would need to be miced for a gig, I think.

My favorite setup for a VC is to install a Weber 10" speaker (the 10F12 Style comes to mind) and JJ tubes from Eurotubes. The VC really takes nicely to a larger speaker, and many here have run the amp through a 4x12 cabinet with great results. If the Vibro Champ is an older model (pre-1972), you can easily cut out a new baffle board for the larger speaker. If you stick with the 8" speaker, I highly recommend the Weber Vintage Series one. I've used both 8" and 10" Webers in a VC, and they both sound great - it's just that the 10"-er really opens up the soound of the amp.

Have fun trying out new stuff - there are quite a few threads on "small amps" on the Amp Central Station section here - check those out, too.

Dean

[Platefire]

I find a Champ to low power for the single coils on a Tele. When you crank it up loud enough to get some volume with those pickups you are already in the overdrive range unless your in a real small room.
I just love to play my Tele through a Silvertone 1482 and just love the tone.
The 1482 is a Push/pull two 6V6 amp kind of like a Deluxe Reverb but with less clean headroom. I would say for small and good clean headroom use a 65
Deluxe Reissue or one of the vintage silverface of blackface if you want to spend the bucks. Platefire

[John E]

Originally Posted by PK

Instead of getting a new amp get a dolly! Even my refridgerator is light when on the dolly

Just a thought,

PK

No offense, but aint you a little old to be playing with dollys?

[papejazzer]

Try out a Roland Cube 60.

[Biglebowski41]

I've been using my Mesa Boogie Subway Blues amp with my Teles. Initially I felt like it lacked the lush reverb I was used to (my "big" amp is a 65 BF Super Reverb). The more I play with it the more I like it. I've been using my pedal board recently and can pretty much dial in about any tone I need for what we're doing (traditional country-straight rock & roll).

It's no Fender, but for a small, relatively-inexpensive amp it's doing the trick and the 20 watts is plenty for the volume at which we play. Our drummer switches to guitar for the rock set, and although he plays through a big old cream colored Marshall 2 x 12, 50 watt combo, the little Mesa still puts out enough to hang. I think the Tele tone is what helps a small amp "cut" through the mix without sounding overly muddy or washed out.

Oh yeah...the main reason I bought it 10 years ago was because it is light and easy to lug around (as opposed to a Super Reverb). I especially like that "feature".

[Rusty]

i'd think a princeton reverb or deluxe reverb would be the way to go for jams or practice. the princeton is such a great amp for it's size...and it's got its own little fat sound to it.

my deluxe though sounds just like a little twin to my ears. that 12 inch speaker and that size of cabinet really have an open but beefy sound for its manageable size.

just curious...what year is your twin??? those are the absolute best when you're on a stage that can handle it! i miss mine sometimes

[WickedGTR]

A good princeton reverb gives you twin like tones. Bonus Reverb and good tremolo too.

[Brick]

May I suggest a Music Master Bass with a nice alnico speaker? Light, surprizingly loud, as cheap as a Champ, but with a 12 speaker. 12 watts of notalottaheadroom. Big fun.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Savage Macht 12x.

12 watts from two 6V6 into one 12". Plenty of power, killer tone, excellent trem. Lightweight and built to last.



www.savageamps.com

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by MORTRHODIE

I for sure am realy diggin' my 52 reissue tele. I play it through a Fender Twin Reverb. Great tone with lots of head room.
The only draw back is the weight of the Twin. Dragin' it around for practice and jammin' with a couple of friends can become a chore.
I tried a Fender Blues Jr. wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I was comparing it to the Twin don't rightly know for sure.
Any who my brother in K.C. is gonna let me use his older Fender Vibro Champ. Some one robbed it of the tubes, so I'll get new ones.
I reckon my question is have any of you pickers ever played through a Vibro Champ and if so whats your opinion of the amp.
The one I'll be pickin' up this weekend is a late '60s model I believe.
Just searchin' for a good soundin' small tube amp.

I'm with PK,

GuitarCenter sells these little carts.

I've used em to haul my gear to and from shows/gigs and rehearsals for several years now.

They even got dumby bars in front of the rear tires so you can drag it up a curb or two by yourself.

LIGHT WEIGHT = TONAL TRADEOFF
Champs and Deluxes (or the Champ/Deluxe clones, or "double" Champs ala the Savage Macht 12x) may not have the headroom you're used too. If you're into a lot of dirt/overdrive, lower watt amps can be great - just find a compromise between dirt and headroom and you're off.

WEIGHT OFFENDERS
The extra weight in higher powered amps is in the bigger transformers usually (speakers are next in the weight offenders), so to get an amp that'll STILL keep up - you'll end up with a similarly weighted amp, minus a few ounces here or there.

You could go SS or digital modeling... but most people (me included) don't like that far of a tonal tradeoff for weight/portability.

I've ended up with low powered and higher powered amps for a variety of uses (especially in recording), but for gigging (or practising with a band and drummer) it's always best to have more than you need - just in case. you can always turn down :)

[SteveY]

Originally Posted by Biglebowski41

I've been using my Mesa Boogie Subway Blues amp with my Teles...

It's no Fender, but for a small, relatively-inexpensive amp it's doing the trick and the 20 watts is plenty for the volume at which we play...

I think the Tele tone is what helps a small amp "cut" through the mix without sounding overly muddy or washed out.

Oh yeah...the main reason I bought it 10 years ago was because it is light and easy to lug around (as opposed to a Super Reverb). I especially like that "feature".

+1

My Subway Blues has a hella cabinet rattle at volume, but with a Tele I rarely get that loud. Good "tweed" mixed with BF (at low volumes) sound.
And light to carry, for a Mesa /Boogie.

[MORTRHODIE]

Tons of info--I love it. Just a bit confusin' for an old red neck such as myself. I'm gonna pick up the V C. Take to my local music store and get some tubes for it, see what kind of tone I can get.
I wonder just which tubes to get. I will be crankin' it up as much as possible with the least amount of distortion as possible. I would like it to break-up some though, like a tube amp should.

[sixty4fairlane]

5y3,6v6,12ax7

[Biglebowski41]

Originally Posted by SteveY

+1

My Subway Blues has a hella cabinet rattle at volume, but with a Tele I rarely get that loud. Good "tweed" mixed with BF (at low volumes) sound.
And light to carry, for a Mesa /Boogie.

That's a bummer. Is your still stock? I've only changed the tubes in mine. Otherwise, everything else is stock. I have considered upgrading speakers and maybe trying JJ tubes, but I don't know if it would improve things much or not. I would like a little more "Fendery" reverb, but I guess you only get that with a Fender

[Vince a]

I think an older blackface Princeton would have that sound . . . I picked one up for under $200.

I also picked a used BJ for under $200, but gutted it and now use it for an extension for my much-modified BJ . . . 30 pounds each!

Speaking of carts . . . I recently ordered one so that I can cart around my 68 pound Traynor . . . Haven't used it yet, as 90% of the time I use only the BJ! I just got tired of muscling the Tryanor around. If the cart doens't help . . . I'll sell the Traynor, and stay with the BJ . . . although the new Fender SuperSonics specs look good!

[Poppatwang]

Mr. Sparkle brought one out to my jam. Sounded great with Tele and Jazzmaster.
Only one tone control but very functional. More focused, tighter
sound than tweed cl