Best Lightweight, Gig-worthy 1X12 under $800 (new or used)?

[Mike Simpson]

Get a silverface Princeton Reverb and have it serviced, then put a good quality 12" speaker of your choice (weber, eminence, JBL etc).

[Daddy Elmis]

Find a used or NOS Reverend Kingsnake:



20/60 watt selectable
6L6 based amp, all tube.
1x12
Schizo switch that really, truly works to go from tweed, to US/BF, to Vox
Efx loop
Reverb
Single channel
Small and lightweight

I've got it's little brother, the Goblin (5/15 watt switchable), and the damned thing is amazing. Out of production now (Reverend is focusing exclusively on guitars now), but can be found.

[eddiewagner]

i really dig my marshall dsl 401. i got i new for a supercheap price.

[Maestro]

fender blues JR?

[ol man]

Haven't heard them, but I bet Allen Amps Princeton-type with
12" are great.
I don't care for Peavey Classic 30 - to onedimensional stock.
I'd hesitate to call the small Ampeg reissues gig-worthy,
to often problems with cab-rattles and such.
SO-OO, you can do what I did;
got me a home-built Marshall 18 watt clone.
Light one-channel head with voxy config: volume, tone and cut only.
No need for bland-sounding digital reverb...
Add an open-back112-cab in birch ply with
an Emi Red Fang.
(Neo speakers sacrifice tone in this case I think.)
Head: 16 pounds, cab with Red Fang:18-20 pounds.

[bender-freak]

Originally Posted by Maestro

fender blues JR?

that was my first thought, but it's on his "no-likey" list...i bought one a few weeks ago, installed a Peavey EDI box for line out to sound system/recording if needed....have found NOTHING to NOT like about the amp.....punchiest 15 watts i've heard for a while,...31 lbs....boxey lookin'..he said...????...all of my amps look "boxey"....

[chriscrob]

theres a princeton for sale in the classifieds Pretty nice looking amp.

The classic 30 is not truly single channel. An amp that forums hate but I loved is a good old fender hot rod deluxe. It doesn't fit the lightweight category though. The Blues Deluxe Reissue sounds great and is an all round better amp than the hotrod though.

[Kelsey]

The cabinet makes a big difference in weight, along with the speaker and the iron (transformers) in the amp. In general, heavier iron seems to mean bigger tone, so I would not skimp there to meet an arbitrary weight standard. A pine cabinet goes a long way toward reducing weight while potentially improving tone. A neodymium speaker will reduce weight enough to lower a 45 lb amp to your weight limit, and they can sound excellent but tend to be more expensive than heavier ceramic magnet speakers.

It's too bad that you've eliminated the tweed Fenders, as they are among the lightest in weight for the power and tone they provide. Which begs the question of what tone are you after?

[AJ Love]

The Richter 5E3 Deluxe is a pretty amazing amp for $725. No reverb, but incredible tone. Sara Richter builds 'em by hand and sells them exclusively on Ebay

[detuned]

If you'd give some clues about why the various amps were rejected, it'd be easier to think of alternatives...

[dangelico603]

Originally Posted by ol man

Haven't heard them, but I bet Allen Amps Princeton-type with
12" are great.
I don't care for Peavey Classic 30 - to onedimensional stock.
I'd hesitate to call the small Ampeg reissues gig-worthy,
to often problems with cab-rattles and such.
SO-OO, you can do what I did;
got me a home-built Marshall 18 watt clone.
Light one-channel head with voxy config: volume, tone and cut only.
No need for bland-sounding digital reverb...
Add an open-back112-cab in birch ply with
an Emi Red Fang.
(Neo speakers sacrifice tone in this case I think.)
Head: 16 pounds, cab with Red Fang:18-20 pounds.

I gig my Jet ALL the time with no problems at all with any rattles. I just played a gig with a 14 piece big band last night and had no problems being heard with the volume on 3 (not in the PA either). So I'm gonna have to disagree with you that the Ampegs aren't gig worthy.

[Chito]

You might want to consider either the Traynor YCV40WR or the Traynor YCV50 Blue. Both amps come with the Celestion V30. Difference is the 40 comes with 6L6s while the 50 comes with EL34s. I have the 50 and its an excellent gigging amp.

[Hoodster]

TO CLARIFY:

Many of the amps I passed on I do like, some quite a lot, just not enough to make them THE ONE. It wasn't meant as a list of crappy amps I was dissing. I'm just looking to maybe find some suggestions I haven't thought of.

Again, weight is a big issue for me. Finding a great-sounding heavy amp is a no-brainer.

As for tone, I said in the original post I like BF Fender tone and Vox tone. I've had 2 L'il Dawgs and the Tweed tone doesn't do it for me. I like some sparkle and chime to my cleans. I prefer the tone of US-flavored ceramic speakers like the Reverend Alltone and Weber 12F series. The Hellhound would be perfect but the one I tried was very uninspiring and in fact was toasted by the little PJ I a/b'd it with. Kingsnakes are way overpriced right now.

My BJ comment was about the boxiness of the TONE, not the looks (!).

[JohnnyCrash]

Man... I really would've recommended the Peavey Classic 30 with an Eminence Tonkerlite or a Jensen Neo12-100.

The power tubes seem like your only issue with that amp... bias needs no adjustment and tubes last longer than you may think on that amp.

WEIGHT
Most of an amp's weight comes from its "Iron" (transformers), cab, and speakers. Lower watt amps generally have lighter transformers, and a 1x12" can be further lightened by using neodymium speakers...

The Eminence Tonkerlite and Jensen Neo12-100 are ultra lightweight speakers due to the neo magnet.

If Vox is one of your ideal tones, I also agree that the Celestion Blue speaker is very important - unfortunately, one will probably break your budget.

As far as BF Fender tones, you may want to look for a used DRRI and put in a Neo speaker - IF - weight was the reason you ruled out the DRRI.

[WireLine]

If it means anything, I've played thru literally hundreds of amps over the years, and have owned dozens...

See my tag line - IMO there is no such thing as a 100% perfect setup - there's always going to be something better, something dfferent enough to make us think about what we hear now, etc...If there was a perfect amp for all time, then people who can afford anything they wish would never change...but most players switch out rigs fairly often.

[Webfoot]

KUSTOM - 65 - I am basically in the same boat... trying to downsize and have played many of these small amps but not all. Ones that is ultra cheap and sounds good that I just tried today was the Kustom 65DFX. They also have a model one with a tube. It is loud, has a celestion, solid deep cabinet, is two channel switchable, good cleans and good distortion if you really take the time to tweak (took me a while to figure it out), effects loop, XLR out for PA, effects, input for CD, line out, speaker out etc. Have not tried the effects loop or XLR so I don't know. I have a bit more homework to do but my inital take was two thumbs up for $300. Curious what people think if they have tried this amp.

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by Kelsey

The cabinet makes a big difference in weight, along with the speaker and the iron (transformers) in the amp. In general, heavier iron seems to mean bigger tone, so I would not skimp there to meet an arbitrary weight standard. A pine cabinet goes a long way toward reducing weight while potentially improving tone. A neodymium speaker will reduce weight enough to lower a 45 lb amp to your weight limit, and they can sound excellent but tend to be more expensive than heavier ceramic magnet speakers.

I missed this post... I pretty much repeated what you said Kelsey. Thats embarrassing, like wearing the same dress to an event... not that I wear dresses... um, not that you do either HAHAHA

Anyways, to summize:
+1

[Wayne Alexander]

If you want the sound of a Vox AC15 with a Celestion Blue, but weighing less than the current AC15CC series, it can't be done in a tube amp. If you want a modeling amp that will give you an approximation of that kind of tone, then there are a bunch of choices. The Vox modeling amps are very good for modeling amps, but sound to my ears quite a bit less good than real amps, at least at gig volume. They can be great in recording situations.

[texasdave]

Back when I sorta had one "main" amp, it was a Rivera 55-12. I'd own it again, and would probably buy a Pubster/Chubster without a second thought as well. Other 1x12 combo that fits the price point (used for sure and maybe used) is the Fender Supersonic ...not sure about the weight because it seems to be an oversized 1x12. I know that I heard one at a jam for several hours (and several players) and thought it was pretty danged right... Carmen Ghia 1x12 might make the price cut occasionally... $800 1x12 combo, those would be where I'd start.

Without hijacking the thread, if carrying the lightest amp possible is appealing, try a Roland Cube 30. Set the Black Face lead channel up for rhythm, and take advantage of the three band eq to get it there... (I push the mids a bit on mine and roll the treble back just a bit. From there, you can nail that thing with a Fulldrive 2 or another boost pedal and the sound will surprise you... with a street price of $225 everybody oughta have one of those stashed away, IMO.... I've gigged those in small rooms with a 5 piece un-mic'd I'll pitch it in the car for a backup if I'm playing out of town... Mic it and go...

[bender-freak]

Originally Posted by Hoodster

TO CLARIFY:

Many of the amps I passed on I do like, some quite a lot, just not enough to make them THE ONE. It wasn't meant as a list of crappy amps I was dissing. I'm just looking to maybe find some suggestions I haven't thought of.

Again, weight is a big issue for me. Finding a great-sounding heavy amp is a no-brainer.

As for tone, I said in the original post I like BF Fender tone and Vox tone. I've had 2 L'il Dawgs and the Tweed tone doesn't do it for me. I like some sparkle and chime to my cleans. I prefer the tone of US-flavored ceramic speakers like the Reverend Alltone and Weber 12F series. The Hellhound would be perfect but the one I tried was very uninspiring and in fact was toasted by the little PJ I a/b'd it with. Kingsnakes are way overpriced right now.

My BJ comment was about the boxiness of the TONE, not the looks (!).

did not mean to come across as "caustic" or sarcastic in my comment as saying all my amps look "boxey" ...just trying to interject a little humor...weight is a huge factor with me also due to health issues...i don't really know what a "boxey" tone is, and am not trying to be sarcastic..i am of the opinion amps are like guitars of the same model; they will sound different from each other..my BJ was the one i chose out of 4 amps tried/demoed...we all hear things differently; if we heard things the same there would be only ONE guitar/amp combo for all....just my humble opinion..good luck in your search...cheers