'Little' Fender tube amps

Guys, I have a Fender Blues Deville for rehearsals and gigging. You guessed it, it's too darned loud in my house.

So I want to get a little practice amp - preferably something that's going to mimic the nice clean valve tones I get from my Deville, and something I can happily push into overdrive without it destroying my eardrums or aggravating my neighbours.

Ideally, I'd like a little Champ tweed reissue - but Fender only does the Champion 600. Is this a good choice? What about the Blues Junior?

Can you guys give me a steer?

Thanks

Stevieracer

vox da5 man. perfect for the house. the champion 600 is quite loud too.

Try a Weber Attenuator. I just got one for my DRRI. It not only allows you to push the tubes while keeping the volume down, but it also has a headphone jack! About $ 125.00.

The attenuator route is a good way to go for practice. If you are wanting a smaller Fender, I recommend one of the silverface Vibro Champs. Even with the increase in price of vintage amps, these are still an unbelievable value, and are great for around the house.

Jason

Look around for a used Musicmaster Bass amp (MMB). 12w with tone and volume. With the stock speaker and tubes it breaks up nicely at fairly low volumes. With a preamp tube change and/or a more efficient speaker you could probably do small gig's with it.
There are a number of threads here about this amp. They sound great and are available at pretty reasonable prices.

To me, "Little Fender Tube Amp" = Champs or VibroChamps. $350 for the SF versions and tone to the bone.

Don't know if they have them over in England, but they've been blowing out the 5 watt Crate amps for under $100.00... worth a look...

Since you're over there, you might want to look at some used Voxes and WEMs, too... lotsa gear being put up for sale at cheap prices...

Franc Robert

If it needs to sound like your Deville, but quieter, an attenuator is the way to go (and generally cheaper than a new amp!)

Otherwise, I love cranking up my 5F2A Princeton clone at home -- 5 watts of fun, and not a tough build either! :cool:

- Scott

To me, "Little Fender Tube Amp" = Champs or VibroChamps. $350 for the SF versions and tone to the bone.

+1
you really can't go wrong with a Bf/Sf Champ in your tonal arsenal.

I've had a HRDx for years, and I'm thinkin' that there's no way any attenuator is gonna drop the Deville to household levels and still sound anything like it does cranked, but I don't KNOW that.

I think the smallest Fender with 'verb is the Princeton, either old or RI, but even those can get pretty loud.

I'd also recommend the Pro Junior, to my ears the most "Fender" sounding current Fender amp.

Tim

The attenuator route sounds really interesting - is it something I can just plug and play or is it something I'd have to wire into the circuitry somewhere - it's not something I know anything about...

Plug and play.

All you do is disconnect the speaker from the chassis, and plug that into the attenuator. Then take an instrument chord and go from the attenuator to the amp chassis. It essentially an external master volume that goes in between the amp and the speaker. There is no change to the amp circuit, just an adjustment of the output level of the speaker.

Try a Weber Attenuator. I just got one for my DRRI. It not only allows you to push the tubes while keeping the volume down, but it also has a headphone jack! About $ 125.00.

But the Weber Mass 150 that would be needed for a Deville is $225 + another $25 for the headphone tap.
Id invest that attenuator money in a smaller amp...and I did, Ive now got a Blues Jr as well as 2 Silverfaced Champs...but Id recommend a Champ, although I wouldnt describe it as a clean amp.

How about the 1/2 watt Blackheart Killer Ant? I play mine clean up around 9:00, anything past that it starts to break up. Not exactly your Fender clean but I find it perfect for playing 'quietly". I add an overdrive pedal if I want it to push a bit to get that overdriven sound. It also works well with your guitar volume. Something worth considering.

It's all very well to insist on 'pure tube' tone, and for gigging I would agree. Nuthin' beats it.

But for practicing at home I find small tube amps somewhat limiting since you only get the one sound, and often a goodly amount of transformer hum as well. And unless you use a certain amount of volume a tube amp doesn't sound its best, and that may be too loud even with a small 5w amp.

I'm fairly fussy when it comes to sound and most of the transistor or modeling amps I've tried have left me cold.
But I have a Roland Cube 60 and as a quiet home practice amp...and for low volume jazzy gigs as well...it's ace. Plug in, find the right setting and play and it 'feels' good. It only gets a tranny harshness when you turn it up and drive it at gig levels, I find. I gig twice a week with a low volume 'acoustic' band, ie, my partner plays acoustic and sings and I accompany using a Tokai 335 clean thru the Cube 60. Works perfectly.
I wouldn't choose to gig it with a full band, but for all other purposes I love it. And for late night whisper level playing it sounds just as good.

Perhaps give one a try if you see one, or a Cube 30, in a shop. And, apparently, the Vox VT series modelling amps are very good too.

I've never used an attenuator of any sort, but plugging an instrument cable into an amps speaker out line for any purpose sounds like a recipe for disaster...I'd double check that before I tried it, it's still going to be carrying the full power of the amps output to the attenuator.

Quite right, marshman. Screamin eagle, I hope you meant "speaker cable" and not "instrument cable". They both have the same 1/4" plugs on the end, but speaker cables are much higher gauge, since they carry enough power to physically push a speaker, whereas instrument cables simply transmit a signal. Using an instrument cable could result in needing a new amp sooner than you planned.

The Super Champ SX is pretty cool,IMO. I burn the overdrive up all the time with kids and wife in same room or next room, seldom complain, and when they do...just turn the vol. down, tweak the gain, and voila, everybody's happy. Has some cool sounds, Bassman, and Blackface included, a very clean, or dirty, blackface.... Not a true, pure tuber though, but fun nonetheless...

I own both the Champion 600 and the Blues Jr - although both mine are modified. Worth remembering that both are single channel amps so any real distortion is most likely to come from pedals. The BJ is loud and maybe too loud for too much home use. You won't get much past 2 or 3 before bothering the neighbours. It's a great light portable amp though but works better in rehearsals where you can crank it a little (or small gigs). I prefer mine to the Blues Deluxe which I sold on after buying this. The Champion 600 is great but again it's loud once you get past 7 or 8. It's really for home use or home recording. Not as diverse as the BJ but both are good fun and I won't be selling either of mine.

Away from Fender, and maybe not quite the tone you are looking for, Vox Valvetronic amps have a switch at the back which allows you to control the volume without losing the tone. It's one hell of a gimmick! Also, the Vox amplug is another great gimmick and could save you a fortune - although I appreciate that with Vox is not going to offer you that Fender tone.

Dr Z's Airbrake Lite (http://drzamps.com/brakelite.html) is a great product. use the amp you're used to (or gig with) and instantly becomes your bedroom amp. Cheaper than buying another amp. I don't own the AB Lite... but I've got the regular Air Brake I been using for years on my Dr Z Carmen Ghia 112 combo when I do low volume gigs that I want to get that clean to dirt (with the guitar volume) that I usually get when I have it cranked at 2 o'clock. Worth it's wait in gold.

I'm a big fan of the Blue Jr.

The Vibrochamp XD is another small Fender amp you should look at....

I agree with Tim, try the PJ. It breaks up at about 4-5 and has a very muscular sound. Mine is unmodded but there's plenty of information here and elsewhere on the net about ways to upgrade it to suit your preferences.

Used Pro Junior is indeed a good call also

I had a mesa Rectoverb 50w combo that I bought a THD hotplate for, thinking it would work for home practice. I was not happy at all with it. The more you attenuated the sound the crappier it got. At the lowest level it started fizzing and really sounding bad.
I have never used the weber or Dr.Z versions. I have a Laney lc15r amp that sounds great at lower levels and my superchamp xd is also the bomb. When I a/b them you wouldn't believe how great it sound at really low volume levels.

Quite right, marshman. Screamin eagle, I hope you meant "speaker cable" and not "instrument cable". They both have the same 1/4" plugs on the end, but speaker cables are much higher gauge, since they carry enough power to physically push a speaker, whereas instrument cables simply transmit a signal. Using an instrument cable could result in needing a new amp sooner than you planned.

Now you have me a little concerned.

I have my 'hard wired' speaker connected to a 1/4" male jack and that is going into the speaker in on the mini mass (instead of the amp) and then I have a 3' instrument cable going from the mini mass to the amp chassis.

Am I doing harm? Do I need a 'speaker cable with 1/4" male input plugs?

Super Champ XD.

A silverface or blackface Vibro Champ is what I would recommend. I had a Blues Junior and it is too loud for just practice at home, it is a giggable amp in my opinion although close to being a little underpowered. The Vibro Champ will give you decent volume levels for playing at home and you will have one of the best tremelo sounds there is in an amp. Very light weight and easy to move to various rooms if needed. A great little amp. Try to get one of the earlier ones if SF because the later models might not be plywood or pine. Try and early 70s model or late 60s if can afford it. Simple to fix and not too many tubes (puts out about 5-6 watts). Good luck.

I've never used an attenuator of any sort, but plugging an instrument cable into an amps speaker out line for any purpose sounds like a recipe for disaster...I'd double check that before I tried it, it's still going to be carrying the full power of the amps output to the attenuator.

You have to use speaker cable. Plain old lamp cord with good ends, soldered is perfect for the job.

Yes, Sreamin' Eagle, any connections that carry power to a speaker should be a 'speaker cable'...instrument cables are much thinner guage wire and will overheat rapidly if tasked with carrying any serious amount of juice (is it technically 'current'?). Perhaps you've got the attenuator pulling enough out that the instrument cable is somehow surviving, but I wouldn't let it ride like that for long if I were you.

The Champ can be very loud:
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Yes. You use speaker cable for power-amplifier output from the amp to the speaker (whether there is an attenuator involved or not). And yes, you likely can do damage to your amp--instrument cable is not designed to carry that sort of current.



Now you have me a little concerned.

I have my 'hard wired' speaker connected to a 1/4" male jack and that is going into the speaker in on the mini mass (instead of the amp) and then I have a 3' instrument cable going from the mini mass to the amp chassis.

Am I doing harm? Do I need a 'speaker cable with 1/4" male input plugs?

I know you said Fender, but pickup a Vox Pathfinder 15R. You'll be glad you did especially if you drop in a 10in speaker. I like Blues Deluxes very much, I know you have a Deville, and the Vox with a 10in speaker will get you satisfied with a sweet Tremelo to boot. Nice cleans and plenty of dirt if you want it. I play mostly blues and classic rock, and it nails all the tones. Anything from Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Allman Brothers, Cream, Doors, etc. Amp will run you $120 new and if you go with a 10in speaker, you can get one anywhere for a good price. I also recommend getting the footswitch. Won't break the bank or your back. Sounds good with the stock 8in speaker, but a 10 will knock your socks off.

Yeah, I'm a fan.