please recommend me an amp

I currently use a Kustom '36 Coupe and I'm pretty happy with it but I'd like another tube amp that has a warmer, thicker clean tone as well as a footswitchable overdrive channel (I'm not looking for a heavy metal drive by any means) with singing sustain capable of handling modern rock and dirty blues. Prive range is up to $1000 and I'd love for it to be a combo for gigging purposes. An example of the music I play can be heard by clicking the link in my sig.

Please help me out! Thanks.

What You're decribin' with the exception of "channel switching" sounds like a Tweed Amplifier or a Mesa Boogie Mark I. Good luck with "the hunt" it's always fun to go on an Amplifier Safari. I played a Mark I Reissue recently and was very impressed not only with it's Tone but all that POWER in a 1X12 Combo make it "a contender". I'm actually very surprised I'm not seeing more Mark I's in Bars:confused:
I was thinking in '08 when the purse strings are a little more relaxed of getting either a Tweed Pro or a CeriaTone but honestly I have to admit that that reissue Boogie is one hell of a ride.
Make sure that You try one.
I think anyone that doesn't like it is being a curmudgeon.
Maybe in '08 I'll morph into "stantana":mrgreen: !!!
Oh FWIW I tried the Mark I with a Fender Deluxe Tele, I've played 3 of those in the last month and with the "tummy cut" there's lust in my heart!

I have an insatiable need for a fender bassman (with an OD pedal in front of it), but I doubt I'll ever get to turn that amp loud enough to get to its sweet spot. I try to keep a relatively low stage volume, for ear drum and sound man's sake, and what good is an amp if you're only using it to a 1/4 of its potential?

The Mark I sounds sweet but I'm being drawn to the Fenders!!!

I have an insatiable need for a fender bassman (with an OD pedal in front of it), but I doubt I'll ever get to turn that amp loud enough to get to its sweet spot. I try to keep a relatively low stage volume, for ear drum and sound man's sake, and what good is an amp if you're only using it to a 1/4 of its potential?

The Mark I sounds sweet but I'm being drawn to the Fenders!!!


RichieRich,
I have less justification for the same amp but share the same desire to own one.Thought of building a clone and only installing 2 spkrs. to keep the volume down.

I'm going to recommend this based on tone rather than practicality.

Peavey Windsor. It's an EL34 based single channel amp that aims at Plexi. It just sounds fantastic. Yeah, sure, it's a 100 Watt head, but it's only 400 bucks so you can afford a power soak. That and a 212 cab filled with your favorite speakers and you're set. Oh, yeah, your favorite OD pedal...

If it were me, I'd look for the warmest OD pedal I could find and stick with that Kustom. Those are some sweet sounding amps. Maybe something with a clean boost circuit and an OD.

Get a 1x12 tweed Fender Blues Deluxe. It looks cool, is small, the 40 watts are enough to drown out a 4x12 Marshall (I know from experience), and the tone is beautiful. It sounds very similar to an old tweed but has reverb and a dirty channel.

I have a 2x12 tweed Blues Deville, which sounds awesome, but at 60 watts and nearly 70 lbs, it's too much for anything but a stadium. My plan is to get a Blues Deluxe and put a Celestian in it for bit a darker, semi-British tone. Then I'll get some Yellow Jackets so I can use EL84s. This will bring the wattage down to about 20w, which will then let me crank it more and get more rumble in the distortion. Then I'll put in some 12AX7-WB's for even more gain. Lastly, I'll lacquer it so it won't stain and the tweed won't tear. I figure it will cost me about $600-700 total and I'll have what I would consider the perfect low budget tube amp.

I suggest a listen to a Crate Palomino V-32 or V-3112, same amp, different tolex. You can get one for about $500.00
Class A EL84 chimey sweetness.
CLICK HERE (http://www.box.net/shared/static/e7dg7of13b.mp3)to hear mine....stay tuned till the end of the song to hear the guitar without anything else. Sorry it's so long...just a sound test really.

Peace!

~Shawn

Based on what you wrote, and what I heard on your My Space page, I would give the AC30CC or AC15CC a try. No channel switching but with the use of a boost/od pedal for the 15, or an a/b pedal to switch between the 30's normal and top boost channels you would be able to get the dirty tones you want.
One caveat, these amps are heavy the ac15cc tips the scales at just under 50 pounds, while the ac30cc weighs in at a back braking 70 pounds...

RichieRich,
I have less justification for the same amp but share the same desire to own one.Thought of building a clone and only installing 2 spkrs. to keep the volume down.

How about a 5F4 Super or 5E7 Bandmaster? Though not a Bassman, they are both good sounding tweed amps (with virtually the same circuit, though perhaps somewhat different OT:s) at about 35w, with 2x6L6 power tubes and 2 and 3 10" drivers respectively.
The Bassman is a classic, alright. But personally I think the Bandmaster is a cool alternative. Just my 5 cents...

Based on what you wrote, and what I heard on your My Space page, I would give the AC30CC or AC15CC a try. No channel switching but with the use of a boost/od pedal for the 15, or an a/b pedal to switch between the 30's normal and top boost channels you would be able to get the dirty tones you want.
One caveat, these amps are heavy the ac15cc tips the scales at just under 50 pounds, while the ac30cc weighs in at a back braking 70 pounds...

+1 for the Voxes. Or, a Laney VC30.

Klas

Heck, if volume is a problem, how about a plain ol' tweed deluxe? Plenty of sweet grind and fat clean at much more reasonable volume than a Bassman.

I'll chime in with everyone else here that channel switching is unnecessary. Use a moderately dirty amp (Tweed Deluxe, AC30, etc), back off your guitar volume for the fat kinda-clean, and use a drive pedal to push it harder rather than channel-switching.

I don't know, if you're really looking for a "warmer, thicker" tone, these el84 choices might not be the best. I love my Ac30CC1, very versatile, lots of tone-shaping options, two channels & the single 12 version is a mere 54 pounds. But in its natural state, it's a pretty bright amp. There are some dark tones in there if you hunt for them but it's a pretty sparkly sound through most of the range.

Judging from your description & the sounds on your page, I'd maybe try & track down a 50-watt JCM 800 2x12 Marshall combo, had one of these years ago & it was a pretty lovable amp. Did the Hendrix clean thing really well & crunched when asked. You could get "singing sustain" out of it easily. Pretty heavy, though.

A thousand beans leaves ample room for differing suggestions.

Luckily, you pared things down nicely by defining what you want.

Probably the best that I could come up with that still falls under $1K, would be a pair of used Reverend amps, and a switch to toggle between them.

A single one has all of the traits that you mentioned, and at different power levels. They aren't channel switchers, but each can be set up to sound completely different. So a pair would be optimal.

You could further refine the two amps for each tonal flavor with tube and speaker tweaks.

Or, you could keep the Kustom as channel one, use a single Reverend as channel 2, and put the balance in the bank...

BTW - do not confuse Reverend amps with Pignose tube amps. They are not the same.

For a "warmer, thicker clean", a Marshall JTM45 or Bluesbreaker combo (equipped with KT66 tubes) would be perfect - it's not a channel switcher, but for your budget you should be able to find a used RI of those models, and still have money left for a good OD pedal.

+1 for the Voxes. Or, a Laney VC30.

Klas

Laney VC30 has channel switching, but both channels share tone controls.
So it ends up being switchable gain stages. Vox-like tone, but different.
Decent reverb with long spring tank. Lots of miles on mine w/o a hiccup.

Check out a used R30 or R55 or one of the other combos.

The cleans are great on channel 2 and channel 1 can go from cleanish to heavy crunch (not metal). Used these are steals for around $500-600 bucks. You would have plenty left over for whatever else you might need - which might just be nothing - or maybe a nice extension cab.:mrgreen:

seriously - they are great amps. I like some of the other suggestions too. I am currently looking to go with a second giggable amp that is a single channel set up that I can put a great OD in front of and just leave it like that. Setting 1 clean with guitar rolled back, setting two guitar rolled up, setting three OD engaged. Simple. That 5F4 has my attention.

I went into a Sam Ash today and there it was - a Bassman staring me right in the face and right above it was a used, but mint, Classic 50's Strat in Daphne Blue for $450. I plugged it into the Bassman and immediately fell in love. I gotta have them both!

I think I'm going back for that Strat on Monday and I'll be selling my Kustom '36 Coupe and some other stuff to fund my Bassman purchase.

The tone hunt is a terrible sickness!