waltschwarzkopf
Tele-Meister
Hi guys,
I’m looking for a “does it all” amp. I know that this may not exist and also that these type of things usually do many things well/decently, but none great. That’s fine, as my main amp does exactly what I need and does it exceedingly well. I use it when I can really let it rip in the living room, and since it’s a head+cab I don’t like to move it much and is inconvenient to take to the studio because I take public transport. Therefore, I’m looking for one that can be tamed down to low bedroom levels in the evening BUT that could also be loud enough if I ever take it to the studio along a band (i.e. guitar, bass, drums, vocals).
Here are my minimum specs:
Specs (in parentheses) mean optional.
I’m looking to buy used in case “the one” appears and I need to resell this, then I wouldn’t take a big hit on the resale price.
So far I’ve found a Laney TF200 ($100) which surprisingly ticks all the boxes and has great-to-excellent reviews. The good part of being hybrid is that the volume can be lowered without affecting the tone much, right? I also saw a Blackstar HT-20 Studio ($300) but I think that is going to be too loud for quite use and/or may not even sound good at those volumes, also quite expensive. I saw too a Bassbreaker 15 ($360) that may not be powerful enough and is not foot switchable, and even more expensive, so it’s almost out of the question. There’s a Tubemeister 5 ($300) not too close to me, but is not foot-switchable and may not be loud enough for a band, but may be an excellent bedroom amp, although I find it quite pricey.
I don’t use any pedals and control most of the sound and dynamics from the guitar controls (yes, I use them and they do not stay on 10 all the time
), but a footswitch to change the channels is almost a must for me. I’ve also seen many other solid states Marshall/Fender/Line6 15-20W for less than $100, but I think the will not sound that good (at any level) and most probably suck when cranked up to compete with the rest of the band. I want/need at least one tube in the pre-amp as I really like the dynamics that I get. The HT-20 has a volume for each channel PLUS a master volume, so I don’t know if the sound would suffer much when lowered to bedroom levels.
What do you think? So far the Laney looks like an overall winner, do you have any experience with it or the other models? Any other amps that come to mind that tick all or most of the boxes at a low price?
Looking forward to your comments and advise!
Cheers,
Walter
I’m looking for a “does it all” amp. I know that this may not exist and also that these type of things usually do many things well/decently, but none great. That’s fine, as my main amp does exactly what I need and does it exceedingly well. I use it when I can really let it rip in the living room, and since it’s a head+cab I don’t like to move it much and is inconvenient to take to the studio because I take public transport. Therefore, I’m looking for one that can be tamed down to low bedroom levels in the evening BUT that could also be loud enough if I ever take it to the studio along a band (i.e. guitar, bass, drums, vocals).
Here are my minimum specs:
Specs (in parentheses) mean optional.
- Power: Quite enough for bedroom, loud enough for studio. A power-soak would be ideal.
- Speaker size: 10” (12” or 2x12”)
- Tubes: 1 pre-amp, (+1 power). More tubes is not a problem.
- Channels: clean + crunch (+overdrive/lead)
- Footswitch: yes
- Effects loop: (yes)
- Line out / external cabinet / headphones: (yes)
- Condition: used
- Price: as low as possible
I’m looking to buy used in case “the one” appears and I need to resell this, then I wouldn’t take a big hit on the resale price.
So far I’ve found a Laney TF200 ($100) which surprisingly ticks all the boxes and has great-to-excellent reviews. The good part of being hybrid is that the volume can be lowered without affecting the tone much, right? I also saw a Blackstar HT-20 Studio ($300) but I think that is going to be too loud for quite use and/or may not even sound good at those volumes, also quite expensive. I saw too a Bassbreaker 15 ($360) that may not be powerful enough and is not foot switchable, and even more expensive, so it’s almost out of the question. There’s a Tubemeister 5 ($300) not too close to me, but is not foot-switchable and may not be loud enough for a band, but may be an excellent bedroom amp, although I find it quite pricey.
I don’t use any pedals and control most of the sound and dynamics from the guitar controls (yes, I use them and they do not stay on 10 all the time
), but a footswitch to change the channels is almost a must for me. I’ve also seen many other solid states Marshall/Fender/Line6 15-20W for less than $100, but I think the will not sound that good (at any level) and most probably suck when cranked up to compete with the rest of the band. I want/need at least one tube in the pre-amp as I really like the dynamics that I get. The HT-20 has a volume for each channel PLUS a master volume, so I don’t know if the sound would suffer much when lowered to bedroom levels.What do you think? So far the Laney looks like an overall winner, do you have any experience with it or the other models? Any other amps that come to mind that tick all or most of the boxes at a low price?
Looking forward to your comments and advise!
Cheers,
Walter
