Is there a really great 5w clean platform?

[Jack Clayton]

Like many people, ive been going quieter and quieter with my amp choices. My main clean platform is a 68 custom Princeton Reverb. Sounds great, but even at 12w, with the baby napping down the hall... I could stand something lower volume.

I recently picked up a Rickenbacker m-8. It's four watts with a nice tweedish breakup. Great dirt. In a perfect world, I'd love something at a similar volume that I could use for stereo recording.

I know really nice five watt cleans are a tall order. I dont really know of anything better than, say, a champ. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[twangjeff]

How about a Morgan PR 5? That should be fairly similar to your Princeton, just in a smaller package. I think it does have a 12 though which is nice.

 

[Jack Clayton]

How about a Morgan PR 5? That should be fairly similar to your Princeton, just in a smaller package. I think it does have a 12 though which is nice.

I'll look that one up. I've heard only good things about Morgan.

 

[FenderLover]

Try a Yamaha THR-10C?

 

[ce24]

Vibro champ..

 

[Peegoo]

Swart Space Tone. Glorious, juicy tone at low volume.

Not the Swart Atomic Space Tone. Those are 20 watts.

 

[voskarp]

Vox AC4, very nice cleans (and overdrive).

 

[Milspec]

....and that is where the tone master amps can really shine. The ability to lower the power way down and still sound good is a great benefit.

When they put out a Tone Master Princeton, it will be a game changer, but even the others can get you that 5w clean.

 

[Nick Fanis]

Vox AC4HW.

 

[mrbdxmpl]

Mon

Swart Space Tone. Glorious, juicy tone at low volume.

Not the Swart Atomic Space Tone. Those are 20 watts.

Mine arrives tomorrow! Or the next day, if UPS is dragging! I think all I need is a Swamp Thing trem and the rest of the board goes up for sale!

 

[Guitarteach]

I made my DIY champ into a tweed princeton (added tone) and made an oversized 1x12 cab for its Celestion Blue, which is a very efficient and nice sounding speaker. Great clean with more than enough headroom. I also added power scaling circuit to dial it to any level.

My 5w mini plexi sounds massive through my Mesa Stack with EVMs.

The trick is big, very efficient speakers IME. That counteracts the boxiness of smaller amps and gives a big sound at low volume with headroom for fx.

 

[KidCharlemagne]

The Carr Raleigh might be worth a look. It’s pricey, but nicey! I’m very happy with mine for low volume noodling at home with pedals.

A second hand Vox AC4 could be a good cheaper alternative.

 

[VintageSG]

The Laney L5T-112 has a lot going for it. It can do sublime cleans, but it's Laney loud if need be.
The VHT Special 6, and by extension the Ultra, are worth looking at too.

For great sounds at low volumes, don't discount solid state. Roland Cubes and Hotone Nano heads come to mind as solid state star performers.

Disclaimer : I covet the Laney and own a Special 6 and Hotone Nano head.

 

[Tim S]

I don’t understand the question. If you are looking for a good clean sound at low volume, then why limit yourself to 5 watts? Is this just an intellectual exercise? (like determining the best 1 liter top fuel dragster?)

 

[naveed211]

Savage Macht 6 is awesome if you can find one. Really bold and warm cleans, and breaks up in a very gradual and muscular fashion. Great amp.

On a budget, a Bad Cat Cougar 5 works well for a clean platform. Also stays clean pretty high up in volume.

 

[Jupiter]

if you are paying quiet and clean, do ya even need toobz?

 

[naveed211]

if you are paying quiet and clean, do ya even need toobz?

That’s a good point. And realistically, a 5 watt clean platform with an efficient speaker and a 12 watt Princeton with a stock speaker are pretty much going to be equally loud. I don’t know if you’d perceive any difference.

I went software and headphones almost exclusively in our baby days. I just started getting back into amps in the house in the last few years.

 

[scottser]

when my kids were babies the amps rarely got switched on. i played acoustic mostly, and got quite handy on the mandolin.
but if you must, the vht special 6 has low and high inputs, low and high outputs PLUS a pentode/cathode mode. you can get as quiet or as loud as you want.

 

[runstendt]

I second the suggestion for the VHT Special 6.

 

[bgmacaw]

I have a '73 Princeton Reverb. For lower "don't annoy my wife" volume or headphones as well as recording I use a load box with a line out that goes in an impulse response cab pedal then into a mixer. You can set this up on a budget from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

I also have some Hotone Nano heads I use. I've found the Mojo Diamond (Tweed Deluxe emulation) and Siva Boogie (Bogner Shiva clean channel emulation) to do very good clean tones.