Smallest tube combo amp w/ spring reverb?

[ChemicalBlues]

What really small tube combos w/ spring reverb are on the market?

I'm talking 5 watts and under. I know of the Swart STR, any others?

I think a 1-watt combo w/ spring reverb would be killer, however I've combed the internet and don't see any. I have a AC4 w/ a reverb pedal as my practice amp and its cool. However I'd love some real verb in a small combo.

 

[RubyRae]

The Allen Chihuahua is bad to the bone, but might be closer to 10 watts...

 

[El Reclusa]

I've yapped much about this idea here...somewhere in the amp forum, there's pics from a dude in Israel that crammed a reverb circuit in a Vibro-Champ, and it looks AWESOME! I still want something like this...thinking about approaching a local builder to try and figure out how painful the cost of a one-off would be...

As for 1W amps with reverb, I believe Blackstar makes a head and combo single-watt with reverb, but I'm pretty sure it's digital reverb.

 

[hooch1]

Hmmm....

Unfortunately, most of these low watt amps have digital reverb.

There are several MV tube amps in the 15-30w range with reverbs. The JCA2112R is even tube driven reverb.

The little Pathfinder sounds pretty tubey and it has spring reverb and tremelo. Thats the closest I can think of.

 

[El Reclusa]

Yeah...looks like the smallest things I can find, aside from the Swart the OP mentioned (which looks pretty cool) and the Allen would be a Princeton or Blues Jr, both at 15W. It'd be really great if somebody could make something that would have all the features of, say, a Vibrolux or Princeton at 1-5W. FWIW, there's also the Carr Mercury, which can be throttled down to a fraction of a watt & has nice 'verb. For me, though, the biggest issue is affordability at the moment...the Allen, Swart, and Carr all look great (only tried the Carr of the three, and it was NICE!), but are rather pricey.

 

[TMoxness]

The small tube amps with a reverb pan sound awful to me, including the Blues Jr

I prefer the sound of digital reverb (SCXD) to a small reverb unit,

 

[backalleyblues]

Carvin Vintage 16 has tube reverb, although I'm not crazy about the Accutronics tank (sounds much better with a Mod tank in there)... it also switches down to 5w, and is not hideously expensive...

Franc Robert

 

[hooch1]

Carvin Vintage 16 has tube reverb, although I'm not crazy about the Accutronics tank (sounds much better with a Mod tank in there)... it also switches down to 5w, and is not hideously expensive...

Franc Robert

Also, the now discontinued Epi Senior has a spring reverb though its awful. They ruined a perfectly good amp with that reverb.

 

[kaludjerko]

There is Laney Lionheart, L5T-112
Speaker made in UK, full size reverb pan and so on ...

(link removed)

 

[claes]

My laney lc 15r has (a bad) spring reverb. Only 10kg...

 

[DOGMA Dunn]

Some of those small Swart amps sound so good you may not even need reverb. But if reverb is what you seek. Any great sounding 5 watt amp will take a great reverb pedal and sound great with reverb. Looking at designs of older 5 watt tube amps their goal was for simple circuits to get the most of pure sound from the tubes and less signal altered from resistors and capacitors. IMO some modern 5 watt amps have a lot of bells and wistles like master volume, trebble, bass, mid controls to emulate the functions of a bigger push/pull class A/B amp which has more tubes that define their sound. However, I can see where a tube drivin reverb tank with a choke will help keep the creamy tube sound, but to put more circuit on a already simple 5 watt circuit would be like adding a 5 watt amp circuit to a 5 watt amp with the output of 5 watts. Sort of like 5+5=5.

Another option is, you could bump up to a class A/B 12 watt amp with great built in reverb and tube drivin bias modulating tremolo. I use a SF PR that I must turn the volume up to 3 to get the sweet spot at low volume. And it's some of the best reverb and tremolo I ever played.

Anyway good luck and happy hunting.

 

[tap4154]

The SS Fender 25R has a great spring reverb, and I swear it sounds about as good as my 1970 SF Champ, when played clean. $99. Very tubey tone IMO, but not the OD you'd get with a tube amp, of course. The OD channel can be dialed in to sound pretty good, but I usually play clean so don't care. It's 25 SS watts, so can be very loud for a Champ-sized amp, but sounds great at apartment levels, and records great through the headphone jack.

 

[craigs63]

The trouble with using a reverb pedal or other reverb effect into the amp (IMO) would be that you're amp-ing the reverbed sound, rather than reverb-ing the amp sound (those may not be the appropriate industry terms).

 

[El Reclusa]

Yep- I know it's almost mutually exclusive, but if I could get the basic tone (and tremolo!) of a Vibro-Champ with the reverb from a good Princeton or V-lux, I'd be in heaven! Mostly playing at home, lower volume is good most of the time- though I'm well aware that cranking up enough to get the goods still equals louder than bedroom volume. FWIW, I have several amps, mostly around the house I use a '50s Gibson GA-5 (awesome!) or a '50s GA-8T, with a Holy Grail reverb (actually selling that now) or an old, awesome Kay 710 SS reverb tank. This works well enough most of the time, but it would still be nice to have something as small as the GA-5 (basically a tweed Champ) with reverb.

Call me crazy, I like the sound of a decent pedal or reverb unit in front of an amp, but there's something subtly different about having the reverb built into the amp. Probably has something to do with gain staging, etc, but it's like this: ever try a non-reverb Princeton A/B'd with a Princeton reverb? Both are very nice, very similar in many ways, but they're NOT exactly the same amp, tone-wise. Even with the reverb off, a PR seems to break up differently, in a way that I enjoy. I almost bought a RI '63 Reverb and a '69 non-verb Princeton from a friend, but those two added didn't equal a PR...I mean, it was a Princeton with Fender tube reverb, but not the same thing. Not bad, just not the same.

A little off subject now, but another thing I'd LOVE to have: an amp that sounds like my GA-5 does if you switch it off, but keep playing as it ramps down. It's such an amazing overdive sound, at conversation level, for about ten seconds before it's actually off. If there's a way to safely choke an amp for voltage (or whatever makes it sound that way) safely and consistently, I'd be all over it! Pretty sure a Variac would do, but probably not so good for the amp...

 

[jackal]

+1 on the FM25R----add an Eminence Rajun Cajun and you've got killer sound for the buck.

 

[Mat]

Gibson GA-2RVT an oldie but a goody (if you can find one).

Has a full size Gibbs pan and tremolo - funky and delicious

 

[SamBooka]

I have a princeton reverb clone that I pulled one power tube and changed the OT to a champ ot. Worked.. had reverb.. never got around to getting the vibrato to work.

So many guys say.. I want a champ with Reverb and a 10 in speaker so it seemed like a no brainer.. (I love my VC with a holy grail)

Eventually started using it at practices and had to bump it back up to tw 6v6s.

 

[porterburst]

Look for one of the Reverend Goblin 5/15....fantastic amps. Switch betweed 5 or 15 watts, tube driver spring reverb, plus a switch for many different tone options.

 

[PaddyWagon]

I think that a secondary cause to this lack of true spring reverbs in smaller amps is that the reverb tank does require physical space, it's a physical phenomenon that can't be squeezed down beyond a certain point and still work.

 

[El Reclusa]

I think that a secondary cause to this lack of true spring reverbs in smaller amps is that the reverb tank does require physical space, it's a physical phenomenon that can't be squeezed down beyond a certain point and still work.

For sure, but really, who would complain about a Champ-ish circuit in a Princeton-sized box?