Need help chosing an entry level tube amp

[mgaut051]

I'm in North America
I've only had a peavy bandit and a fender bassman (liked the second quite a bit).
For personal enjoyment, and basement gigging.
Any thoughts, and why?
Pics are good too.

 

[mayfly]

what do you want to sound like?

 

[tfarny]

Fender makes the Champion 600, but it's probably too small to play w/others, everyone but me seems to love a blues Jr which you can get all day on craigslist. Try the Blackheart little giant, you can keep up with a drummer in a small band playing in a basement with that. It actually has a nice clean sound if you replace the tubes. I picked up an epi valve jr combo with some mods done to it a while back for my practice area (we are just two, w/no drummer). It's ok but can't hold a candle to my blackface champ repro with eminence cannabis rex speaker. People like the blackstar ht5 but it's not what I personally like.

So yeah, what sounds do you want (you should aim for one great sound with a low end tube amp, and try to get the rest w/pedals when you need it).

 

[bbl4ck]

I have a blues jr. and [sorry tfarny] I really like it.  For what I play [rock/blues] it has a warm rich sound and enough volume for what I need.
Yes, you can pick them up on Craig's list quite easy.  I think I paid $350 for mine and it is in great shape.
There are also all kinds of mods available to enrich it.  Check out this link for mods:
http://billmaudio.com/wp/
That being said, it certainly does not cover every sound.  I think it is great in clean mode, but not so much in dirty...

Also, I am posting here to see what everyone else has to say.  I am looking for another small amp to cover more sounds because the Blues Jr. certainly does not do it all.
I have actually been kinda interested in the Vox Night train.  However, it is a head only, so you need to get some speakers if you go this route.

Anxious to hear what the crowd thinks...

Good luck &  :rock-on:

 

[lafromla1]

+1 on the Blues Jr.

 

[m4rk0]

I was looking around for the same recently.. (not in a hurry though)

Can't you give this one a try for us?

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Jet-City-Amplification-JCA20H-and-JCA12S-HalfStack?sku=584695

490 for a 20w halfstack isn't bad... and I like their 100% tube tone 0% bullshite slogan
http://www.jetcityamplification.com/

something else that sounded interesting for the same price:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-Tube-Screamer-Series-TSA15H-Amp-Head-and-TSA112C-1x12-Half-Stack?sku=423749

tube amp + tube screamer.. can't be that bad!

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Blackstar HT-5  :icon_thumright:

 

[rockskate4x]

I tried the fender champ and loved it until I bought a blackheart little giant. The blackheart has plenty of clean headroom to be heard over a drummer in a jamming or basement gig situation, and it has great TOOB TONE for the price.

 

[Paul-less]

I would like to point out that the pedal that guitarists affectionately call the "Tube Screamer" is actually more of a "Transistor Somewhat Yelling"

I still love it, but I believe the name should better signify the tone it produces.

 

[clearerphish]

Another vote for the Blues Jr. I have a Blackheart little Giant, and it's a nice little head and sounds great when driving a 4x12 marshall cab at lower volumes, but as soon as you start getting up to 8 or 9 there's no clean anymore, not even if you roll the volume off at the guitar, but now I'm driving my 4x12 cab with the Blues Jr and it's drop-dead amazing. I've played the Blues Jr. on a kickback stand for years and never even had a problem keeping up with a 6 piece funk band with horns. The Blues Jr. has a footswitchable clean/boost channel, 15 watts of tube power, spring reverb tank, and the ability to drive any external 8-ohm cabinet you'd like. For 350 bucks used on craigslist/ebay all day long, it's pretty hard to find a comparable bargain.

Full disclosure - I've obviously drank the kool-aid here as I use this rig, but I have used a lot of others and this is some solid intel - I ALWAYS come back to the Blues Jr. I wish they made it as an amp head - that would be amazing, and I would buy one today.

 

[rockskate4x]

I would like to point out that the pedal that guitarists affectionately call the "Tube Screamer" is actually more of a "Transistor Somewhat Yelling"

I still love it, but I believe the name should better signify the tone it produces.

lol, i see it now...

"ladies and gentleman, I present the revolutionary TRANSISTOR HOLLERER!

 

[Death by Uberschall]

The name actually came from what it does for a tube amp. Sends them over the edge and makes them scream.  :icon_thumright:

 

[jay4321]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Bugera-V22-22W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=502583

Bugera V22

I own one and believe in it. Entry-level tube doesn't come much cheaper, and I've tried cheaper. You don't want cheaper. Start with this one and work your way up.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrzPo4c64ok&feature=related

 

[jay4321]

Oh and basement rock all day with it

 

[Cagey]

+1 on the V-series Bugera amps. I have a V5 and recently got a couple V55s, and they're remarkably good amps for the money. The V55 is the 55 watt version of the V22, otherwise identical. Goes from very sweet cleans to raucous heavy metal, and construction is first rate. You'd have to spend a helluva lot more money to get a better amp.

 

[whatwasithinkin]

Defitnetly a good time to be in the market for an inexpensive starter tube amp. So many companies now jumping on the 1/4w to 30w valve amp bandwagon is going to be great for the tone chasers out there. Lots of options with so many companies offerings now. And the heavy competition is making the amp's affordable. My only concern is with most of these brand name amps being built in Asian factories, how is the reliability going to be as everone works towards making there product cheaper to grab more market share. Thats still yet to be seen.

But even as prices seam to be @ $300 mark for most brands, I dont think you will see them get much cheaper. Lots of internet shops out there offering Mods for the economical tube amps to improve sound and reliability also. So the skys the limit right now. Lots of internet musical instrument companies out there with litterly hundreds of heads/stacks and combo's for less than $500-600 range.

2 of my favorite amps for Bedroom, home studio, garage band type music are the Fender Blues Junior and the Peavey Classic 30 combo's. Both around $600 and can be played at BR levels or small club gigs. Both handle pedals realy well.

If price is realy a factor, then maybe look at the Vox AC4TV. Sells new @ $250. Again good for BR/home recording and band jam at resonable volumes. All tube and also handles pedals well.

But your best bet is decide on a resonable amount you want to spend, take your guitar into different stores and try out different rigs that are in your budget and let your own ears decide what to choose.

 

[TJD]

+++1 on the Blues Jr. Bought one 3 weeks ago and the more I play it the more I love it. Look for (used) either the tweed NOS version or the Texas Red like I have. Upgraded speaker is worth it for little or no more $$ used. Not super loud or a metal machine but worth every penny just the same. Any $15 single switch works with the boost option too.

 

[Cagey]

It's a great time to be buying tube amps of any size, but especially the "entry-level" stuff. The quality is high enough with most of them that you can't rightly call them "entry level" anymore, they're just lower power amps, and most of them are good enough to gig with. If you want something high-quality you can play both in the bedroom and at small clubs, you need to look very seriously at the Bugera V22 or V55 models. They're 22 and 55 watt 112 combos selling between $300 and $450 respectively, and they ROMP! I've got a V5 and a couple V55s here now, and I wish this kind of gear would have been available when I was first starting out. I might have foregone engineerng and became a rock star <grin> The clean channels rival Fenders, and the dirty channels rival Marshalls, while the build quality is remarkably high. I mean, these guys use Sprague caps, metal film resistors, ceramic tube sockets... the PC board is double-sided with plated-through holes... on and on. They've had some teething pains with the early shipments due to a low voltage regulator that should have had a heat sink installed, but that's supposed to be over with now. Besides, what needed to be done to take care of those issues where they showed up was minimal. Costs $2 to do yourself.

 

[mmarino92]

+1 For all things Bugera. My buddy Ryan has a monstrous ear and has been using them from the beginning. He has a 333XL combo which screams like a Mesa, just fantastic, and then for Christmas for a V55HD + Bugera 2x12 and it's phenomenal. Sounded so good his bandmate picked up a V22 for his own use. I've played through both of Ryan's, and can attest that they're both great-sounding amps, not just "for the price" but at any price.

-Michael

 

[lidesnowi]

This is a great entry level tube amp http://www.dv247.fr/assets/products/53820_l.jpg
With some minor tweaks it can sound like this