Tube Amp recommendations

[Giorfida]

Correct. Trying to find a low-power, low-cost, and decent-sounding bench amp. I have amps for gigging. I'm just looking for something that I can have on my bench that is tube based, and that I can push into overdrive without waking up the neighbors.

I know I e been all over the map, and still strongly recommend a tube-like transistor amp, but IMHO the closest I ever had to a cranked plexi Marshall at bedroom volume was an Origin 20 in 1w mode.
Shy of that would be a JCM800 like circuit (or the modded valve jr posted above looks enticing)

 

[Diynot]

For the name alone…. There is also a 5w version

 

[giovanni]

I bought a Blackheart Little Giant several years ago and it has served me very well. Not the best tone but a very good pedal platform and I heard that they are easily moddable. I don't think they make them anymore but you can easily find them on Reverb.

 

[Fingolfen]

I've just recently finished up a 5F2-A and I adore the amp... ironically enough I haven't run any pedals through it yet...

... of course, I've been having too much fun running just about everything through the 5W clean channel of my Marshall Silver Jubilee running through my Lerxt Omega 2X12 cab...

... which is neither small nor cheap so it fails on both of the original requests...

 

[Noodles]

Giorfida already mentioned it, but AC15C1 used W/Greenback. Not quiet, but you need some heft to hear how your pedals are working. Also, works just great for gigging.

 

[jcpst]

For the name alone…. There is also a 5w version

I typically gravitate towards EL-84s, but just one problem the Wangs VT-15:

Studio level Tone so good you'll need "Jaw Insurance".

I don't need a monthly bill tied to owning a modestly-priced amp. Plus, not sure if I need to get that from my dentist...

However, the HD-15 might be the way to go:

Channel 3 will completely rip off your head and sh*t down your neck without muddying your favorite T-Shirt

I don't like "mud" on my t-shirts, so that's pretty handy.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

Put a 100K pot in a small enclosure with 2 jacks and have your buddy put it in his effects loop, or he can buy one from JHS for $65.00! That'll tame that Blues DeDeluxe

I did one of these for a friend with a hot rod deluxe recently and initially he was not all that interested. Then he plugged it in and was like "ohhhh... hell yeah!"

 

[fontoponto]

The Blackstar HT5 MKII should be cheap by now as the MKIII was released.
I owned it and the clean channel sounded amazing but I disliked the dirt so I sold it. Should habe kept it…

 

[Coach_McGuirk]

I don't know what "relatively cheap" is these days but if you're a buy-once-cry-once kind of a person, a BF Princeton Reverb is the golden ticket. A reissue can be had for ~$650 if you really shop around. Or you can hobble something together from a kit for around the same price.

 

[gonzo]

I have a cheap small 5w vox tube amp. The speaker does suck as do a lot of smaller amps. Best thing I did to it was add a speaker output jack. The thing sounds great through a larger cab.

 

[Feral Feline]

[EDIT: As already mentioned...]

Find a used 5w Epiphone Valve Jr

Combo or head...

or a BlackHeart Killer Ant or Little Giant (they also came in combos):

Epiphone or BlackHeart, I hear they're both fun to mod.






EDIT to ADD: Something like Diynot's little teensy amp suggestion — or if you've got deep pockets the Zacharry Vexation mini amps that are hand-painted.

The little Chinese amps can also be bought in kits. Half-watt, 1-watter?

Then there's the Mooer and the like.
Does any of the Hotone series of micro-amps qualify for bench duty? I've seen them but know little about them.



Fender Champ (modern or vintage), modern Gretsch clone of the modern Champ — both of those are easy to mod, the first thing being to change out the speaker.

 

[chris.knudson]

Thank you all. I really do appreciate all of your input. I am somehow now more confused than I was before I asked the question. Here are the takeaways I got from this thread that I thought were the most useful...

Welcome to the internet.

Probably not very helpful but I think the Blues Junior is horrible. So are the cheaper Voxes.

I know it's popular to buy something cheap and maybe do a speaker swap or mod it, but my experiences have never been positive buying cheap stuff.

“this amp sounds better than the others, likely because it used unicorn mane hair as filament wire insulators”

I don't know what "relatively cheap" is these days

 

[Locrian99]

Thank you all. I really do appreciate all of your input. I am somehow now more confused than I was before I asked the question. Here are the takeaways I got from this thread that I thought were the most useful...

pretty amazing you ask a very subjective question in the internet and you get a bunch of different answers. Ill throw my worthless opinion in as well.

I have the monoprice 5w, i run it through a 12” cab with one of those alnico speakers from the custom 57 tweeds. I really really like it, i think it would suck for pedal testing. Its a one trick pony. I recently picked up one of those fender 75’s from the early 80’s for a pedal testing amp it would work great lots of eq options, its heavy and really loud.
I didnt like a tube amp for my bench amp because i hated waiting for it to warm up.

I recently picked up a fender mustang gt-40 its one of the amps with all thr different amp models and built in effects. I was actually pleasantly surprised with it and i currently am using it for my bench amp, and a lot of testing stuff. Its a 200$ modeler (i found mine way cheaper on marketplace though) so its obviously not perfect. But it gets there and i like how it responds to pedals. For instance on the deluxe reverb i have it set clean, im testing the box and all (basically a 3 band eq, with boost) it pushes it into break up, but on say the twin it doesnt etc. anyways if what you are looking for is to test pedals on a bench setting is 100% get a small modeling combo rather than tube.

 

[Feral Feline]

... if what you are looking for is to test pedals on a bench setting is 100% get a small modeling combo rather than tube.

Depends on a red wheelbarrow, ie horses for courses, and corsets for courtesans of course!



If someone's testing chorus pedals, then by all means a clean solid-state amp will be great and can be dialled to any volume.
Clean is clean whatever the volume.

However, if testing a fuzz that's meant to push a tube-amp on the verge of break-up into sonic melt-down, yet backing the guitar's volume off cleans up the sound to a chimey tone with just a hint of grit — then testing said fuzz pedal with a solid-state amp is going to suck.

So too will suck testing that pedal with a 100w Marshall stack or 80w Twin Reverb on the verge of break-up. At least you wouldn't be able to hear the neighbours complaints, you wouldn't even hear the doorbell as you'd be deaf in short order.


Pedal-platform amp, a low wattage solid-state or tube-amp that stays clean are great.
vs
Grit gotten from riding a guitar's volume pot > dirt-pedal pushing > amp-about-to-crunchify — without noise complaints nor going deaf — Low-Wattage Tube for the win.

 

[chris.knudson]

Ill throw my worthless opinion in as well.

Honestly, I don't think any of the responses are worthless. I've actually learned a lot from this thread. I'm just not any closer to figuring out what to do. At first I though about the Monoprice 5w. It seems to meet all of my requirements, but I keep coming back to what @Guardians of the analog said about not having good experiences buying cheap stuff.

 

[Locrian99]

Honestly, I don't think any of the responses are worthless. I've actually learned a lot from this thread. I'm just not any closer to figuring out what to do. At first I though about the Monoprice 5w. It seems to meet all of my requirements, but I keep coming back to what @Guardians of the analog said about not having good experiences buying cheap stuff.

I dont think you can go wrong buying one to have around. They pop up on marketplace used in my area fairly often for 100$, its a solid sounding amp for 100$. It wouldnt be the only amp i own. I love mine, i also have 5 other amps and might go a month without turning it on, but ive wasted 100$ on things ive gotten less use out of.

I think Guardians of the analog suggestion of finding an old champ is great and hes right get it for the right price and worst case you can always get out of it what you out into it. Just depends on how much patience you have checking craigslist etc for the right one to come up. Also your budget.

 

[jwyles90]

A little late to this thread, but if you're looking for just a small test tube amp, I've heard good things about the Supro 1w delta kings. They might have more of a specific sound, being that they're Supros and all, but they're tiny, have separate volume and master controls, and can easily by pushed by whatever pedal you're testing.

I also have a Blues Jr and really love it. I've got one with a Cannabis Rex speaker instead of the stock, so that could be why I like it and so many other people don't like theirs. I've always thought it sounded great and could function both as a bedroom amp and in a live setting. Might be a little more than what you need if you just want a desk amp though.

 

[owlexifry]

I'm just not any closer to figuring out what to do.

you're going to build an amp because you know you want to


if you can build a pedal with a lot of offboard wiring, you can build this:


or even this, if you have an extra coffee in the morning:

 

[giovanni]

you're going to build an amp because you know you want to


if you can build a pedal with a lot of offboard wiring, you can build this:
View attachment 74076

or even this, if you have an extra coffee in the morning:
View attachment 74077

Can I build a pedal with a lot of off board wiring? Yes I can. Can I do it without getting a rage stroke? Doubtful.

 

[owlexifry]

Can I do it without getting a rage stroke? Doubtful.

haha that's when you know you've had too much coffee and it's time to go have a calm down cone