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