Amp shopping, need advice

[JJRedingHistoryBuff]

I'm new to these forums and thought I'd start off by asking a question or two. Starting off I'm looking for a new tube amp (technically this will be my first tube amp) I've only been playing for about three years so some technicals might be, over my head(good Fleetwood Mac song btw! :) ) anywho, I'm looking for an amp for under 1500 that'll cover the kinda gritty AC/DC sound, and similar classical rock, blues stuff... I'm not into playing Heavy Metal if I need any of that I'll just buy a distortion pedal(any thoughts on different pedals might be helpful), cleans are important but Im not looking for country clean either. It can be head or a combo amp, and must have reverb. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks in advanced and sorry if it's a long post, and rock on!

[Spudman]

You've picked a good time to buy a tube amp. There are so many that sound great and have a variety of features that allow you to find your own custom tone.

What is your intended purpose? Are you going to gig with it? Loud jams with drummers and other musicians? Are you just going to play at home? These can factor in as to what we recommend to you.

You are going to find that they are very affordable and an 18-22 watt amp can be plenty loud. But, like I said, give us a little more to go on and you'll get some great responses.

[JJRedingHistoryBuff]

You've picked a good time to buy a tube amp. There are so many that sound great and have a variety of features that allow you to find your own custom tone.

What is your intended purpose? Are you going to gig with it? Loud jams with drummers and other musicians? Are you just going to play at home? These can factor in as to what we recommend to you.

You are going to find that they are very affordable and an 18-22 watt amp can be plenty loud. But, like I said, give us a little more to go on and you'll get some great responses.

I don't really plan on gigging that much and I'll occasionally jam with a few of my friends( all guitar players)I'll be playing at home most of the time so I'm guessing wattage will need to be 30 or less

[Sada Yairi]

I'd suggest that given your intended purpose you stick to looking at the 18-22 watt segment of the market. Loud enough for jamming (with drums) but quiet enough to use at home. That immediately narrows down the choices. The next major step will be trying them out - try as many as you can to hear the differences and experience what they're like to use for yourself (rather than just relying on what you read).

[deeaa]

Very hard to recommend an amp usually, as tastes vary so much...but...

Well, I like mostly AC/DC kinda sounds and their variations, and if I wanted to get me an amp that could do anything I can think of with a very good sound and a compact package and under 15 hundred...I'd go for a Laboga Caiman head and the square 2x12" compact cab. That's 50W of sweeeeeeet real all-tube EL84 sound that can have a real power tube crunch á la old ACDC or clean Bluesbreaker at sensible volumes, but also has a very good sounding dirtier channel & well enough power for gigs. All in a very portable and super cool looking package with a nicely projecting mixed-speaker twin 12" cab...for me, that would be an insanely good and versatile amp for any music. But it doesn't have a reverb...it has a loop for FX though. I hardly use reverb myself when playing live, it tends to wash away the impact of the sound too much for me.

Blackstar makes rather similar sounding nice packages too, but comparing them head-to-head, I was very impressed of the Caiman's very rootsy and warm power tube sound. Won my Most Impressive Amp of Recent Years award(tm) :-)

But, there's a LOT of options out there. 1500 makes for great selections, hell, you could even order a hand-made p-t-p amp from Ceriatone for that kind of cash.

[sunvalleylaw]

I'll give my stock answer. Check out a Peavey Classic 30. For classic rockish sounds, it gets it done, and does a nice, warm clean too. Not too expensive either. But as the others say, YMMV. It does not have the super high end Fender cleans, and is not a real high gain amp. Should cover AC/DC, rock and blues though, especially with a couple pedals, which it takes well. That's my .02!

[oldguy]

I'll give my stock answer. Check out a Peavey Classic 30. For classic rockish sounds, it gets it done, and does a nice, warm clean too. Not too expensive either. But as the others say, YMMV. It does not have the super high end Fender cleans, and is not a real high gain amp. Should cover AC/DC, rock and blues though, especially with a couple pedals, which it takes well. That's my .02!

I second this.

Mine has become my main gigging amph over the past year and a half. It's portable, loud, and sounds good.
I did recently clean all the tube sockets and retube w/ JJ's from Bob @ Eurotubes. That solved some noise issues I was having.

I think it's a great amph for the money. I got mine on closeout for $350 a couple years back.

[guitarhack]

Ditto the C30. IMHO it's the bang for the buck winner for rock and blues tones, especially when you pair it up with its extension cab, if you can find one. Try before you buy, of course, is always the best advice, because in the end, it's all about what sounds good to you.

[Katastrophe]

Ditto the C30. IMHO it's the bang for the buck winner for rock and blues tones, especially when you pair it up with its extension cab, if you can find one. Try before you buy, of course, is always the best advice, because in the end, it's all about what sounds good to you.

Ditto the C30... Take a look at the ValveKing 1X12. It's 50 watts, but sounds great at lower volumes.

Carvin makes a number of amps in your price range that will work, too. Look at the vintage series, or the X100 series.

Bugera V22, V55 or Magician, with it's built in varipower knob, will work.

Marshall Haze 40 will fit as well.

Vox AC 15 or 30 will get you there, as well.

I'm of the opinion these days that just about every major amp manufacturer makes a good tube amp these days that will fit in your requirements. All you have to do is go play a few and see which one you like the best. That's what makes amph shopping fun!

[deeaa]

All good amps...but if you have a limit of 1500 why settle for a great basic amp...could get something awesome too. There aren't many amps out there you can't get for that kind of dough, especially used. Loads of classics too. Like...umm...Marshall JTM. JCM800. Blackstar 45. Egnater Tweaker, or Renegade. Fender Supersonic. H&K Switchblade. Marshall JVM215C. Orange AD30. Vox AC30. You can pretty much pick what you like best if you have 1500 to spare for it.

[JJRedingHistoryBuff]

Thanks for all the advice and sorry for a late reply, but I've decided to go with a used Mesa Boogie Single Rectifeir with an Avatar 212 cab loaded with Celestion G12M and a G12H. Im not quite sure on the speaker combination if this will work for classic rock, early Metallica etc. do you guys have any ideas on speaker combinations? I've tested out the head and I know I want to go with it. But not sure on how I should go about the speaker combo. Any ideas?

[deeaa]

That's a great amp and I'd be happy with those speakers as well. Close to what I use too with my JVM. I don't think you'll find to need a speaker change. If you need more modern scooped tones or super spanky clean country tones, maybe switch the H to a V30 or something modern in that vein...but for classic tones those should be just the ticket.

[steavejohn1994]

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[guitarhack]

Thanks for all the advice and sorry for a late reply, but I've decided to go with a used Mesa Boogie Single Rectifeir with an Avatar 212 cab loaded with Celestion G12M and a G12H. Im not quite sure on the speaker combination if this will work for classic rock, early Metallica etc. do you guys have any ideas on speaker combinations? I've tested out the head and I know I want to go with it. But not sure on how I should go about the speaker combo. Any ideas?

I have that same cab. You should be able to get those tones you mentioned with no problem.