help justify a new amp

[pressthe6]

short version:
I have a crate vintage club 50 that I never get past 2 cuz it's so damn loud. it got OK breakup at 2 but I never get close to pushing the limits.

I picked up a digitech rp1000 multi/modeler pedal and now play the crate only on the clean channel and use the rp1000 for all distortion and effects.

now I'm thinking of getting a lunchbox amp (nighttrain?) but am worried that I'll just be wasting it if I continue to rely on the pedal so much. I figure at only 7.5 or 15 watts, I'll be able to get more out of an amp and then use the rp1000 for strictly effects. but then am I wasting the pedal?

trying to talk myself out of spending the $7, $8, $900 but I'm not listening to myself.

thx.

[marnold***]

The first question is: do you like the pedal?

[markb]

1. If you get all your dirt from pedals (and are happy with that) the last thing you need is a small valve amp.

2. Do you play out or just at home?

[Duffy]

One awesome amp you might try is the Fender Super Champ XD; a wonderful ten inch speaker amp with a tube preamp and a power tube power amp. It includes about fifteen amp simulations on a digital chip injected into the signal path, along with about fifteen stops on the effects dial, with an effects level knob separate from the selection knob - reverbs, delay; reverb and delay; chorus, chorus and delay, vibrato, etc.

It emulates about ten fender amps all the way from tweed fifty nine type amps up to the bassman and hot rod deluxe and higher output; then it crosses over the top and back the other side of the amp dial with UK amps and high gain amps to ultra high gain amps and finally an accoustisonic emulation.

It also has the clean channel, which is just the Super Champ XD without amp modelling and you can add reverb, etc. This clean channel is clean all the way to the ceiling and very fender clean. Great amp.

You can upgrade the speaker to an Eminence Ragin' Cajun for sixty four dollars from places like MF, like I did, to great effect and it makes the amp more powerful and toneful. It is a fifteen watt tube amp, rated as twenty watts, I believe, some places.

It is a great amp for about 299. Probably a way better deal than a fender Blues Junior, even though the Blues Junior is a really nice amp. But for half the price you are getting way more than half the amp, and maybe even more of an amp.

You can turn the amp up real good, especially on some of the less hot amps that it models, but the hot rod deluxe and bassman models and the high gain models are real loud at half volume. It has a gain control as well.

So you get crystal clear fender cleans from the clean channel and lots of overdrive from some of the other channels. The controls immitate the amp model being emulated, so you have to tweak each amp model, not like turning a tv channel and expecting the volume and gain to be equalized.

Also, Peavey was selling the Valve King Royal 8 at some of the big places like MF for 99 dollars, a not bad five watt tube amp with a decent speaker.

Another great little amp is the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal, eight inch weber speaker, five watt amp, with tremolo, gain control, eq., and great sound with an extension speaker jack that is switchable for four, eight and sixteen ohm cabinets. It used to sell for six hundred US or so, I think they are blowing them out for 299 or thereabouts, maybe less. That's a very nice little amp, built real well, class a single channel; you could use your pedal with it to outstanding effect and still get the overdrive out of the amp by driving it into overdrive, at any volume level due to the power attenuator built into it and accessed by the dial on the back from full power to zero power - a nice feature for quiet but highly overdriven playing with nice real tube overdrive.

Another option would be the 349 Bugera V22 that Spud has been using. It has two discrete channels and reverb, and a twelve inch speaker for that full sound and tone you will probably want; less than half the watts of yor fifty but still plenty loud as you can imagine. The Fender Deluxe Reverb is twenty two watts.

That's why people like the small five watt tube amps. Some you can switch down to lower wattage and push them harder for power tube breakup at household levels without driving certain people nuts. Some people are just plain nuts to begin with and can't stand listening to a guitar at any volume, even an acoustic.

You could even play your pedal into a keyboard amp or small PA with an instrument input. There are some very good ones out there. I watched a semi professional dude plug his fifty seven Fender tele straight into the instrument input of his PA and it sounded really good. Of course he guy was a master player and accompanied himself on a bass drum, snare drum foot operated rig and was accompanied by his wife on a nice Ensonic keyboard, both doing vocals; all thru the PA and some decent speakers. A very light PA too I might add, but powerful. Nothing like you would need. But the concept is the same; use the pedal into something other than a guitar amp.

I like the guitar amp idea better personally. Get a small tube one and you have the option of plugging straight into the tube amp for some nice tube overdrive without coloring it with the digital sounding pedal, once in a while.

[Jimi75]

If the pedal is your main unit, say effects, overdrive etc. will begenerates by the pedal, then I think buying another amp is wortheless. Tube amps are loud, every tube amp with 20-100Watt is loud when you put the volume past 2.

If you want a pretty cheap and handy solution chekc out the Crate Powerblock. This is what a friend of mine uses in combination with a 4x12 and also a Digitech Multi Effect. Sounds pretty cool.

[pressthe6]

thanks for all the input guys.
I do like the pedal. does everything I need and then some.
I mostly play at home but do jam/play out couple times a month.
I'll do some research on the amps duffy recommended and the powerblock.

either way I think I'm stopping by sam ash on the way home and plugging in....

[FrankenFretter***]

My Night Train is fine for volume on the triode setting, it works well in a situation where you can't be very loud for fear of upsetting neighbors, roommates, loved ones or rabid badgers. That said, the others are right about not needing a tube amph if the tones you get from the pedal are all you're looking for. This reminds me of a thread by Eric, who was looking for transparent amplification.

I use effects with the Night Train, but not consistently. It has a beautiful warm sound all by itself.

[guitardan777]

Nothing like a nice clean tube amp to warm up the digital modeler pedals.
I've had a few of the Boss series GT's and they were much more pleasing through my tube amp, and tended to be very steral (sp?) sounding through a SS amp - including a power block, or a powered monitor type ala SRM-450.....

There are a lot of lower wattage amps out there (16-25 watts) that would be plenty of power for small rooms or jam sessions.....plus you can always run them through a bigger speaker cab or mic them up in a bigger room or stage.