Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Norm Fireland on March 13, 2010, 04:52:13 PM
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Hi Guys, ok some amp advice needed!
I have a budget of £1300 and I am looking for a bedroom amp which i can drive hard and get a good blues/rock sound from. I need an amp with reverb and i am looking Class A (or fixed bias e.g. Mesa) so that i can use a THD hot plate and not have to worry about needing an amp tech to reset the bias everytime tubes wear out. So far i am thinking of the following:
- Cornford Carrera
- Mesa Express 5:25
- THD Bi-Valve (Use the effects loop for a reverb pedal)
Out of the above which would you go for? Or are there any other amps you think would be worth a look at?
Cheers for any help :D
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I have a Cornell Romany Plus which I love. It has power scaling built in so you won't need a Hot Plate either. One to try perhaps?
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The Express 5:25 would definitely be a good bet. I've played one a couple of times in a bedroom-sized demo room, and it gave a great rock sound without making my ears bleed.
I now use a 5:50 head, and knocked down to 5 watts, that's very useable in a home environment, even without a Hotplate, so I see no reason why the 5.25 should be much different.
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I haven't tried it yet but a Fryette Memphis Thirty Combo should worth to check out (Class A, rectified 18W, about £1400... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DIeRWsdMZQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DIeRWsdMZQ)).
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For that sort of cash I'd probably be looking at Mesa's 5/25, 5/50 or Lonestar special or a Cornford Hurricane if I needed something quick. If I had time (and patience!1) I'd get in touch with Martin at MJW amps to build me exactly what I wanted!
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The Laney Lionheart is a great contender in the Class A market. Try to test one and see how you like it. I like the 20Watt head, which you could run with a small 1x12 cab, but they also make a 5Watt combo version that screams "bedroom amp".
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The L5T112 (Laney Lionheart) is well within your budget - you could pick up a used one for around £300. I used to have one but found that the drive channel was lacking something at bedroom level. It was pretty bland - I tried it with another speaker and it still wasn't too great.
For the sort of money you are talking about I would seriously consider talking to Martin W (MJW amps). I'm not sure if he builds reverb into his amps a standard though. I've got a Martamp deluxe (with power scaling) and at bedroom volume it is great.
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My answer can be out of place for some but...
Did you ever tried the Vox Night Train?
I've got an Orange Rockerverb 50 as my main amp, a Koch Studiotone Combo bought as a versatile low output amp (that isn't at bedroom levels) and finally, the Night Train.
I finding myself playing the Night Train with its paired 1x12 cab (Vox NT112) everytime.
One of the cheaper tube amps but, one of the best sounding I ever heard. To me, the best hit in 20 years.
Use an Fulltone OCD V3 or higher, at 18V, to excite its sweet spot and your mind is blowing up.
To play alone, that 1x12 cab is enough. To play with other people and just to open the sound (not a matter of loudness, since this little beast can be loud enough), pair it with some kind of 2x12 cab, as a non-expensive Orange PPC212.
My Orange rig, costed me about 1500 EUR. My Koch about 950, the NT about 600.
Believe me, pure Magic in that NT.
Single channel. No FX loop. No reverb.
About 4 operating modes thru two switches: 7w (triode) of pure silk, 15W (pentode) of pure rock and, bright (normal) and thick (high gain) modes.
With gain at 4 and volume at 8-9, pushed with one OCD, has a controllable feedback that I only found in first class amps.
Takes pedals really nicely and don't worry about reverb. A big reverb pedal that does the trick in front the amp is just the Line6 Verbzila.
With that budget, you have enough to buy all this and have a killer rig.
I played there Fender Strato, Charvel, LP clone, PRS, no name guitars and all them sound fantastic. Each guitar keeps its own character, only enhanced by the amp's voice.
And then, take into account portability. you can hung the amp's head on your shoulder, the size is like a toaster (but way weighted). The cab isn't hard to carry on hand. I can carry everything now in a row. The guitar on shoulder, in a gibbag, the head in a side, the pedalboard in one hand and the 112 cab on the other.
By the way, to me, that Mesa 5:25 is out of those other two amps you are considering. Those little mesa combos tend to sound as if a blanket was over the cab. They are awesome when not compared to anything else but, Conford and Bi-Valve sounds way better to my taste (as the Night Train does). Maybe you will no cover high-gain territory with those but, you will earn in tone, for sure.
For gain, an affordable Tiny Terror can do the trick later.
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The Laney VC15 is a better sounding amp than the 5W Lionheart IMO, much better master volume and not as dark sounding. The lionheart Ive tried occationally is very dark and only sounded good wound up.
Even though I've not tried it the Cornell Romany fits the bill and with power scalling is well under your budget.
If you can live with a reverb pedal, what about an MJW Goldstar and a Hardwire Reverb?
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The Laney VC15 is a better sounding amp than the 5W Lionheart IMO, much better master volume and not as dark sounding. The lionheart Ive tried occationally is very dark and only sounded good wound up.
I don't have experience of the VC15 but completely agree with the 'dark' cmment about the Lionheart. So much better put than my comment about it.
FWIW the other speaker I plugged it into was a celestion blue (the one that is in my martamp (now MJW) deluxe). Even with this it was muddy and compared to the deluxe there was no contest. The deluxe did cost more but IMO it was worth the outlay.
If I ever find myself on the lookout for more amps MJW will be on my list as well as the other guys on the forum who build amps.
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Thanks for the responses guys, at this stage i am having a serious look at the cornell, problem is, i live in Northern Ireland and we don't have anywhere that stocks them. Andrew W you said you had a cornell, is it the sort of amp you would buy and then not want to get rid of?
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Thanks for the responses guys, at this stage i am having a serious look at the cornell, problem is, i live in Northern Ireland and we don't have anywhere that stocks them. Andrew W you said you had a cornell, is it the sort of amp you would buy and then not want to get rid of?
I am lucky enough to have 2 Cornells, the Plexi 7 and the Romany Plus and neither of them are going anywhere. I love them both and both put a grin on my face everytime I plug into them. The Romany is the most versatile and has reverb which might suit you best, but both have power scaling and that really helps me. I've never played through amps that make me as happy as these two do.
Also, should you ever have to deal with Dennis Cornell, he's an absolute gent. He modded my Plexi 7 for nothing and the gave me a lift back to the station having done so. Legend.
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I didn't find the Lionheart (20W head and cab) that I owned dark, but I did notice a lack of gain and headroom, and its reverb was irritatingly noisy.
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Andrew, would i be right in saying the romany is more a fender-esque tone? I would be looking a more marshall tone and i like the plexi, but the lack of reverb/fx loop puts me off!
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Andrew, would i be right in saying the romany is more a fender-esque tone? I would be looking a more marshall tone and i like the plexi, but the lack of reverb/fx loop puts me off!
You would be right in thinking that, yes. One thing you can do with the Romany is to switch the tone stack off which increases gain and fattens things up a bit. It's still not Marshally though, more like a Champ. This is why I have both amps: one for Marshall tones, one for more Fendery sounds.
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2nd hand Diezel einstein combo if you can find one. Incredible sounding amps IMHO and whilst they do sound pretty special wound up they also produce some amazing bedroom tones as the power section runs pretty clean.
It has external biasing so no probs there
Forget their reputation as being for metalheads - the einstein in particular can sound vintage and has its tonal feet well into marshall territory but will do thick liquid leads etc. I have owned a ton of amps and it is 'the' best amp I have ever owned bar none.
Just really hard to track down........
Matt