small valve amp for house

[roland_rat]

Hi,

I was hoping for some advice on a small wattage valve amp for house pratice use.  I was thinking Orange tiny terror. Though I have noticed the Blackheart BH5H does anyone have any opinions on these or indead any other small valve amp.  It would be used with a variety of guiatars single coil and hambuckler pickups. Musical style would vary from blue, rock and some metal (though I guess I may need a pedal in front of amp for this one).

Thanks very much

Gareth

[Crazy_Joe]

I would recommend a nice Laney AOR 30 combo, they are cheap but very well made, all valve, great sounding and can do all styles well.

There's one on ebay right now that would be a complete steal: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Laney-Pro-Tube-AOR-Series-All-Valve-Reverb-Combo-Amp_W0QQitemZ110242618032QQihZ001QQcategoryZ10171QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Much better than forking out £250 for a Tiny Terror imo which still needs a cab after that.

[ailean]

I have a TT that I'm very happy with, not everyone's choice but a great little amp.

Always important - Try before you buy!

[Twinfan]

The two you mention are great little amps.  I would find a shop with them both in stock and try them out.

:)

[Stevepage]

isn't the TT coming out as a combo really soon? I saw it in the recent Guitarist Magazine

[Twinfan]

Yep, it's out shortly.

[Ian Price]

Laney Lionheart L5T-112. 5 watts of pure class. I have one and it is awesome.

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replys, there is a few amps in there I had not given any thought to so thanks.
 The Laney AOR 30 combo  looks nice for the price but I think for home use it may be too loud for my neighbours to take.  Would you say this is one of them amps that starts off loud and gets louder or could it be ok at house volumes?

The TT im going to have a look at today. I thought the TT combo was not in shops until August but I could be talking rubbish on tha one.  If  sound control have the laney lionheart I will give it a try too although I am drawn to the cheaper TT.

Thank guys will keep you informed.

Gareth

[dave_mc]

just be careful with anything which doesn't have a master volume (i don't think that blackheart does). I have an epiphone valve junior, and I can get overdrive/distortion at a much more neighbour-friendly volume level through my 100 watt engl half-stack (which has gain controls). Granted, it's not power-tube drive, but it still sounds good- and if you need overdrive/distortion, pre-amp drive is better than no drive (of course you could maybe consider a booster/overdrive pedal instead for the non-MV amp).

[Crazy_Joe]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replys, there is a few amps in there I had not given any thought to so thanks.
 The Laney AOR 30 combo  looks nice for the price but I think for home use it may be too loud for my neighbours to take.  Would you say this is one of them amps that starts off loud and gets louder or could it be ok at house volumes?

The TT im going to have a look at today. I thought the TT combo was not in shops until August but I could be talking rubbish on tha one.  If  sound control have the laney lionheart I will give it a try too although I am drawn to the cheaper TT.

Thank guys will keep you informed.

Gareth

The Laney AOR 30 combo is relatively quiet to start off with imo, but when you start to crank it it can get damn loud.

[donovan.x]

How about a Cornell PLexi 7? Have'nt heard one myself but the guy in the local axe saloon thinks they are the bits.

[BadMonkey]

Hey, I was just looking at the Orange website & they're releasing a 5 watt all valve combo!  Its the AD5.  Kind of like the Epi valve junior?  Just a volume & tone control.
The TT combo looks juicy too..!

[JamesHealey]

just be careful with anything which doesn't have a master volume (i don't think that blackheart does). I have an epiphone valve junior, and I can get overdrive/distortion at a much more neighbour-friendly volume level through my 100 watt engl half-stack (which has gain controls). Granted, it's not power-tube drive, but it still sounds good- and if you need overdrive/distortion, pre-amp drive is better than no drive (of course you could maybe consider a booster/overdrive pedal instead for the non-MV amp).

sssh david.. it's all about playing 100w non-mv amps in your pokey box room in your terraced house!

[MrBump]

If you have the cash, why not look at Matamp?

I quite fancy one of these:

http://matamp.co.uk/minimat.htm

Mark.

[HTH AMPS]

best all valve small amp I've heard are the Laney Lionheart range, they totally rule.  

I'm gonna add some extra preamp valves to my Epi VJ and copy the Lionheart circuit in there.  With the Mercury Magnetics transformer upgrades I've got as well, it should sound REALLY TASTY.  I can run anything upto a KT88 in my little VJ - totally cool little amp with the appropriate changes.