Tube amp for home use, so confused

[bamboofrog]

I saw those amplugs I thought they were just a gimmick. They might be worth a look for the late night practice when my wife and baby have gone to bed.

[Kilby]

I've played a lot of small tube amps in the last few months, looking for the right one.

Obviously I haven't tried an Orange TT combo yet but I would have to say that the best value for money small amp out there right now IMHO has to be the Fender Super Champ XD. It's not a true all tube amp, but it basically sounds like one. It's a hybrid solid state / tube setup in technical terms but (like the Vox AD30VT) but unlike the Vox the SCXD has a tubes for power output as well. The preamp tube has a dual triode, wich is why it can't be termed a true all tube amp.

Make no mistake though. This sounds like a 100% all tube amp. You simply wont be able to tell the difference.

Actually finding a new one in stock is a different matter altogether. At £199 they tend to fly out the door of stores just as soon as they get them in stock - or are snaffled by pre orders ....

I have to agree about this amp

Although my favourite amp is still my Nanohead, I have to agree that the Super Champ XD is great for the money. It's got a decent range of sounds and the more you turn it up the better it sounds.

Even some of the digital effects even sound half decent.

[Ted]

I saw those amplugs I thought they were just a gimmick. They might be worth a look for the late night practice when my wife and baby have gone to bed.

Not according to the Guitarist clips I heard. The Ac30 version is amazing, not convinced with the others. These may be a bit of a gimmick.

[bamboofrog]

Tried out the Fender Champion 600 today, had some nice tones, not as loud as I thought it would be.

The amplugs look like a nice gadget to have. Has anyone had experience with these?

[Doadman]

That old problem of a tube amp for home use!

You have my sympathy because I've been there. Ultimately I concluded that for home use a tube amp simply isn't practical. To get the most from a tube amp it has to be driven and realistically that's never going to happen in the home. If you're not going to drive a tube amp properly then its advantage over some of the solid state offerings is marginal at best.

The Vox ADVT units mentioned are very good indeed, especially for the kind of music you're interested in, and a budget of £250 buys you anything in the range online. I've seen an AD-50VT 212 online for £239 and that would be enough to power a small gig and still be great for home use. The tube used in the preamp by Vox gives it some real tube warmth and it only comes a little unstuck on high gain models, in which case you could look at the newer XL series. The Vox AD-50VT2 XL can be had for £229 and is very good indeed at a huge range of styles. Tremendous value.

Another alternative already mentioned is the Roland Cube series. These are also excellent amps that offer good quality effects and amp models. The Dyna Amp function is clever and it covers a very wide range of sounds with some really good high gain models. I can't say it has the warmth of the Vox as it lacks the tubes but as the Cube 60 can be had for only £148 it gives you plenty money left over to solve that minor problem. I tried a Roland Cube some years ago and experimented getting a warmer sound by connecting to the amp via an Art Tube MP. The effect was impressive as the sounds warmed up considerably and that unit only costs £39 online. Of course, if you wanted to try other tube units to affect the sound there is always something like a Presonus Tube Pre at £79 or you could look at tube based guitar pedals like the Electro Harmonix 2ube or Blackfinger (£119), both of which would work very well.

All of this can near enough be had for your £250 budget and would give you a great deal more versatility than the same money on a basic valve amp.

[mikeluke]

Can only agree with what has been said earlier regarding tube amps and home volume - I have a Peavey Classic 30 - between 1 and 2 is as loud as you can take it at home - unless you live miles from (or really hate) the neigbours!

[bamboofrog]

Cheers, I have been coming to the same conclusion. I think a solid state is the way to go for the home use.

I haven't tried the vox range yet, hope to do so this week.

Thanks for all the help

[kellar]

The above is excellent advice. I have gone through several "home use" tube amps and have sold all of them because they are just too loud. There are plenty of other great alternatives out there that you will be happy with at home and may even keep a little money in your pocket.

[dave_mc]

AS Dave says, the Laney LC/VC15 is another good choice.  I forgot about that one!

i tried the lc15 a while back, i didn't much like it. i thought that the vc15 was a lot nicer, especially for blues/rock (didn't try them head to head, though, that's from memory). :) then again, when i tried the vc15 next to the vc30, i just thought that the vc30 sounded "better"... and that's pushing the budget again.  :lol:

The thing to do is to go out and try some of the suggestions made here and get your ears tuned to the various sounds. See if any of them jump out at you(so to speak) because, at the  end of the day, you need to please yourself and if you are not used to tube amps ( forgive me if I am wrong here0 it would be a useful exercise and a lot of fun too. Any decent shop would let you use your own guitar and allow too for the "it sounded great in the shop" factor. For what it is worth, I have a Laney VC30 and whilst I wouldn't say it is the greatest sounding amp in the world-it does sound pretty good.I'd have got rid of it if it didn't. Judging by the VC30, the VC15 should be similar I would expect. I have played through a TT and that too was pretty darn good and I would love to get one. The combo version looks like a great bit if kit.

agreed. :)

[Kabeer]

Iv had this dilema too!!
I tried a whole bunch of different amps recently. I havent tried the SuperChampXD, but I tried the Vibro Champ xd, and it was v.good, but for me I found it too thin.

Id love a Fender Blues Jr for my bedroom but its too loud. After trying quite a few amps, looking for that warm clean fender tube magic that the Blues Jr gives. I only found two solutions good for bedroom use:
Cornell Romany Plus (V.expensive though)
and what I own, Tech-21 Trademark 30 (solid state, hard to dial in the right clean fender tones, but once you play with with real tube amps and learn how to use the Tech-21's switches, its REALLY good, only solid state I found that gives a real tube sound).

Btw iv tried the Roland Cube 60 and found it flat and fake.

[dave_mc]

Cornell Romany Plus (V.expensive though)

yeah, it's great, but as you say, very expensive...  :(

[Roobubba]

I don't know if anyone here has experience of them, but there is an old battered about Award Session amp at our practice studio, and it's an absolute pearler. It is a 2 x 12 combo, and is very very bright, but really makes some good sounds (and I don't just mean hardcore good, here!).

I don't know how the rest of their stuff fares, but their cables are sublime value for money, and I get the inkling in my stomach that their amps might just be worth looking into...

Roo