Is there such thing as cheap but good tube amp?

[silentrage]

I jus got a pair of BKP 7s but my amp and pedal is just not up to the job.
Is it possible to get a decent tube amp for cheap? Something that'll do the br00tals well and have bearable cleans?
Maybe an amp + pedal combo?
My budget is around $500 USD, anymore and I'll have to feed off the sound waves instead of food next month...

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

This might be slightly out of your price range unless you can find a decent used one for cheap but I suggest a Peavey 5150 of some sort.  Keep checking ebay and craigslist for good deals and in the meantime while you search you can save up some more $$$.

Just read the part about bearable cleans.  I guess they're bearable....barely.

[Roobubba]

I don't know whether you can get a Peavey 5150-II or 6505+ (the same thing, just re-branded when EVH went off to Fender to develop the Mark III) second hand for that kind of money, but at least in the US it'll be as cheap as it'll be anywhere so you stand the best chance... There is a combo version, and I guess this is cheaper than Head + cab.
The Mark II version has better cleans.

Roo

[silentrage]

I'll keep an eye out for that. I did hear that bugera's 5150 clones have better cleans, but I'm not sure I wanna spend that kind of money on cheap chinese made stuff.

How are used laneys in this price range? I always liked their distortion sound. :)

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

Where are you located?  I've seen a few go for good prices but a lot of times it's "pickup only" or on craigslist which is usually just local sales.  Here's one(pickup only):

http://cgi.ebay.com/Peavey-5150-EVH-Combo-Amp-60watt-LOW-PRICE_W0QQitemZ180302177000QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180302177000&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A1|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[silentrage]

Toronto...
unfortunately ebay.ca has shite-all for sale compared to .com

[MrBump]

I guess that it depends what you want the amp for.

I mean, are you after a 100 watt monster, or a 5 watt home amp?  I have both, and I have to say that the 5 watter is loud enough to make my wife angry.  And it sounds damn good.

There are a lot of great low watt amps out there at the moment, it seems to be a growth area.

Mark.

[dave_mc]

brootalz is the problem... you can get cheap decent-ish tube amps for classic rock, blues and the like, but they won't really handle the heavy stuff. i'd agree with roo, if that money can get you a 5150, that might be the way to go. or maybe a xxx if the cleans are important.

[silentrage]

I guess that it depends what you want the amp for.

I mean, are you after a 100 watt monster, or a 5 watt home amp?  I have both, and I have to say that the 5 watter is loud enough to make my wife angry.  And it sounds damn good.

There are a lot of great low watt amps out there at the moment, it seems to be a growth area.

Mark.

I don't need a monster, as long as it sounds good and can pull off very small gigs at half filled bars I'll be fine, lol.

brootalz is the problem... you can get cheap decent-ish tube amps for classic rock, blues and the like, but they won't really handle the heavy stuff. i'd agree with roo, if that money can get you a 5150, that might be the way to go. or maybe a xxx if the cleans are important.

I'm keeping an eye out for those 2 items at the moment, but I'm considering selling some gear and just get a engl screamer, but havn't seen any 2nd hand ones yet.

[TomAwesome]

+1 for a 5150. They can often be had for somewhere in the area of your $500 budget, and they dole out the br00talz with ease. The cleans aren't that great, but you could probably get it to work well enough. A lot of people use modelers in place of the preamp for clean tones with 5150s. You could also look into Bugera. One of my friends has whichever model is supposed to be like a 5150, and he says it's great.

[silentrage]

+1 for a 5150. They can often be had for somewhere in the area of your $500 budget, and they dole out the br00talz with ease. The cleans aren't that great, but you could probably get it to work well enough. A lot of people use modelers in place of the preamp for clean tones with 5150s. You could also look into Bugera. One of my friends has whichever model is supposed to be like a 5150, and he says it's great.

sounds like 5150 or a bugera clone is the way to go?
I kinda wish I picked 1 up when they first hit stores in north america, they were so cheap then. :/

nice avatar btw.

[Alex]

With combos the two best deals IMO are probably the Laney LC-50 or the Peavey Valveking.

With heads I dunno, but I think the Peavey Windsor is a great one.

[QS-Nalle]

I jus got a pair of BKP 7s but my amp and pedal is just not up to the job.
Is it possible to get a decent tube amp for cheap? Something that'll do the br00tals well and have bearable cleans?
Maybe an amp + pedal combo?
My budget is around $500 USD, anymore and I'll have to feed off the sound waves instead of food next month...

No, it would be like having Rock'n'Roll without noise, there is no such thing.

[silentrage]

I gotcha, I'll probably end up saying $%&# it to the cleans and just pickup a used 5150 then.
"Clean" IS a relative term, right?


There's this that I found on craig's list
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/msg/867917299.html

Sounds interesting, a JCM800 clone that sounds good at 1/3 the price?
The discontinued tubes could be a problem though.
Anyone know anything about these?

[silentrage]

woo, this one looks pretty nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LANEY-GH50L-50-Watt-Guitar-Amp-Head-with-JJ-6L6-tubes_W0QQitemZ190263724264QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190263724264&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14