So I'm after a low wattage tweed-style amp...

[Twinfan]

The Celestion Super 8 is a reasonable 8" speaker if you got that route.  I have one in my home-built Champ.  I agree with Elloit though, if you can find a 10" combo of some sort you can get a 10" Greenback for it and they're supposedy very nice speakers  :)

I also think I was mis-understanding what is meant by headroom, sorry.  I think I'm so used to the Marshall-like response of all the amps I've ever owned that, to me, even the tweed seems like it has much more in the way of headroom by which I mean it has a more bell-like quality and not such a mid-heavy response albeit at lower volume levels.  Perhaps that's not a quality of the head-room on the amp after all?

Headroom of the amp is how loud it can go without distorting.  Your description is more to do with the character of the amp's tone?  The Tweed Fenders are very Marshall-y and may not be what you're after.

How about one of the Fender '65 Princeton Reverb reissues at £749?

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/4452-fender_vintage_reissue_65_princeton_reverb_amplifier

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2172000000

[jpfamps]

I really like the Princeton Reverb. It's Fender's smallest amp with reverb and is relatively light and portable. The bias modulation tremolo is nice too.

The Princeton Reverb does have less gain than say a Deluxe Reverb.

If I have £750 to spend though, I would get an original Silverface model rather than the reissue.

[PhilKing]

I like Princeton Reverbs too (I have 3! A blackface, modded Silverface and a Princeton II).  If you can find a Princeton II (which is the paul Rivera design), then you will have a great overdrive tone as well as a good clean tone.  The Princeton II also has a 12" speaker, not a 10.  However for clean tones my Blackface Princeton with a 10" JBL can't be beat!

[jpfamps]

I had a Princeton Reverb II which I bought because it was very cheap (£135 off ebay).

I quite liked the clean sound, but never really got on with the distorted tones (actually I don't really like the distortion on that era of Fender amps). I don't play with much distortion, and never use master volume amps or channel switching, this wasn't really an issue. Regardless, some people do like the distortion, so this is obviously a matter of personal preference.

As the clean sound wasn't as good as my Pro Reverb, I ended up selling the amp to a mate who wanted a small channel switching amp. Unfortunately, using a footswitch to change channels alters the sounds of both the clean and overdrive channels, and a not in a way we felt was beneficial, so he ended up selling it.

Anyhow, this era of Fender amps are very well built, and are good value for money.

[Andrew W]

Thanks for all the advice.  I think I'm going to keep my eye out for a second hand Princeton or Princeton II on eBay or in the shops until I can demo a Cornell Romany Plus and a Princeton back to back, but that'll have to wait until I can find a shop with both in stock.  I tried a new Champ yesterday but was less than thrilled with it but again, if one turns up second hand, I'll give that a try too. 

For the curious, I tried the Swart Spacetone Reverb and it's a really lovely amp, more mid heavy than I was expecting, but sadly way too loud for my flat by the time it started to come out of its shell.  For anyone with tolerant neighbours or who lives in a detached house (I can dream) it's a real beauty that deserves a demo.  Not that it should matter, but it looks beautiful also.

[Andrew W]

So here's what I ended up with (on the left for the "photos or it didn't happen brigade"*):

I've been waiting for the shops in and around London to get a new stock of Cornell amps in and Wednesday last week was the day.  Vintage and Rare had a Romany Plus and next door, I forget the name, had a new Princeton so I got to try both, not quite back to back but close enough.  I liked the Princeton but I felt that the Cornell had a little extra subtlety in its response.  I felt that when I dug in hard it gave a bit more back.  The deal-clincher was the power-scaling on the Cornell.  When I took my Plexi Seven down to Southend for Dennis to modify he mentioned that the next iteration of his amps would have four levels of power scaling (my Plexi, bought last year, has three).  The Romany Plus now has 10, 2, 1/4, and 1/8 watt settings and that makes it perfect for my flat-dwelling existence.  Even on 1/8 watt it sounds good, albeit not as awesome as it does with more welly, but it does mean I can get some lovely gritty breakup without getting evicted.

I was able to have a good play last night and was able to get some good Jimmie Vaughan type tones and I reckon there's some Billy Gibbons, SRV and Buddy Guy sounds in the box just waiting to be discovered too.  I've only managed about 4 hours of playing through it at home so far but I'm a very happy Cornell customer again. 

Now it's time to get an A/B pedal...

*Apologies for the horrible photo by the way, you all deserve better.

[Ian Price]

That's awesome Andrew - great stuff. Get some clips up!

[dave_mc]

awesome :)

[Elliot]

V nice!

[indysmith]

Beautiful. I'm very jealous - Always wanted a little tweed amp!

[juansolo]

I have to admit that I'm tempted for a Vibro Champ XD. Sort of a Fender valve modeller thing. However I've no interest in it as a combo so want to find someone who could make me a ickle cab for it to turn it into a head so I can run a sensible sized speaker.

[Twinfan]

I want to find someone who could make me a ickle cab for it to turn it into a head so I can run a sensible sized speaker.

Martin at MJW Amps (Martamp) can do that for you  ;)

[juansolo]

Martin at MJW Amps (Martamp) can do that for you  ;)

Didn't think of asking Martin....  oooh, I feel a pm coming on!

[Andrew W]

That's awesome Andrew - great stuff. Get some clips up!

Your wish is my command.  Though the clip doesn't in any way do the amp justice, it hopefully gives you an idea of what sort of tonal area the amp inhabits.