Amp advice

[Bradock PI]

Last year I bought my wife a guitar as a surprise (don't spit my instrument is a piano :-) ), anyway the instrument is a Daisy Rock - Rock Candy in sparkling pink which she loves. (mahogony body, maple neck). I am sure she will never change it  (sparkly pink and need a small body as she 5'2" = happy).

Now she is enjoying the learning I have sneaked the instrument to a local guitar tech for some fettling. Starting with some new Riff Raffs ( I really hope I have made the right choice, music gonna vary from some old shadows, chile peppers, acdc and prolly other 70s 80s rock) and a new Tusq nut. I have been told that most of the other bits on the guitar are fine.

Ok there is the background now the question I bought her a small fender practice amp and for when she wanted a bit more oomph a Marshall AVT 50 and the mistake I made is that the marshall is too big and bulky for her too move and too big and bulky for her to leave out.  I would like recommendations for a compact high quality amp, dont need space filling just great sound.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[HTH AMPS]

depends on your budget, but I'd go for a Mesa Boogie Express 1x12 combo.  only thing is the weight - you mentioned that the AVT50 was too big, that's always gonna be a problem with any decent amp.

if weight is a big consideration, consider replacing the speaker(s) with Celestion Century series speakers - they use neo magnets and are much lighter.

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, neodymium speakers, judging by the specs anyway, are a lot lighter.

budget's going to be the main deciding factor, as HTH said. when you mean a bit more "oomph", do you mean volume, or a heavier distortion sound (or both)? will she be moving it a lot- is she playing gigs?

no worries about piano, piano's cool, it was my first instrument... :)

[Bradock PI]

Budget around 300 - 500 more if needed (no gigging just good sound for home), probably need box with high quality amp and high grade 8" or 10" drive. Seems easy to find good stuff 1x12 at size and weight of the AVT but smaller boxes I have seen are mostly cheap. Looking for good tone on clean and overdrive nothing very heavy on distortion though.

Blackstar HT 5 seems about right size and weight 7Kg lighter than Marshall and about 10cm smaller width and height but I have no idea if these are any good. The Marshall has great distort, seems there are not many boxes around using good amps and high grade 8" or 10" drives.

[Twaddlefish]

I'd recommend a Laney LC15. Bitchin' little amp.

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/36956-laney-lc15-110.html

[Jonny]

Budget around 300 - 500 more if needed (no gigging just good sound for home), probably need box with high quality amp and high grade 8" or 10" drive. Seems easy to find good stuff 1x12 at size and weight of the AVT but smaller boxes I have seen are mostly cheap. Looking for good tone on clean and overdrive nothing very heavy on distortion though.

Blackstar HT 5 seems about right size and weight 7Kg lighter than Marshall and about 10cm smaller width and height but I have no idea if these are any good. The Marshall has great distort, seems there are not many boxes around using good amps and high grade 8" or 10" drives.

Quite a few people on the board have HT-5, like Tom recently. You should PM them maybe :)

[Copperhead]

Krank RevJR

[ailean]

I've never played one, but the Roland Cube 30 gets a lot of love.

I bought a Tiny Terror and a 1 x12 cab for under 500 and loved it, but it's not the most verastile amp, it's fantastic at what it does, but I'm not sure it would be right for the sound you want. (Still have the TT but sold the 1x12).

It will cost a little more but going the head/cab route at least splits the weight, a good amp will generally have a heavy transformer inside, and speakers cones aren't known for being light either :)

If she ever starts looking at other guitars the Ibanez range has some that may be good for her. My wife has a s2170fw, when she tried a Daisy Rock she said the Ibanez was actually better for her, the DR was heavier, and the neck wasn't as comfortable. Just food for thought :)

[tomjackson]

The Fender Super Champ XD is really nice.  Lovely cleans and very versatile.

The Laney LC15's are pretty decent but the one I had rattled too much, I didn't think the cab was substantial enough to cope with the 10inch driver when cranked.  I took it back.  The Laney VC15 is much more solid IMO.
The fender has more pristine cleans and is more versatile but the cruch / drive sounds on the Laney are hard to beat.

Both are very portable.

[Doadman]

What about a Peavey Vypyr 30? It's got loads of tones in it, plenty effects, is certainly better than the AVT50 and probably a bit lighter. What's more, you could get the amp and the Sanpera II floor pedal for it and still only spend half your budget!

[dave_mc]

when you say you'd be willing to go higher than £500, how much higher, and how keen are you to do that? ( :lol: )

[Bradock PI]

I could go as high as 1k I suppose if it was needed.

[dave_mc]

i'm really tempted to say a cornford carrera, but i'm not sure if the cleans will be good enough. they're decent, but not amazing. the harlequin is allegedly (i haven't tried it) pretty similar, except it misses out on some of the bells and whistles- switchable power valves, fx loop, etc- and is quite a bit cheaper.

the cornell romany plus is excellent, but might not get heavy enough. they also do a plexi which is low wattage too, and which is also meant to be great, but i haven't tried it.

there's always martamp/mjw as well, but i haven't tried those. hear great things on the forum about them, though, and the prices are excellent.

blackstar artisan 15 might be worth a try? i didn't really like it, but it might suit the stuff she's playing. if she plays much 80s rock, though (and assuming you mean the same thing as i do by 80s rock :lol: ), i'd have said the cornford would be better.

Big problem as usual is the weight... most of those are 1x12 combos, which aren't ridiculously heavy, but will still probably come to around the 20kg mark... though the martamp would be available as a head (as is the blackstar), just that means you need a separate cab...

just to check, you're/she's willing to go all-valve?

[HTH AMPS]

hmm, "good cleans and nothing too heavy on the distortion" - makes me think that a little tweed Fender combo might work well, something like a 5E3 Deluxe (plenty of clones out there) with a decent overdrive pedal.

or maybe a Deluxe Reverb - gorgeous cleans, reverb, tremolo - just add a nice fuzz box for overdrive.

or something nice and compact - a Fender Vibrochamp would be spot on (the original ones, not the new hybrid ones)

[Andrew W]

the cornell romany plus is excellent, but might not get heavy enough. they also do a plexi which is low wattage too, and which is also meant to be great, but i haven't tried it.

I love my Plexi Seven but I wouldn't say that beautiful clean tones are its strength.  For dirty rock (Trower, Hendrix, Cream, early Van Halen, AC/DC) but not gain-mad it's an absolute stunner.  If sparkly clean tones are a make-or-break then I think the Plexi Seven may not be the one.