Amp for Uni?

[indysmith]

Okay folks; What do you reccommend?
I want an old skool ballz to wallz ACDCish sound mainly, with the ability to cover chainsaw punk tones (a la alkaline trio, the bronx, gallows), and warm bluesy sounds (gov't mule springs to mind). Clean ain't really important - but on-the-edge sounds definately are. It's gotta be a valve amp for sure because i'm a valve snob and nothing less will do. It's also gotta be cheap as chips because i have no money apart from student loan, lol. Lower wattages are what I'm looking for - i.e. nothing over 15W really as i don't want it being fizzy like my jcm800 is at 'TV volumes' (due to evil ToneSuc....er.....HotPlate).
First thought is obviously the Orange Tiny Terror - as every clip i've heard sounds like orgasm, although i still havent tried one out :\ I know a lot of you are Matamp fanboys, but i'm 97% sure the LittleRock aint for me (i don't like 6V6s much - more into EL*4s). What i have tried and loved hardcore is that new little fender champ 300, but that doesnt really cover any of the sounds listed above...so its just a ridiculous suggestion really. Help me out!
Thanks!

EDIT: ooo sorry i forgot to say why i haven't just bought the damn TT yet - it's really quite expensive for somebody who has no actual money. I'd have to shell out £300 for it and then another £100 or so for a 1x12 to play it thru. I was thinking that maybe i should sell my jcm800 to finance this... but you just KNOW i'd beat myself up about it for years afterwards :( i love that amp

[Brow]

I wouldn't say I'm a Matamp 'Fan boy' (although I do like my Little Rock alot :)) Have you considered 1 of the new Minimats? They make those with an option of EL84s I think, and the valve driven gain boost on it would help matters too I'm sure.

Just an idea :)

[CaffeineJunkie]

i'm taking an Epi Valve Junior to uni with me... although i'm replacing the speaker first.. apparently it has a tendency to sound sterile, but thas like £50 for a new one anyways, so £100-150 for it ain't bad, plus if you crank it, and mic it up, it's easily usable in a gig situation

[Timitron]

Even a valve jr's gonna be far too loud for uni. I reckon you should buy a POD, GT8 or similar and invest in a good pair of headphones.

That or something like a Line 6 toneport that you can hook up to a laptop or something.

Bottom line is, you're not going to get ANY valve amp up to a decent volume without disturbing people at uni.

[ToneMonkey]

I'd go for something cheap.  If you're going to uni, you'll need that money to blow on beer and women.  Beside's, the chances of having a decent sized room to play it in (without paper thin walls in the first year) is fairly slim so the sound wont be great either.

On my Vox AD30VT you can turn the power down from 30 watts to about 0.5 watts.  It's well handy as my house is tiny
Might be worth having a look at something with that feature.  Especially considering when it's three o'clock in the morning and you come home rat-arsed, you might want a bit of band practice with your mates. God I miss uni  

[gwEm]

i tried the valve junior, and i must say i didn't see what all the fuss was about... sorry :(

if i were you i would get a laney lc15, you'll have to moderate the volume, but its good sounding (in my opinion), it can sound ACDCish and its cheap so it won't hurt if something happens to it. also 15w might be loud enough for some sort of practise if you get a band together there. and it has a built in speaker.

a modeller is a good thought. it wouldn't be my choice, but if you get a good one you can use it after you finish uni too for recording.

[Ted]

If I were you i'd get a pair of headphones and one of those Boss Micro BR four track recorders / Korg Pandora / Pod / smiliar 2nd hand...  

Or an acoustic guitar. I had mine at uni but it mostly gathered dust. I was far too hungover to pick the thing up...

Amps are too loud and if you get a TT or a small head there's a real danger it might get nicked.

Almost 1/3 of my friends were burgled at Uni...

[Orkestra]

ill swap you my Orange TT for a JCM800

[JamesHealey]

I tried a Matamp little rock on sunday, great amp.

[Twinfan]

Agreed, but the TT does 'DC and Zep better  ;)

[noodleplugerine]

Diezel Herbert!

120watts of bedroom ROAR!

[BigK]

My first year in halls at uni I manly used my pod xt through my computer speakers. I had a flextone III as well but i only used that during the day and when the people above me were being noisy  :twisted:

Bottom line a valve amp will be too loud for halls.

On a side note make sure you get seperate musical instrument insurance as most policies wont cover musical instruments and equipment properly if at all I find musicagaurd the best price to cover comprimise.

[indysmith]

one thing to keep in mind is that I'm doing sound engineering and production at uni - and there's a lot of recording equipment and soundproof rooms that I'll be able to play with and use. I might take the jcm800 anyways

[indysmith]

I'm seriously considering taking Jonathan's POD off of him atm - for practice, and taking the jcm800 also for fully blown recording-studio playtime.

[HTH AMPS]

I'm seriously considering taking Jonathan's POD off of him atm - for practice, and taking the jcm800 also for fully blown recording-studio playtime.

I think that would be your best bet - you could also use the POD for recording (mostly layering/overdubbing though).

 :twisted: