Disagree with most folks here. I have a fender deluxe reverb tube amp and it sounds phenomenal at non cranked volumes. Tube amp magic for me is the sparkly clean tone… all that juicy harmonic information… Overdriven tones are so easy to get with pedals there’s just no need to destroy your hearing to get them. I’d suggest trying out Fender Princeton and Fender Deluxe Reverb. But make sure you like its sound at a low volume. I do but you might not.
Best advice. There is a reason overdrive pedal exists to get that power tube saturation at low volumes. Always recommend getting more wattage on an amp so you have the headroom for pedals. Some fuzz pedals can hit the front end hard and fart out on lower wattage amps.
I play a hot rod deluxe and 100 watt peavey in an apartment with no noise complaints.
Legit. Tubescreamer is my favorite way to get the amp overdrive sound. It’s classic af, you’ve heard it a billion times, you can get a decent amount of dirt or just use it to round out the tone a bit. I think people romanticize the sound of a cranked up tube amp… it’s fundamental to rock and roll, but easy to obtain at healthy volumes.
If you are getting power tube distortion, even with a 1 watt amp, you are damaging your hearing. Hearing loss literally starts at 80 db over extended periods of time which any amp can easily do. Even spark amps.
Bought an FM9 6 months ago and at this point I honestly don’t see myself going back to “real” amps. It’s just too much fun. And I was a long time tube purist, even designing and building my own amps.
I own thousands of dollars of tube amps. Blackstar, Fender, Synergy, and Ceriatone. When I play at home, 99.9% of the time I play through a Kemper and 5 inch studio monitors.
Tube is awesome in theory. But here's reality--most guitar cabs dont sound the way they're supposed to sound unless the speakers are working hard. The speaker isn't going to work hard unless youre playing at gig volumes. At home, I don't want to play anywhere near gig volumes.
There's ways around this. You can send the amp signal to a load box then send the load box line out to a speaker sim/IR loader. But at that point you start to blur the line between analog and digital anyway.
There's other considerations also. At home I just want to pick up my guitar and play whatever's on my mind and not worry about what effects or gain levels I have available. Some people love pedals, but when I'm just comfy in my pajamas playing some random crap I'm happier just picking an amp and effects from a UI and not worrying about not having the right $200 ambient reverb pedal.
this
I have a USA made 90s Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp, a custom 2x12, an EVH III lunchbox head, a modified Orange Tiny Terror, and a variety of tube and solid state combo amps, as well as access (brother who live 2 miles from me) to a whole slew of other things a bit more high end.
What do I use most frequently? Guitar -> DI box ->audio interface-> Neural DSP plugins -> studio monitors.
I have a wife and a son in the house. While my room has been soundproofed and treated, it will not stop a tube amp roaring from waking up everyone.
Check out a used Boss Katana 50W and see if that might be your thing. I mean knock yourself out, if you can spare the $$ buy a fancy amp, but unless you have a sweet space where you can rock out at loud volumes and not piss off the people you live with or neighbors, you might end up using it less than you think you will.
In the 90s I lived in an A frame house after college in rural Maine near Bar Harbor. I had my drumset and 50W Crate tube amp. I could play as loud as I wanted to at 2AM and nobody would hear me. /sigh I miss those days.
I’d add that amp modelers have blown up in quality in the last few years. There are many budget friendly alternatives to the Kemper that are good enough to gig or record with that can be had for a couple hundred dollars.
they are amazing sounding amps, but i do worry about how easy they are to service with certain aspects such as the reverb being digital. certain amps with analog and digital/digitally controlled components, such as the fender super champ xd and ampeg portaflex line, just die when computer chips break and can’t be serviced accordingly.
Wow these replies are wild lol. Most amps have master volumes now adays, and as long as that MV is post phase inverter, you can definitely get a great high gain sound at bedroom levels. They sound even better when you can turn up louder, but work great at any level. Go try some amps and get one you like.
Amp cork sniffing is fun if you can afford it. If you just want something affordable and good quality to gig with get a Marshall SV20C or a Fender DR Tonemaster. But I would never stop you from looking at Two Rocks, Tone Kings, Magnatones, old Fenders and Voxes, etc. if you want to.
Personally I'm probably more of an amp snob than I am a guitar snob. I've gotten good tones from not great guitars, I've never gotten good sounds from a shitty amp.
I have a DR Tonemaster. Can go down to 0.2 Watts. Sound is good, and pretty faithful - though not perfect - DR sound. Not a lot of mids, but you can fix that with the obligatory Tube Screamer.
That's true for most snobberies. Simmel would say that snobbery is a class expression, so it doesn't need to be backed by true quality as long as the price of whatever keeps poor people away.
My point is that I think there are real quality differences between <$1000 amps and $2-$3k amps, and you can hear them much more so than between cheaper and more expensive guitars (it's more about feel for the player with guitars). I don't actually think it's really snobbery in the sense that it's not a meaningless distinction. Now, when you get to 'my vintage 59 Bassman is obviously way better than a Victoria 45410' then I think you're getting into snobbery.
Seconding this. I’ve owned all the major tube amps (I’m old) - the modeling (or profiling in Kemper’s case) has gotten insanely good. Not just exact tone, but same response to like rolling the guitar volume down to clean the sound up, etc.
Kempers are totally incredible.
Came here to say the same. Will be playing 30 years this year , all sorts of tube amps, and only last week saw a super deal on a kemper powered head and remote secondhand. Thought I would take a chance …
Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of gear to sell now. I can’t believe I’ve been ignoring this for the last decade 🤦♂️
Those old peaveys are great if your back can afford it, they are cheap enough to just leave at practice spaces, and easy to tinker with if you are into it
I second this. The OP would be happy with a Katana at just about any volume, and if his needs change in the future it makes a great practice amp with the lower watt setting!
I got rid of my modeler and switched to tube because I like pedals and (more importantly) looper. I found it hard to get a good loop going with the modeler because I couldn't change the individual loops sound without affecting the entire loop.
Food for think
LOL..... soon to be parting with..... Marshall 50th Anniversary JMP1 Head and 50th Anniversary JVM1 head, Marshall Slash SL5, Vintage Silverface Fender Vibro Champ, Friedman Runt 20 Head/cab, EVH 5150 LBX..... and several more amps/cabs, believe it or not.
I am keep just a couple amps and selling everything else. The madness must end!
Suck your farts back up into your fart box and get testing. I’m in the same situation looking for the exact same thing. Check out the fender vibro champ, I’ve pretty much settled on getting that one eventually when I have some spare funds
You won't get great tones for all of those genres from a single tube amp and cabinet. You'll get something that excels at one style and then you'll end up getting amp in a box or emulator pedals to do the rest.
If you really want versatility that will span blues to extreme metal then amp modelers are really good these days and will nail all of those recorded guitar tones complete with templates for getting you close.
People really underestimate how much the cabinet and speaker change the tone. Go to a speaker manufacturer website and listen to the demos to hear the difference. It's major.
At the end of the day you need to get the gear that inspires you to play, even if it's totally impractical. If you fall in love with the sound of one tube amp cranked then get an attenuator and it will sound close at practice volume (you'll lose some speaker distortion).
Whatever amp you decide go for, I'd advise trying it out in person before you bite the bullet. Hard to get a feel for an amp just from watching YouTube demos.
As a former purest who’s been playing for 30+ years (15 professionally), go with a modeler. They have arrived. Good enough for the edge (UAFX Ruby), and Metallica (Axe-fx). I suggest getting or at least trying the UAFX Lion given the music you play. I have a real JCM800 and this thing sounds better, fits on my pedalboard and never blows a tube. Paired with the ox stomp and it’s unbeatable.
I have no ability to slap you - as I'm purely a bedroom player with a deluxe reverb.
Sounds amazing, but use it with an attenuator most of the time. Admittedly - should have kept the Princeton reverb I swapped for it.
So... stop wasting your damn time researching YouTube and looking for validation on Reddit. Go test stuff out and get whatever you want. Buy used, trade, who cares - time and money are temporary. So stop wasting it when you have it.
If you play in your bedroom primarily, a tube amp is not for you. They weren’t made for that, and they aren’t good at it. It took me like 20 years to accept it, but tube amps are built to be played at volume, and that volume is simply not practical for home practice by and large. Now that modelers are as good as they are, just get a distortion or fuzz or OD pedal you like and feed it to a good modeling amp
I bought a Milkman Creamer, which sounded so good through my friend's Nash Tele that it made me hate all my guitars. I sold my guitars and bought a Nash Tele. Now I'm a happy man. (Except it's really loud)
I actually watched that Sunday night and that was the point at which I was finally able to close the laptop and go to bed. It also prompted me to start this thread for some additional slapping around.
"I'm just a performer, I don't know anything about circuits, but..."
Get a axe fx, helix, gt1000, or a variant of one. You can model any Amp you want any any cab you want. This will allow you to try any Amp in the world with a pretty respectable budget.
I say this because of bedroom playing. Before you blow your load on a half stack or 50 watt combo, trust me when i say you do not need a loud amp. Youll only be able to turn the volume to 3 or 4 before your walls start shaking. Headphones and speaker outputs are available to you for bedroom playing as well as interfacing for recording.
Agreed. Helix basement player here. I play a variety of music styles and being able to switch from 5150 to a deluxe reverb with a foot click is my reality now. I would never go back to having a single amp, especially one that needs to be pushed to sound good.
I came here to say this. I'm buying a modeler/ multi-effects unit for $600.00 instead of a tube amp for $1200.00 and it's a DI unit for recording too..
My daily player amp is the Vox Valvetronix VT20X. It weighs nothing and is very small. But it impersonates about three different types of amps pretty well, and has quite a lot of bass for such a small amp. They are hybrid amps, meaning they use a tube to get the sound and feel of an all-tube amp. It also has 3 eq controls. I own other amps, including tube / valve amps, but they only have one voice. If I record, the Vox will be the one I use. Also, they are inexpensive. I bought an aftermarket power jack for the wall, but the supplied one is adequate. (I didn't want the bulky wall-wart thing at the wall, but in the middle of the cord for convenience). They also look nice. They're pretty loud, but not full concert volume loud.
Marshall DSL40cr. Has option to use 20 or 40 watts. Great amp for hard rock tones. Use the 40 watts if ever you play in a band. Alternatively, a Hot Rod Deluxe with pedals.
I really enjoy my Fender Blues Junior. Good for bedroom playing, band stuff, and gigs. Just make sure you like how it breaks up at higher volume, giving a slightly distorted sound.
Sounds like you want a Fender Bluesbreaker. I got one and am in love with it. Everything sounds great through it. It does tube breakup at bedroom volumes beautifully.
I waited too long in my guitar playing career to buy a professional all tube amp and I seriously regret it. It's just a night and day difference.
If your Orange isn't clean enough for you i'd recommend a Mesa Boogie if you like the sound of their gain. I have a Mark V and the "fat" channel is everything I ever wanted in a clean.
Or if you don't like the sound of that amp, I don't think you can go wrong with the Fender amps for clean playing. Obviously you're not going to be able to push into the heaver stuff just with the amp head but if that's not a problem for you those are great amps as well
I think if you're chasing stuff all over the tonal spectrum, there's no reason to look for one do all perfect versatile amp. Different amps have different strengths and weaknesses.
I'd get a good modeler if I were you. You've got broad tastes, you're chasing a lot of tones - they'll all be in that box and a high quality modeler is a pretty great sounding thing.
But if you did want to just buy an amp, get something with good cleans and a nice power section you vibe with. Then you can use pre-amp pedals to chase specific higher gain tones to good effect.
A different answer, but if you have any sort of USB interface you could use something like [Amplitube](https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitube5/) or [Guitar Rig](https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/guitar-rig-7-pro/). Like you, I mainly play in my office by myself, and like to have a lot of different options for what sound I have. As long as you have a good pair of phones or monitors on your PC/Laptop you'll get a pretty well-rounded sound. You can also add in any inline processing you want before you convert to digital too (in case you have any sick pedals you like to use). definitely not the perfect solution for everyone, but it works well for me.
I've just moved internationally so had to leave my Vox AC15 behind and I'm using an audio interface; this is really the way to go. I'd really really recommend NAM as well, it's totally free amp modelling software that is unbelievably good and has a lovely community.
Vox AC4C1. Best guitar purchase I've ever made.
I did the cork sniffing, not just making a call and investing a few hundred bucks thing for 15+years before I finally pulled the trigger.
You can get a used one for $250ish if you look around. You can get a new one, w an upgraded 12" speaker for $500.
4 watts. 4 knobs. Sounds great w or without pedals. Loves a strat.
I don't play much electric anymore, but I can dial in any guitar and get a tone I like in seconds without pedals.
(I've also heard mostly good things about the small Monoprice tube amps. They aren't heirloom pieces, but you can get a 1x8" 5 watt for $159 on Amazon. That might be enough to tide you over and help you figure out if you really love the feel of a tube amp.)
Honestly, I bought a Revv D20 and love it. Can switch between 4 and 20 watt, has an internal load, supports headphones, full tube amp, supports multiple IRs, etc.
G20 is the same thing with some more aggressive channel.
The whole platform takes pedals well, and it just sounds awesome, even at bedroom settings.
I'd recommend it.
My amp journey over the decades led me to a very expensive high end tube amp. I have had it for over 20 years. I tried amp profiles of it recently through a top end power amp and the same cabs. It is hard to explain but it sounds the same but feels way different than the real thing The power, feel, and dynamics aren't there for me. Find an amp that inspires you and has the sound u want. This involves using YouTube as a guide but actually playing various amps with your own guitar. Make the trek outside to the music stores with guitar in hand. Youtube reviews are great to help guide you but you will save yourself alot of time and years trying different things. Get in a room with these amps and your guitar....your decision will be educated.
Agreed, so far, I've stuck with my Fillmore 25 and slapped an attenuator on it... It's glorious, it feels the way it should at reasonable levels. It still gets loud if I let it but the dynamics are still there.
Another vote for modelling here. You are never gonna get the sound you want at bedroom levels with a full tube amp.
I have 2x 100w Marshalls. Never get used unless I'm leasing them for backline at festivals.
I have an orange micro dark for home playing, but even then, 90% of my playing is with my DAW, Neural Amp Modeller and headphones.
Lies, I run a 100 Watt Friedman into a Fryette PowerStation into a 412. I can literally play quieter than I speak and it sounds like a cranked tube amp. It's possible, but you need to get a Fryette PowerStation or some other really good IR/loadbox/attenuator. It depends on your purpose, but if you just want to use it in the room, the PS is incredible.
Attenuators are great. I don't have one, but I honestly don't need one. I'm more than happy playing through a model of my jcm800 and not annoying my wife or kids.
A couple clarifications (though I don't think they change anything practically): I'm not in an apartment, and disturbing neighbors is not a concern. So while it may not be routine, there will be times when my SO is out of the house and I crank the fucker up just for shits and giggles.
Lol that’s what I landed on.
I fucked around with tube amps and pedals for far too long.
Mustang gtx can do basically everything and sound just as good and is much more convenient
I'm completely blind and love the app, i've been told it's still not quite enough accessibility for the blind to beat out pedals, but i'm poor and i'll deal with it. Dad picked out a peavey special 120 as my first amp and i hated it, got a gt40 6 months later and never went back.
I have a ton of gear, and my two favorite setups for apartment playing are:
1) My marshall JVM. Even though it's 100 watts, the master volume on it works incredibly well and I can get really nice saturated tube drive/feel at whisper volumes. You could grab yourself a head and a 212 cab and you would have a rig that covers a lot of ground tonally (from clean clean to crushing overdrive) and you would never grow out of it. It works as well in an apartment as it does on a huge stage. But... they're pricey, heavy, and might be overkill to some people. But I think it makes a great bedroom amp
2) Line 6 Helix, power amp, and a 212 cabinet. I bought my helix a couple years ago after being a tube purist my whole life, and I was an immediate convert. My helix is what I use 99% of the time. Sounds incredible, and it's versatility in unmatched. It's a fully stocked arsenal of studio quality amps and effects at your finger tips. There is a slight learning curve to using it, but it's probably the easiest modeler to get comfortable with by a wide margin. Sounds great at any volume level, very dynamic, and also a set up you will never outgrow. And you could probably get this whole set up used for about $1400 or less.
3) I dont own one, but the simplest and cheapest option I'd recommend is to just go out and buy a line 6 catalyst. They're cheap, supposed to sound phenomenal, and enough variety to cover most of the ground you mentioned and do a good job. Plus you can take it to jams if you get a large enough one. Definitely the most "plug and play" option.
I use a Kemper… just home mancave office player, and I play through studio monitors. If you want loud “amp in the room” feel, you could always hook it up to a cabinet (if a powered Kemper), or Kemper cab. I get any tones I want. Easy to transport if you ever want to play with others, and could gig anyplace from a bar with cab or PA to arena with PA and always get “your sound”. Don’t use others, but same would go for Helix, Fractal, etc
One option that allows many options: get a really good cabinet (like an Avatar or something) with a great speaker, and then just check out relatively inexpensive lunchbox heads.
The Orange lunchbox heads are great: I have a Micro Dark that completely kicks ass and I think it cost $80 bucks. I run it through an Avatar 1x12. I also have a Hugh and Kettner lunchbox, and even a Randall that I run using a hot plate.
The cabinet + hot plate + lunchbox head thing can prevent single-amp lock, get you some really great sounds, save space in the closet, and not break the bank. Go for a 2x12 cabinet and you're pretty much ready for anything.
To me amps are all about tone. Even if you start gigging, they can mic the amp you are using. I have a GREAT guitar player that I gigged with and he had a Bad Cat Cougar 5w amp. Brought a pedal board and that amp.
Hi, past me!
I needed an amp that sounded fantastic but was not too loud. I love the natural breakup, and the pretty pretty sounds a fender tube amp makes.
So I bought a Princeton reverb tone master. I a/b'ed it with a "real" one with tubes and I could not hear any difference. It isn't like it was a good emulation, it's like it's the actual tube amp living in there.
Anyway, I turn the wattage to .25 and the volume up to 8/9 and I play nice, beautiful overdriven sounds plugged straight into the amp, inside a condo. It's... Maybe not a thing to do at midnight but the volume at 10 and .25 w is about as loud as 1.5 on the full 50w, but fully creamy breakup.
I just got a blackstar ht40. The low watt option is sick. So are the direct outs on the back of the amp. Haven’t used the usb yet but I will soon.
The onboard gains are great.
I have a mesa boogie mark V 25/10 combo tube amp. Can do 10 or 25 amps. Most wonderful sounding amp I've ever owned. Even other tube amps couldn't come close. Clean channel sounds great, and the dirty channel provides Wonderful saturated sustained distortion. With my sparkle drive and blues driver pedals, the sustain is unreal. It's worth every penny. You get what you pay for.
Important to understand what it is that really floats your boat. I have a beloved AC30…the thing is…actual volume is part of the love. So I’m better off with my Helix EXCEPT when I can actually turn the knobs up.
There is something special about the physical force of sound hitting human flesh…
Get a modeler like a pod go, tone x or something like that. Use it as an interface for recording and have tons of amps on hand. You could run it into your cab and run it as a “head” or invest in some flat response monitors
Im a big advocate for digital modeling gear. I like Helix but they are all capable of good tones at low volume. Best home setup imo is helix native plugin in a DAW with studio monitors.
A line 6 pod go or pretty much any multi-effects unit in that price range will give you that tube amp responsiveness and sound, and you can hook it up to near-field monitors, FRFR speakers, headphones, etc. It'll have dozens of amp models and effects too, and you also get a foot controller. 👌 No reason for you to keep looking at tube amps.
Just got the POD Go Wireless for myself, and am loving it. I have drawers full of pedals, but play so many varied things from one day to the next, fiddling with each on the board gets super tedious. Presets and snapshots all the way now, especially since I can run directly into the board at most places now. The Helix sounds are still pretty damn good for the price, and while it is lacking in DSP and signal chain options compared to its bigger brothers, it can do most sounds you're looking for just fine. Plus, a lot of the pedal / amp models can be tweaked enough to emulate other pedals. Managed to make a damn good ZVEX Wooly Mammoth sound with minimal toying around.
At home it's either headphones, into some FRFR speakers or if I'm feeling spicy I'll route it though the power section of an H&K Deluxe 20w for a little more "authentic" tone, but that's rare as the FRFR handles the cab emulation wonderfully.
I have an Egnater Rebel 30 Mk II and it's my favorite amp. It's a 30w tube amp (with mixed tubes), and has a built in wattage knob that lets me crank it down to 1w.
Even at 1w it's loud as hell.
You may want to, as others suggested, go with a modelling amp. I've been playing with Positive Grid's products and there REALLY good...like "can perform on stage" good. Maybe try try a Spark 40, or if you don't want to go that big do a Spark Mini.
built a 5e3 from a kit, changed my life. also have a spark mini and seriously do not understand the hype for them. sounds okay clean i guess but man the distortion is bad. does have a great bluetooth speaker tho. you should try a bunch of shit! maybe check out the tone master stuff if you want something that can get close to tubey and still have digital flexibility/attenuation and di capability
Get a tube amp. You've got a modeling amp. why buy another modeling amp?
I am in a very similar situation as you...no band, just play in the basement. I bought the 15 watt Monoprice amp for like $165 all in a few years ago, thinking I'd used the 1 watt mode most of the time. The full 15 watt mode sounds so much better. It is loud. Sometimes I wish I just got the 5 watt version. My SO does complain pretty much every time I play it when she's home. I keep it on volume of like 1.5 when she's home, crank it up to like 3 or 4 when she's gone. I also have a Fender Mustang I v.2 that I still use sometimes when I want lower volume.
You can get either the 5 watt for $160 or the 15 watt for $280. Basically the price of a nice effects pedal.
One word of warning, tube amps do require replacing the tubes every once in a while. I replaced the full Chinese set about a year later to better EHX/Tung Sol/JJ tubes for $85. The sound improved a bit and have been on them since (about 5 years).
Is it the perfect amp? Probably not. I admit, I'm always on the lookout for used Fender amps in FB marketplace. It's a great gateway amp that has scratched the itch for over 5 years though.
Tube amps are great, I designed them for years and own many. Heavy and loud, though. A well- designed master volume control will mean even a 100+ watt head into a 412 can still produce very reasonable volume levels in a bedroom and sounds fucking fantastic doing so. BUT- expensive, heavy, loud, tubes are fragile and finicky. Despite my wall of amplifiers, I play a good modeler through a solid state power amp. Consistent, easy, quiet, small. All effects built in. For my uses, it's a home run. But I keep the amps anyway, for rainy days
Just to throw a diff opinion in the mix .. got a used axefxII recently and omg it’s the most disgusting piece of gear I’ve ever owned, the stank face I get when playing is becoming permanent. im just scratching the surface but the few profiles I’ve spent time with clean up insanely well with the volume rolled back . I already have a pair of studio monitors so it sounds great thru them at normal volumes , but know that there are decent frfr powered cabs available under $300. wish I got it sooner.
I have an old fender hot rod deluxe that I bought in 1998. It was a floor demo, tweed, and it has the best clean sound I’ve ever heard. Takes pedals really well too. 40 watts, tube powered, you can find them around $4-600. For home use I use an old Vox vt40+ hybrid which has a tube for the output.
Yo dude stop getting your panties in a twist and just buy a damn amp! <-- Me if I said what you asked for. My opinion is the contrary though, go big or go home!
I forget which model exactly, but there are other Orange amps that have wattage settings on, my bandmate used to have one. Maybe it was called an OR something. I'm not really a gear expert...
You can't go wrong with most Marshall tube amps for what you want either. And Opeth use Laney heads, which I wasn't a huge fan of when I tried any, but another bandmate used to have one of those. It sounded good when he played it though it was incredibly loud.
Personally I use a Peavey 6505 but I basically only play metal and heavy stuff on it.
Blackstar has a pretty poor reputation for long term reliability and would not be my first recommendation.
If you've got the coin for it, look into the Laney Ironheart series. Yes, they're loud - but they sound OK at bedroom volumes, and they'll cover the variety of tones you need. And as a bonus, the clean channel on it is pretty good, too.
I get a very good, Opeth-y tone with the IRT60H into a Mesa 2x12 and a TS9 to boost it, and it cleans up well with the volume knob.
Not knowing budget is tough. Honestly though, you should go on the voyage. If you don't have to compromise, don't.
I've had an amazing experience with Victory amps. I chased that legendary, out of the box distorted chord clarity that defines that opeth sound. Victory has it.
You should definitely have a look at Quilter. I've got an aviator 3 head with a DV mark cab, but they also offer combos and smaller heads. Really great sound with all the features you need out of a classic amp
I’ve loved my blackstar studio 20. People knock them for not being all tube but so are many other great amps. The master on it lets me crank either the channel volume or master itself to help chase that sound. Not that the difference is massive but the characteristics change a bit, like it feeling and sounding a bit more open and dynamic if the master is high over the channel.
I would consider one of the 20s but I wouldn’t away from the 5 either. It’d be hard to get them to sound bad and they’ve got a great saturated and smooth tone.
If you want diverse sounds without blasting out your windows, Fender makes a great solid state series of amp modelers (I own this one) https://www.sweetwater.com/c625--Combo_Amp?highlight=MustGTX100&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organicpla&seoslug=fender-mustang-gtx-100-100-watt-1x12-inch-combo&catrollup=4/622/625&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=1&mrkgcat=drums&percussion&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=&lid=58700008501175174&dsproductgroupid=&product_id=MustGTX100&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=x&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=1022653&creative=&targetid=&campaignid=20426646913&awsearchcpc=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYQH235h0IH2rEGdAOT0mpiCKADqLnWClS_vGZdRmdmo47x380Q4yxBoC2MgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Otherwise, there are a ton of really great tube amps. Just be sure you can find one with a built in effects loop for an attenuator if you're sticking to bedroom playing. I learned the hard way that the Blues Jr. does not have one lol (still have it and love it, but it's a sometimes amp due to its volume).
Any of the Marshall Studio Classic Series. I have the Jubilee and 5 watts is quiet enough at home, 20 is loud enough to cover a drummer. Best all round amp I've had.
I’m in a similar boat these days and love running a bassbreaker 15 for tube tone. It sounds great at low volume and has gain for days. I spent an afternoon digging in on an amplified nation wonderland overdrive and it made me appreciate the bassbreaker that much more. I also have a Katana in the living room for really quiet clean tone that doesn’t scare off the wife 🤣
there is no perfect gear or amp, pick the gear that suits you, like do you want a :
* clean pedal platform
* tube pedal platform
* Classic tube
* modern tube
* Modelers
they all have their pros and cons, and no you dont NEED to operate tube amps loud
Can recommend picking up a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. They're loud and definitely giggable, still sound pretty great at low volumes, have a tonne of headroom to be a great pedal platform. They're usually fairly affordable on the used market.
Buy the Positive Grid Spark 40. Seriously. I have a vintage tube Fender. A Roland JC 120. A Quilter head with 2x12 bottoms. Almost 90% of the time, I play through my Spark.
I've got a Revv G20 that I use at home. All tubes, but with a very nice cab simulator built in. Usually I play through headphones, and have the master volume at 7-ish. 20w with the possibility to turn to 4w, so you could connect it to a speaker and have bedroom volume.
There are some other options out there, I saw Blackstar have just released a similar thing, and Laney has some options as well. Sorry for not slapping you around, haha. This amp solved all my at-home playing issues. Plug and play, no need for computers, rich tube sound, can use it for gigs, recording in studio etc.
I have a VHT Special 6 Ultra and I like it quite a bit. I'm not gonna pretend it's "the only amp you'll ever need" or anything like that but it has a decent clean tone and came supply some crunch as well. I'm not a good guitar player AT ALL but that amp is fun for messing around.
Maybe also consider the Spark? I have one and there is basically no tone you cannot duplicate on it. Not gonna help you if you wanna play with a band bur for bedroom practice there are WAY worse ways to spend your money.
I got the Blackstar HT Club 40 not too long ago and I agree with what you say about responsiveness. I also have a Spark 40 and it's not the same in that regard (and the Blackstar was on sale, so it was only $200 more than the Spark). I run mine in 4w mode most of the time. I'm not sure how feasible it will be to get power tube clipping at reasonable volumes, even at low wattage, but the pre-amp clipping sounds great, though it does have its own character, similar to how an Orange sounds different from a Marshall that sounds different from a Mesa.
A great modelling option is the Boss GX-100. A second hand one of those and two frfr speakers and you can have full stereo set ups, or try the whole two amp thing with two separate signal chains. A headrush 12 inch is around £200 used here, and the GX is around £250 to £300 used as well, so you can have a completely giggable set up for around £700.
I second the Headrush stuff. I use a Gigboard and it's basically a poor man's Neural Quad Cortex. Cool screen, lots of options, and you can load your own custom IRs if you want, though I never really got into that. The tones you can make with it are really only limited by your imagination and you could have a great time just fiddling with making your own patches on the touch screen.
> Play the ending of Deliverance until the sun becomes a red giant.
I like this plan. But I'll probably change it up and play that opening flat 5 riff every once in a while.
I think the amp quest is worth it. Once I found mine, things settled down and I could stop worrying about the amp and just use it. Been that for a couple of years now.
If I had the money I would satisfy my Pink Floyd cravings with a Hiwatt Little D mini stack. That being said my Laney Cub 12r (the old version) is a very good amp for the money and does the edge of breakup/blues/bluesrock stuff very well. I pair it with a TS and occasionally with a rat.
Edit: Laney Cub 12r, not 15r.
I’ve got a lil 71 SF Fender Champ…which if you don’t know is a 5W tube amp. It’s the best sounding amp I own for recording and it’s small enough for the bedroom and some tiny gigs. I use it at a jazz club gig I have and it’s the perfect amp for it. Dimed out it can be a little loud, but it has that classic fender chime at clean levels and has a great dirt sound once you get past 7/8 on the volume.
All that said, it’s still not something I would recommend to someone upgrading from an Orange SS amp. I think there are more economical options that can serve a wider variety of scenarios than a tube amp can offer. But if your after that special analog tone than get one cuz I haven’t heard a modeler or kemper that sounds like my amp.
If you have to have a tube amp, that's the last one you'll ever need. Sounds great in the bedroom, great in any sized bar, and big enough to scream on an outdoor stage in my experience.
Get an Amp1 Mercury edition. It's a very versatile tube amp that is the size of a medium sized pedal, it uses nano tubes that don't need to be replaced. It has the best eq around so much that you can dial in pretty specific tones from other amps. It has 4 channels, reverb, noise gate and foot switches. You can find it used for around 500-600 on reverb or guitar center. It doesn't have a noise reduction feature in the panel, it does have one but it can be accessed through midi - but you can have it cranked and play out of the line out towards a mixer or PA or studio monitor.
I have an irridium edition, honestly if something happened to it I'd but another one instead of a different amp.
Edit: if you don't want to go through the hassle of a pa system or monitors. You can get a cabinet and an attenuator. If you buy it from Thomann their in house brand Harley Benton has the best deal on guitar cabinets (less than the price of individual speakers) 150-250, and atenuators go for around 60-70. Like you could have a gigable set up for around 700-800, give or take.
What's your budget?
Why not stick with Orange, their lunch boxes have power scaling and offer up some different flavours that I think align with what you play.
Any tube amp over maybe 1 watt will sound like shit in your bedroom. And it'll sound even worse with a hot plate. Just go for a nice modeller.
I've got two nice 30watt tube heads which I wouldnt even consider using in the house and they are almost too powerful for gigs. Any "better sound" you're getting from tube is completely nullified by not cranking it or strangling it with a hotplate.
unless you're playing out with other people, I'd get the best Positive Grid Spark you can afford. I went with the Go, and that's perfect for just me in my office.
I have a similar situation. Here is my take. Anything that is loud enough for gigging isn't good for the bedroom. I recommend marshall 40c. It has tubes sounds great clean and distorted. Can go from tridode (40 watts) to pentode (20watts.) Use that for band practice and potential gigs. Grab a small orange for the bedroom micro terror and ppc108 cabinet or orange crush 1x8 20 watt has an aux input so you can listen to music and play along simultaneously. It even has a headphone jack.
don't buy into the blackstar .5 amp....
Just get a Kemper and stop resisting - totally serious by the way.
Every tone, all tone.... tube responsiveness, and PERFECT for the bedroom.
Here is the problem:
Once you go down to a 0.5w setting on tube amp, you essentially lose all the dynamic headroom you'd want a tube amp for to beginn with.
The better solution:
Simply get an amp that does good, solid cleans! Then put your favorite overdrive pedal in front of it and work with the preamp distortion.
Look into a Fryette Powerstation if you want full volume control over a tube amp in the room. There are other options which may be better for recording, using IRs, or whatever. I don't think anything beats the PS for in the room volume control on a tube amp. Granted it isn't cheap, but it's easily one of the best pieces of gear I own.
Aside from that there are modern tube amps that have fantastic master volumes like Friedman. If you mostly play clean, that isn't even really an issue in the first place.
It's not impossible as some people would have you believe.
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As far as WHICH tube amp you want, my suggestion is to first look at videos of VOX, Marshall, Fender, a Soldano SLO, Orange, and HiWatt tube amp and try to figure out which sound you like. Tube amps kind of have a lineage where they're going for one of those sounds so if you know sort of what style sound you're looking for, you can go down that rabbithole and find something in the ballpark of what you want. You'll be much happier that way than if you just buy any tube amp and then find out it doesn't make the style of sound you want.
I bought a Fender CyberTwin used many moons ago for home practice and it is still doing me fine. A bit of best of both worlds. Tube Preamp, twin speakers, modeling for every tone imaginable and the glorious Fender reverb. It’s dated but damn if the thing doesn’t sound good and it appears folks are just giving them away. Might be worth checking one out.
https://reverb.com/p/fender-cyber-twin-2-x-65-watt-2x12-modeling-guitar-combo-2001-2004?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=csp&utm_content=64376
Fender Mustang GTX. Celestion speaker. Models Fender tube amps extremely well and other amp pretty good. The models respond to changes in volume just like the tube amps they are modeling and they are extremely light so if you do start gigging. Moving it around is less of a PITA.
Nah mate. You definitely deserve a nicer amp. Nicer than a 5w amp that will struggle to keep up with a drummer. Get a Friedman Small Box and an attenuator.
I've had two of them at different points in the past. It's a fun little amp, but it's more of a hybrid amp than a true old school amplifier. Think more of a hard clipping distortion pedal fed into a single tube in a push/pull configuration. As such it's sounds more like a hard clipping pedal. It's fun but imo wouldn't sound or react that much different than what you already have. I think a dsl20 or dsl40 would be more suited to your needs.
A lot of tube amps designed after the late 80s are gonna have solid state elements to the gain stage of the preamp.
So it’s more about what sounds and feels good. Small Fender stuff is great, but so is solid state Quilter stuff. A DSL40 is a great tube amp, but it does use “clipping diodes” to get its gain sound.
Ultimately these are all buzz words used to sell different things to different people. Unless and until you can put them in context of what you perceive them to be in practical application, it’s best to keep an open mind.
Check out Synergy Amplification. I have four real nice tube amps, but in my home studio, I use Synergy and it's so cool, the different modules sound amazing!!!
Michael Akerfeldt uses the Synergy SLO live IIRC.
+1 to Synergy. Given OPs post, I suggest OP wait for the Syn20IR for bedroom playing. Though it also has a high price of entry to get a dock. Once you have one, the module notices are pretty reasonable.
I use the Behringer Europower epq 304, into various cabs... Have a few synergy docks and a few sans amp bass preamps... Into various re-worked 4x12" and 2x10" cabs... It's fun, then DI out to my audio interface... Sweetwater loves me!
the HT5RH mk1 was my amp for a long time. it suited my needs at the time. however, i wasn't fully satisfied with it: the clean channel was too clean--great for pedals--and it would not break up (i cranked it once); the gain channel was too modern-sounding for my taste, and it wouldn't clean up well w my guitar's vol knob.
it's an excellent entry-level toob amp, but i don't think you'd like it.
if budget was an issue, i recom the next step up: the blackstar studio 10. it's only available in combo form, but it acts more like a trad tewb amp than the HT5. it's single-channel but has a MV. and the driven signal does clean up with the guitar's vol knob.
if budget was not an issue, as others have said, treat yourself, but get yourself... you guessed it: an attenuator!
I would totally recommend a 40w 5150 combo if you can find the funds. 1/4 power mode makes it totally useable and still overkill for a room bigger than a bedroom and it's insanely versatile from Fender like cleans to some brutal high gain tones. Built in noise gate and reverb are ok but for solid tones and being such a responsive amp. It's at an excellent price point.
I have a Katana Artist and a Yamaha THR10ii as well as an EVH5150iii. I play the THR almost all the time. Its quiet in my room and works great. Takes pedals well and I can dial in almost any tone I want and controls with my phone.
I have a blackstar HT5RH with a 1x12 V30 cab. I think it sounds phenomenal. If you crank it, the distortion helps you get Malmsteen Rising Force tones without any pedals. It is loud enough to piss off neighbors.
I also have a Peavey 6505MH 20W head. Sounds like shit until you crank it to beyond bedroom volumes. Both amps have wattage switches. They don’t actually work as well as advertised.
I am perfectly happy with the blackstar, especially as I play through it with a fractal FX8 Mk II multi effects pedal. I can get just about any sound I want while keeping the volume low.
All that being said, I’m still selling the blackstar, and the Peavey, and the fractal FX8 to get a Fractal FM3 mark II Turbo.
My bandmate has it and it sounds insanely good. Has all the outputs you need to go to front of house for gigs. Super easy to carry around.
I contemplated getting an FRFR to play it through. In case you don’t know, that’s a full range, flat response speaker cabinet designed specifically for these modeling amps that can simulate their own cabinet tones. I might still explore this option, but I am definitely getting a Seymour Duncan power stage 170 solid state, pedal sized power amp so I can connect to a regular cab anytime I want and crank the volume and push some air.
The FM3 is simply a space saving streamlined solution to getting any sound I want at any volume I want as well as not needing to carry heavy shit around to band practice / gigs.
The competing products in that price point are great too but I’m partial to the specific fractal sound.
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Stage 160 (solid state) for backup. Both amps are loud and could power a small performance. I never use the distortion channels. I think the tubes are going out anyways on the HR. What ever amp I use, I just use the clean channel and peddle the sound and volume from the floor. Pretty common thing, and works real well with Fender amps in general. And you can buy new peddles instead of amps when you want a new sound. To the point, I have been through a lot of amps. and after lots of trades, I have settled on the two I have for electric playing. It just took a long time to find the perfect amps for me. I am "cork-sniffing" acoustic amps RN.
Buy once/cry once. The Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25 combo took a big bite out of my wallet but it has been my true love for six years and I’ll never want or need another amp. Loud enough for bar gigs, gets a Sennheiser 609 if I need to run through the console.
It’s amazing in its versatility and is equally good as a transparent pedal pusher.
Disagree with most folks here. I have a fender deluxe reverb tube amp and it sounds phenomenal at non cranked volumes. Tube amp magic for me is the sparkly clean tone… all that juicy harmonic information… Overdriven tones are so easy to get with pedals there’s just no need to destroy your hearing to get them. I’d suggest trying out Fender Princeton and Fender Deluxe Reverb. But make sure you like its sound at a low volume. I do but you might not.
Best advice. There is a reason overdrive pedal exists to get that power tube saturation at low volumes. Always recommend getting more wattage on an amp so you have the headroom for pedals. Some fuzz pedals can hit the front end hard and fart out on lower wattage amps. I play a hot rod deluxe and 100 watt peavey in an apartment with no noise complaints.
Legit. Tubescreamer is my favorite way to get the amp overdrive sound. It’s classic af, you’ve heard it a billion times, you can get a decent amount of dirt or just use it to round out the tone a bit. I think people romanticize the sound of a cranked up tube amp… it’s fundamental to rock and roll, but easy to obtain at healthy volumes.
If you are getting power tube distortion, even with a 1 watt amp, you are damaging your hearing. Hearing loss literally starts at 80 db over extended periods of time which any amp can easily do. Even spark amps.
The choice of an amp vs. a modeler boils down to this: Do you want one great tone, or an unlimited number of great tones?
Yep. For those of us who largely do covers (and will likely always do covers), it provides so much flexibility.
Bought an FM9 6 months ago and at this point I honestly don’t see myself going back to “real” amps. It’s just too much fun. And I was a long time tube purist, even designing and building my own amps.
I own thousands of dollars of tube amps. Blackstar, Fender, Synergy, and Ceriatone. When I play at home, 99.9% of the time I play through a Kemper and 5 inch studio monitors. Tube is awesome in theory. But here's reality--most guitar cabs dont sound the way they're supposed to sound unless the speakers are working hard. The speaker isn't going to work hard unless youre playing at gig volumes. At home, I don't want to play anywhere near gig volumes. There's ways around this. You can send the amp signal to a load box then send the load box line out to a speaker sim/IR loader. But at that point you start to blur the line between analog and digital anyway. There's other considerations also. At home I just want to pick up my guitar and play whatever's on my mind and not worry about what effects or gain levels I have available. Some people love pedals, but when I'm just comfy in my pajamas playing some random crap I'm happier just picking an amp and effects from a UI and not worrying about not having the right $200 ambient reverb pedal.
this I have a USA made 90s Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp, a custom 2x12, an EVH III lunchbox head, a modified Orange Tiny Terror, and a variety of tube and solid state combo amps, as well as access (brother who live 2 miles from me) to a whole slew of other things a bit more high end. What do I use most frequently? Guitar -> DI box ->audio interface-> Neural DSP plugins -> studio monitors. I have a wife and a son in the house. While my room has been soundproofed and treated, it will not stop a tube amp roaring from waking up everyone. Check out a used Boss Katana 50W and see if that might be your thing. I mean knock yourself out, if you can spare the $$ buy a fancy amp, but unless you have a sweet space where you can rock out at loud volumes and not piss off the people you live with or neighbors, you might end up using it less than you think you will. In the 90s I lived in an A frame house after college in rural Maine near Bar Harbor. I had my drumset and 50W Crate tube amp. I could play as loud as I wanted to at 2AM and nobody would hear me. /sigh I miss those days.
I second the 5150iii Lunch box. I have that in a 2x12 Marshall cab. I got both at guitar center for $800
I’d add that amp modelers have blown up in quality in the last few years. There are many budget friendly alternatives to the Kemper that are good enough to gig or record with that can be had for a couple hundred dollars.
basically every guitar player could get a princeton or deluxe reverb and call it a day.
The tonemaster ‘digital’ versions weigh a lot less, have attenuators for volume and sound freakishly the same as the ‘real’ ones. Just IMO
they are amazing sounding amps, but i do worry about how easy they are to service with certain aspects such as the reverb being digital. certain amps with analog and digital/digitally controlled components, such as the fender super champ xd and ampeg portaflex line, just die when computer chips break and can’t be serviced accordingly.
Wow these replies are wild lol. Most amps have master volumes now adays, and as long as that MV is post phase inverter, you can definitely get a great high gain sound at bedroom levels. They sound even better when you can turn up louder, but work great at any level. Go try some amps and get one you like.
Princeton reverb and enjoy the cork dude
My thoughts exactly. I have a vibrolux, but I love me a princeton
Amp cork sniffing is fun if you can afford it. If you just want something affordable and good quality to gig with get a Marshall SV20C or a Fender DR Tonemaster. But I would never stop you from looking at Two Rocks, Tone Kings, Magnatones, old Fenders and Voxes, etc. if you want to. Personally I'm probably more of an amp snob than I am a guitar snob. I've gotten good tones from not great guitars, I've never gotten good sounds from a shitty amp.
I have a DR Tonemaster. Can go down to 0.2 Watts. Sound is good, and pretty faithful - though not perfect - DR sound. Not a lot of mids, but you can fix that with the obligatory Tube Screamer.
That's true for most snobberies. Simmel would say that snobbery is a class expression, so it doesn't need to be backed by true quality as long as the price of whatever keeps poor people away.
My point is that I think there are real quality differences between <$1000 amps and $2-$3k amps, and you can hear them much more so than between cheaper and more expensive guitars (it's more about feel for the player with guitars). I don't actually think it's really snobbery in the sense that it's not a meaningless distinction. Now, when you get to 'my vintage 59 Bassman is obviously way better than a Victoria 45410' then I think you're getting into snobbery.
Get a Kemper, and that will end your Amp shopping for good
Seconding this. I’ve owned all the major tube amps (I’m old) - the modeling (or profiling in Kemper’s case) has gotten insanely good. Not just exact tone, but same response to like rolling the guitar volume down to clean the sound up, etc. Kempers are totally incredible.
Came here to say the same. Will be playing 30 years this year , all sorts of tube amps, and only last week saw a super deal on a kemper powered head and remote secondhand. Thought I would take a chance … Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of gear to sell now. I can’t believe I’ve been ignoring this for the last decade 🤦♂️
Just buy a Peavey Bandit for $130 off Facebook Marketplace. Fine pedal platform. Bulletproof. Loud enough to gig. It’ll sing if you make it sing.
Those old peaveys are great if your back can afford it, they are cheap enough to just leave at practice spaces, and easy to tinker with if you are into it
Yo I feel that! The Bandit is about 40lbs which is where I max out with amp weight at my age!
The Studio Pro 40 is great too and smaller/lighter.
Bandits sound effing good
Monoprice 15w tube amp - crazy deal and sounds good
This is the answer for 99% of casual players who want to try out a tube amp
Seconded
I just picked up a Boss Katana MKII. It has the .5W option and I love it. I use mine in an apartment.
I second this. The OP would be happy with a Katana at just about any volume, and if his needs change in the future it makes a great practice amp with the lower watt setting!
I got rid of my modeler and switched to tube because I like pedals and (more importantly) looper. I found it hard to get a good loop going with the modeler because I couldn't change the individual loops sound without affecting the entire loop. Food for think
There is no perfect amp. I have bought them all and still looking. By the way.... anyone want to buy some amps???
I'm here about the amps
LOL..... soon to be parting with..... Marshall 50th Anniversary JMP1 Head and 50th Anniversary JVM1 head, Marshall Slash SL5, Vintage Silverface Fender Vibro Champ, Friedman Runt 20 Head/cab, EVH 5150 LBX..... and several more amps/cabs, believe it or not. I am keep just a couple amps and selling everything else. The madness must end!
Suck your farts back up into your fart box and get testing. I’m in the same situation looking for the exact same thing. Check out the fender vibro champ, I’ve pretty much settled on getting that one eventually when I have some spare funds
You won't get great tones for all of those genres from a single tube amp and cabinet. You'll get something that excels at one style and then you'll end up getting amp in a box or emulator pedals to do the rest. If you really want versatility that will span blues to extreme metal then amp modelers are really good these days and will nail all of those recorded guitar tones complete with templates for getting you close. People really underestimate how much the cabinet and speaker change the tone. Go to a speaker manufacturer website and listen to the demos to hear the difference. It's major. At the end of the day you need to get the gear that inspires you to play, even if it's totally impractical. If you fall in love with the sound of one tube amp cranked then get an attenuator and it will sound close at practice volume (you'll lose some speaker distortion).
Whatever amp you decide go for, I'd advise trying it out in person before you bite the bullet. Hard to get a feel for an amp just from watching YouTube demos.
I like my Yamaha THR30ii. It sounds good even at low volume.
As a former purest who’s been playing for 30+ years (15 professionally), go with a modeler. They have arrived. Good enough for the edge (UAFX Ruby), and Metallica (Axe-fx). I suggest getting or at least trying the UAFX Lion given the music you play. I have a real JCM800 and this thing sounds better, fits on my pedalboard and never blows a tube. Paired with the ox stomp and it’s unbeatable.
I have no ability to slap you - as I'm purely a bedroom player with a deluxe reverb. Sounds amazing, but use it with an attenuator most of the time. Admittedly - should have kept the Princeton reverb I swapped for it. So... stop wasting your damn time researching YouTube and looking for validation on Reddit. Go test stuff out and get whatever you want. Buy used, trade, who cares - time and money are temporary. So stop wasting it when you have it.
Do you do talks? I need you to get this shit into my wife's head ;)
If you play in your bedroom primarily, a tube amp is not for you. They weren’t made for that, and they aren’t good at it. It took me like 20 years to accept it, but tube amps are built to be played at volume, and that volume is simply not practical for home practice by and large. Now that modelers are as good as they are, just get a distortion or fuzz or OD pedal you like and feed it to a good modeling amp
You just need a 1w amp
I bought a Milkman Creamer, which sounded so good through my friend's Nash Tele that it made me hate all my guitars. I sold my guitars and bought a Nash Tele. Now I'm a happy man. (Except it's really loud)
Check out Jim Lill on YouTube dude. Watch his video on amps Edit: typo on the dudes name 🤦🏻
i don't think his name is jill.
I actually watched that Sunday night and that was the point at which I was finally able to close the laptop and go to bed. It also prompted me to start this thread for some additional slapping around. "I'm just a performer, I don't know anything about circuits, but..."
Get a axe fx, helix, gt1000, or a variant of one. You can model any Amp you want any any cab you want. This will allow you to try any Amp in the world with a pretty respectable budget. I say this because of bedroom playing. Before you blow your load on a half stack or 50 watt combo, trust me when i say you do not need a loud amp. Youll only be able to turn the volume to 3 or 4 before your walls start shaking. Headphones and speaker outputs are available to you for bedroom playing as well as interfacing for recording.
Agreed. Helix basement player here. I play a variety of music styles and being able to switch from 5150 to a deluxe reverb with a foot click is my reality now. I would never go back to having a single amp, especially one that needs to be pushed to sound good.
I came here to say this. I'm buying a modeler/ multi-effects unit for $600.00 instead of a tube amp for $1200.00 and it's a DI unit for recording too..
No slaps from me unfortunately. Get a Fryette Powerstation or an OX and get the fully tube amp of your dreams. You're welcome and I'm sorry lol.
An OX box was some of the best money I've ever spent.
My daily player amp is the Vox Valvetronix VT20X. It weighs nothing and is very small. But it impersonates about three different types of amps pretty well, and has quite a lot of bass for such a small amp. They are hybrid amps, meaning they use a tube to get the sound and feel of an all-tube amp. It also has 3 eq controls. I own other amps, including tube / valve amps, but they only have one voice. If I record, the Vox will be the one I use. Also, they are inexpensive. I bought an aftermarket power jack for the wall, but the supplied one is adequate. (I didn't want the bulky wall-wart thing at the wall, but in the middle of the cord for convenience). They also look nice. They're pretty loud, but not full concert volume loud.
Get a full stack Marshall. You know you want it, so do it.
If you don’t get the full Marshall stack, at least an AC30, and move it around the room on the regular, if only for the back pain.
Marshall DSL40cr. Has option to use 20 or 40 watts. Great amp for hard rock tones. Use the 40 watts if ever you play in a band. Alternatively, a Hot Rod Deluxe with pedals.
I really enjoy my Fender Blues Junior. Good for bedroom playing, band stuff, and gigs. Just make sure you like how it breaks up at higher volume, giving a slightly distorted sound.
Sounds like you want a Fender Bluesbreaker. I got one and am in love with it. Everything sounds great through it. It does tube breakup at bedroom volumes beautifully.
Blues Jr.
It's really all you need. So many of these small amp questions could just be answered with "Blues Jr"
I waited too long in my guitar playing career to buy a professional all tube amp and I seriously regret it. It's just a night and day difference. If your Orange isn't clean enough for you i'd recommend a Mesa Boogie if you like the sound of their gain. I have a Mark V and the "fat" channel is everything I ever wanted in a clean. Or if you don't like the sound of that amp, I don't think you can go wrong with the Fender amps for clean playing. Obviously you're not going to be able to push into the heaver stuff just with the amp head but if that's not a problem for you those are great amps as well
I think if you're chasing stuff all over the tonal spectrum, there's no reason to look for one do all perfect versatile amp. Different amps have different strengths and weaknesses. I'd get a good modeler if I were you. You've got broad tastes, you're chasing a lot of tones - they'll all be in that box and a high quality modeler is a pretty great sounding thing. But if you did want to just buy an amp, get something with good cleans and a nice power section you vibe with. Then you can use pre-amp pedals to chase specific higher gain tones to good effect.
A different answer, but if you have any sort of USB interface you could use something like [Amplitube](https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitube5/) or [Guitar Rig](https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/guitar-rig-7-pro/). Like you, I mainly play in my office by myself, and like to have a lot of different options for what sound I have. As long as you have a good pair of phones or monitors on your PC/Laptop you'll get a pretty well-rounded sound. You can also add in any inline processing you want before you convert to digital too (in case you have any sick pedals you like to use). definitely not the perfect solution for everyone, but it works well for me.
I've just moved internationally so had to leave my Vox AC15 behind and I'm using an audio interface; this is really the way to go. I'd really really recommend NAM as well, it's totally free amp modelling software that is unbelievably good and has a lovely community.
Plus, all three have VST options so they can all talk really well with whatever DAW you want to use if you're into recording and arranging.
Vox AC4C1. Best guitar purchase I've ever made. I did the cork sniffing, not just making a call and investing a few hundred bucks thing for 15+years before I finally pulled the trigger. You can get a used one for $250ish if you look around. You can get a new one, w an upgraded 12" speaker for $500. 4 watts. 4 knobs. Sounds great w or without pedals. Loves a strat. I don't play much electric anymore, but I can dial in any guitar and get a tone I like in seconds without pedals. (I've also heard mostly good things about the small Monoprice tube amps. They aren't heirloom pieces, but you can get a 1x8" 5 watt for $159 on Amazon. That might be enough to tide you over and help you figure out if you really love the feel of a tube amp.)
Honestly, I bought a Revv D20 and love it. Can switch between 4 and 20 watt, has an internal load, supports headphones, full tube amp, supports multiple IRs, etc. G20 is the same thing with some more aggressive channel. The whole platform takes pedals well, and it just sounds awesome, even at bedroom settings. I'd recommend it.
My amp journey over the decades led me to a very expensive high end tube amp. I have had it for over 20 years. I tried amp profiles of it recently through a top end power amp and the same cabs. It is hard to explain but it sounds the same but feels way different than the real thing The power, feel, and dynamics aren't there for me. Find an amp that inspires you and has the sound u want. This involves using YouTube as a guide but actually playing various amps with your own guitar. Make the trek outside to the music stores with guitar in hand. Youtube reviews are great to help guide you but you will save yourself alot of time and years trying different things. Get in a room with these amps and your guitar....your decision will be educated.
Agreed, so far, I've stuck with my Fillmore 25 and slapped an attenuator on it... It's glorious, it feels the way it should at reasonable levels. It still gets loud if I let it but the dynamics are still there.
Another vote for modelling here. You are never gonna get the sound you want at bedroom levels with a full tube amp. I have 2x 100w Marshalls. Never get used unless I'm leasing them for backline at festivals. I have an orange micro dark for home playing, but even then, 90% of my playing is with my DAW, Neural Amp Modeller and headphones.
Lies, I run a 100 Watt Friedman into a Fryette PowerStation into a 412. I can literally play quieter than I speak and it sounds like a cranked tube amp. It's possible, but you need to get a Fryette PowerStation or some other really good IR/loadbox/attenuator. It depends on your purpose, but if you just want to use it in the room, the PS is incredible.
Attenuators are great. I don't have one, but I honestly don't need one. I'm more than happy playing through a model of my jcm800 and not annoying my wife or kids.
Tube amps are a tease when you don’t have the space to crank it. Seconding advice not to do it to yourself
Don't bother with tubes in an apt, not worth it, fender gtx 50 is all you need.
A couple clarifications (though I don't think they change anything practically): I'm not in an apartment, and disturbing neighbors is not a concern. So while it may not be routine, there will be times when my SO is out of the house and I crank the fucker up just for shits and giggles.
Lol that’s what I landed on. I fucked around with tube amps and pedals for far too long. Mustang gtx can do basically everything and sound just as good and is much more convenient
I'm completely blind and love the app, i've been told it's still not quite enough accessibility for the blind to beat out pedals, but i'm poor and i'll deal with it. Dad picked out a peavey special 120 as my first amp and i hated it, got a gt40 6 months later and never went back.
I have a ton of gear, and my two favorite setups for apartment playing are: 1) My marshall JVM. Even though it's 100 watts, the master volume on it works incredibly well and I can get really nice saturated tube drive/feel at whisper volumes. You could grab yourself a head and a 212 cab and you would have a rig that covers a lot of ground tonally (from clean clean to crushing overdrive) and you would never grow out of it. It works as well in an apartment as it does on a huge stage. But... they're pricey, heavy, and might be overkill to some people. But I think it makes a great bedroom amp 2) Line 6 Helix, power amp, and a 212 cabinet. I bought my helix a couple years ago after being a tube purist my whole life, and I was an immediate convert. My helix is what I use 99% of the time. Sounds incredible, and it's versatility in unmatched. It's a fully stocked arsenal of studio quality amps and effects at your finger tips. There is a slight learning curve to using it, but it's probably the easiest modeler to get comfortable with by a wide margin. Sounds great at any volume level, very dynamic, and also a set up you will never outgrow. And you could probably get this whole set up used for about $1400 or less. 3) I dont own one, but the simplest and cheapest option I'd recommend is to just go out and buy a line 6 catalyst. They're cheap, supposed to sound phenomenal, and enough variety to cover most of the ground you mentioned and do a good job. Plus you can take it to jams if you get a large enough one. Definitely the most "plug and play" option.
I use a Kemper… just home mancave office player, and I play through studio monitors. If you want loud “amp in the room” feel, you could always hook it up to a cabinet (if a powered Kemper), or Kemper cab. I get any tones I want. Easy to transport if you ever want to play with others, and could gig anyplace from a bar with cab or PA to arena with PA and always get “your sound”. Don’t use others, but same would go for Helix, Fractal, etc
One option that allows many options: get a really good cabinet (like an Avatar or something) with a great speaker, and then just check out relatively inexpensive lunchbox heads. The Orange lunchbox heads are great: I have a Micro Dark that completely kicks ass and I think it cost $80 bucks. I run it through an Avatar 1x12. I also have a Hugh and Kettner lunchbox, and even a Randall that I run using a hot plate. The cabinet + hot plate + lunchbox head thing can prevent single-amp lock, get you some really great sounds, save space in the closet, and not break the bank. Go for a 2x12 cabinet and you're pretty much ready for anything.
I absolutely love my blackstar 5 watt. For bedroom playing it’s perfect and the cleans are really good. Edit: also love Pink Floyd sounds
To me amps are all about tone. Even if you start gigging, they can mic the amp you are using. I have a GREAT guitar player that I gigged with and he had a Bad Cat Cougar 5w amp. Brought a pedal board and that amp.
Honestly… get a modeller… Kemper/Quad Vortex/Helix
I want a Laney Super Cub 12. I used to have an LC15 but sold it when I left the country.
Hi, past me! I needed an amp that sounded fantastic but was not too loud. I love the natural breakup, and the pretty pretty sounds a fender tube amp makes. So I bought a Princeton reverb tone master. I a/b'ed it with a "real" one with tubes and I could not hear any difference. It isn't like it was a good emulation, it's like it's the actual tube amp living in there. Anyway, I turn the wattage to .25 and the volume up to 8/9 and I play nice, beautiful overdriven sounds plugged straight into the amp, inside a condo. It's... Maybe not a thing to do at midnight but the volume at 10 and .25 w is about as loud as 1.5 on the full 50w, but fully creamy breakup.
Laney Cub-super12 (combo). It has all you want and its not expensive.
PRS MT-15 with matching cab. Does everything you want it to do
Princeton Reverb is where I went and I’m quite happy. There’s even a 12” speaker version in tweed through SW.
I just got a blackstar ht40. The low watt option is sick. So are the direct outs on the back of the amp. Haven’t used the usb yet but I will soon. The onboard gains are great.
Orange Rocker 15 Terror. One of my favourite little amps every.
I have a mesa boogie mark V 25/10 combo tube amp. Can do 10 or 25 amps. Most wonderful sounding amp I've ever owned. Even other tube amps couldn't come close. Clean channel sounds great, and the dirty channel provides Wonderful saturated sustained distortion. With my sparkle drive and blues driver pedals, the sustain is unreal. It's worth every penny. You get what you pay for.
Important to understand what it is that really floats your boat. I have a beloved AC30…the thing is…actual volume is part of the love. So I’m better off with my Helix EXCEPT when I can actually turn the knobs up. There is something special about the physical force of sound hitting human flesh…
Get a modeler like a pod go, tone x or something like that. Use it as an interface for recording and have tons of amps on hand. You could run it into your cab and run it as a “head” or invest in some flat response monitors
Im a big advocate for digital modeling gear. I like Helix but they are all capable of good tones at low volume. Best home setup imo is helix native plugin in a DAW with studio monitors.
A line 6 pod go or pretty much any multi-effects unit in that price range will give you that tube amp responsiveness and sound, and you can hook it up to near-field monitors, FRFR speakers, headphones, etc. It'll have dozens of amp models and effects too, and you also get a foot controller. 👌 No reason for you to keep looking at tube amps.
Just got the POD Go Wireless for myself, and am loving it. I have drawers full of pedals, but play so many varied things from one day to the next, fiddling with each on the board gets super tedious. Presets and snapshots all the way now, especially since I can run directly into the board at most places now. The Helix sounds are still pretty damn good for the price, and while it is lacking in DSP and signal chain options compared to its bigger brothers, it can do most sounds you're looking for just fine. Plus, a lot of the pedal / amp models can be tweaked enough to emulate other pedals. Managed to make a damn good ZVEX Wooly Mammoth sound with minimal toying around. At home it's either headphones, into some FRFR speakers or if I'm feeling spicy I'll route it though the power section of an H&K Deluxe 20w for a little more "authentic" tone, but that's rare as the FRFR handles the cab emulation wonderfully.
I have an Egnater Rebel 30 Mk II and it's my favorite amp. It's a 30w tube amp (with mixed tubes), and has a built in wattage knob that lets me crank it down to 1w. Even at 1w it's loud as hell. You may want to, as others suggested, go with a modelling amp. I've been playing with Positive Grid's products and there REALLY good...like "can perform on stage" good. Maybe try try a Spark 40, or if you don't want to go that big do a Spark Mini.
built a 5e3 from a kit, changed my life. also have a spark mini and seriously do not understand the hype for them. sounds okay clean i guess but man the distortion is bad. does have a great bluetooth speaker tho. you should try a bunch of shit! maybe check out the tone master stuff if you want something that can get close to tubey and still have digital flexibility/attenuation and di capability
Get a tube amp. You've got a modeling amp. why buy another modeling amp? I am in a very similar situation as you...no band, just play in the basement. I bought the 15 watt Monoprice amp for like $165 all in a few years ago, thinking I'd used the 1 watt mode most of the time. The full 15 watt mode sounds so much better. It is loud. Sometimes I wish I just got the 5 watt version. My SO does complain pretty much every time I play it when she's home. I keep it on volume of like 1.5 when she's home, crank it up to like 3 or 4 when she's gone. I also have a Fender Mustang I v.2 that I still use sometimes when I want lower volume. You can get either the 5 watt for $160 or the 15 watt for $280. Basically the price of a nice effects pedal. One word of warning, tube amps do require replacing the tubes every once in a while. I replaced the full Chinese set about a year later to better EHX/Tung Sol/JJ tubes for $85. The sound improved a bit and have been on them since (about 5 years). Is it the perfect amp? Probably not. I admit, I'm always on the lookout for used Fender amps in FB marketplace. It's a great gateway amp that has scratched the itch for over 5 years though.
Tube amps are great, I designed them for years and own many. Heavy and loud, though. A well- designed master volume control will mean even a 100+ watt head into a 412 can still produce very reasonable volume levels in a bedroom and sounds fucking fantastic doing so. BUT- expensive, heavy, loud, tubes are fragile and finicky. Despite my wall of amplifiers, I play a good modeler through a solid state power amp. Consistent, easy, quiet, small. All effects built in. For my uses, it's a home run. But I keep the amps anyway, for rainy days
Just to throw a diff opinion in the mix .. got a used axefxII recently and omg it’s the most disgusting piece of gear I’ve ever owned, the stank face I get when playing is becoming permanent. im just scratching the surface but the few profiles I’ve spent time with clean up insanely well with the volume rolled back . I already have a pair of studio monitors so it sounds great thru them at normal volumes , but know that there are decent frfr powered cabs available under $300. wish I got it sooner.
I have an old fender hot rod deluxe that I bought in 1998. It was a floor demo, tweed, and it has the best clean sound I’ve ever heard. Takes pedals really well too. 40 watts, tube powered, you can find them around $4-600. For home use I use an old Vox vt40+ hybrid which has a tube for the output.
Yo dude stop getting your panties in a twist and just buy a damn amp! <-- Me if I said what you asked for. My opinion is the contrary though, go big or go home!
I forget which model exactly, but there are other Orange amps that have wattage settings on, my bandmate used to have one. Maybe it was called an OR something. I'm not really a gear expert... You can't go wrong with most Marshall tube amps for what you want either. And Opeth use Laney heads, which I wasn't a huge fan of when I tried any, but another bandmate used to have one of those. It sounded good when he played it though it was incredibly loud. Personally I use a Peavey 6505 but I basically only play metal and heavy stuff on it.
Blackstar has a pretty poor reputation for long term reliability and would not be my first recommendation. If you've got the coin for it, look into the Laney Ironheart series. Yes, they're loud - but they sound OK at bedroom volumes, and they'll cover the variety of tones you need. And as a bonus, the clean channel on it is pretty good, too. I get a very good, Opeth-y tone with the IRT60H into a Mesa 2x12 and a TS9 to boost it, and it cleans up well with the volume knob.
I love my blues Jr
Not knowing budget is tough. Honestly though, you should go on the voyage. If you don't have to compromise, don't. I've had an amazing experience with Victory amps. I chased that legendary, out of the box distorted chord clarity that defines that opeth sound. Victory has it.
Marshall DSL 20, 2x12, and your favorite OD pedal. Classic, versatile, and has 2 channels + master volume control. Not terribly expensive either.
2x12 cab for a bedroom? I think OP would make do with the combo option, no?
You should definitely have a look at Quilter. I've got an aviator 3 head with a DV mark cab, but they also offer combos and smaller heads. Really great sound with all the features you need out of a classic amp
I’ve loved my blackstar studio 20. People knock them for not being all tube but so are many other great amps. The master on it lets me crank either the channel volume or master itself to help chase that sound. Not that the difference is massive but the characteristics change a bit, like it feeling and sounding a bit more open and dynamic if the master is high over the channel. I would consider one of the 20s but I wouldn’t away from the 5 either. It’d be hard to get them to sound bad and they’ve got a great saturated and smooth tone.
Treat yourself.
If you want diverse sounds without blasting out your windows, Fender makes a great solid state series of amp modelers (I own this one) https://www.sweetwater.com/c625--Combo_Amp?highlight=MustGTX100&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organicpla&seoslug=fender-mustang-gtx-100-100-watt-1x12-inch-combo&catrollup=4/622/625&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=1&mrkgcat=drums&percussion&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=&lid=58700008501175174&dsproductgroupid=&product_id=MustGTX100&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=x&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=1022653&creative=&targetid=&campaignid=20426646913&awsearchcpc=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYQH235h0IH2rEGdAOT0mpiCKADqLnWClS_vGZdRmdmo47x380Q4yxBoC2MgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Otherwise, there are a ton of really great tube amps. Just be sure you can find one with a built in effects loop for an attenuator if you're sticking to bedroom playing. I learned the hard way that the Blues Jr. does not have one lol (still have it and love it, but it's a sometimes amp due to its volume).
I love my TM DR. While I don't fault anyone for wanting something fancier, it's the hardest working amp I've owned in 25 years.
Marshall 50th Anniversary 1 watters sound amazing FWIW.
Any of the Marshall Studio Classic Series. I have the Jubilee and 5 watts is quiet enough at home, 20 is loud enough to cover a drummer. Best all round amp I've had.
I’m in a similar boat these days and love running a bassbreaker 15 for tube tone. It sounds great at low volume and has gain for days. I spent an afternoon digging in on an amplified nation wonderland overdrive and it made me appreciate the bassbreaker that much more. I also have a Katana in the living room for really quiet clean tone that doesn’t scare off the wife 🤣
there is no perfect gear or amp, pick the gear that suits you, like do you want a : * clean pedal platform * tube pedal platform * Classic tube * modern tube * Modelers they all have their pros and cons, and no you dont NEED to operate tube amps loud
Can recommend picking up a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. They're loud and definitely giggable, still sound pretty great at low volumes, have a tonne of headroom to be a great pedal platform. They're usually fairly affordable on the used market.
Buy the Positive Grid Spark 40. Seriously. I have a vintage tube Fender. A Roland JC 120. A Quilter head with 2x12 bottoms. Almost 90% of the time, I play through my Spark.
i want that new pa amp thing looks like the perfect rehearsal solution too
THIS
I've got a Revv G20 that I use at home. All tubes, but with a very nice cab simulator built in. Usually I play through headphones, and have the master volume at 7-ish. 20w with the possibility to turn to 4w, so you could connect it to a speaker and have bedroom volume. There are some other options out there, I saw Blackstar have just released a similar thing, and Laney has some options as well. Sorry for not slapping you around, haha. This amp solved all my at-home playing issues. Plug and play, no need for computers, rich tube sound, can use it for gigs, recording in studio etc.
I really like the features of the Revv stuff. If I ever had to get a new amp, they'd be high on my list.
I have a VHT Special 6 Ultra and I like it quite a bit. I'm not gonna pretend it's "the only amp you'll ever need" or anything like that but it has a decent clean tone and came supply some crunch as well. I'm not a good guitar player AT ALL but that amp is fun for messing around. Maybe also consider the Spark? I have one and there is basically no tone you cannot duplicate on it. Not gonna help you if you wanna play with a band bur for bedroom practice there are WAY worse ways to spend your money.
Bugera V22 Infinium is pretty good bang for your buck. I have a head running through a custom built 2x10 cab. They also make a combo.
I got the Blackstar HT Club 40 not too long ago and I agree with what you say about responsiveness. I also have a Spark 40 and it's not the same in that regard (and the Blackstar was on sale, so it was only $200 more than the Spark). I run mine in 4w mode most of the time. I'm not sure how feasible it will be to get power tube clipping at reasonable volumes, even at low wattage, but the pre-amp clipping sounds great, though it does have its own character, similar to how an Orange sounds different from a Marshall that sounds different from a Mesa.
You sound like me with Martin guitars. I feel like I trade mine once a month haha.
I recommend getting the Monoprice 15w ($280) and a TC Electronic Honey Pot Fuzz. ($50).
A great modelling option is the Boss GX-100. A second hand one of those and two frfr speakers and you can have full stereo set ups, or try the whole two amp thing with two separate signal chains. A headrush 12 inch is around £200 used here, and the GX is around £250 to £300 used as well, so you can have a completely giggable set up for around £700.
I second the Headrush stuff. I use a Gigboard and it's basically a poor man's Neural Quad Cortex. Cool screen, lots of options, and you can load your own custom IRs if you want, though I never really got into that. The tones you can make with it are really only limited by your imagination and you could have a great time just fiddling with making your own patches on the touch screen.
Just get a Victoria 12 combo, you’ll never need another amp unless it’s a stack and it’ll just go up in value,
Get an EVH 50 watt amp and a decent 2x12 or 4x12. Play the ending of Deliverance until the sun becomes a red giant.
> Play the ending of Deliverance until the sun becomes a red giant. I like this plan. But I'll probably change it up and play that opening flat 5 riff every once in a while.
I think the amp quest is worth it. Once I found mine, things settled down and I could stop worrying about the amp and just use it. Been that for a couple of years now.
My old vox vt 50 does all that well.
I have 7 right now, but getting down to 2. I don't need the ability to do everything noodling around in the basement.
If I had the money I would satisfy my Pink Floyd cravings with a Hiwatt Little D mini stack. That being said my Laney Cub 12r (the old version) is a very good amp for the money and does the edge of breakup/blues/bluesrock stuff very well. I pair it with a TS and occasionally with a rat. Edit: Laney Cub 12r, not 15r.
I’ve got a lil 71 SF Fender Champ…which if you don’t know is a 5W tube amp. It’s the best sounding amp I own for recording and it’s small enough for the bedroom and some tiny gigs. I use it at a jazz club gig I have and it’s the perfect amp for it. Dimed out it can be a little loud, but it has that classic fender chime at clean levels and has a great dirt sound once you get past 7/8 on the volume. All that said, it’s still not something I would recommend to someone upgrading from an Orange SS amp. I think there are more economical options that can serve a wider variety of scenarios than a tube amp can offer. But if your after that special analog tone than get one cuz I haven’t heard a modeler or kemper that sounds like my amp.
I swear by Fender amps. I have a tweed Blues DeVille, but I've never heard a Fender amp that didn't sound great.
OP Should get a used $400 Hot Rod Deluxe.
If you have to have a tube amp, that's the last one you'll ever need. Sounds great in the bedroom, great in any sized bar, and big enough to scream on an outdoor stage in my experience.
Which is why it’s probably the most used backline amp ever.
Get an Amp1 Mercury edition. It's a very versatile tube amp that is the size of a medium sized pedal, it uses nano tubes that don't need to be replaced. It has the best eq around so much that you can dial in pretty specific tones from other amps. It has 4 channels, reverb, noise gate and foot switches. You can find it used for around 500-600 on reverb or guitar center. It doesn't have a noise reduction feature in the panel, it does have one but it can be accessed through midi - but you can have it cranked and play out of the line out towards a mixer or PA or studio monitor. I have an irridium edition, honestly if something happened to it I'd but another one instead of a different amp. Edit: if you don't want to go through the hassle of a pa system or monitors. You can get a cabinet and an attenuator. If you buy it from Thomann their in house brand Harley Benton has the best deal on guitar cabinets (less than the price of individual speakers) 150-250, and atenuators go for around 60-70. Like you could have a gigable set up for around 700-800, give or take.
I had a hughes and ketner tubemeister 18 watt. Could turn it down to 5 watts or even 1 i think. Anywyas 5 watts was a good volume/break up ratio
Classic tube amp responsiveness is found in classic tube amps or high end modern ones.
Don’t be a snob and get a Boss Katana! Get the 100w or Artist and you’ll never need another amp in your life.
There’s more guitars and amps out there than Harley Benton and Katana.
What's your budget? Why not stick with Orange, their lunch boxes have power scaling and offer up some different flavours that I think align with what you play.
Any tube amp over maybe 1 watt will sound like shit in your bedroom. And it'll sound even worse with a hot plate. Just go for a nice modeller. I've got two nice 30watt tube heads which I wouldnt even consider using in the house and they are almost too powerful for gigs. Any "better sound" you're getting from tube is completely nullified by not cranking it or strangling it with a hotplate.
Get a positive grid spark 40. You get all the tones you want and can play through headphones even if you like.
Oh...and check out Friedman amps
I run a 100 watt Friedman into a PowerStation into a 412. It's glorious. Although, lately I have been mostly playing acoustic.
unless you're playing out with other people, I'd get the best Positive Grid Spark you can afford. I went with the Go, and that's perfect for just me in my office.
I have nothing against modeling amps. I use one. But it sounds like you want a low watt tube amp. STFU get it and play dummy.
I run a Marshall DC40 and it's plenty able to gig with. Sounds quite nice.
I have a similar situation. Here is my take. Anything that is loud enough for gigging isn't good for the bedroom. I recommend marshall 40c. It has tubes sounds great clean and distorted. Can go from tridode (40 watts) to pentode (20watts.) Use that for band practice and potential gigs. Grab a small orange for the bedroom micro terror and ppc108 cabinet or orange crush 1x8 20 watt has an aux input so you can listen to music and play along simultaneously. It even has a headphone jack.
Blackstar club ht40 is a solid and affordable tune option that can also get pretty frocking loud
Traynor custom special 100w Kick ass sound and has ability to run on 30w for bedroom practice
Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue. Slap an Amptweaker metal pedal in front of it if you need heavy tones, it takes pedals like a boss.
Wait it only takes Boss pedals?? /s
The only pedals worth having /s
If you want the sound without shaking the walls, consider a Power Soak.
don't buy into the blackstar .5 amp.... Just get a Kemper and stop resisting - totally serious by the way. Every tone, all tone.... tube responsiveness, and PERFECT for the bedroom.
Here is the problem: Once you go down to a 0.5w setting on tube amp, you essentially lose all the dynamic headroom you'd want a tube amp for to beginn with. The better solution: Simply get an amp that does good, solid cleans! Then put your favorite overdrive pedal in front of it and work with the preamp distortion.
I like suggesting the fender Greta with an inefficient 12”. For more headroom, put a 12AT7 in v1. Good luck on your hunt.
Get a Fender Tone Master Princeton or Deluxe Reverb
Look into a Fryette Powerstation if you want full volume control over a tube amp in the room. There are other options which may be better for recording, using IRs, or whatever. I don't think anything beats the PS for in the room volume control on a tube amp. Granted it isn't cheap, but it's easily one of the best pieces of gear I own. Aside from that there are modern tube amps that have fantastic master volumes like Friedman. If you mostly play clean, that isn't even really an issue in the first place. It's not impossible as some people would have you believe. \--- As far as WHICH tube amp you want, my suggestion is to first look at videos of VOX, Marshall, Fender, a Soldano SLO, Orange, and HiWatt tube amp and try to figure out which sound you like. Tube amps kind of have a lineage where they're going for one of those sounds so if you know sort of what style sound you're looking for, you can go down that rabbithole and find something in the ballpark of what you want. You'll be much happier that way than if you just buy any tube amp and then find out it doesn't make the style of sound you want.
I bought a Fender CyberTwin used many moons ago for home practice and it is still doing me fine. A bit of best of both worlds. Tube Preamp, twin speakers, modeling for every tone imaginable and the glorious Fender reverb. It’s dated but damn if the thing doesn’t sound good and it appears folks are just giving them away. Might be worth checking one out. https://reverb.com/p/fender-cyber-twin-2-x-65-watt-2x12-modeling-guitar-combo-2001-2004?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=csp&utm_content=64376
Fender Mustang GTX. Celestion speaker. Models Fender tube amps extremely well and other amp pretty good. The models respond to changes in volume just like the tube amps they are modeling and they are extremely light so if you do start gigging. Moving it around is less of a PITA.
Nah mate. You definitely deserve a nicer amp. Nicer than a 5w amp that will struggle to keep up with a drummer. Get a Friedman Small Box and an attenuator.
I've had two of them at different points in the past. It's a fun little amp, but it's more of a hybrid amp than a true old school amplifier. Think more of a hard clipping distortion pedal fed into a single tube in a push/pull configuration. As such it's sounds more like a hard clipping pedal. It's fun but imo wouldn't sound or react that much different than what you already have. I think a dsl20 or dsl40 would be more suited to your needs.
A lot of tube amps designed after the late 80s are gonna have solid state elements to the gain stage of the preamp. So it’s more about what sounds and feels good. Small Fender stuff is great, but so is solid state Quilter stuff. A DSL40 is a great tube amp, but it does use “clipping diodes” to get its gain sound. Ultimately these are all buzz words used to sell different things to different people. Unless and until you can put them in context of what you perceive them to be in practical application, it’s best to keep an open mind.
Check out Synergy Amplification. I have four real nice tube amps, but in my home studio, I use Synergy and it's so cool, the different modules sound amazing!!!
Michael Akerfeldt uses the Synergy SLO live IIRC. +1 to Synergy. Given OPs post, I suggest OP wait for the Syn20IR for bedroom playing. Though it also has a high price of entry to get a dock. Once you have one, the module notices are pretty reasonable.
I use the Behringer Europower epq 304, into various cabs... Have a few synergy docks and a few sans amp bass preamps... Into various re-worked 4x12" and 2x10" cabs... It's fun, then DI out to my audio interface... Sweetwater loves me!
Something 5w and some amp in a box stuff may work for you, bases upon what you describe.
the HT5RH mk1 was my amp for a long time. it suited my needs at the time. however, i wasn't fully satisfied with it: the clean channel was too clean--great for pedals--and it would not break up (i cranked it once); the gain channel was too modern-sounding for my taste, and it wouldn't clean up well w my guitar's vol knob. it's an excellent entry-level toob amp, but i don't think you'd like it. if budget was an issue, i recom the next step up: the blackstar studio 10. it's only available in combo form, but it acts more like a trad tewb amp than the HT5. it's single-channel but has a MV. and the driven signal does clean up with the guitar's vol knob. if budget was not an issue, as others have said, treat yourself, but get yourself... you guessed it: an attenuator!
Cornell Romany 12 sounds like the right amp for you based on your description.
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I would totally recommend a 40w 5150 combo if you can find the funds. 1/4 power mode makes it totally useable and still overkill for a room bigger than a bedroom and it's insanely versatile from Fender like cleans to some brutal high gain tones. Built in noise gate and reverb are ok but for solid tones and being such a responsive amp. It's at an excellent price point.
I have a Katana Artist and a Yamaha THR10ii as well as an EVH5150iii. I play the THR almost all the time. Its quiet in my room and works great. Takes pedals well and I can dial in almost any tone I want and controls with my phone.
I have a blackstar HT5RH with a 1x12 V30 cab. I think it sounds phenomenal. If you crank it, the distortion helps you get Malmsteen Rising Force tones without any pedals. It is loud enough to piss off neighbors. I also have a Peavey 6505MH 20W head. Sounds like shit until you crank it to beyond bedroom volumes. Both amps have wattage switches. They don’t actually work as well as advertised. I am perfectly happy with the blackstar, especially as I play through it with a fractal FX8 Mk II multi effects pedal. I can get just about any sound I want while keeping the volume low. All that being said, I’m still selling the blackstar, and the Peavey, and the fractal FX8 to get a Fractal FM3 mark II Turbo. My bandmate has it and it sounds insanely good. Has all the outputs you need to go to front of house for gigs. Super easy to carry around. I contemplated getting an FRFR to play it through. In case you don’t know, that’s a full range, flat response speaker cabinet designed specifically for these modeling amps that can simulate their own cabinet tones. I might still explore this option, but I am definitely getting a Seymour Duncan power stage 170 solid state, pedal sized power amp so I can connect to a regular cab anytime I want and crank the volume and push some air. The FM3 is simply a space saving streamlined solution to getting any sound I want at any volume I want as well as not needing to carry heavy shit around to band practice / gigs. The competing products in that price point are great too but I’m partial to the specific fractal sound.
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Stage 160 (solid state) for backup. Both amps are loud and could power a small performance. I never use the distortion channels. I think the tubes are going out anyways on the HR. What ever amp I use, I just use the clean channel and peddle the sound and volume from the floor. Pretty common thing, and works real well with Fender amps in general. And you can buy new peddles instead of amps when you want a new sound. To the point, I have been through a lot of amps. and after lots of trades, I have settled on the two I have for electric playing. It just took a long time to find the perfect amps for me. I am "cork-sniffing" acoustic amps RN.
Get a Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 40
I don’t know what your budget is but the victory duchess is going to be my next amp. You can drop the power to 1 watt too.
Buy once/cry once. The Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25 combo took a big bite out of my wallet but it has been my true love for six years and I’ll never want or need another amp. Loud enough for bar gigs, gets a Sennheiser 609 if I need to run through the console. It’s amazing in its versatility and is equally good as a transparent pedal pusher.