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Post subject: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:39 am
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EDIT : I'm just reading a thread on the BDlx RI at home and that may be an optionHello,

introductory alert : I do know this is considered as an insanely common/strange/totally stupid question.

I’m a hobbyist nearly beginner home only guitarist.
This mean that I will not gig in the close future, and that all my equipment is used strictly at home

Considering that I learn/play jazz and blues (no metal or other stuff) and again only in my apartment (with neighbors) which Fender tube amplifier would be the more suited sound wise without consideration (or let’s say without too much consideration) for the price.
The volume level I'm after is something like a moderately lourd sound system, louder than a TV.

The standard answer to this question is : use a SS or modeling amplifier

My answer : I followed this path, I ended with a Boss Katana that works quite well, and now I would like to please myself with a nice product (like some people buy a nice car.. just to go to the office).
Added to that I would like it to be build preferably in a country where people are treated correctly (I have nothing against Chinese, people, I live with a wonderful Vietnamese woman that I love), but music for me is a pleasure, and I like the idea that people have not been poorly treated for the sake of my own pleasure.

The other standard answer to this question is : tube amps are more or less unsuitable for home use

My answer : I had a few months ago a drink at a friend's friend house, the guy, who is more of less in my situation (hobbyist player, no gigging and son on) has a Mesa Boogie Mark IV at home.
It’s easy to argue that a Mesa Mark IV for living room use is as stupid as hunting a mosquito with a F-16 loaded with atomic missiles.. but the fact is, the Mark IV works very well, impressively well, at very low volume. The sound it produces at very low volume is in a totally different universe than the low wattage amps that I have heard until now and are sold as supposedly devoted for home use.
I suppose it works better full stream, but it’s a wonderful (but heavy as hell, and expensive) bedroom amp.
Other remark would be that is is hilarious to get such an expansive tool for this kind of use, I would answer, that even a brand new Mark V is cheaper than a used car, and if he was to buy a used car no one would question the fact he “need” it or not. I’m old, I spent my whole life working hard and I have no problem now to get me something nice if I can afford it.

Other note : I used to have a BJr with an attenuator, technically it worked very well, I got the level of sound I wanted, but the sound on the long run appeared as too thin, my Katana sound better than an attenuated Bjr.. but not better by far than a Mark IV running ultralow.

I’m a Fender fan, my Katana excepted all my equipment is from Fender, I’m a giging bassist and own 3 Fender basses, I’m a very beginner guitarist and my guitar is a AVRI57 Stratocaster, and I would be delighted to have a nice Fender tube amp that I can use at home if such beast exists..

So is there in Fender tube amp range a model with a good preamp section (as far as I have understood it’s basically where Mesa build the magic that allows a Mark IV to works without consideration for the output level) that is usable with a great sound, at home ?
Preferably in the current/recent range, I would like to avoid vintage gear, because I'm in Europe where they are rare, and also for maintenance concern.

Thanks in advance.

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2007 Precision 51 RI CIJ (prefered)
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2010 New American Standard Jazz Bass / Sunburst
1996 USA Vintage Reissue 57 Stratocaster


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 6:34 am
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If you like the Mesa mark IV for bedroom use , why not to buy one.
Any suggestion from us are a mater of taste.

Personally, I'll buy a Deluxe Reverb , I must admit I don't like Mesa amp tone


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:26 am
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stratele52 wrote:
If you like the Mesa mark IV for bedroom use , why not to buy one.
Any suggestion from us are a mater of taste.

Personally, I'll buy a Deluxe Reverb , I must admit I don't like Mesa amp tone



Thanks I'll check the Deluxe Reverb

I don't especially like (or dislike by the way) the Mesa tone, I was using this example that I personally experienced to illustrate that some big tube amps can perfectly give a very pleasant sound even at very low volume, and I'm looking for a Fender product in this situation...

Luc

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2007 Precision 51 RI CIJ (prefered)
2009 New American Standard Precision Bass / OW
2010 New American Standard Jazz Bass / Sunburst
1996 USA Vintage Reissue 57 Stratocaster


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 9:13 am
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Clean jazz tones should use an amp without the tone stack. Bass and Treble controls on a Fender introduce midrange distortion, known as the Fender shimmer.
The Pro jr is similar to the blues jr but with only a single clean tone control. While there is no reverb, it has very low series resistance through the signal path. This allows the natural resonance of the guitar to be preserved.

If you still had the blues jr, I would recommend the TBV mod that I posted earlier. For jazz, I would leave the tone stack values stock. Changing the coupling caps to .02 will cure the thinness.


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:37 pm
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Call me crazy, but I love my 65 Twin Reverb Reissue for home use. The sound is deep and rich at low volumes and even cranked up, it doesn't bleed your ears. Wonderful amp with 2 12" Jensons and great tone. The Deluxe Reverb would also be a good choice. I bought mine for nostalgia reasons.


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:06 pm
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I like the Princeton Reverb for a small amp. It has a nice full bodied bottom end considering the low power and small speaker and a nice old school Fender chime. It was actually the inspiration for Bill Machrone (BillM) in the early years of his desire to develop mods for getting better tones for the Blues Junior.

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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:15 pm
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LawFlow wrote:
...I love my 65 Twin Reverb Reissue for home use. The sound is deep and rich at low volumes and even cranked up, it doesn't bleed your ears.


WTF?

:shock:
I'm guessing that the damage has already been done.

:mrgreen:
Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:34 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
I'm guessing that the damage has already been done.

LOL!
Ya... To OP, in a Fender tube amp, I'd suggest the Blues Junior, or to provide more flexibility (I often to hear jazz with modest gain), a Super Sonic.
At volume levels around "TV Level," both of these amps are going to be clean, but neither is going to go "full shred"

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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 7:56 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
LawFlow wrote:
...I love my 65 Twin Reverb Reissue for home use. The sound is deep and rich at low volumes and even cranked up, it doesn't bleed your ears.


WTF?

:shock:
I'm guessing that the damage has already been done.

:mrgreen:
Arjay
Come on Arjay. I'm not crazy or deaf. I usually play with volume at 3 and on rare occasions, up to 5. I dare not go past that unless I want permanent damage. Just having a little fun here. The man said he liked the big Mesa-Boogie amp. The Twin is a Fender alternative for jazz, etc. It works for me. No breakup. All clean.


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:58 pm
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Nice topic! I had a similar problem. I'm a bedroom/living room player. I simply wanted something that sounded nice - and a bit stylish - in low volumes as well. My guitars are too good to be played in my Vox modeling amp or the iRig HD (lol).

I was browsing some different tube amps and I noticed the Hot Rod Jr - despite having a very nice sound - was moving from 0 volume - or some slight noise - to a really high volume at once. I had this problem with other amps as well. Others were just sounding bad at low volumes, very disappointing.

That's when I looked at one amp in clearance, that big box called Bassbreaker 45. Lol, I was just checking the sound and done, I could control low volumes, not loosing much of the quality.

Price wise, I paid $499 for a brand new one in a sealed box, half of the listing price. Of course I had to call my wife to check and see if we could bring that big monster home. 24Kg, that's a heavy weight for someone not giging around.

It just arrived from mail today, of course it shakes the wall, but I can set a nice audible volume to play and I'm enjoying it a lot.

I'm glad I'm not alone wanting a quality amp for low volumes.


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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:40 am
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the way I see it is you got house amps (where you play from radio quiet to jamming with a drummer loud)
then you got apartment amps where you jam and just invite everyone over (get a keg first)-jj.
actually my champ would be a great apartment amp - crank it and just use the guitar vol.

champ or princeton would be great or better yet, a old vibro-champ ! A friend just found one on CL and got it for $400! Thing sounds amazing and for late night jams inside a house its purfect!

I like my SS22 - it can do low vol or heavy handed drummer loud and it's just on the good side of heavy so I can carry it around no biggie + you can get low volume distortion too without pedals AND something pretty kool is the more I HEAR the amp recorded the more I realize it's really special no matter all the downers about these supersonics. Sorta like my peavey 2-12" xxx amp with spring reverb....THAT amp has a certain sound once you dial it in is really crazy good for bluesy rock. It has this great slight delay thing goin that I havent heard from other amps.

OR you could buy a tone king Imperial !

apt = champ/princeton
house = deluxe reverb / SS22/
castle = super reverb with an added leslie speaker and tube tape echo box

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Post subject: Re: Big/great/good tube for living room
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:42 pm
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twirlyboggs wrote:
castle = super reverb with an added leslie speaker and tube tape echo box

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