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Post subject: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:05 pm
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Looking into tube amps for some time now, I have a mustang iv v2 but just cant get the tone I'm looking for, I also own a fender superchamp xd. I play with a 7 piece band and play all sorts of music from Bruno mars to black keys to country old and new, and classic rock. I play a PRS Mark Tremonti guitar. Amps I'm looking into are fender 68DR, fender 65 DR, a orange dual terror, and a Egnater tweaker 15, or a Rebel 20. being 2 hours away from the fender and orange musical store, is hard to decide the egnaters I played and liked I really like all of these amps I was going to pull the trigger on the 68 but I am worried on the noise issues. I'm looking for a reliable tube amp! any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, don't know if the tweaker would be loud enough, if something were to happen to it I could use my superchamp and use the cab for the egnater. decisions.


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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:29 pm
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Of the amps that you listed, the DRRI for great cleans and bluesy overdrive, and versatility with the two channels, works well with many pedals, or the Dual Terror for fantastic overdrive sounds.

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 1:54 am
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If you want a new tube go to YouTube :)

A massive resource of amp reviews where you get to hear the results.

I wouldn't discount Bugera, I've been very pleased with mine and, in the Infinium versions add circuitry to keep the tubes biased.

It is easier to get a good clean amp to overdrive with stomp boxes than it is to get good cleans out of a dirty amp. Orange does great drive but I'm not so convinced on their clean sound.

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:35 am
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Yeah, Orange's forte is definitely not clean.

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 9:56 am
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I just had a similar search for a new amp. I have a Fender Super Champ X2 (among others) and I liked it a lot. However, I was still looking for tones I wasn't able to recreate with my amp. I looked at many amps (Peavey, Marshall, Orange, Vox, Mesa Boogie, Crate, Fender, etc etc) over a 4 month period. It came down to Peavey and Fender. I was thinking 40 to 50 watt, dual channel, reverb. To make a long story short, Peavey Classic 30 and 50, Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, all gave me some of what I wanted. But then I tried the Super Sonic 22 and 60. I wanted versatility and it was the only one that could give me that to me to the degree I was hoping I could find. The clean channel is exceptional as with many Fenders, along with the clean boost that really helps my Strat and Tele. My Gibsons dont care for the boost but it is really good on the clean channel without the boost. The dirty side is what sold me. I am not playing heavy metal, and the two gains on the dirty side gave me all the versatility I needed up to that point. It will take you easily into great distortion without a pedal through heavy rock and some metal.
OK, so the amp is versatile. Great tone, etc. But, I hesitated due to some reliability issues I read about with hum and hiss, popping when using the foot switch (included), and some criticisms of the Fender Lightning Bolt speaker in the 22.
I decided on the 22 early this month. The 60 didn't give me the bedroom capability I wanted. The 22 did and also gave me plenty of volume and headroom for medium venue gigs.
In reality, most of the issues were in early production of the series. Mine is pretty quiet. Very little hum or hiss, even with my single coil guitars. No popping or static with the foot switch, or when turning on and off. Mine is quieter than my Super Champ X2. Tone and performance is excellent.
Now the speaker. It is a pretty good speaker overall and my only complaint is the highs do not roll off soon enough and it can get a little piercing at times. Not a deal breaker, but the forum reviews were correct about this. Some call it shrill, others call it piercing. I would say I am at the end of the break in period and I have decided to eventually change the speaker. I heard one with a Cannabis Rex in it and it did clean this problem up very well. So, a simple speaker change will make this exactly what I was looking for.
The only other gripe I read about was the Groove Tubes. In all fairness, the stock tubes are doing very well. No need to change them before a normal change would be required. Then I may go to another brand like JJ's.
The Super Sonic 22 gave me the best elements of other amps all in one package. I am very satisfied so far. I bought it new to be sure my production date would be past the early issues. I am told that a used one no more than 2 years old would have been safe, but a few bucks more and the ability to return it if I wasn't happy was the best choice for me. I worked out great.


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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:20 am
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kingding wrote:
I play with a 7 piece band and play all sorts of music from Bruno mars to black keys to country old and new, and classic rock.


If you play in those styles with a 7-piece band it's possible that you may need a little more poop than you will get out of a 22 watt tube amp.
A little background on me. I graduated high school in 65 and I bought my first tube amp new in '64. It was a Carvin model 10-RA head played through a home-brew 15" cab. Since then I've owned other Carvins, Peaveys, Crates, Marshalls, Pignose, but mostly Fenders...63 Vibroverb RI, DRRI's, 2 TRRI's, Custom Vibrolux Reverb, and most recently, 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb, which is my only remaining tube amp.
Out of the box the 68 Custom series seem to be designed from the ground up to go into tube distortion very early on. My 68 CVR was unacceptable the way it came. To get close to the classic Fender clean it needed harder 6L6es than it came with (Groove Tube 4's) plus rebiasing and better speakers. It is close to what I have been searching for, but not perfect. My dream is the sparkling clean of the Twin Reverb without the weight (I'm 67 yrs. old).
So,recently I came upon the February issue of Guitar Player. On page 96 is an article titled "Deluxe Duel" which compares the original Hot Rod Deluxe with the current model Hot Rod Deluxe III. Now, I have never bothered with the Hot Rod series for nothing more than a nostalgic attraction to the Blackface and Silverface Fender amps of which my 68 CVR is. But a few years ago I got into the Mustang amp series and now own a bunch of those. So, I read this GP article and on page 98 there is a description of the clean channel of the HRD III: "There's a lot of punch here, with a bountiful low end and chimey highs, making an overall impression that's more akin to a Twin Reverb than an amp half that size and output."
This is an amp that weighs 45 lbs.! The Twin Reverb is 64 lbs.! Dang!!! Had I NOT been stuck on the old-fashioned cosmetics I could have saved a lot of money and time doing mods on various amps to get that Twin Reverb sound in a smaller package.
So you might want to listen to a HRD III before you plop down good bucks on a 22W amp and consider one of these. I live 3+ hours from the nearest GC so I bought the 68 CVR without ever hearing one. Never heard a HRD III either, so make the effort before spending your good money. I know there are lots of bands using the Hot Rod series including the Beach Boys, yadda yadda. You can check You Tube for demos of the HRD III. Good luck in your search.


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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:55 am
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My gigging is a 4 piece band that I sit in once and while as a replacement. In medium venues I am pushing the amp to it's limits, but so far I have not had to mic it. I also have a twin reverb and a Peavey 6505 so if need be I am set. I only gig occasionally (maybe 4 times a year).
Most of my playing these days is at home or jamming with friends. If I was back playing every weekend I would go with the 60. But, 22 is doing it for my situation and I can always haul one of my boat anchors to the gig if need be, LOL, or mic my 22. I think I like that option better than hauling around my heavy amps. I am not as young as I used to be.
Actually, 22 watts in this amp is more than I thought it would be. Surprisingly loud for 22 watts. I haven't had to make dirty faces at the drummer yet.


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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 5:44 pm
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If You want reliability for gigging, look at Victoria amps, vintage Fender,or do like I do and build them yourself. An amp is only as good as its components and design, and Fenders new lines fall flat in both departments. YMMV

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:49 pm
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63supro wrote:
If You want reliability for gigging, look at Victoria amps, vintage Fender,or do like I do and build them yourself. An amp is only as good as its components and design, and Fenders new lines fall flat in both departments. YMMV


+1000!

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:47 pm
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or do like I do and build them yourself

How much to build me an amp?

Hows the mesa rectoverb line? and as for the HRD III Reliabilty? issusess?,

our 7 piece band is only made of 2 guitars 1 bass 1 keys and drums we try to be kinda quite on stage but sometimes it gets loud toward the end of the night. I also hear the hrd iii is loud. I 've played both the HRDIII the 68 Deluxe reverb, 65 reissue and liked them all.

One other question are the deluxe series made with better components? 22 watts vs 40 hrdiii and cheaper? not sure. thanks for all the great conversation.

Oh yah I to have a bad back, so a 1x 12 combo or head and 1x12 would be ideal.


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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 9:24 pm
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[quote="kingding"]or do like I do and build them yourself

How much to build me an amp?

Hows the mesa rectoverb line? and as for the HRD III Reliabilty? issusess?,

our 7 piece band is only made of 2 guitars 1 bass 1 keys and drums we try to be kinda quite on stage but sometimes it gets loud toward the end of the night. I also hear the hrd iii is loud. I 've played both the HRDIII the 68 Deluxe reverb, 65 reissue and liked them all.

With Fender, you need to get into the custom shop stuff to get good components. I owned a HRDlx and it was a total POS. Didn't sound good when pushed or when the fizz/more fizz channel was engaged and was seriously unreliable when gigged. The HRDlx III has some improvements, but still don't like them or trust them. That's just me though. Once bitten twice shy I guess. There are still tons of cost saving shortcuts in these amps. At least with the DRRI you get hand wired tube sockets that are properly wired to the board.

So far I've built a Tweed 5e3, a Marshall 18 watt clone, a little EL84 5 watter and a bunch of pedals. Remember, 40 watts is not twice as loud as 20. I gig with 20 watts or less all the time with very aggressive drummer at times and we're asked to lower the volume even in larger pubs sometimes. If the place is larger, I just bring an extension cab or mic the amp. I don't build amps for a living, i build them because I want a well build, great sounding amp for decent money. So far it's been working out great. I've been a fan of Fender since 1966, and I won't buy a current production Fender amp. Just read the amp forum you'll read about all kind of noise issues and other problem on brand new amps. If it's not reliable, I don't want it.

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:58 pm
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The HRDlx III seems to be very reliable from all of the reviews so far, and check this forum for the posted problems with the III lately.....next to nada. :wink:

It happens to just about every manufacturer, most problems get straightened out eventually. I am not convinced that even in Leo's era that there weren't production problems. I would even bet that, percentage wise, there isn't that much difference in the amount of problems. I wonder what forums would have been like in the 50s and 60s (romantic, selective memories aside). :?:

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:40 am
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shimmilou wrote:
The HRDlx III seems to be very reliable from all of the reviews so far, and check this forum for the posted problems with the III lately.....next to nada. :wink:

It happens to just about every manufacturer, most problems get straightened out eventually. I am not convinced that even in Leo's era that there weren't production problems. I would even bet that, percentage wise, there isn't that much difference in the amount of problems. I wonder what forums would have been like in the 50s and 60s (romantic, selective memories aside). :?:


Great grist for a spirited debate, I'm certain.

What I do know is this......

"Back in the day", we'd buy a brand-new Fender amp in the afternoon and take it straight to a gig that evening.

No tube rolling, no bias massaging, no speaker swaps, no nothing.

They sounded like a million bucks.

And they played that way (mostly) for the next ten or twelve years without need for servicing or repairs.

They cost a lot of money (relatively speaking) but they were worth every penny.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 3:08 am
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It certainly would be interesting to know.....

To think, our parents told us how much better things were when they were younger, and their parents before them..... :arrow: And now everything sucks! :lol:

To boot, tubes back then must have been superb, which is why there were tube testers in every corner drugstore (Hooks), and TV repairmen had robust tube replacement businesses. :o :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Need a Tube Amp!
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 3:21 am
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The vacuum-tube television set was just a weeeeeeeee bit more complex than a guitar amp, laddie.

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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