THe Marshall Mini Stacks like the Zak Wylde model can kick out a pretty mean tone for just 15 W as with the 15W Haze Mini Stack.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I agree, the clean channel on a DSL sounds amazing with some crunch. The Lead channel is disappointing, though. But it's a better sounding amp than a JCM900 and more versatile than an 800. All-in-all, I'd go with an 800 and you see them in combo form on eBay for reasonable money.

I've got a 15w Marshall Microstack (older model without FX) I use to practice with and it sounds okay but at higher volumes it gets pretty harsh and thin sounding. Ideally, you want something with valves and a 12" speaker.

I really like the Orange Tiny Terror series and 2nd hand you should be able to score a good deal. I bought one to compliment a Strat I had a couple of yeas ago and they made fantastic partners - thick, ballsy and great fun to play through. Not the most versatile set-up, granted, but more tone per buck than I can think of anywhere else.

I really like the current run of small amps out of most manufacturers. I think that the way that area of the market boomed albeit within a bleak financial time, or because of it. Has led to a lot of good qualtiy amps for not a whole heap of dough.

If you don't want a amp for much more than jamming, then go with one of them. Though I've gigged my 18watt next to a very enthusiastic drummer, a bassist into a 400watt laney and a 200watt vocal PA. Turned it up to 6 and was not struggling to be heard at all. At a outdoor gig. Whether that is acheivable out of a Haze or Peavey 15watt or whatever, I dunno. My 18watt has a eq that is very flat, theres no mid loss at all so it just punches through anything.

DIN0
I'm a self confessed Marshall addict, especialy the JCM800's. Here's my old gig rig from years ago. I still use the combo and head occasionaly. I really like the KK head, though I never use the boost or gate anymore. The 4211 stays pretty much on the clean channel, though it's more like a Hotrod Deluxes high gain channel. I have to use the diode clipped lead channel to get a clean sound out of the thing. Funny old backwards amp.



The head runs into the combo's speakers. The combo runs into the cab. Which has since fallen apart and been replaced by a Hayden cab, that went on the circular saw diet over the summer.



An amazing diet, the thing lost 4" in 20 minutes. It was 400mm (odd) deep, now 300mm deep. It sorted out a lot of the bass problems out. It was really lacking low end, or more accurately lacking low mids.

Round the house I use a 5watt Fender VibroChamp XD or a 1watt Fender Twin battery amp, and couldn't be happier. It's all about a amp for a situation.

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No no and no

+1

Really depends on how loud you want it... I love the sound of 6v6, that's why the Deluxe Reverb is a great amp for me! But I'm just as happy with a 6L6 amp if I need more power.

I just recently purchased a Carvin Legacy 2 head and paired it with a 4x12 cab loaded with Eminence Red, White and Blues. I must say it is the best set up I have ever played through with my American Deluxe HSS strat. I also have a Twin Reverb 65 reissue but was unable to get some of those smooth overdrive tones I love so much.

Heres a pic of my beastly rig

Me too, my friend! There's something about a Marshall. I've had two 800s - a 2 channel combo and a reissue 2203. I sold the 2203 to buy a 1959SLP, sold that to buy a 1959HW and sold that to buy a 1x12 Jubilee combo. ALL have been absolutely superb and I'd be hard pushed to choose a favourite. There was something incredibly guttural sounding about the 1959SLP that made me smile a lot but, damn, attenuators kill the tone and I was starting to get ear pain with the incredible volume I was having to run it at, not to mention some awfully upset sound people! But yeah, with you on Marshalls - I've had so many over the years and never had a bad one. My least favorite has been the JCM900 but some folk love them so it's all good. A friend of mine had a TSL which I was never big on but he really dug it.

I'm not sure what amp to get next but I tried a DV Mark (from the Mark Bass people) combo at a trade show last year and it impressed me a lot. I like the low weight, reverb and great clean and dirty channels. I also got to try the AFD100 - great amp and sounds more like Slash than his last sig model but it's not really what I'm after just now. Sure is fun trying stuff out!

Cool what did to that cab - have you recovered/varnished it? Any pics?

I only buy cheap cabs, cos I destroy em. I did cover it, I just glued the old vinyl back on. Slapped a mismatch of speakers I've grown to love in it. And more importantly got rid of that horrible cheap Hayden ohm selection switch off the back. You would not believe the difference that made to the sound. It's just wired as a 16ohm cab now. The switch that was in it had this really thin copper trace on the pcb, horrible thing. Probably why the boffins at Hayden decided to make the cab too deep. To try and increase bass response. Which it did, but right at the far end of the low end. So there was little definition or thump to it. It also had them Chinese Vintage 30's in, which aint a bad speaker by any stretch. All in all not a bad cab for £120.
On attenuators, I use a PB100 a lot. I haven't noticed any tone loss with it that I couldn't attribute to not pushing the speakers as hard. Love them plexi's, I remember well the pleasure from pain the first time I plugged into one. There really is no amp on earth like it. How Hendrix used to stand infront of 3 of em on full tilt is beyond me. No wonder he was on drugs. I tried for similar mid grunt on my 18watter. It sounds alike, but not the same.
You can still find nice Jubilee's and Anniversary's around, been tempted a few times myself.

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No no and no

If you can hold off until after the NAMM show, there will be many more options.

http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2011

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I had the same one (PB100) and I know what you mean about it being more a speaker thing than a tone thing per se. Whatever it was, I found I still had to have the amp crazy loud to keep it sounding sweet.
But, man, when I plugged a Strat into that Plexi and really wound it up.... If only I played in stadiums!

Chinese V30s? So that's how Thomann sells Vintage cabs so cheap - Harvey Benton, I think they call their own brand. How would you say those V30s compare to UK ones?

The Jubilee is a superb amp - darker sounding than the almighty brash roar of an 800 and would make a cool contrast, buddy!

To bshane: unless you seriously need gigging volumes I'd support all those saying just go for one of the very small valve amps that are so widely available out there nowadays. The Champion 600 if you like the Fender sound, or like others I'd go with the Marshall Class5. I dragged one of those home last year and it is the best practice amp I've yet come across: very happy with it. It could easily handle band practice and small gigs too.

I've tried the MG15FX and MG100FX as practice amps and frankly I'd give 'em a miss. I was using (and still own) a Marshall AVT100 as a home amp and it was probably my least bad option - till the Class5 came along. That one gets closest to replicating the joy of the big boy; the TSL122. Which frankly cannot be let off the leash in home conditions (more wattage is not helpful away from a stage environment):




Got a strange thing going for green amps...!

Quick off-topic to DIN0: your avatar has had me quietly scratching my head for a few days. I was barking up the wrong tree for a while, till some sideways detective work lead me to it: Arnold Böcklin self portrait with death playing the violin, right? Phew - goddit!



Cheers - C

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i have a HOT ROD DELUXE..and with a few pedals this amp sound great for blues...a little compression, ibanez ts808..this amp is perfect...there alot of mods being done to these amps...like changing speakers and tubes and pot and bias....it can be overwhelming..but i dont think its always nessary...tone is what this amp gives you...tubes do it for u...i also have an mosfet HUGHES AND KETTNER that sound great with my strat..its all bout what u like

I agree Ceri this amp has tone for days. Try it with a cab it's even better. Hopefully there is a head version someday.

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— did that sound like something?

check out Fender's new Mustang line of amps. For 2011, they are introducing the Mustang III, IV, and V. The Mustang III has 100 watts, the IV has 150, and the V is a head and a cabinet. I have the original Mustang I, and am going to buy the Mustang III as soon as I see one in stores. I own 2 really nice tube amps (Peavey 5150 combo, Fender Hot Rod Deville 212), but the mustang series is so much fun to play with.

Ceri, I'm impressed with your detective skills! Very cool picture, no? It's the look on the guy's face that's just priceless.

Nice collection you have - particularly like the Jag!

'Ceri' -

dino, that is a sick portrait, i wonder if i can get a copy of that portrait?

hey ceri, i was trying to figure it out myself, no where near close to what you came up with, kudos on your detective skills.

now bshane, 500-900 dollars good, tube amps.
fender hot rod deluxe,deville, drri 65 reverb, and twin reverb might be 1500-1600
vox ac 15(w greenbacks) awesome 15 watter. ac 30 same thing, very nice cleans, from
extremely bright to nice warms, i guess thats what the eq is for?
marshall class a 5 watter, under 400 super sweet. dsl 401-100 w 412 1200-1300 of pure marshall tone.
oh yeah about 590 for the orange tiny terror 15 watt head, no reverb though, but the tone is sick.
if you want just one pedal. get the ,line 6 M13, tiny terror and a 212 cab .
and last but not least the egnater rebel line and TWEAKER, because thats exactly what it is.
so do your homework, look at what you really want from an amp, test, test, test until you find the one.

by the way, a friend has the tweaker, you can get srv tones, to evh tones off of that 15 w 1 12 cab.
so think bout it.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008