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Post subject: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:36 pm
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I have a MIM Fender Standard Stratocaster. I am looking for a smaller amp that will not be a pain to take places. I will not be doing any gigs, just practicing with it. I would like it to be smaller and sort of portable, but still give me a good sound. I would like to stay under $500. Any suggestions?


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:39 pm
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Greetings and Welcome to the Forum!

So...amplifiers...well...

What kind of music do you play?

What are you using as the amp you don't want to take with you?

Taking a pedal board with you?

How much portable power do you want?

New or used?

For $500 you can get a very decent (used) tube amp...or several solid-state amps...lol.

???

Cheers.

_________________
1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
1975 Fender Stratocaster
1981 Rickenbacker 360
2002 BC Rich Bich
2007 Fender Standard Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
2012 Squier Telecaster
2017 Les Paul Kit


"Make every song you sing your favorite tune."


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 3:07 pm
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If it's tubes - Fender Pro JR. If it's hybrid - VOX Valvetronics.


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:02 pm
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See my post on your Roland Cube thread!


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:35 pm
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HeyJoe42 wrote:
Greetings and Welcome to the Forum!

So...amplifiers...well...

What kind of music do you play?

What are you using as the amp you don't want to take with you?

Taking a pedal board with you?

How much portable power do you want?

New or used?

For $500 you can get a very decent (used) tube amp...or several solid-state amps...lol.

???

Cheers.



Right now I'm just using my mom's old amp until I can get a new one. It is a Peavey KB/A 15

http://www.samash.com/p/Peavey_KBA%2015 ... _-49981870


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:38 pm
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Fender Mustang II. It's only 40 watts and costs $200.00. I own one and I use it for practice with my band and the occasional small club gig.


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:47 pm
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Super Champ X2... I have the head and the combo and they are both awesome amps. Channel 1 is great for classic Fender clean and channel 2 will dish up just about any flavor you'd want, from tiny tube to crushing distortion. The effects are ok ( I do like the reverbs) but I don't use them with the exception of the reverb... which when you consider you can dial in any type of reverb you like with Fuse, makes this amp a winner. Check out the X2 thread and have a listen... there's a bunch of us with videos, reviews, and favorable rants and raves.

I noticed this was in the strat thread... these amps are great regardless of what you play for a guitar but they do work great with strats... and teles, and SG's, and 335's, and Les Pauls, and.... you get the idea 8)


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:21 pm
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If you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty you could always build your own Tweed Champ and never look back for a second.

I've pretty much decided I'm going to build an amp. I've been looking around and it seems to be the only way to get what you need without spending a ton of cash. I'll likely go with a Tweed Deluxe.

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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:16 am
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Well, my question would be to ask for a bit more info about how you plan to use the amp? Is this "practice" going to be solo or with a band? If it's with a band, gigs or not you WILL need more power...I've gigged with my 22 watt Bugera, but she's usually maxed out. I prefer the extra power of my Fender Princeton or even my Peavey Backstage Plus. Which ever way you go brand-wise though, you'll need enough power to get over the drummer...I figure a decent 35 watt amp (tube or solid state) is a good place to start.

Now if it's just solo practice with an emphasis on portability, my vote also goes for the Roland Cubes. I have one of the MicroCubes...battery powered (and has an AC adapter), has some decent effects, AUX in for an MP3 player, good volume for practicing, etc.. Quite literally I recently took one of my Strats out to the Mohican River (the wife was in a canoe upstream)...just sat on the river bank with my Strat and an mp3 player plugged in with some jam tracks...that MicroCube does a very good job for what it is and what it cost. Very cool indeed.


Peace,
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:10 am
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Kvavava wrote:
I have a MIM Fender Standard Stratocaster. I am looking for a smaller amp that will not be a pain to take places. I will not be doing any gigs, just practicing with it. I would like it to be smaller and sort of portable, but still give me a good sound. I would like to stay under $500. Any suggestions?

Hi Kvavava: it's the ideal moment in history for this. Small, quality amps have never been better or more readily available.

My own recommendation would be the Marshall Class5 fully valve/tube driven combo. It has no onboard effects or other gizmology, it just does fabulous valve fuelled sound, from a very nice clean tone to a classic bluesy, drivey Marshall thang. It takes pedals beautifully, though it also sounds great without them - when I first got it I played mine for weeks before ever bothering to put a pedal in front of it, it sounded so nice. It is moderately sized and easy to carry, yet its five watts are big enough for band practice and maybe even a small gig if necessary. I believe the newer model also has power attenuation down to one watt for late night practice, which is handy.

You will find that many other makers offer similar amps - the Blackstar HT-5 is another very good one and more affordable than the Marshall.

If I were you, this is the type of amp I'd be looking for: a small, simple valve/tube driven little beast with no gongs and whistles but plenty of fat tone.

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:42 pm
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I would recommend checking out a Vox AC4.

Very small, very portable with authentic sound. There is an output switch (1/4, 1, 4 W) to control volume and/or crunchiness.

No modeling, no FX...just Vox tube tones you can take a anywhere.

_________________
1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
1975 Fender Stratocaster
1981 Rickenbacker 360
2002 BC Rich Bich
2007 Fender Standard Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
2012 Squier Telecaster
2017 Les Paul Kit


"Make every song you sing your favorite tune."


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Profile
Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:09 pm
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Without any input as to what type of music you like to play, the recommendations are going to be all over the map. Some you'll like, some you won't.

I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of what I use for smaller practice amps.

Super Champ x2. For a Strat, this was a no brainer- in fact I got this AND my MIA Strat ( my first!) at the same time! They just seemed made for each other. Volume was more controllable than with other small Fender amps, due to a more gradual volume pot taper. I'm an apartment dweller, so being able to play at low volume AND sound good was an absolute must! As stated, it "does" the classic Fender blackface clean on ch 1, plus runs the gamut from squeaky clean to nasty as hell on ch2 Fx can be completely turned off, but what is a classic Fendery amp w/o reverb or trem?? lol. Mine LOVES OD pedals- in fact, I got my OCD along with this and the Strat. It'll get plenty loud for home use, and many use it for small gigs. There is a line out jack and a speaker jack for more noise needed situations. It's compact, light, and sounds great. ( I'm a sucker for that 6v6 sound) I mainly like to get rock, classic rock, and southern rock tones, plus some blues and country. For those, it's perfect. You can get nastier and higher gain tones, too- I just don't use them much. You can also eke out a bit more volume by swapping in a more efficient speaker. Many guys on here have had great luck with Eminence's many nice 10"ers.

Fender Mustang III.
For rehearsals and gigs, this has plenty of extra oomph- it's 100 watts thru a 12"
Celestion g12t 100. Being all solid state, it also works quite well for home use. Just be careful- if you're a soft picker like me, you can end up being a LOT louder than you think when you dig in! I use it at home exclusively, and it sounds very good at bedroom levels. While quite a bit larger than the SC X2, it's still quite portable, and not that heavy. It works out well for old farts like me who don't want to bother hooking a guitar amp up to the computer to fiddle with something. Pretty much everything you need to do on the fly is doable FROM the amp itself. Once you get the hang of the LCD, it's a snap to add, delete, save presets, etc. Sounds very good, and takes pedals well, as long as you don't try to blast the input with lots of level boost. VERY flexible tonewise- you can literally play just about anything through it. If you are into death metal or such, there are probably better choices. The Dual Rec and 5150 models can get plenty distort-y though.

Both of the above amps are less than $400 new! A version 1 Mustang can be had pretty cheaply used, as the new version is out.

I am GASsing for a Princeton Reverb, so I'll second that recommendation, too. NOT a metal amp ( unless you use pedals), but it does those beautiful Fender cleans and just at the edge tones really well!


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:29 pm
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I know it might be blasphemy, but honestly the best investment I made on the amp front for my home was a Marshall Class5 combo. It's small like a Princeton '65 or Super Champ, has a stellar sound to it, a proper headphone jack, and can be dropped to a very low power mode for apartment/house practice with the flick of a switch. I drive it with a Fulltone GT-500, and it can go from louder than you would believe (legal action loud) to quiet enough to play in my bedroom without waking the kiddo down the hall.

For home-use, it has replaced my Super Champ and Mustang IV entirely.

So, yeah, Marshall Class5.
http://www.marshallamps.com/product.asp ... s5%20Combo


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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:49 pm
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I tried all the above and have a Mustang II but my favorite now for practice and jamming is my Laney Cub 12R. Really nice small valve amp and much cheaper than a Blues JR.

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Post subject: Re: Smaller, decent electric guitar amp?
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:19 am
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I recommend a good used Roland Cube 60 (used, since the 60w version is
no longer made). I have had one for years, serves as a good rehearsal amp and back-up for my stage (tube) amp.


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