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DaveO

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i have been trying to decide if I want to get a tube amph or not. Probably only looking for a 5 or 15 watt to keep the peace at home. I have never had a tube amph .... any advice? I'm currently playing through a Roland cube 60.
Thanks, Dave
 
DaveO said:
i have been trying to decide if I want to get a tube amph or not. Probably only looking for a 5 or 15 watt to keep the peace at home. I have never had a tube amph .... any advice? I'm currently playing through a Roland cube 60.
Thanks, Dave
Click to expand...
If you feel you "have to have" a tube amp, so get one because that feeling will keep bugging you and there is no way to get over it until you own a tube amp. That was my case at least. You can get a small one to be quiet enough - especially if you have a 60watts now.
If it's not that bad - so you need to define your requirements. You won't find a small tube amp with effects like the Cube so you will have to use pedals. I would say that if you want a great clean, you will get it from a tube amp. Great pedal distortion/overdrive also, as tube amps make pedals sound better than any other amp. If you want a great amp distortion - it will be trickier with a small tube amp but can be done.
 
Sounds like you're a candidate for one of those little Epiphone jobbies! Or has anyone tried one of the little Peavey ValveKing Royal 8s?
 
arch23- I will have to add some pedals, but, that is one of the things about the cube that didn't impress me. The effects sound fine but you have very little adjustments so the only thing I really use alot is the reverb. I have a BBE Sonic Stomp and have a OD pedal on the way. Scouting the bay for used pedals now.

marnold-I forgot about the Epi's. I have been looking at the Crate v5 or v8 and I will be heading out to the local shops to try some out.

Thanks, Dave
 
DaveO I'm going through the same thing you are you can check out my thread down from this one Cube 60, I found a Epiphone Valve standerd 15 watts tube Amp for 200.00 bucks cant pass it up, I will pick it up next friday,
everybody is going ape over the 5 watt Epi valve Juniors, do a search and you will come up with hundreds of hits, :DR
Keith.
 
DaveO said:
marnold-I forgot about the Epi's. I have been looking at the Crate v5 or v8 and I will be heading out to the local shops to try some out.

Thanks, Dave
Click to expand...
There is also the Fender Champion 600 (5 watt). I may get one soon.
 
DaveO said:
i have been trying to decide if I want to get a tube amph or not. Probably only looking for a 5 or 15 watt to keep the peace at home. I have never had a tube amph .... any advice? I'm currently playing through a Roland cube 60.
Thanks, Dave
Click to expand...


I dunno..

It is kinda like Booze, cigs or crack cocaine.. they say NEVER try it, because why start something you may not be able to quit.

What if you REALLY like it? Then you want another.. and another.. and then a Bigge one, and a bigger one then that.. then two for the house, don't forget a spare for on stage etc etc.. then how about NOS tubes while you are at it.. and ... and..

_______________

Of course I am kind of joking.. but you get my point?

OF course you should get a tube amp if you want one and can afford one..

________________

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=676362
 
Being only into these guitars a few years I been trying to decide that stuff to.. so far been thru a few Solid States.. Cyber-Champ, Ampeg oldie, Roland Cubes, Crates and Vox Da-5.. but then I started messing with this 5 watt Epi Valve Jr. alot..I mean alot.. and combined with a Weber MicroMass I can play it thru my computer and disturb no one but myself.. so combined with that feature and the sound from the little tube amp thru speakers (it's alive I tell you .. it's alive!!) .. well , I will stick with it for now.. till I can get a bigger tube amp..;) Think a Fender blues Junior will be next.. then maybe a twin or bassman head.. then a soundcity or Hiwatt... then.. oh heck... Im trapped to!!!
 
It's already a given that one is never enough. I'm already a little scared since I have access to some great amps at a local music store, Fat Sound in Cary, NC. I'm probably going to pick up some kind of tube amp, after alot of test drives :D
Dave
 
Just my thought...if you're looking for a tube amp at home, I think sticking with a modeling amp is your best bet. Just my opinion as I play 95% of the time at home. Even 5 watts can get pretty loud at times depending on the amp.

The ONLY tube amp that I've found that is decent as a home amp is the used Marshall JTM 30 that I found off of ebay. I can get away with the gain, volume, and master volume all at 12:00 at home, and it puts out a reasonable volume that doesn't make the dogs go running to hide under the bed.

Mainly though, I use my Valvetronix amp at home.
 
TS808 said:
Mainly though, I use my Valvetronix amp at home.
Click to expand...
I play my AD30VT (only amp I have), but I've got a 5 watt Fender Champion 600 on the way.

I thought I'd put in some nice tubes (there are only two). It seems like a nice amp to drag around to different places. That sucker is itsy bitsy teeny tiny...
 
Wattage of a tube amp can be deceiving. Tube amps are rated at "clean" power, yet most people like to drive them to the point of breakup to get better responsiveness (is that a word?) out of them.
In order to double the volume of a tube amp, you need to increase the rated watts by ten times.
So, if Warren buys his half watt amp, which is .5 watt, my Valve Jr, which puts out 5 watts, will be twice as loud, and someone else's 50 watt Marshall, or Traynor Blue, or what have you, will be twice as loud as my Valve Jr....
My point being this..... most people buy a 20 or 30 watt tube amp thinking it will be quiet in the bedroom at night, and they can crank it w/o disturbing anyone...... if you don't have a master volume, gain knob, attenuator, etc.... it's going to be LOUD if it's even 5 watts, you're going to need headphones or some way to keep it quiet. But it's gonna sound great.:p
I use a THD Hotplate w/ the ValveJr. and it can still get loud enough to be heard across the street w/ the Hotplate at max attenuation when I crank the amp to around 1:00 o'clock through 1 Celestion in a closed back cab.
 
oldguy said:
Wattage of a tube amp can be deceiving. Tube amps are rated at "clean" power, yet most people like to drive them to the point of breakup to get better responsiveness (is that a word?) out of them.
In order to double the volume of a tube amp, you need to increase the rated watts by ten times.
So, if Warren buys his half watt amp, which is .5 watt, my Valve Jr, which puts out 5 watts, will be twice as loud, and someone else's 50 watt Marshall, or Traynor Blue, or what have you, will be twice as loud as my Valve Jr....
My point being this..... most people buy a 20 or 30 watt tube amp thinking it will be quiet in the bedroom at night, and they can crank it w/o disturbing anyone...... if you don't have a master volume, gain knob, attenuator, etc.... it's going to be LOUD if it's even 5 watts, you're going to need headphones or some way to keep it quiet. But it's gonna sound great.:p
I use a THD Hotplate w/ the ValveJr. and it can still get loud enough to be heard across the street w/ the Hotplate at max attenuation when I crank the amp to around 1:00 o'clock through 1 Celestion in a closed back cab.
Click to expand...
There's more to it than the watts. The Champ 600 has a 6 inch speaker in a teeny tiny (did I already say itsy bitsy? :p) cab. From what I understand 5 Epi watts are quite a bit louder than the same number of Champ watts.

People who have replaced the stock speaker with a Weber ceramic 6 inch (whip out my--itsy bitsy--6 in) remark on the increased loudness due to the increased efficiency.

& yes, responsiveness is a word. A good word that bears repetition:

*ahem*....responsiveness
 
Last edited:
I'll add a little something, since I was in the same boat a month ago as you are now...

First off, yes the 5 watt epi is LOUD. I was blown away at how loud it can get. It seems like it can get almost as loud as my Vox, which is FIFTY watts. But I think this was explained earlier about how it is acually 5 watts CLEAN. Before the Epi valve jr, all I used was my Vox AD50VT. It was, and still is my primary amp at home because I can turn it down as low as i want and still get good tone. Now let me say, once you get a tube amp, you WILL want another. Haha, I thought "eh I'll try the valve jr, since its so cheap, and i'll just stick at that for a while". Well now I find myself looking into 20-30 watt tube amps. And I don't know why!! hahaha

But I do DEFINITELY agree that the biggest difference is responsiveness. Absolutely splendid Responsiveness. Splendid. :)
 
Ohhh a sweet little tube amph is something you definitley don't want to miss.
Of course the modeled amphs of today are close, but they all lack that warm dynamic and life that only the tube has.

On this year's tradefair I have played the Fender Champion 600 and I can highly recommend it. A little tube change, which depends on you flavour, and there you go.

To tube or not to tube - what a question, he?
I think everybody should tube.
 
I'm thinking of getting myself an Epi Valve Jr head and cab for Christmas. Hopefully, I'll be able to actually play something by then.
 
Wattage of a tube amp can be deceiving. Tube amps are rated at "clean" power, yet most people like to drive them to the point of breakup to get better responsiveness (is that a word?) out of them.
In order to double the volume of a tube amp, you need to increase the rated watts by ten times.
So, if Warren buys his half watt amp, which is .5 watt, my Valve Jr, which puts out 5 watts, will be twice as loud, and someone else's 50 watt Marshall, or Traynor Blue, or what have you, will be twice as loud as my Valve Jr....
Click to expand...

Great point. To decrease loudness by 1/2 you have to go 10 times less actually if I recall correctly. A 10 watt amp is 50% as loud as a 100 watt amp if I recall correctly.

I found this which explains wattage:

http://hometheater.about.com/cs/audiocomponents/a/aapowermada.htm

There are better sites out there that deal with guitar amplification specifically, but I found that one first :D

Check out www.amptone.com. I believe that is the site that really covers this topic.
 
warren0728 said:
i have heard great things about this one (the 1/2 watt version)...haven't got around to getting one yet but i am going to.....

http://www.guytronix.com/home.html

ww
Click to expand...

Too much $$$. Can't beat the 5 watt Epi head. The cabinet they make for it is schweet too and real birch! The whole package is just way too cheap and makes a killer modding platform.

I was going to go with a guytronix. Just too many options already available for far less money. That and I wasn't bowled over by how my friend's sounded.
 
i have an epi jr combo....just want to try and build an amp myself and thought this one looked cool. I have heard really good things about the amp but have not heard one myself (of course the way i play tone doesn't really matter! :eek: )

ww
 

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