Great 5W all tube for clean jazz and a little dirty blues?

[progrmr]

I don't have an all tube amp and want to get a little 5W for my living room (I'm a living room rock star ) but man there's a lot of options. Not looking for anything with a tone of gain for metal - clean tones for jazz with the ability to get a little dirty for some blues.

Epi valve Jr? Seems to be pretty popular.

 

[Jx2]

I have the Fender Champioin 600, for $150 I find it hard to beat. Its also a little 5w dandy. Its only 1 channel, that seemed to shock my friends but I really like the tone I get from it, plus the volume goes up to 12!!!

 

[progrmr]

I have the Fender Champioin 600, for $150 I find it hard to beat. Its also a little 5w dandy. Its only 1 channel, that seemed to shock my friends but I really like the tone I get from it, plus the volume goes up to 12!!!

How's the clean headroom? One of the negatives I've heard about the Epi Valve Jr is that it starts to break up after 4

 

[Spudman]

I've been very happy with my Blackheart Little Giant 5 watt head. So much that I sold my Epi Valve Jr with no regrets. Another option you might want to explore is the Peavey Classic 20. It's a very nice little combo with a master volume and is built like a tank. Plug it in to an external cabinet and it really rocks.

 

[Jx2]

Im not really sure, Im no expect on tube or break ups. I have mine set on around 5-6, and I love that tone. I know when you hit say 8 and higher it really breaks ups. But to compaire it to any other 5w tube I cant. I really enjoyed it plugged into my Randall 4x12 cab, before it found a new home. Tomarrow a buddy is giving me a Marshall 4x10 cab minus 2 speakers Im going to plug those holes and run it as a 2x10 for my fender.

 

[Robert]

Mack gem - 4 or 0.4 watts...

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I've been very happy with my Blackheart Little Giant 5 watt head. So much that I sold my Epi Valve Jr with no regrets. Another option you might want to explore is the Peavey Classic 20. It's a very nice little combo with a master volume and is built like a tank. Plug it in to an external cabinet and it really rocks.

I played through Spud's one weekend and really liked it. That was the amph I thought of when I saw the question.

 

[oldguy]

Swart Atomic Space Tone.

 

[msteeln]

Swart Atomic Space Tone.

Ultimately yes, but if looking at the Epi Valve Jr. level of power and pricing the new VHT Special 6 is a much better rig, seemingly the best deal yet.
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=17010

 

[gndboy]

No single-ended tube amp is going to give anything like clean tone, ever, at any volume. I guess it's how one defines "clean". Single-ended tube amps are a lot of fun; I would cite caution about expectations of glassy jazz clean tones.

 

[oldguy]

Ultimately yes, but if looking at the Epi Valve Jr. level of power and pricing the new VHT Special 6 is a much better rig, seemingly the best deal yet.
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=17010

Right, right..........price point wasn't mentioned. I say there would be V. Jr./Blackheart territory---just a bit more for the VHT(good bang for the buck)---Valvetrain, which I just thought of, hasn't been mentioned--the Mack stuff is good, too--Marshall Class 5----I forgot Bugera........
wow! so much to choose from when you stop and think about it.

I threw the Swart out there as my pick for the best, not the best deal. I just love those little AST's w/ the 'verb and tremelo. Someday I'll hit the lottery and buy one.:thumbsup

 

[progrmr]

No single-ended tube amp is going to give anything like clean tone, ever, at any volume. I guess it's how one defines "clean". Single-ended tube amps are a lot of fun; I would cite caution about expectations of glassy jazz clean tones.

Uh oh...a fly in the ointment!

I was figuring that at low volumes the tone would be clean and glassy - maybe this 5w would be better for blues but not jazz..?

 

[tunghaichuan]

I own and have modified several Valve Juniors, and they do break up too much, too early. They're great for that kind of sound, not so much for clean glassy sounds.

The 5W Little Giant amps break up much later than the Valve Juniors. The LG amps have a three-band tone stack in between the two 12AX7 sections. The tone stack robs the amp of a lot of gain, so they are inherently cleaner than the Valve Junior.

I have not tried the VHT Special 6, but if I were in the market for that kind of amp, it would be the one I'd be looking at. It has a lot of things going for it. It gets kind of gainy, but you could replace the 12AX7 preamp tube with a lower gain type (5751, 12AY7/6072) for less gain/grind.

More info here:

http://www.vhtamp.com/avsp16.html

I'd probably go with a head and a 1x12" or even 1x15" cab. Personally, I don't think single 10" cabs deliver the goods.

 

[pedalbuilder]

Uh oh...a fly in the ointment!

I was figuring that at low volumes the tone would be clean and glassy - maybe this 5w would be better for blues but not jazz..?

Yeah - a stock VJR is not what you are looking for. Great little amps, though. There are lots of mods available, if that is your thing, but it will never be a good 'out of the box' jazz tool. Blues all day long though . . .

Also, just in case it comes up, do not get a Crate V5 - absolute junk.

The best affordable, relatively clean, low-wattage amps I've played personally are old Harmony combos which can be found in most areas for $1-200 in working order. I'm sure there are plenty of other options, and that VHT looks sweet, but I thought I'd throw the 'actually vintage' option into the mix.

 

[Katastrophe]

I'd stay away from the 5 watters for clean tones... But, I would seriously take a look at the Fender Super Champ XD. It's affordable, and flexible as well with the different voicings... There are tubes in there, too, if that's important.

Here's a great little youtube vid of a guy playing jazz... Clean, but warm sounding and not too dark.

 

[progrmr]

That does sound good - definitely worth checking out.

Can't wait to get my Epi Emperor back tomorrow with the GFS Mean 90's installed...watching that video killed me lol!