Not a practice amp thread

[jackassrock]

In my old age I have been taking gigs that don't require the over the top loudness of my 100 watt Marshall stack. "Never" you say ? Well, I did too until somebody offered to pay me to play the guitar on weeknights without driving away customers with extreme volume. That's right, pay.

So, here's my situation. First amp I bought for this purpose was a Marshall 6101 1x12 combo. It's got a ton of bells and whistles, but it breaks down frequently (last time it was out for repair for over 6 months) and weighs a freaking ton. I like it ok, but it is far from hassle free. Next up, a Fender Blues Deville 4x10, pretty decent amp, but at 60 watts it's far too loud for my purpose (if I could use this much volume my JCM is far superior tonally). The latest amp I've procured is a Hot Rod Deluxe. Not too shabby, 40 watts, lightweight, and nice cleans and reverb, but the gain channel is crappy and unusable. I've been using a stompbox out front for a better gain sound, but like to use the amp channel with the distortion pedal for a boost with more gain for ma leads.

What I need is recommendations for a low wattage (20-40) amp with two usable channels. I have those other three amps to sell to fund the purchase, but don't know much about amps of this kind. so I've come to you for advice.

so bring the discussion !

I should add that I've been offered a Peavey Classic 30 in trade for one of the Fenders. Anybody tried one of the new ones ?

[Diamondjimi]

As I said in the practice amp thread, I am totally blown away by this puppy right here... http://line6.com/spiderii/112.html

Smooth switching, great tones with nice head room. Light weight and very reliable. Go test one out, I think you'll dig it...

I've been tracking with this amp (direct) and running it through Recabinet.(vst). It's baaadass!

[jackassrock]

How is it volume wise ? My Fenders seem to get really loud really fast on the master knob. By the time it goes from 0 to 3 it's pretty much at full volume, and when I turn down to the volume I need it to be, it sounds like crap.

[hideyoursheep]

Try 2.

I had the same issue with my Fender. I could work with it.

[Diamondjimi]

How is it volume wise ? My Fenders seem to get really loud really fast on the master knob. By the time it goes from 0 to 3 it's pretty much at full volume, and when I turn down to the volume I need it to be, it sounds like crap.

It's 75 watts with a celestion speaker. It has plenty of volume for what you need. Sounds great at high or low volumes. The speaker has the perfect response temperament at either vol. level. Full bottom and clean highs.
All I can say is take one for a spin. Take a few minutes to tinker with the settings.
Once I realized that I could get the tones I was after with this thing ,I had to grab one.

[jackassrock]

Looks like I'm off to the guitar center this week to try some shit out.

[Coyote]

Tech 21 Trademark 60. Hasn't failed me yet... *knocks on wood*

[Diamondjimi]

Tech 21 make grate shit. I've been using my PSA-1 preamp in my rack for 10 years now. Not a single glitch. It's never let me down...

[VanHalenFan5150]

How is it volume wise ? My Fenders seem to get really loud really fast on the master knob. By the time it goes from 0 to 3 it's pretty much at full volume, and when I turn down to the volume I need it to be, it sounds like crap.

Yeah, my G-Dec is like that. If I turn it up past 2 and a half, it gets REALLY loud. Anything above 3 will hurt your ears.

[GAR]

In this volume range I'd have to go with a Risson Marvel.

[kentuckyklira]

Don´t know the nes Classic 30s but I like my old one so much I bought it a twin brother and a baby brother (Classic 20) and an uncle (Classic 50 4x10) and another uncle (Classic 50 head).

Honestly though, my band sadly doesn´t play anything more than small and smaller club gigs. I currently play through a Mesa Boogie Rocket 44 1x12 combo. It´s got 40+ watts and does everything I want it to. Plus it´s small, doesn´t weigh too much, and the usual suspects can´t complain because it IS a Boogie. We play classic hard rock BTW.

My previous favorite for the purpose was my Peavey Classic 50 4x12. Also a great sounding amp with not too much power. The Boogie´s overdriven tone is just a tad more defined while still warm than the Peavey´s.

Of course, depending on your budget, there are always the small Bogner and Budda combos. I like the Buddas a lot but am just not prepared to pay that kind of money to play the few gigs my lazy ass band has nowadays.

If 40 watts are too much there´s the Hughes & Kettner Tube 20 and, I was more than pleasantly surprised at MusikMesse, the Orange Dual Terror.

Yerasov from Russia also produce some nice and affordable low-watt amps.

[kentuckyklira]

As I said in the practice amp thread, I am totally blown away by this puppy right here... http://line6.com/spiderii/112.html

Smooth switching, great tones with nice head room. Light weight and very reliable. Go test one out, I think you'll dig it...

I've been tracking with this amp (direct) and running it through Recabinet.(vst). It's baaadass!

In my experience Line6 amps sound nice at home or even in the studio but hardly ever really cut through in a live band context.

[jackassrock]

OK,

The Risson is 1600 dollars, so not a chance. Boogies are also hella expensive, so unless I run into the right one by chance, they are probably not an option either.

I went out to the GC and Sam Ash this week and tried out a bunch of stuff. The Egnater Rebel 30 was really sweet, and I've been looking at Blackstar stuff online too ( but I'll have to go to Louisville to actually try one out. The big suprise was the Bugera V22. It sat right next to a Marshall Haze 40 and blew it away tonally, for less than half the price. I tried the Line6 Spider and a Peavey Viper and neither was close to what I wanted. The Peavey (an all tube modeling amp) had so many options that it was confusing, and the Spider was far from my cup 'o tea. I'm considering the Bugera very seriously. I have yet to try the Classic Peavey, cause nobody has them in the stores around here, and buying blindly off Clist is how I ended up with 2 Fenders, so that ain't gonna happen this time around.

In all honesty the Rebel 30 is what I'm probably gonna buy, but I gotta sell my Deluxe and Deville first.

Also if you click the words Rebel 30 just above here ^ it is a link to the amp's page at the Egnater website. I don't know why, but you can't tell it's a link with the new look of this board.

[kentuckyklira]

Sounds like a decent deal. I have to admit I didn´t like the Egnaters when I checked em out, but taste differs and I checked em out at MusikMesse (our version of NAMM) and that means there were 500 mediocre players flogging away NuMetal "tunes" no less than a few dozen feet away from me while I was there.

I was pleasantly surprised by Brugera as well but have since heard epic tales of unreliability which certainly keep me away from them.

[jackassrock]

Me too, that's why I don't own that one I tried right now.