Guitar AMP (under £400) with excellent clean sound which takes pedals OK ???

JerkMoans

HRD not too far down the A1 from you in fashionable Barnet available!

GavRichList

You could probably get a S/H AC30 for about this cash. 

Kebabkid

Don't discount the George Benson HRD. The weight is similar to a Deluxe Reverb and so it's lighter, but it's a 40W and has a great and nicer to my ears HRD clean channel with a lot of sparkle and it takes pedals really well. It sounds big and bold.

The OD side is the standard HRD channel of old, not the improved one - shame. But, it sounds ok. Oh, and you may not like the livery but just don't look at the signature association of this and think it's just jazzer's amp. I do think that Fender got their marketing wrong on this, or there was a lack of it. It can do so much more than it purports to.

They can come up used at that price.

JerkMoans

GavRichList said:

You could probably get a S/H AC30 for about this cash. 

I got one off FleaBay ?3 years ago for a shade over £330...  In good nick, too.  Was lovely, just SO blimmin' big and loud I ended up flipping the thing.

crunchman

hassleham said:

Check out the Peavey Classic 30. I downgraded to one from a Mesa Lonestar cos it sounds great and is nice and cheap! Great pedal platform and loud as hell for a 1x12.

It probably sounds better than the Mesa but in terms of construction quality you definitely used the right word with downgraded.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/115505/most-awkward-amps-to-repair-2#latest

As a former owner of both the Classic 30 and the HRD I will add my voice to the chorus saying HRD.

What I would say is that the HRD needs a better speaker to get the best out of it.  I had a Weber 12F150 in mine and it was really good.  The main reason I sold it was because it was far too loud for my needs.  In terms of sound quality, with the Weber in, it was better than amps that were 2 or 3 times the price.

Also, it's a much better built amp than the C30.  The three sided circuit board in the C30 is an abomination.  If anything goes wrong out of warranty you are looking at a much nastier bill because of the way it is built.

Even if nothing goes wrong, you will also find the HRD much cheaper to run long term.   You can't bias the C30 properly which won't help with the lifespan of the power valves.  Whether it was that or mechanical vibration I used to find that I had replace the power valves inside a year because they developed rattles.  The 6L6 power valve is much more robust than the EL84, and the HRD doesn't run it hot either.  I had the last set in there for years by the time I sold the amp. You also only need 2 of them versus the 4 EL84s in the Peavey so even though they are more expensive individually they work out cheaper overall. Given the difference in life span they will be a lot cheaper.

Jalapeno

Fender Blues Junior doesn't do cleans really. It's an oddball Fender amp.

siraxeman

VC30

Kinioo

donbot said:

I'd definitely give the Ibanez TSA-15 a go. Brilliant clean tones and built in Tube screamer. Has fx loop and speaker output for a cab. Plus foot switch for the ts and boost. Oh and you can switch between 5 and 15W. Finally, it loves pedals!! Check out some vids or try one out.

There's also the Roland JC-22. 30W but not valve. That's next on my shopping list!

Very interesting this one. And a boost plus tube screamer... Nice. 

kt66

for a clean sounding amp , it's hard to beat a Roland, not valve, but there's a reason why electric 12 string players use them so much. https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/roland-jc-22-jazz-chorus-guitar-amplifier?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqPmP182u1wIVRj8bCh2STgx9EAkYASABEgJCCPD_BwE

bwets

Another vote for a Hot Rod Deluxe!

p90fool

kt66 said:

for a clean sounding amp , it's hard to beat a Roland, not valve, but there's a reason why electric 12 string players use them so much. https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/roland-jc-22-jazz-chorus-guitar-amplifier?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqPmP182u1wIVRj8bCh2STgx9EAkYASABEgJCCPD_BwE

I have one of these and it sounds glorious, but it is quite fussy about overdrive/distortion pedals. 

erky32

I have a Bassbreaker 18/30 I could sell, but it's in France so postage would be around £60, £30 each (if I share 50/50) so I'd be looking for around £425 all-in. Very simple amp 2 channel, vol & eq on each channel, plenty of pedal headroom.

ICBM

ESBlonde said:

Has anyone thought to mention the HRD. Fenders best selling combo ever, you have to wonder why.

But the Blues Junior is apparently the current biggest seller, and again you really do have to wonder why!

For what it's worth I don't think the MkIII HRD is an upgrade, either - they did improve the volume pot taper, but that's the only thing… although it's more controllable at low volume, you have to turn it up further before it starts to sound good, so if anything it's worse. I just don't think it sounds quite as good at higher volume either.

So I would buy a second hand MkII over a MkIII any day, and it will probably be slightly cheaper. And just learn to turn the volume controls very carefully .

Kinioo

erky32 said:

I have a Bassbreaker 18/30 I could sell, but it's in France so postage would be around £60, £30 each (if I share 50/50) so I'd be looking for around £425 all-in. Very simple amp 2 channel, vol & eq on each channel, plenty of pedal headroom.

Thanks for the offer !
Im not buying yet, just asking...and I am really impressed by Ibanez TSA15H really.

Chris