I need an amp to use at home that does it all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheGASMan

That's good to hear - do you have to smuggle your gear past your other half like us?

Legionreturns

Leftfield budget suggestion... H&K Switchblade 

Great sounding tube goodness but with a midi pedal and every effect you could ever want, with 99 patches to save sounds you like. 

TheGASMan

I'll have a look at some demos - thanks @Legionreturns ;

darthed1981

OK, I'll say it, although the forum seems to have gone "megabucks only please" since the R8 hysteria...

Boss Katana, does exactly what you want but costs a tenth of your budget.  Totally giggable if you get the 100w and foot switch.

At least worth an audition.

Dominic

Wazmeister said:

Kemper. Full stop. Imho, having bought every bloody amp out there, at some point...

So true .........and even that isn't absolutely perfect but you have to get into a different mindset

olafgarten

TheGASMan said:

That's good to hear - do you have to smuggle your gear past your other half like us?

I'm not one of them, just saying there is some I've seen on here. 

HAL9000

darthed1981 said:

OK, I'll say it, although the forum seems to have gone "megabucks only please" since the R8 hysteria...

Boss Katana, does exactly what you want but costs a tenth of your budget.  Totally giggable if you get the 100w and foot switch.

At least worth an audition.

Good shout. Although not really my bag (I prefer to keep things simple) I'd also suggest the Blackstar ID TVP series as 'do anything' amps. Lots of tones and effects.

Voxman

It seems to me that you need some kind of modelling amp that gives you different tones and effects in one box, and can sound good at home volumes. Your premise of seeking a valve amp to achieve this is therefore problematic because afaik there is no current production valve amp that can achieve this. Various amps have tried to do this e.g. Line 6 Bogner spider valve that I found very disappointing when I tried one about 6 mths ago, and the H&K Switchblade0 which was pretty good but big and heavy. 

The Yamaha and Katana have already been mentioned and the previous generation of Fender Mustangs e.g. Mustang III 1x12 v2 are very good and excellent bang for buck. However the latest series in black boxes are IMHO quite dreadful.  And I have to say that I was quite impressed with the Marshall Code. A friend of mine has the little 20w and I was pleasantly surprised at how full this sounded for a small amp and also how good the cleans were too. 

But you should check out the Vox Valvetronix amps because these are hybrids that mix digital and valve technology. And we're not talking just warming up the tone as per a Marshall Valvestate, but the design effectively places the tube in the power section so these sound and feel much more like a valve amp. 

The latest generation have some interesting features but if you also want it for gigging as well as home use, see if you can find an original blue series AD60VTX. Very easy to use with all amp like controls, no complex menus to scroll through, and stores 32 patches. The reason the Blue series were different and for many considered the best, is because the design really meant it responded like a valve amp e.g. it directly reacted with speaker impedance. I believe @ICBM is a fan of the Valvetronix too and I think its fair to say he knows a thing or two about amps and what sounds and feels good.  But its a case of finding one.  And if you can find a used Valvetronix VTX150 Neodymium, these are very good too, extremely light and very loud if you want it for gigging.  Uniquely in the Valvestate series it uses an EL84 power valve rather than a 12AX7.  

Grumpyrocker

The answer to any question thread in the amp section is Katana. Don't fight it.

Alfi27

If you already have a nice pedalboard, I would definitely recommend getting a full size amp with a Suhr Reactive Load! Having tried everything from small amps, big amps, Helix, Kemper, Fractal, Atomic etc there is simply nothing that beats two or four big glass bottles cooking hot enough to toast your bread!

Great solution for just about anything, want to record or just practice with headphones? Run the SRL to your audio interface and through Torpedo Wall of Sound with some great IRs. Want to play through a real cab? Run the SRL to FX return on another amp, which will give you cranked amp tones at any volume! Pete Thorn uses loadboxes and IRs almost exclusively and has done that for years, even though he actually has an isolated cabinet room in his studio. 

TheGASMan

Not using pedals - too messy in the lounge

I basically want to be able to play in lounge instead of go into the studio

I don't want loads of effects so I have sold helix as I end up spending more time pissing around with that than playing

I may even try a Fryette Power Station again to go with the Diezel but I wasn't very impressed first time round

If I go modelling I will go Kemper as I know it will do what I want so not gonna go any other stuff like Katana but I appreciate why others would

I was just hoping that somewhere out there there was a valve amp that I could marry and live with happily ever after

ICBM

Grumpyrocker said:

The answer to any question thread in the amp section is Katana. Don't fight it.

I'll have to admit to not actually having played one yet, but I haven't heard a single demo of one - any model - that makes me want to. And a friend of mine who I trust to know what is a good sound played through one at a gig recently and said it sounded awful... so I'm not holding out much hope.

If it matters, I don't like the Blackstar IDs either - good amp, well-made and apparently indestructible (I know of rehearsal rooms with them that they have failed to kill, which says a lot), but I just don't like the sound much.

I do like the Vox Valvetronixs - some series are better than others, the best being the 'blue' AD60/120VTX that Voxman mentioned - but they're all at least OK, right down to the little models. My home amp at the moment is an AD15VT, the chrome-grille one. I admit I upgraded the speaker, but it's fine.

ThorpyFX

The orange rockerverb 100 MKIII can do all you require and has a GReat built in attenuator too 

TheGASMan

ThorpyFX said:

The orange rockerverb 100 MKIII can do all you require and has a GReat built in attenuator too 

I would like to try a Rockerverb 3 - not many around 2nd hand though

TheGASMan

ThorpyFX said:

The orange rockerverb 100 MKIII can do all you require and has a GReat built in attenuator too 

However I would prefer EL84s for ease of changing tubes

Voxman

ICBM said:

If it matters, I don't like the Blackstar IDs either - good amp, well-made and apparently indestructible (I know of rehearsal rooms with them that they have failed to kill, which says a lot), but I just don't like the sound much.

I'm right with you @ICBM  ;I tried out the 1x12 ID 60w combo and due to the hype I was really looking forward to hearing it. But it's probably one of the most disappointing modelling amp I've ever played. No matter how I tweaked it I couldn't get it to sound good.  My old AD120VTX was a world ahead in tone and feel.  And it has what must be the most stupid button on it I've ever seen on an amp...a button to turn the loud as valve tone off!  Why would you ever want to do that as it's like listening to a transistor radio with this turned off!?!

ICBM

Voxman said:

And it has what must be the most stupid button on it I've ever seen on an amp...a button to turn the loud as valve tone off!  Why would you ever want to do that as it's like listening to a transistor radio with this turned off!?!

And worse, off is the default power-up setting! I could just about understand it if it was some sort of hidden function round the back, like the Marshall Valvestate power amps have the 'linear' switch in case you want to use it as an emergency PA amp or something...

TheGASMan said:

However I would prefer EL84s for ease of changing tubes

Whether or not you need to bias is nothing to do with the valve type, it's down to whether it's cathode-biased or fixed-bias, and if fixed-bias whether it's adjustable or not. (For example the Orange Rocker 30 is cathode-biased with EL34s, although it won't work for you because it has no reverb and not enough gain for metal.)

All Mesa amps are either cathode-biased or non-adjustable fixed bias regardless of valve type. Most other fixed-bias amps are adjustable, but don't have to be if you use valves that are close enough to the existing ones and the bias is set conservatively enough that it doesn't matter too much - which is how Mesa do it. It's really not that critical if you're playing at home volume anyway, since the power stage won't be driven hard.

If you're after a Mesa, the ones with an output level control as well as channel masters can be set much quieter and still sound good.

darthed1981

TheGASMan said:

Not using pedals - too messy in the lounge

I basically want to be able to play in lounge instead of go into the studio

I don't want loads of effects so I have sold helix as I end up spending more time pissing around with that than playing

I may even try a Fryette Power Station again to go with the Diezel but I wasn't very impressed first time round

If I go modelling I will go Kemper as I know it will do what I want so not gonna go any other stuff like Katana but I appreciate why others would

I was just hoping that somewhere out there there was a valve amp that I could marry and live with happily ever after

I'm not sure I get that...

The Kemper is no simpler than the Helix, I'm sure they are very good indeed but they are incredibly expensive for a secondary thing to kick around in your lounge.

If you want a basic valve amp that does "one tone well" the market is full of them from £200 for the Blackstar HT1R, through the Vox AC4, upto, well Matchless amps and boutique hand-wired ones costing thousands, etc etc etc... but they will not "do it all" without pedals.

But those are opposites, and while the Kemper "does it all" it remains digital technology which will age very quickly as soon as the ongoing support stops, so unless you are also using it for gigging or in your studio, its bluddy expensive for what it is.

Sounds more like you need something like the THR10 or Vox Adio, or simply the Katana.

It sounds like you are rejecting cheaper options out of hand, so if you have already decided to throw money at it... why ask the question?

Fiftyshadesofjay

Based on your requirements I've no idea why you haven't bought that damn Kemper already

TheGASMan

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Based on your requirements I've no idea why you haven't bought that damn Kemper already

Haha - I know but at heart I love tubes and have had 3 kempers maybe 4 and always gone back to a tube - at 1 point I had 7 amps in the studio with god knows how many switching pedals so I could run them together and blend them etc.

This is a last attempt to try and get something I can live with before I try the Kemper again

I am pretty sure I am gonna try a MarkV 25 or 5:25 - just need to find a local one