Buying my first valve amp.

YellowLedBetterMan

So I'm looking at buying my first valve amp once some of my other gear on the marketplace here sells (shameless plug).

Just was looking for some advice. I pretty much solely play in the house, with the exception being when I go 300 yards down the road to my cousins for a guitar lesson and jam session. So it doesn't need to be uber loud, as the most it ever will have to do it one other amp and an electric drumkit, and even that's a once a month thing. I find my Peavey Bandit just too much volume for what I currently need and also too big for the bedroom.

In terms of tones I'm not really looking for anything too gainy, I prefer the sound of Fender cleans with pedals running into them or Voxy type crunch tones, but not such a big fan of dimed metal tones.

I'm currently looking at used Fender Superchamps, Vox AC4s, AC10s and Orange Tiny Terror combos, but am open to suggestions.

I suppose my budget all in would be £200-£250. I know this is asking a lot so will be looking at second hand gear, which is why I can't really test loads of amps in person.

uncledick

Out of your list I'd go AC10.  You'd be in Fender Bassbreaker 007 territory too.  The bigger Bassbreakers often get sold on quickly for whatever reason but the 007 tends to be a keeper.

fastonebaz

Hughes and kettner tubemeister 18 combo.

Sparkling cleans
Gain when you need it
Reverb
In budget
Great reputation

chrisj1602

I’d go for the AC10 from your list. You could also look at the Laney Cub 10 or 12 in your budget.

Limehouse_Blues

I’d take a serious look at the Laney Cub 10

ICBM

Fender-ish clean to Vox-ish crunch to the lower end of Marshall-ish overdrive - Laney VC15 1x10”.

Light enough to carry - and with an unusually comfortable handle for an amp this size - quiet enough for the house and loud enough to jam with, and should be within your budget second hand.

The Jensen speaker version tips it more towards the Fender/Vox sounds than the Marshall ones and the digital reverb is better than the spring, if you have a choice.

YellowLedBetterMan

Laney seems a good shout. I have one of their mini amps sat at the girlfriend's house and I like that so I'm wondering why I didn't think of that sooner.

I like the sound of the H&K stuff from the clips I've seen, but I can't find any for sale anywhere for less than £350. Pretty much same story with the Bassbreaker.

Also, the Vox AC10 I was looking at has gone, so that's not an option any more.

sweepy

The small H&K amps sound glassy and boxy, id avoid if possible 

munckee

chrisj1602 said:

I’d go for the AC10 from your list. You could also look at the Laney Cub 10 or 12 in your budget.

I'd say the Laney cub 12 with its 1 watt setting and enough power for a jam session would be a good shout, I've played them before and seriously considered them.  Nice sounding amps.

longjaw

sweepy said:

The small H&K amps sound glassy and boxy, id avoid if possible 

This - I had an 18W Tubemeister head that I couldn't get a warm overdrive tone out of, and the cleans weren't pristine either.

longjaw

Don't discount a second hand Fender Pro Junior - they're great.

Grumpyrocker

munckee said:

chrisj1602 said:

I’d go for the AC10 from your list. You could also look at the Laney Cub 10 or 12 in your budget.

I'd say the Laney cub 12 with its 1 watt setting and enough power for a jam session would be a good shout, I've played them before and seriously considered them.  Nice sounding amps.

A good shout. a Marshall type pre-amp into a pair of EL84s. It works really well. Classic British rock tones. 

YellowLedBetterMan

Cheers for the advice guys. I like the look of the Cub 12. I don't know if it accounts for much but it has more valves than all of the others I've looked at too.

Bonus is they can be got for under £150-200 used, so I have some budget left for some pedals should I want it.

Any more suggestions?

ICBM

YellowLedBetterMan said:

I like the look of the Cub 12. I don't know if it accounts for much but it has more valves than all of the others I've looked at too.

More to fail .

No, seriously that isn't a real problem. In fact I have an H&K Tubemeister in for repair just now - one of the ones with fewer valves - and I have a nasty suspicion that the fancy 'tube monitoring system' may be playing up. There's nothing wrong with a simple old-school valve amp no matter how many it has, although it has to be said that individual valves are less reliable than solid-state devices.

YellowLedBetterMan said:

Bonus is they can be got for under £150-200 used, so I have some budget left for some pedals should I want it.

You may want to use some of that for a better speaker. The stock one is garbage if it's the HH.

sgosden

well done for saying valve amp, not 'tube'

YellowLedBetterMan

ICBM said:

You may want to use some of that for a better speaker. The stock one is garbage if it's the HH.

That's a point I suppose. I've never done any speaker swapping before.

Is it difficult and do I need a soldering iron?

ICBM

YellowLedBetterMan said:

That's a point I suppose. I've never done any speaker swapping before.

Is it difficult and do I need a soldering iron?

No, Laney use push-connectors.

I honestly think the VC15 with the Jensen is a better fit for your description though.

builttospill

ICBM said:

Fender-ish clean to Vox-ish crunch to the lower end of Marshall-ish overdrive - Laney VC15 1x10”.

Light enough to carry - and with an unusually comfortable handle for an amp this size - quiet enough for the house and loud enough to jam with, and should be within your budget second hand.

The Jensen speaker version tips it more towards the Fender/Vox sounds than the Marshall ones and the digital reverb is better than the spring, if you have a choice.

^^This!! Laney VC-15 I had one and it was superb, my first valve amp, lovely cleans and a decent valve overdrive, great pedal platform too and can be had for fairly cheap on secondhand market 

YellowLedBetterMan

ICBM said:

No, Laney use push-connectors.

I honestly think the VC15 with the Jensen is a better fit for your description though.

My only issue thus far with what I've seen of the VC15 is it doesnt have the low-wattage built-in attenuator/input does it?

ICBM

YellowLedBetterMan said:

My only issue thus far with what I've seen of the VC15 is it doesnt have the low-wattage built-in attenuator/input does it?

No, but the one in the Cub is not quite what you might think either - it's not really a low wattage setting or a built-in attenuator, it's a 'virtual power reduction' which is effectively a fixed post-phase-inverter master volume - so you are not getting power-amp overdrive or compression with it.

You can just turn the volume down on the VC15. Don't get hooked in by the 'low power' thing - you don't need low power for low volume (even if it's genuine), you just need a volume control.

jpfamps

ICBM said:

YellowLedBetterMan said:

I like the look of the Cub 12. I don't know if it accounts for much but it has more valves than all of the others I've looked at too.

More to fail .

No, seriously that isn't a real problem. In fact I have an H&K Tubemeister in for repair just now - one of the ones with fewer valves - and I have a nasty suspicion that the fancy 'tube monitoring system' may be playing up. There's nothing wrong with a simple old-school valve amp no matter how many it has, although it has to be said that individual valves are less reliable than solid-state devices.

I've seen quite a few H&Ks with problems with the "tube monitoring system".

It's usually the MOSFET in the cathode.

https://jpfamps.com/hughes-kettner-tubemeister-18-repair/

To be honest I don't like lifting the cathode as a means of switching valves off as if there is an internal short the HT is still on the valve can can cause further damage.