Amplifier holy trinity - Lightweight, Powerful and Cheap?

SquireJapan

I've been thinking for a while about getting a Blues Junior - I like the idea that I could get on the tube with a guitar on my back and an amp in my hand.

It does seem like there aren't really many options for a lightweight and powerful amps (i.e. giggable). 

Aside from the aforementioned Fender, I have found this thing (http://uk.matrixamplification.com/guitar-amps.html). It's light enough that it could be put in a backpack (or spacious guitar case), then I'd just need to carry a 1x12 (which they also sell).

Apart from those two though, there doesn't seem to be anything else that I can find. Any ideas?

digitalscream

I don't think there's much in the mainstream. The Tubemeister 18 probably ticks the boxes, but beyond that it's probably down to stuff like the AMT Stonehead and the R&R Solo (6kg 2-channel 50W valve amp in a 1U rack).

SquireJapan

Wow, the R&R Solo looks to be a beast. Have you used one? I've just been looking at all the reviews on eBay. Big plus (like the Swiss flag) is that I could just buy a 1U carry case.

ooo . interesting.

guitarfishbay

POD HD/Boss GT/other modeler and a FRFR speaker would be another option for small/light/powerful. FRFR cabs can be more powerful/wide dispersing for the weight and size vs a 1x12 cab.

gubble

Jet City 20 Watt Combo or head and a Harley Benton 1x12

Richardj

Another +1 for the Tubemeister 18C.  I've had mine a while now and have grown to really like it.  I did change the speaker as I found the OEM Celestion a little sterile.  It doesn't have the inherent warmth of the Blues Junior but has it's own very good tone.  It is however smaller and lighter so more portable.

lustycourtier

Evil Robot. Less than 12kg. The perfect gigging amp.

mart

If you want light and powerful, then the ZT lunchbox seems good - 4kg and 200W. No idea how they sound, or whether it's really as loud as the 200W rating is trying to suggest. It's pretty cheap too.

Jalapeno

mart said:

If you want light and powerful, then the ZT lunchbox seems good - 4kg and 200W. No idea how they sound, or whether it's really as loud as the 200W rating is trying to suggest. It's pretty cheap too.

It's flipping loud ! See the Youtube demos via a 4x12

TheMarlin

Another vote for the Evil Robot.

Also, Blues Jr.  It's a cracking amp up full blast (riding your guitar volume knob to clean up), but noisy.  Look into the Blim mods

Most of the mods are cheap, and the tone stack mods and power output transformer offer the best benifit (the other mods being the icing on the cake).  You can also upgrade it to a 30watter, so in that instance, it would be the perfect small gigging amp.

Marlin

Dave_Mc

You don't care about sound quality then?

digitalscream

SquireJapan said:

Wow, the R&R Solo looks to be a beast. Have you used one? I've just been looking at all the reviews on eBay. Big plus (like the Swiss flag) is that I could just buy a 1U carry case.

ooo . interesting.

Yes, I had one (I bought it off Rob Chapman). Awesome-sounding amp, just not quite enough gain on the clean channel for my usage pattern.

cbellanga

I have an old princeton non reverb that's amazing. The perfect amp for me. No having the reverb makes everything much easier

thisisguitar

I've never tried these, but remember seeing them on a NAMM report last year:

http://www.quilterlabs.com

Bucket

Blues Junior is great, the other guitarist in my band gets some massive sounds out of one with drive pedals. Lovely cleans too.

Laney Cub 12R might be an alternative? Valve, 15 watts, sounds pretty good, only weighs about 11-12kg, very cheap too.

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

You don't care about sound quality then?

Or reliability...

You can generally get about three out of the five at once, and you might even be able to get four as long as those don't include cheap .

57Deluxe

Session Rockette 30 ! (or Sessionette 75)

knuckleberryfinn

57Deluxe said:

Session Rockette 30 ! (or Sessionette 75)

Don't get ICBM started on them.

ThePrettyDamned

Bucket said:

Blues Junior is great, the other guitarist in my band gets some massive sounds out of one with drive pedals. Lovely cleans too.

Laney Cub 12R might be an alternative? Valve, 15 watts, sounds pretty good, only weighs about 11-12kg, very cheap too.

Laney Cub's sound great - 10 for fendery ish sounds (much prefer this to the Blues Jnr to be honest, though plenty of folk love them so it's just me :bz) or the 12r for a slightly more britishy sound.  

They do sound really good, I very briefly owned a Cub 12R but it didn't have enough power for TEH BROOTZ at drummer levels.  I was still learning about amp power back then...

ThePrettyDamned

Maybe a JCA22H or 20H could work?  There are now stock modded versions around, too, as well as a Dan Gower modded one in the classifieds

ICBM

knuckleberryfinn said:

57Deluxe said:

Session Rockette 30 ! (or Sessionette 75)

Don't get ICBM started on them.

lol

I'll give them cheap, loud, lightweight and reliable .