1w warm valve goodness required

lupinehorror

hey all,
thinking about getting a 1w valve head (got a 1x12 celestion cab) to replace my blackstar HT-1.
i'm really after something that does warm clean tones well as i get my crunch and other distortions/fuzz from pedals. the blackstar just isn't cutting it for me...sounds a bit harsh to my ears no matter how i set it...or any of my other kit.
only for home use so it has to sound good at really quite low levels. an effects loop would be a bonus but isn't essential.
any suggestions or pointer would be appreciated.

timmysoft

@4114Effects seems great at building the tiny valve amps, i think it was him anyway?!

lupinehorror

timmysoft said:

@4114Effects seems great at building the tiny valve amps, i think it was him anyway?!

cheers...had a look around his site and didn't see any but maybe it's more of a custom thing. if i don't hear anything here i'll drop him a PM

lupinehorror

tempted by this little monster...

kjdowd

Palmer eins is excellent

JezWynd

It's a long way from what you say you're seeking but maybe fulfils the same requirements - Laney Cub 10. It does low volume valve tones very well, lovely rich cleans with a simple gain circuit bringing in drive grit very smoothly. No effects loop but pedals sound excellent with it. Although it has a 10" speaker I use it as a head most of the time running into 1 x 15 or 2 x 10 cabs.

tone1

I love my HT 1R head...have you thought of putting a 5751 in the preamp position maybe? 

lupinehorror

thanks all...i did leave a rather long reply a few days ago...it was being held for moderation and seemingly has since vanished
advice and ideas received thankfully.

lupinehorror

kjdowd said:

Palmer eins is excellent

i'd never even heard of those...thanks. tasty.

JezWynd said:

It's a long way from what you say you're seeking but maybe fulfils the same requirements - Laney Cub 10. It does low volume valve tones very well, lovely rich cleans with a simple gain circuit bringing in drive grit very smoothly. No effects loop but pedals sound excellent with it. Although it has a 10" speaker I use it as a head most of the time running into 1 x 15 or 2 x 10 cabs.

cheers...i'd looked at that in the past...before i bought the HT-1R. i think at the time it came down to the fact that i was thinking that 10W was still too much to enable me to get decent tones at living room levels (i'll admit to being far from an expert in such things). since i've now got the 1x12 i'd really rather just go for the head (i see they do a 15W head) but it's back on the list.

tone1 said:

I love my HT 1R head...have you thought of putting a 5751 in the preamp position maybe? 

hadn't considered changing the valves...i should have maybe researched it more. i tinker with many things but for some reason guitar amp's innards haven't caught me. duly noted though.