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To be honest I think it's more a case of making a realistic assessment of how you will use it. If it's home use then most valve amps will get your family banging on the ceiling pretty quickly. 'Modelling' has come on a long way. It still won't give you that ultimate feel and tone that you get from a valve amp, but you gain a lot in flexibility.
That Katana in the classifieds is looking like a good buy !
This doesn't help you a lot, I know - it's hard to buy an amp just on the hunch that it will sound how you want if you spend another £50-£100 on a new speaker.
I agree with your assessments of all the other amps too, of the ones I've tried as well. The only extra advice I can add as a repairer would be to avoid the Bassbreaker 007 - no surprise that it was dead, they have a design fault which leads to them blowing valves, although it can be fixed - and the Peavey Valve King if it's the newer model with white knobs... surprising, given how much I praise the reliability of their solid-state amps, but this one unfortunately also has an unnecessary design fault that can be extremely serious - in fact terminal - if the amp is out of warranty when it happens.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I bought a used SubZero Tube 20R, which is a Gear4music own brand. I got it off ebay for £130 and it is brilliant. My wealthier brother has a Fender Blues Junior IV (amongst several other nice amps) and there is little between the two.
May fit your needs without breaking the bank.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The katanas take pedals just fine.
I use them with mine, all good.
Leading candidate right now is a boss katana. I think it has everything i need and assume It can be made to sound somewhat Voxy using the boss tone studio - can someone confirm whether I have the right idea that you can load patches in that sound somewhat like other amps? And what's this sneakyamps thing?
Interesting someone mentioned the SubZero stuff. I have heard mixed reports from a few people regarding longevity of some of the components. The guitarist in a band I support has used one of the 50w ones for years. My cousin had a 5w one that went back after 6 weeks because the transformer was dodgy.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Hugely underrated amps nd therefore stupidly cheap for a used one.
Most cheap valve amps veer towards "compromised" in terms of features - so often it's just one volume and a tone knob. The VC15 is much more like a "proper" amp in a small package.
I also think that price is around what they went for when they were new, too.
@YellowLedBetterMan
I forgot to say earlier - if you didn’t try the Tweaker, make sure you do next time. They’re really very nice, although have an annoying ‘feature’ in that the tone suddenly improves hugely when the master volume is above halfway. Once you’ve heard that it’s hard to unhear when you’re trying to play it quietly .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But its an EL84 amp so if you want a more Fender 6v6 feel the smaller Cub options with 8 and 10 inch speakers, albeit more basic controls and less features, may be a better fit for you.
This is because your first Valver will open your ears to the Fairy Dust and Unicorn qualities of valves (actually by virtue of the fundamental harmonics of the technology) and you will want more classic varieties to play with and endulge in. So whether its a Vox, Fender or vintage or modern British or American gain amp, you will want the others in the set too. So just get started and take your first foot forward on a long journey.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein