"Lesser" brand versions of popular Tube amps

EricTheWeary · October 2013

Fairdeal are abysmal. They do okay cause they have a decent city center location as far as I can see. Avoid.

benvall · October 2013

To be fair the reverb isn't great, I would turn it past 1.5, but as the others have said £450 is too much.

ICBM · October 2013

benvall said:

To be fair the reverb isn't great, I would turn it past 1.5

It seems to have been designed on the same principle as the master volume pot taper… to impress prospective buyers in a guitar shop, not to be useful in a musical sense. The actual reverb sound isn't too bad, but 3 should be where 12 is.

A dead reverb on these amps can be the spring unit, or the drive chip. If you get one where the reverb isn't working, check that the channel switching is still working - even if you never use it - since the two things and the FX loop are driven from the same low-voltage supply, which is the single most common fault with these amps. It doesn't stop the amp working as a single-channel non-reverb amp, but it does if you have something in the loop.

jonnyburgo · October 2013

I'd wait till something comes up, i recently got a 12" Tiny Terror Combo for £210, ended at something silly like 10am on a Wednesday. Look for things that end when most people are out or at work, I've had a few bits of good luck doing that.

I recent had a HRD, it is fine at low volume, was just a bit wasted on me as I don't gig. I have an Excelsior now and have to say its the amp that Ive kept the longest out of any. May not be what you are after but can be found below £150 on the Bay.

benvall · October 2013

@ICBM just before MR went down you posted some alternative 12ax7's for V1, V2 and V3 on the HRD. Do you mind sharing again? Many thanks.

thomasw88 · October 2013

Hughes kettner 20th or 25th anniversary combos go silly cheap second hand. Good amps for the money and loud enough to gig.

ICBM · October 2013

benvall said:

@ICBM just before MR went down you posted some alternative 12ax7's for V1, V2 and V3 on the HRD. Do you mind sharing again? Many thanks.

12AY7 or 12AT7 for V1, 12AT7 for V3. Both make the tone cleaner and clearer, and the volume controls less abrupt. The V1 change is more effective, but less subtle.

Brands make a minor difference by comparison. A better speaker helps a lot too.

benvall · October 2013

Thanks @ICBM. Have another wisdom. Mine has the stock celestion (limited edition amp) I wondered about putting a Jensen in it.

ICBM · October 2013

benvall said:

Mine has the stock celestion (limited edition amp) I wondered about putting a Jensen in it.

I would! I like V30s a lot - but in the HRD which is already quite an unsubtle amp, it's like a sledgehammer to the nuts...

It seems like a lot of manufacturers - or buyers - have only heard of one premium speaker and hence the answer to any upgrade is to put a V30 in it. Right in some amps, very wrong in others - and this is one of them. It's *way* too midrangy and dirty-sounding for an amp which is already middy and dirty for a Fender.

Try a Jensen C12K.

Or, if you can find an old Fender red-knob Pro 185, a dead Super 60 or a 'The Twin' with the original Fender speakers they came with - it has to be only these specific speakers, the blue-label Fender Special Design with an oversized vented magnet (look for a little grille in the middle) - they're fantastic, in my opinion the best speaker Eminence has ever made. You might be able to get a whole Pro 185 with two of them for less than the price of a new C12K if it's tatty or not working, I keep a look out for them on purpose!

crunchman · October 2013

I'd agree about the speaker upgrade making a big difference. I put a Weber 12F150 in my old HRD. It made a huge difference.

I've just got another 12F150 off of strat84 in the classifieds. Not sure it suits my Fargen as well as it does a HRD. Give me a few days to make up my mind and it could be for sale.

daveww · October 2013

Belcat Tube 20 in new cabinet with Vintage 30, upgraded valves and upgraded spring reverb. Love it! http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm467/davidkw2001/image_zps9b727841.jpg http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm467/davidkw2001/image_zps36fe0fc1.jpg http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm467/davidkw2001/image_zps097df808.jpg

the_jaffa · October 2013

That looks great. Nice one

ICBM · October 2013

Great work. It has a really nice 'Shaker furniture' vibe to it.

daveww · October 2013

Thanks, I got the cab made by Zac Drummond. He was recommended by someone from off the old MR forum. I guess with the mods I could have got a different amp but I did it in stages as a project. I like it a lot and It sounds great anyway. It's loud enough to gig with around pubs etc when mic'd through a PA.

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"Lesser" brand versions of popular Tube amps

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