Yet another recommend me a small home amp thread..(apologies)

AK99

Far too many guitars here, but only one amp - a Fender Mustang IV. I like the Mustang, but feel I'm missing something with not being able to learn to manage the guitar controls to tweak the sound and (say) get the full variety of sounds you might out of something like a Les Paul through a 'proper' valve amp (a small one, as it'll only ever be used at home.

Ironically, the two guitars I favour are an AVRI Tele and an older US Strat plus - so I do like decent clean sounds as well. 

I don't plan on selling the Mustang, so anything new would be complementary to it.

Is it worth me forking out for a small valve amp combo - and if so, what should I have on the shortlist of stuff to look out for ?

Thanks, Alan

Benm39

Mesa Boogie MkV:25 covers a lot of ground,  has a decent master volume,  lovely cleans (albeit not fender type) and also has a decent headphone out with cab sim for late night/ silent practice...

HAL9000

I’ve got a Blackstar Studio 10 6L6. Works really well with my Tele and Strat. Like you I tend to prefer cleans (or cleans with a little ‘grit’). Works well at home volumes but also has enough about it for small venue/tame drummer situations. A bit of a one trick pony but for American type cleans it’s pretty decent.

AK99

Thanks guys - noted.

Just as an aside, with already having the Mustang, could I also look at traditional valve amp heads with a view to feeding the output into the 2 x 12 speakers in the Mustang Cabinet ?

russpm

HAL9000 said:

I’ve got a Blackstar Studio 10 6L6. Works really well with my Tele and Strat. Like you I tend to prefer cleans (or cleans with a little ‘grit’). Works well at home volumes but also has enough about it for small venue/tame drummer situations. A bit of a one trick pony but for American type cleans it’s pretty decent.

Great amp for the money and even better with a speaker upgrade. Loves pedals too. Really Lovey cleans, you don’t see many for sale used so i think people hang on to them.

Benm39

AK99 said:

Thanks guys - noted.

Just as an aside, with already having the Mustang, could I also look at traditional valve amp heads with a view to feeding the output into the 2 x 12 speakers in the Mustang Cabinet ?

Then a mkV:25 head?

Chuffola

No valves but you’d never know from the sound and fantastic for home use - a Roland Blues Cube Hot.  Fender tweed tones, breaks up quite early, has a boost that takes it into early Marshall territory, lovely digital reverb and a step-down from 30 very loud watts to 15, 5 and 0.5 (which is pretty much where I keep it). That’s still loud with the volume turned up (12” speaker) but can be more than home friendly at whisper quiet levels. No hiss at all, unlike almost every valve amp I’ve ever had - which can be a real distraction at home volumes.

Best home amp I’ve owned (if you like the Tweed sound which I do) and I’d only think of selling to get a Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb if one popped up locally at a decent price. 

Valves aren’t always the answer these days, especially for home use.

AK99

Chuffola said:

Valves aren’t always the answer these days, especially for home use.

I - think - what I'm after is a valve amp to experiment with the differences in tones you can get by adjusting the pickup tone and volume controls. The modelling on the presets on the Mustang doesn't seem to mirror how (I believe) valve amps respond.

Just wondering if I've got that wrong, and haven't tried hard enough ?

HAL9000

AK99 said:

I - think - what I'm after is a valve amp to experiment with the differences in tones you can get by adjusting the pickup tone and volume controls. The modelling on the presets on the Mustang doesn't seem to mirror how (I believe) valve amps respond.

Just wondering if I've got that wrong, and haven't tried hard enough ?

Valve amps somehow feel different when compared to solid state. They seem more sensitive to things like pick attack. Also, IMHO, they often ‘project’ their sound better.

Chuffola

The Blues Cube will do that too, really if you didn't know it you'd swear it was valve - but there's probably only a handful of solid state amps that replicate valve-like response etc. But honestly for home use, most value amps will be too loud or won't sound particularly good (or as good as your Mustang maybe) at really low volume. I know ICBM and others will disagree - if the master volume is good and easily adjusted then there's no reason for them not to sound good - but so many valve amps I've tried are just a disappointment when you play them at home volume levels. Even the background hiss can be a deal breaker - which of course isn't an issue if you're playing it loud or live. 

The new - albeit pricier -  solid, state amps are getting so very close to "real valve" response now its really just a matter of what you want to try - the TMDR is especially fantastic, having had the chance to play through one recently.

However, if its valves you really want, then I suspect you won't be happy until you've tried the real thing.  I've been there too. I'd just recommend buying used so you don't take a bath if it turns out not to be what you'd hoped.

The best valve combos I had for home use were a Laney Cub 12R, which sounded great at low volume (again Marshally kind of sound) with an easy to control master volume and a great overdriven sound, and a Vox AC10 but that was hard to keep at any sensible home level if you wanted the overdriven Vox sound, pedals would be a must - and its a bit fussy about overdrives! That was only 10 watts - would have blown the windows out cranked. 

richman6100

I use two amps at home for stereo / dual mono. One valve, one not. The valve amp is a Blackstar HT20R MKII and the other is a Roland Blues Cube Artist. Both take pedals well and can be attenuated down (the Blues Cube has more options for this). I tend to keep the Blackstar on 20W and use its master volume to keep output at a neighbour-friendly level. I do prefer the sound and feel of the Blackstar, but the Blues Cube is not, in any way, shamed by it. The Blues Cube range has been around for a long time and is unfairly overlooked in my opinion. Might be worth considering if you decide not to take the valve route. They come up second hand at good prices now and then. The new Fender Tonemasters get very good reviews too. 

munckee

I’ve got a thr5 which sounds great for very quiet late night playing, it doesn’t sound like a valve amp though. I’ve had blues junior, tweed champ, silver face champ and currently have a Princeton  all sound great at home volumes. You won’t get a Princeton to break up much at home but a champ will.   

GavRichList

for the love of god, look at the Supro Blues King or Delta King ranges. I have the BK12 and its a stunning amp. our recent (publicised on here, YouTube vid available for reference) show at the Space Centre was using that amp, and it's equally adept at home volumes. Given the recent and seemingly unnecessary change to the Delta range (only some racing stripes and a feature or two less) you may pick up a Blues king S/H for a snip.  

Greatape

I use a Blues Cube Artist with the Ultimate Blues module, both for home and for gigs with a loud band. I have 25 years of valve amp use behind me and I think that in terms of responsiveness to guitar nuance, control settings etc, it gets close. It's certainly better than many cheap valve amps. 

If you're dead set on valves, getting a good, responsive tone at low volume is not the cheapest endeavour, but can be done. The new generation of attenuation devices are good e.g. UA Ox.

Sassafras

Small home amp?
ZVex Nano Head.

Nerine

Regarding the “too much hiss” comments. 

I’ve never owned an amp that had ANY hiss (let alone too much) at normal bedroom volumes. 

Even at gig volumes and beyond precious few of the myriad amps I’ve owned have ever been anything close to “hissy”.