Small Multi channel head along the lines of a JTM45. Budget circa £500

nickp

I bought a s/h 30w Victory Couintess and 1x12 cab.   It's very "instant" on the clean channel and probably fendery (comes of buying Guthrie's amp).  The cleans are really beautiful but to me it's hard work getting to a warm break up tone....I think that's my beef at the heart of it.  

I very much like the lunchbox portability of it all.   Fit's in my tiny car, doesn't overwhelm the dining room, and is a harmonically rich amp in the room sound.  So there are a lot of positives.  I've also had back surgery so it all works from that point of view.  And it looks pretty.

Today I have gone 4cm with the helix to try out more pedals and to get to more of the flavours I like.   

I tried the helix JTM 45 set to edge of breakup........It seems I like the JTM 45 cleans (helix) more than the bloody victory pre-amp - although for funk and some stuff the victory clearly excels.

So I am wondering if there is a nice 30-40w affordable (second hand around £500) replacement for the Victory with a JTM feel.  2 channel so I can have cleans (essential in a poppy/soul/unky light rock band) and a JTM crunch which fattens up nicely with a T/S etc.  I know they do a Sherrif but i'm not sure it's clean enough, and seemingly the O/D channel is a bit full onand I think the Dutchess is a fender style clean??   

Are there any other options out there.  BTW I like the overdrive channel on low gain (about 3/10 so not very Spinal Tap) and kicked with a T/S - that's great.  It's a bit dark and flat on it's own (due to my EQing the clean channel and taking the highs out) but with a bit of EQ it's very happy 

If not then I can  make this work with the Helix with some EQ in a snapshot along wth handling the channel changing but I was trying to get all analogue........

 clearly the Countess isn't quite right for me with my thoughts about the clean channel, plus also having to EQ the o/d to get it sounding nice - again not a deal breaker, but we do this for fun, to waste time, and to spend money that otherwise would just be wasted on food and beer - right?

Any suggestions?


that's the thought for a Friday waitiing for the bank holiday

pt22

Maybe not the most convenient of setups, but you can get a Tone King Royalist preamp pedal to run in 4CM with your Countess, then run the Helix in the stereo loop of the Royalst. 

normula1

Laney Lionheart, but even the 5 watt version has its own gravitational field. I actually use mine with a Helix plugged into the FX return these days, but the 4CM method worked well enough.

davros

If you're up for another Victory, the Deputy, I believe is more in the realms of what you're looking for.

I have been through a few and a VC35 Deluxe (Copper) is what I've settled on, but that's more Voxy.

GavRichList

Or the sheriff of course