Pedal platform

andyg_prs

Potential major U-turn here. For years I’ve used multi-channel amps. 

Playing everything from funk/reggae to Americana to proj rock / metal and most things in between. 

I’ve used 2-4 channel amps, and used a Kemper for years with flirtations with the AX8 and QC. 

But recently I’ve realised that some of my favourite tones are boosts / drives over a clean channel.  

Tumnus mini, Keeley DS1, CM Plexitone…

I do prefer smaller amp heads as I’m old / lazy.  

In my reggae days a Fender Twin in a festival back line was glorious. But I also got lovely cleans from my TSL122 (before it died a long and drawn out death) and nice low gain crunch from its second channel too. 

Both back breaking amps. 

So I’m now considering a single channel amp with v flexible cleans, but not ruling out two channels or other approaches. 

A massively open ended discussion but what do you guys think. 

Thanks 
Andy

Gassage

No hesitation; TK Imperial Mk2. Everything you need and fairly light. Tweed channel and Del Rev Channel.

Dan_Halen

Light, loud and clean sort of suggests Tonemaster Twin if you liked the real deal. Valves, loud and clean tends to get heavy quick.

andyg_prs

Dan_Halen said:

Light, loud and clean sort of suggests Tonemaster Twin if you liked the real deal. Valves, loud and clean tends to get heavy quick.

Doesn't have to be that loud......can mic it or use a CaptorX to FoH

monquixote

You should probably suggest budget otherwise people are going to suggest you Bandits and Two Rocks.

dcg

...maybe a blackface or silverface Bassman, although I appreciate neither have reverb.  But they're super toneful...

dcg

...maybe a blackface or silverface Bassman, although I appreciate neither have reverb.  But they're super toneful...

Cowboyyeehaa1

victory duchess

Blueingreen

If you're not wedded to the idea of valves, I'd suggest Quilter.  A very good clean pedal platform and feather light.  I have 2 (Mach 2 and Mach 3).  I love them but have suspected the cheaper Aviator Cub US would probably have done all I needed for less money.  (I only use the Fender flavours on mine). There's one of those for sale in the classifieds.

Petepassion

Fender Deluxe reverb takes pedals well, nice size and weight, but generally loud enough for most applications.
  Or buy my Marshall ST20 stack, great pedal platform, not too heavy, sounds lovely and looks cool too.

Dan_Halen

andyg_prs said:

Dan_Halen said:

Light, loud and clean sort of suggests Tonemaster Twin if you liked the real deal. Valves, loud and clean tends to get heavy quick.

Doesn't have to be that loud......can mic it or use a CaptorX to FoH

Fair enough. When I used to play reggae/ska gigs loud was a requirement for hearing myself as monitoring could sometimes be at a premium with singers and horns.

If I wanted clean, small and portable I’d probably look at a Revv D20 (? the Fender-y one) or maybe the PRS HRDX 20 which can be an utter bargain and a different flavour. The Bad Cat heads are great too and fairly modest in size and weight.

RandallFlagg

Mesa Boogie Mark V 25 or 35. The Fat mode on channel 1 is perfect as a pedal platform, loud and clean. You have the added bonus of the Crunch mode if you want a lightly clipping base for pedals plus the second channel with it's 3 high gain modes for when you want all amp gain. It does it all.

Jonathangus

This?
https://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/295488/fs-laney-lf-supertop-head-matrix-nl112-matrix-nl212

Wazmeister

Carr Rambler 

Beexter

If it has to be a head, the Quilters sound great and are about as small and light as you can get but obviously not valve.
If valves are a must, the Ceriatone OTS 20 I'm selling in the classifieds also has stellar cleans and is worth checking out. It has a built in boost as well and some interesting voicing options.
The Hampstead Artist is also amazing as a pedal platform but is a fair bit larger and a lot more expensive.

Littlejonny

If it was me... Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb.

andyg_prs

This all started by me being tempted by a PT15IR again, even though I’ve never tried one. 

I do like going straight to foh with my CaptorX - nervous that an IR loader won’t match it, but plenty of fans say it’s great. But I’m super fussy. 

I’ve flirted with the idea of a Mark V 25 but apparently you need the 35 for full flexibility. I need to check, something about the best sounds both being modes of channel 1?

I’m going around in circles now …

YourArsenal87

If you want a simple amp that’s easy to dial in, steer clear of Mesa Mark series. They are finicky as hell.

The V40 is a good shout. Single channel, easy to get a great clean tone, and fairly affordable used. It’s quite a dark sounding amp though, like most, if not all, Victory stuff. Takes pedals very well and sounds good at home volumes too if that’s a concern.

RandallFlagg

YourArsenal87 said:

If you want a simple amp that’s easy to dial in, steer clear of Mesa Mark series. They are finicky as hell.

The V40 is a good shout. Single channel, easy to get a great clean tone, and fairly affordable used. It’s quite a dark sounding amp though, like most, if not all, Victory stuff. Takes pedals very well and sounds good at home volumes too if that’s a concern.

The clean channel is very easy to dial in, no more tricky than any other amp, and you don't need the graphic EQ to get a great tone.

The gain channel and modes...yes, needs a different approach, using ears not eyes to set the controls.

YourArsenal87

RandallFlagg said:

YourArsenal87 said:

If you want a simple amp that’s easy to dial in, steer clear of Mesa Mark series. They are finicky as hell.

The V40 is a good shout. Single channel, easy to get a great clean tone, and fairly affordable used. It’s quite a dark sounding amp though, like most, if not all, Victory stuff. Takes pedals very well and sounds good at home volumes too if that’s a concern.

The clean channel is very easy to dial in, no more tricky than any other amp, and you don't need the graphic EQ to get a great tone.

The gain channel and modes...yes, needs a different approach, using ears not eyes to set the controls.

Yeah, I agree with that. The clean is fairly straightforward and the reverb also sounds nice.

nick79

Best pedal platform amp I ever used was a Laney LA30BL. Made even my shittest pedals sound great, really shouldn’t have sold mine.
Fairly light weight for a head, simple single channel and plenty loud if you need it to.