Choices, choices choices

shaunm

I have a bit of money aside for an amp and I have put together a list of wants.

Marshall JTM45
Supro Dual Tone
Fender 68 reverb
Two Rock Exo 15

I thought I would throw it open to the floor for advice and opinion.

My needs for an amp are that its for home and small gigs/ rehearsals. I play blues, jazz and 60's/early 70's Rock. I'm not a big fan of switching channel amps, I'm more inclined to settle for a single channel amp.

So any suggestions or bits of advice would be gladly received.

monquixote

I have a pure tone in the classifieds that wood probably be right up your alley.

Nerine

Out of those, easily the JTM. By a mile.

shaunm

@Nerine do you have any suggestions for amps not on that list?

Budget is up to about £1000.

Perhaps a Marshall 2061x or even a Cornell Plexi 18/20 if I'm lucky at that price?

koss59

If you play blues and Jazz then I think you'd be disappointed by the marshall types, especially if using at home. If it was me I'd go for the fender 68 deluxe. There was a Badcat under a grand in the classifieds too, that would destroy all your other options.

shaunm

@koss59 I have had a good opportunity to play a JTM45 this afternoon and although I do think that it sounded brilliant, it did need some volume to get the best out of it. Without powerscaling or an attenuator I don't think its an amp that would be suited for home use.

I found that the JTM is quite bright at low volumes? At gig and practise volumes it is an amazing sounding amp. I'd go as far as to say it would be nearly perfect as a gigging amp.

They did not have a 68 Princeton in for me to try which was a shame as I know these will tick quite a few boxes although for home use, I still think it will be a litte loud to get the best of at home so it leaves me thinking I would be better buying the amp that is best for gigs and rehersals and attenuate at home?

Catthan

I'd look at a Suhr Badger or maybe a /13. They come up for sale from time to time.

shaunm

@Catthan I will have a look at those. I've not tried either of them but I will have a look and see what I can find locally.

Catthan

There is a /13 on the bay atm for £1400 inc. a 1x12 cab, maybe a bit of a stretch for your budget.

I'm not sure if you'd prefer a head or a combo; if the former, I'd expect that a Badger could be head for £1000 - £1200 max. 

I had a badger and it sounds really good and sits really well in any mix. It also has power scaling which allows you to blend power amp saturation-compression at lower volumes. It's more of a Brit-voiced amp. 

Guthrie played one for years and it should be plenty loud. 

I am considering going back to single channel amps too, probably one these 2 I mentioned. The /13 apparently is widely used by pros although many say it's a bit fizzy. Smth to do with how the top end is voiced. That may be OK for pros but for home players it can be a problem. Re the Badger I know what to expect were I to get one. 

Smth to be aware of with either of those 2 choices ( typically 18W - 40W iirc) is that you may run out of clean headroom if you play at a shitty venue with bad PA set up and little sound reinforcement through monitors. 

Another one that could be had for even less than £1000 is the Mesa Lonestar special (35W) or even the classic (100W). This is a 2-channel amp but according to Mesa it's more like 2 amps in one. More of a texas-blues oriented sound. The second channel particularly has a wide range of tones, from clean to mild break-up to thick boogie gain if you want. Were I a blues played I'd probably get one of those and run it on the 2nd channel and boost with a pedal. 

Gassage

I'd get  a Hiwatt Dr`103. Perfect for late night quiet noodling.

BluesyDave

The Fender is going to lend itself to Jazz and Blues better than the Marshall IMO, but then I've never been able to get the sound I like out of a Marshall.  You can always get the Marshall vibe from a pedal through  a Fender amp, doesn't seem to work quite so well the other way around.