Amp recommendations

[StevePirates]

I need an amp primarily for my bedroom, but I would like it to be sufficient for occasional garage jamming. I've been looking at the Orange OR15, and the Fender '68 Deluxe Reverb (the new reissue one). I'm not a particularly good guitar player (I play drums) but I'd like a good amp. But a good kind of quiet amp. Because volume is a concern (which is why I play guitars as often as I do... because drums are loud).

My main concern is whether the 22w Fender is just too loud for the bedroom. I'm leery of using attenuators, because I don't really understand them well enough. The Orange is switchable between 15 and 7 watts, which seems more manageable. I've played both at the store a few times, and they both sound pretty nice to me, and not so very loud. But a music store isn't the same as a bedroom in a house with three kids under 3.

Anyone have any thoughts, advice, alternatives?

[Brandon W]

even 7 watts tube is way too much for bedroom.. wayyy too much.. if you want any kind of break up anyways.. you can use any wattage and just turn it down but you won't get that sound that i personally like.. i use a little vox at 1 or 4 watts and its still very loud enough inside

[George]

you want one that switches down to at least less than 1 watt, in my opinion. i have my ac15 attenuated down to 1/5 watt and it can still get bloody loud, but it also has a very efficient speaker. for what it's worth, the switching on the orange is a built-in attentuator (same as in my vox or any amp that switches down wattage), but i can understand if you dont want to buy a separate unit and mess about with impedances. i think a bunch of the blackstar amps switch down to less than 1 watt, come to think of it. also, i would wholeheartedly recommend the ac15 head i have, but separates are a pain to lug around for home use.

[StevePirates]

Not looking for any sort of natural break-up from the amp. I like clean but warm sounds. Maybe a solid state amp would be better for what I'm looking for. I want something that sounds good at low volumes, sounds good at garage volumes, and I'd really prefer if it looks nice.

As for attenuator, I'm leery of them because I have the electrical skills of a blind mouse. I'm open to one if it's something I can have a tech set up and I don't need to worry about it hurting the amp or exploding. Reno doesn't have a lot of amp resources. Tons of guitar resources, but I haven't found any amp guys except one guy who calls himself "The Doctor" and works out of a van. If I were British, that might be a selling feature. But I have a suspicion that the van is not bigger on the inside, except when you're on lots of meth.

[BearBoy]

If you're not worried about amp breakup, and are not dead set on tubes, then a Vox Pathfinder 15R is a great little amp for bedroom use. They're discontinued but you should be able to get one second hand.

Edit: hmmm. Maybe not loud enough for "garage" use though.

[George]

fender mustang range are great modelling amps, have headphone/line outs, and the larger ones can hang in a garage band situation.

[Brandon W]

yeah.. tube amps are way louder than solid state.. so take that into consideration.. i don't use any solid state amps

[BearBoy]

True dat. My Marshall Class 5 (which is something else you could consider) is waaaay fucking louder than the Pathfinder. I hardly ever use it in the full power mode as it's just too loud for home noodling (if you want it to start breaking up, which by the sounds of it you don't).

[Brandon W]

True dat. My Marshall Class 5 (which is something else you could consider) is waaaay fucking louder than the Pathfinder. I hardly ever use it in the full power mode as it's just too loud for home noodling (if you want it to start breaking up, which by the sounds of it you don't).

i embarrassed some kids that had a solid state fender that were teasing my 30 watt mesa boogie subway.. they walked the fuck out the door like holy shit turn it lower..

[StevePirates]

Kinda sounds like a "do everything well for a 40 year old with three kids and a wife" amp is a bit of a unicorn. I'll definitely check out the Pathfinder if I can find one around here. At the end of the day, it's gonna be better to have a good bedroom amp that I actually use than a good garage amp that I barely touch because it's actually too loud.

[StevePirates]

Or, screw it, I'll get the Reverb Deluxe and just give everyone earplugs for Xmas. Who knows.

[Mike]

If you want to play at home with kids and a partner and not disturb them you don't want any amp

You want an audio interface (£80), a laptop (£? You may already have one) and amplitube custom shop from ik multimedia

Start with the free stuff, trial some amps until you know what you want and then purchase those models

You will save hundreds of pounds

Oh and get either some beyerdynamic 150 clones from thomann.de or the real thing

Playing with cans at home is what you want to be doing

Only get an amp if you actually are going to use it

[Concretebadger]

The Deluxe Reverb is a lovely-sounding amp for cleans (I miss mine sometimes) but I found the sweet spot on the volume dial to be between 3 and 5, which is perfect for jamming/small gigs but a little too loud for home use. It's also rather expensive for what it is (a Deluxe Reverb or Princeton costs over UK£1000 from new).

I used to be in the "small wattage amp for home use" camp until I realised that a 1 watt amp is still more than loud enough, so realistically pretty much everything is too loud if you crank it!

Then there's the issue of smaller amps lacking something in the lower registers...I find that a big amp turned down to 1 sounds more bass-y than a smaller amp turned up to, say, 4. I've no idea why that should be the case, and I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about such things. My 5 watt Matamp has a really cool sound, but lacks the massive bottom end that the larger models are reknowned for. It's ideal for home studio though, because it's portable and the attenuator dial acts like a master volume control.

Long story short: if you can afford it, a Deluxe Reverb will give great cleans, as long as you can afford to buy one and don't mind keeping the volume pegged low around the house.

EDIT: Mike replied while I was typing. Agreed with what he said. ^ Plugging your guitar into one of Tech 21's Sansamp pedals (one of their "character" series for instance), then plugging the sansamp into an interface that's connected to your PC/laptop with headphones will give you a perfectly usable home practice setup. A sansamp and USB interface would probably cost a quarter that a Deluxe Reverb might.

[Brandon W]

no its not a unicorn.. there's like a bunch of them.. mesa boogie makes some that have super low wattage all the way up to 50 or 100 watts.. put it on 5 watts in your room and turn the volume down and put it in 50 watts and play a stadium haha... not quite a stadium but you know.. or get one with a headphone out to use in the house.. or laptop like mike said but that may not work live..

[George]

Sansamp/interface may not be great for the garage situation

[StevePirates]

These are all very good suggestions. I've got a Boss ME-50 that I use with headphones when I want to be dead silent. I'll have to look into that Mesa. What I "want" for no particularly valid reason is to make the Deluxe Reverb work in a sensible manner. I can't justify the expense for an amp I use once a month or every other month. Maybe it's better to stick with headphones for now.

Thank you all.

[George]

If you can wire a guitar you can build an attenuator. Or buy one. I think the fancier ones by weber and co have headphones outs and switchable impedance to use with most amps. That's how you'd make the deluxe reverb work for you

[Brandon W]

These are all very good suggestions. I've got a Boss ME-50 that I use with headphones when I want to be dead silent. I'll have to look into that Mesa. What I "want" for no particularly valid reason is to make the Deluxe Reverb work in a sensible manner. I can't justify the expense for an amp I use once a month or every other month. Maybe it's better to stick with headphones for now.

Thank you all.

yeah mesa is hella loud but super expensive.. i think they make a 5/15/50 watt model but it's still gonna be 1500 bucks probably.. speaking of mesa they have a new one out and i'm gonna try it

[singlepup]

I own a 65 Deluxe Reverb. I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn't fit your situation. I could play it home, but not when anyone else was there.

If you're stuck on the Fender sound, you might consider a Princeton Reverb reissue. If that's still too loud, a nice vintage Champ Amp can be had for less than $400.

If you're considering solid state amps, you might look at the Orange Crush 20 or 35. Definitely usable at bedroom levels and great tone IMO.

Finally, I agree with Mike about the virtual amp solution. That's definitely the most quiet route. If you have an iPad or an iPhone, look into the Apogee Jam and the BIAS amp modeling app. Top notch sound quality in my opinion!

[Sloan]

I really like the little Peavey Transtube series for practice amps. Cheap.