clean amp head recommendations

Benmurray85 · Post by **Benmurray85** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:22 pm

my main amp since ive been playing live (about 10 years now) has always been a fender combo, currently using a hot rod deluxe. i love it but the clean channel is often found to be lacking. historically that wasnt a problem because i never used it but now i go through that with my pedals and never use the OD channels.

so im considering a change.

i LOVE the look of the orange tiny terror and i know its pretty widely used by members of this site but whats it like clean? most youtube demos are all based on the distortion sounds and anything clean doesnt come accross great over my shitty laptop sound.

is there anything around the 200-300 quid mark that is gonna be better?

im not after crystal, clear, clean tones just a nice fat sound. im not particularly bothered about brand either. preferably something small-ish and cheap!

cheers guys

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:21 pm

The Tiny Terror will not do crystal clean at gigging level. IMO it all depends if you plan on playng often mic'd into a PA, or not. The breakup point is the main factor here.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:34 pm

Yeah, the beauty of the Tiny Terror is you can push it at low levels. You would struggle to keep it clean at gigging levels.
The Sound City SC30's i had were good for cleans, relatively cheap too.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:59 pm

check out the laney vc30s as well, you might get a 2nd hand one for your budget. I have the VC15 and love it and you can pick those up new for your budget but like Fran mentioned about the TT, it might not be clean enough at gig volumes

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:04 pm

i don't give a shit what you get but don't listen to the 30 or so people on here that are going to get in here and spout off about how rad thier Peavy classic 30 is.

peavy sucks. the sooner people figure that out, the better the world will be.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:12 pm

Wait... you think the clean channel on the hot rod deluxe is lacking? I thought that was the whole reason people bought those amps. From what I've heard is they have a great clean channel that takes pedals really well but not a very good drive channel. Do you have the Hot Rod Deluxe III tube model or do you have the solid state model? My friend that used to be in one of my old bands just bought a HRD III and it really impressed me especially since I see them used in the $300-$400 range all the time. I didn't get to play with it for a very long time, granted, but the clean channel was great and exactly what I expected from a Fender. The drive channel did lack a bit of bottom end which is the complaint in most reviews I've read of those amps, but it was still useable. If you have the tube model, I'd say play around with your EQ a bit to get a good clean sound, I've known a ton of guitar players who use those amps because they take pedals well.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:17 pm

By a good vintage Solid State. Why pay valve prices if you don't need breakup?

Rayjaysonic · Post by **Rayjaysonic** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:28 pm

Bugera V55HD, but swap out the stock Valves for JJ's. Â£249.99 new (excluding cost of the new valves).

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:22 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:By a good vintage Solid State. Why pay valve prices if you don't need breakup?

Exactly this, I like my Crate PB for clean and being loud, I just don't use the master volume and then use the gain control so I get the maximum amount of headroom.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:19 pm

I'd have said to consider solid state too. There're excellent cleans to be had from a Roland Cube or a Line 6 Spider/Flextone. Plus other fun too.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:46 pm

BacchusPaul wrote:I'd have said to consider solid state too. There're excellent cleans to be had from a Roland Cube or a Line 6 Spider/Flextone. Plus other fun too.

I know that there's quite a few people here that like the Line 6 spiders, but I really don't understand it. Most of my students that have electric guitars have line 6 spiders and I think they're all garbage. The clean always sounds too harsh and trebly to my ears with very little bottom end definition. And every time they change the channel it defaults to turning the effects on which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. What if you just want distortion without delay? Or what if when you're done with distortion and want to go back to clean and you don't want delay? I hate those amps.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:10 pm

I'm a big fan of the clean sound from my Tiny Terror, I gig with it regularly and it sounds lovely, lush and thick, and reacts well with pedals. I usually have gain at about 11 o clock and tone at about 1 o clock. If you want sterile cleans it's not the way to go, but if you're a real awesome guy like me who wants his guitar to sound real swell, you can't go wrong.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:45 pm

Freddy V-C wrote:real awesome guy

real swell

StevePirates · Post by **StevePirates** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:59 am

Fender Pro Jr re-homed into a larger enclosure.

Viljami · Post by **Viljami** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:10 am

Bass amp?

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:33 am

I really don't like solid state cleans except at low volume. I don't get why people are suggesting them. I have a solid state princeton chorus, and it does sound nice enough at low volume, but i prefer cleans on tube amps 100%

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:35 am

Bassman heads are always solid choices, but UK prices are a little high. Try some Spider amps out, clean headroom ALL the way up and most have celestian speakers.
sidenote>if you turn off the effects then hold down that channels button for 3 seconds, it will flash and save your current settings.

iblastoff · Post by **iblastoff** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:25 pm

gaybear wrote:I really don't like solid state cleans except at low volume. I don't get why people are suggesting them. I have a solid state princeton chorus, and it does sound nice enough at low volume, but i prefer cleans on tube amps 100%

sorry but the cleans from a solid state roland jazz chorus is probably the best clean tone you'll ever from either SS and tube amps.

personally, i like some slight grit for my 'cleans' and love my orange dual terror for that.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:27 pm

iblastoff wrote: personally, i like some slight grit for my 'cleans' and love my orange dual terror for that.

+1

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:30 pm

iblastoff wrote:
gaybear wrote:I really don't like solid state cleans except at low volume. I don't get why people are suggesting them. I have a solid state princeton chorus, and it does sound nice enough at low volume, but i prefer cleans on tube amps 100%
sorry but the cleans from a solid state roland jazz chorus is probably the best clean tone you'll ever from either SS and tube amps.

yeah, but that's one single amp, that's quite famous for that reason.