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MF has Fender champ 600 for $150. I am looking for a small tube practice amp (hate my cube 20). Does this amp sound nice overdriven with pedal boost?

If you're running it through a cab.

I get speaker distortion before I get amp distortion with the little 6" speaker.

I didn't like it at all. There's no way to shape the tone, and it's naturally kinda farty. Might be a different story through a cab, though.

It's also really, really loud once you get it to distortion range.

I dunnope, I put mine through a 2x12 and it still sounds like a stupid little amp in a little box.

I think it'll record well though- some useful boxy lo-fi tonez in there.

In my opinion, having a tube practice amp is retarded. Get something that's actually going to be useful at low volume. I'm actually looking at the really small modeling amps/processors so I can plug in headphones and shit so I can actually be QUIET. I feel like there's really no reason to practice 'tone' until your practicing with a full band where it actually matters.

Sloan wrote:In my opinion, having a tube practice amp is retarded. Get something that's actually going to be useful at low volume. I'm actually looking at the really small modeling amps/processors so I can plug in headphones and shit so I can actually be QUIET. I feel like there's really no reason to practice 'tone' until your practicing with a full band where it actually matters.

This.

Digital modeling amps are super cheap, sound awesome, and they usually have a line-out that's good for recording. Even small analog SS amps have gotten really good. The only reason I'd get a small tube amp is to have something light-weight to mic at gigs, and then I'd want something with at least an EQ control.

Plus 6V6s sound kinda crummy when driven, IMO.

I have a tube amp at home because that's what people will play the pedals I build through. Hence I need to make sure they sound super fucking awesome through a tube amp.

Mike wrote:I have a tube amp at home because that's what people will play the pedals I build through. Hence I need to make sure they sound super fucking awesome through a tube amp.

But your amps all have some kind of EQ - that should be the take away point.

Nothing flagrantly wrong about wanting a small tube amp, but at least get one that has an EQ of some sort. It's 2009, for christ's sake.

I swear, the next step in this "back to basics" amp movement is gonna be some reissue of the first Gibson amp that didn't even have a volume knob CAUSE OMG THE VOLUME CONTROL SUCKS THE MAGIC TUBE TONEZ SRV ALNICO NOS.

Well then any suggestions? I have been looking at some very low watt tube amps. Like 1/4 watt stuff. I would like something that has some rock tones. I have an old pig nose that is cool but kind of one dimensional. LIke I said, I have a roland cube 20 that sounds good with the clean channel, but everything else sounds like turd. I also have a pandoras box I use with headphones; it is kind dysfunctional but ok when everyone else sleeping. I just want something that sounds good a reasonable volume. I like overdrive and distortion for sounds. Some one told me once that the line 6 pod 2.0 is good to tun through an amp and is not too digital sounding.

Get that Bugera V5. Mickie's got one and he likes it. In the future I'm hoping they release a head version so I can build my own 1x12 and get one of them for it. It can get distorted at bedroom volumes and has headphone out and eq and reverb stuff.

The Champ is a great amp with a shit speaker. It sounds very good through a cab. I've played a fairly large gig with it going into a 4 ohm 410, and sounded immense, really open and crisp overdrive.

One thing to think about though: There's only one, four ohm output on it, so unless you have a four ohm cab...

I was impressed with the Vox AC4TV. Head and combo both are nice. The 1/4W setting is reasonably quiet and the distortion is pretty smooth. EL84s are better tubes for the class A thing, IMO.

GEARWIRE!:
http://www.gearwire.com/vox-ac4tv-demo.html

Haven't tried the Bugera myself, but what I've heard sounds good.

was thinking of getting an ac4tv for home but i am afraid it would be hard to get a kinda clean sound. i will go check it out and see how loud it can get without proper overdrive

BacchusPaul wrote:The Champ is a great amp with a shit speaker. It sounds very good through a cab. I've played a fairly large gig with it going into a 4 ohm 410, and sounded immense, really open and crisp overdrive.

One thing to think about though: There's only one, four ohm output on it, so unless you have a four ohm cab...

So your cabinet needs to be at least 4 Ohms. This means you can use a 4, 8 or 16 Ohm cabinet.

Plugging it into a 16 ohm cab would mean you're losing quite a bit of power.

bent wrote:

BacchusPaul wrote:The Champ is a great amp with a shit speaker. It sounds very good through a cab. I've played a fairly large gig with it going into a 4 ohm 410, and sounded immense, really open and crisp overdrive.

One thing to think about though: There's only one, four ohm output on it, so unless you have a four ohm cab...

So your cabinet needs to be at least 4 Ohms. This means you can use a 4, 8 or 16 Ohm cabinet.

That's the standard wisdom, and it's what it advises in the manual. I blew mine up using a saltbooster and an 8 ohm cab, though, so my advice would be to use a 4 ohm cab. It's very annoying that there isn't an 8 and 16 ohm output too. It can't make it that much more expensive.

That doesn't make sense to me, i don't understand why it would blow...

It should only blow if you were going into a lower Ohm cabinet, say 2 Ohm all you're doing is under powering the speakers, there is no resistance made to blow the amp, say like you would get from an 8 Ohm amp to a 4 Ohm cab....

Had you modified your Fender Champion 600?

It is never wise to mismatch the load impedance on a tube amp, with a larger output impedance, the tubes run at a higher voltage and could cause shorting in the OT.

bent wrote:That doesn't make sense to me, i don't understand why it would blow...

It should only blow if you were going into a lower Ohm cabinet, say 2 Ohm all you're doing is under powering the speakers, there is no resistance made to blow the amp, say like you would get from an 8 Ohm amp to a 4 Ohm cab....

Had you modified your Fender Champion 600?

Nope.

Saltbooster, plus heavy strings on Jag-stang, plus two bottles of drunken aggression equals broken Fender.

BacchusPaul wrote:

bent wrote:That doesn't make sense to me, i don't understand why it would blow...

It should only blow if you were going into a lower Ohm cabinet, say 2 Ohm all you're doing is under powering the speakers, there is no resistance made to blow the amp, say like you would get from an 8 Ohm amp to a 4 Ohm cab....

Had you modified your Fender Champion 600?

Nope.

Saltbooster, plus heavy strings on Jag-stang, plus two bottles of drunken aggression equals broken Fender.

What cab where you using? What cab ar eyou using now? Did you get a warranty repair?