ShortScale.org

Basically, my Blackstar HT-5 just isn't cutting it anymore. At band practise in our singer's garage with a Vox AC-30 (set very low in the first place), drummer and bassist, it just isn't good enough. More importantly, at gigs even with it mic'd up the sound just isn't doing it for me. I'm just wanting something louder and with a better sound, but at the same time something that won't be overkill in the garage. I use pedals so second channel is basically irrelevant, just a good clean channel is needed. I'm looking at the sub £500 category which I know isn't a lot, but i'm willing to go second hand if need be.

All suggestions welcome and any help is much appreciated

I've got a Tiny Terror with a PPC112 that can do gigs and keep up with a 3-piece band. Different bands, different equipment and different competing volumes though, of course.

Nonetheless, I've never needed it anywhere near full, and I suppose it would possibly give a similar tone to what you're used to?

jump on the Bassman train
50 watts, great cleans with plenty of headroom
johnnyseven [also of the UK] just bought a silverface bassman for £450 with the matching 2x15 cab which is a great price.

I'm not really sure what new amps have a single clean channel like these bassman's do. They'll mostly be boutique/expensive/overpriced or won't strictly be clean amps

Sorry, forgot you were looking for a good clean channel, which the TT does not offer.

Bassman seems like the logical shout.

My Blackheart Handsome Devil 15 is great. tremendous clean room in 15 watt mode, easy to drive in 7 watt. Take pedals like a champ. Small, loud, cheap. Gets over drums with no problem.

Yeah for that money you can get loads of awesome used Fender! Twin, Bassman, Blues/HR Deluxe etc

Best cleans possible, take pedals well and are LOUD.

When I was looking for an amp to replace my Orange Rocker 30 I pretty much had the same criteria as you, one channel - clean and loud. Unfortunately I couldn't find any modern amps which delivered what I was after so I bought Mike's Bugera V55HD to tide me over until I could find a Bassman. Incidentally the Bugera turned out to be a really great sounding amp and uber cheap, I would quite like to keep it but I now have 3 amps which is a bit overkill so i'll probably be selling it for the bargain price of £180.

Amps that I was looking into included:

Fender Silverface Bassman
Peavey Classic 30 Head
Fender VM Bandmaster
Laney LH50
Peavey Valveking
Peavey Windsor Head
Vox AC50CPH

I haven't had much chance to try out my Laney VC30 at loud volumes, but the clean channel is great.

MikeG wrote:I haven't had much chance to try out my Laney VC30 at loud volumes, but the clean channel is great.

My bandmate borrowed one for a gig of ours. He liked it a lot but it was a tad icepicky (he likes A LOT of treble).

johnnyseven wrote: Amps that I was looking into included:

Fender Silverface Bassman
Peavey Classic 30 Head
Fender VM Bandmaster
Laney LH50
Peavey Valveking
Peavey Windsor Head
Vox AC50CPH

The Peaveay Windsor would have disappointed you, if you were looking for cleans.
That amp breaks up at 1.

Yeah, that's the conclusion that my investigations led me to.

What are the Fender VM's like? they seem to go cheap on ebay

I never got round to trying them, however I read mixed reviews on the web.

i recently bought a laney vc30 112, and ive upgraded the speaker to a v30,
and it sounds amazing..

like you, i have a ht-5 and felt the same way about the power...

the laney has amazing cleans and it doesnt break up early unless u have a hot pup or something...

they are pretty cheap too for what you get, british made, classic tone and just overall bargain imo.

Laney VC-30s seem to be quite favourable. I've seen the 2x12s with the Celestions on the web fro like 350 which seems like a good price. Is it a nice stand alone amp or purely a poor man's AC30? Master volume would be ideal on something like that to keep it down but I suppose I could just run it at a low volume since i've heard master volume mods are really expensive/hard to do/not worth it.

What's everyone's opinion on the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe? I see them quite a bit on eBay, and being a Fender it should (in theory) sound good on the cleans but my friend said it just suffered from utter blandness. If that were true (i've never tried one) then what sort of mods could be done to make it into a wicked clean amp?

Also, i've seen some B-Stock Vox AC50-CP2s for about 450 quid in places. It'd be complete overkill for what I need but i'm wondering if it's worth buying it at such a bargain price.

Or, I saw a local ad for a Epiphone Blues Custom for about 300 quid, but I know nothing about that amp.

Amp choosing is hard

All Hot Rod and Blues Deluxes I've heard or played sounded good. If your friend's is bland it may need a tube change or something. For cleans, volume and pedals I'd say look in that direction - Blues Deluxe for that hip tweed look.

You can do some low-level switch arounds like tubes and speaker before going into full-on circuit mods, which may not even be favourable given resale value or time/effort to revert back to normal.

laterallateral wrote:

johnnyseven wrote: Amps that I was looking into included:

Fender Silverface Bassman
Peavey Classic 30 Head
Fender VM Bandmaster
Laney LH50
Peavey Valveking
Peavey Windsor Head
Vox AC50CPH

The Peaveay Windsor would have disappointed you, if you were looking for cleans.
That amp breaks up at 1.

The Peavey Windsor is horrible, I used to have one and all it can do is high gain stuff. I had to put a 12AU7 in V1 just to get a tiny bit of headroom.

I just spent a week at IGF in Cheltenham where my tutor had a Peavey Classic 30 which sounded amazing, and I also played through a ZT Lunchbox which sounded sooo good.

Anyway, I use a Vox AC30CC2 set to a clean sound. This sounds amazing and is bloody loud, I'm always going to recommend an AC30 to people.

edit: I bought my AC30CC2 for £420 second hand in near enough mint condition.

get a - Rat - SD-1 - Digitech x-delay...50watt tube amp..bugera v55 will do the trick, just swap out the first preamp tube with a jj...call it a good starting point..great in the bedroom and with the band

BABY AMPS GO TO HELL

I vote Bassman. I picked up a '67 blackface with a garnett 2x15 for $550 canadian.

I've had it for a few years now and it's always been awesome, clean or dirty.

I'm getting it re-tubed and re-capped right now and I'm stoked to hear it again. It's been my favourite amp since I got it. Amazing deep ballsy clean tones, and great full break up when cranked. Mine's really responsive to pick attack and dynamics which always made the tone very "expressive".

Find a clean vintage one and get it tweaked to your liking, I think you'll be satisfied.