good tube amp
- Thread starter jonah-tan
- Start date
EngelFaeuste
New member
Blackheart Little Giant, it takes pedals very well too, no inbuilt gain though.
If you happen to have more... funding, the orange tiny terror is a good choice. I swear by solid state amps though, easy maintenance and bang on precise.
If you happen to have more... funding, the orange tiny terror is a good choice. I swear by solid state amps though, easy maintenance and bang on precise.
blackheart is not bad. i like it pretty much with a strat cuz it sounds v nice and chimmy with the el84. With a high output humbucker, it can bring u into a v nice old skool type of breakup in the ballpark of led zep or acdc. But it can be loud as hell still. The 5w option sounds better to my ears than the 3w.
SO far i tried it stock.
But wats ur preference for the amp? U want something thats remains clean all the way n take pedals well? Or u just wanna crank the bugger to overdrive heaven?
SO far i tried it stock.
But wats ur preference for the amp? U want something thats remains clean all the way n take pedals well? Or u just wanna crank the bugger to overdrive heaven?
penta-tonic
New member
to me it would be ceriatone's line of amps, all handwired and available with certain mods to make it more player and home friendly and doesnt cost more than 2ksgd. but honestly there isnt a price id put on a good amp cos a good one can give u all the satisfaction with tone and thats pretty much priceless.
hey guys!
thanks for the help!
pentatonic - that's so true, but i dun have that much cash on hand. haha.
i play a '62 reissue MIJ strat, whose neck i recently sanded down today. haha. but that's a different story.
my budget is anything below 1k. heard a lot of good stuff bout the little giant and the tiny terror. my one complaint is that they ain't got no master volume for the little giant and not much of tone shaping controls for the tiny terror. guess you can't have it all eh. haha. which one would you recc?
i'm not looking for an amp with a totally clean base to pile pedals on. i'd prob set mine just on the edge of break up when you use more forceful picking and use my volume knob and OCD to get the clean it up or add dirt respectively. yupp.
thanks for the help!
pentatonic - that's so true, but i dun have that much cash on hand. haha.
i play a '62 reissue MIJ strat, whose neck i recently sanded down today. haha. but that's a different story.
my budget is anything below 1k. heard a lot of good stuff bout the little giant and the tiny terror. my one complaint is that they ain't got no master volume for the little giant and not much of tone shaping controls for the tiny terror. guess you can't have it all eh. haha. which one would you recc?
i'm not looking for an amp with a totally clean base to pile pedals on. i'd prob set mine just on the edge of break up when you use more forceful picking and use my volume knob and OCD to get the clean it up or add dirt respectively. yupp.
penta-tonic
New member
MrBukka
New member
Imo the blackheart little giant is really bang for buck but in stock form it is pretty limited in the tone/sound department. I would strongly recommend getting it modded, after i got mine modded by Goose, it became really really sweet and even louder than before and best yet it is all at the price of around $600+!
Danelectrico
New member
With that in mind and a $1k budget or so, try the Vox AC15 or AC30. Depending on how much headroom you require, in either case you should be able to get an edge of breakup thing going quite nicely, which you can push with an OCD (sounds particularly good with a Hotcake, the Vox AC series). They're not totally clean amps, and they have a lot of character - it's only a question of whether you like that character.
If you wanted a clean base, cheap, great with pedals, simply made for a Strat - you can't go wrong with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Roadworthy, inexpensive and gobs of great clean tone. Takes pedals like a charm. If you can't get a fantastic tone with that amp, a Strat and a couple basic dirt pedals, you need more practise not more expensive gear.
EDIT: I would not call Vox amps reliable by a long shot, and changing tubes /opening up one of the new AC30 CC series amps is an absolute beeatch. I would assume the same problem holds with the AC15.
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you won't be disappointed with the AC15..has enough tweakability for a single-channel amp and a master vol control..changing the tubes wasn't that hard, remove screws and chassis , remove the tubes and pop in new tubes and you're ready to go..shouldn't take more than 15mins.. did the 'bright cap' mod on mine too cos i mainly play teles..
mine's the cc1 version, and while the alnico blue speaker will be a huge upgrade, i'm not looking to shell out the extra $$$'s yet cos it sounds pretty good to me now..
mine's the cc1 version, and while the alnico blue speaker will be a huge upgrade, i'm not looking to shell out the extra $$$'s yet cos it sounds pretty good to me now..
mm.. thanks for all the awesome help. i have been considering the vox ac15 in fact. played it before at ebenex and blackwood and i must say i'm pretty enamoured with the sound it produces. played a tele through it both times. nice 
gsonique - what sort of mods do you do for the blackheart little giant? by any chance putting in a master volume into the circuit? haha. or for that matter, eq controls into the tiny terror?
pentatonic gave a link for a super 60. but i noe it's damn loud, prob not very feasible for home practice. and it's heavy as hell. tho tonewise it's a good buy.
gsonique - what sort of mods do you do for the blackheart little giant? by any chance putting in a master volume into the circuit? haha. or for that matter, eq controls into the tiny terror?
pentatonic gave a link for a super 60. but i noe it's damn loud, prob not very feasible for home practice. and it's heavy as hell. tho tonewise it's a good buy.
Personally I've never tried the AC15... But from what I've heard it doesn't always go well with pedals (some pedals are a hit or a miss). Personally, I feel that the LC15R should be a good place for you to start. It breaks up easily - too easily for me at times. All you need is probably a blues-driver feeding into the amp, and you can easily nail that on the edge of break up sort of tone. The thing about the LC-15R which I love is the fact that its good pretty decent sounding cleans (for its size) and how well it seems to take pedals (modulation, dirt, delay - you name it). In terms of tube changing and maintenance, i'd say the LC15R would be easier... However, Laney has some issues with reliability due to overheating(esp the transformer), so its really a hit or a miss if you get one. According to what i've read online, the newer ones appear to be less susceptible to failure, but one may never know. Swee Lee sells this, but their list prices are ridiculously overpriced..It should be had second hand on the cheap (like the AC15).
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gsonique
New member
On a single ended amp like the blackheart or Valve Junior...best to go for a VVR (Variable voltage Regulator) which pretty much works as master volume without loosing the good stuff at low volume.
....there is post somewhere here on Soft on this mod ... do a search
Danelectrico
New member
Laney amps might be good contenders. The VC series is a Class A amp which leans towards classic British tones i.e. Vox chime, while the LC series is a Class A/B amp and definitely more Fenderish in quality.
While the LC15R is a cute little practice amp, it's 10" speaker really doesn't have much push and if you're ever thinking of using it live, even miced up, it doesn't really pack enough of a punch. I think the tendency to break up for the LC15R is probably due to the fact that it's a small wattage and speakered amp - it's not that loud to begin with and it has low headroom.
Class A amps tend to be louder and bolder than a corresponding Class A/B amp of the same wattage.
I used to own an LC50. The stock tubes and speaker were quite underwhelming, and the pots got really noisy after a year or so. Though the cleans were sparkly - quite decent - and it took pedals well, even with a speaker and tube change, i think a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville would whip it any day in every aspect. The drive channel on the LC50 was rubbish - very noisy and pretty much unpleasant sounding overdrive. Also it doesn't have the clean channel / master volume thing going on, hence you might not be able to get the adjustable breakup you want.
I don't have enough experience with VC amps to really comment - played and recorded through them a couple times, sounded decent enough as is.
Seems like the Vox amps might suit your need best. Personally I don't like the idea of having to dismantle a chassis just to get at tubes and take 15 minutes or so rather than the 2 it would take on most other amps, especially so when tube failure happens in the middle of a gig (also not ideal if you're big on swapping tubes out frequently to experiment and compare with different sounds). With the AC30CC2 that i had the jack kept sinking in a couple of times which was really annoying because it meant having to open that chassis again and again - using glue to reinforce the bond (local distributors' bright idea) didn't work either because tube heat melts glue, and after a while I just found it too much effort to have around.
Having said that if you like the Vox sound and your pedals suit it (the OCD should go pretty well with it), then by all means, knock yourself out. The inconvenience of its design is a small price to pay for some of the most classic amp tones in history.
While the LC15R is a cute little practice amp, it's 10" speaker really doesn't have much push and if you're ever thinking of using it live, even miced up, it doesn't really pack enough of a punch. I think the tendency to break up for the LC15R is probably due to the fact that it's a small wattage and speakered amp - it's not that loud to begin with and it has low headroom.
Class A amps tend to be louder and bolder than a corresponding Class A/B amp of the same wattage.
I used to own an LC50. The stock tubes and speaker were quite underwhelming, and the pots got really noisy after a year or so. Though the cleans were sparkly - quite decent - and it took pedals well, even with a speaker and tube change, i think a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville would whip it any day in every aspect. The drive channel on the LC50 was rubbish - very noisy and pretty much unpleasant sounding overdrive. Also it doesn't have the clean channel / master volume thing going on, hence you might not be able to get the adjustable breakup you want.
I don't have enough experience with VC amps to really comment - played and recorded through them a couple times, sounded decent enough as is.
Seems like the Vox amps might suit your need best. Personally I don't like the idea of having to dismantle a chassis just to get at tubes and take 15 minutes or so rather than the 2 it would take on most other amps, especially so when tube failure happens in the middle of a gig (also not ideal if you're big on swapping tubes out frequently to experiment and compare with different sounds). With the AC30CC2 that i had the jack kept sinking in a couple of times which was really annoying because it meant having to open that chassis again and again - using glue to reinforce the bond (local distributors' bright idea) didn't work either because tube heat melts glue, and after a while I just found it too much effort to have around.
Having said that if you like the Vox sound and your pedals suit it (the OCD should go pretty well with it), then by all means, knock yourself out. The inconvenience of its design is a small price to pay for some of the most classic amp tones in history.
kudos to danelectrico for the help! thanks man!
went to youtube and checked out the proguitarshop demo of the fender hot rod deluxe. hmm.. impressive. had a friend recommend that amp to me as well. another one to consider. tho may be a bit over budget. ss.. damn.
dug out some old guitar mags of mine as well and saw a review for soundcity amps. the listed price not say very pricey and they were all tube somemore. saw goose's demo of his seventh pedal and guess what, played through a soundcity. haha. anyone here played one b4? and where sell in s'pore?
went to youtube and checked out the proguitarshop demo of the fender hot rod deluxe. hmm.. impressive. had a friend recommend that amp to me as well. another one to consider. tho may be a bit over budget. ss.. damn.
dug out some old guitar mags of mine as well and saw a review for soundcity amps. the listed price not say very pricey and they were all tube somemore. saw goose's demo of his seventh pedal and guess what, played through a soundcity. haha. anyone here played one b4? and where sell in s'pore?
faizal_rocks
New member
Hi jonah-tan, this was the amp mod that Goose was talking about. U can view it here.
http://soft.com.sg/forum/gear-guitar/92609-modded-epiphone-valve-junior-head.html
Its a keeper now. I run thru a decent compressor and it really makes all my guitars sound alive, especially my Fender Strat. The cleans sound so sweet and awesome
http://soft.com.sg/forum/gear-guitar/92609-modded-epiphone-valve-junior-head.html
Its a keeper now. I run thru a decent compressor and it really makes all my guitars sound alive, especially my Fender Strat. The cleans sound so sweet and awesome
