Small Tube Amp Advice

jimidalliance

Hey!

I'm in the market for a new amp and fancy something small and tubey!!!

I have my eye on a few, Fender Blues Jr, Laney VC30 or LC30, Laney VC15

I haven't have a chance to try anything out yet but would be interested to hear any opinions on these amps.

I would be using it for gigs, small to medium sized venues. We mic everything up, so overall volume isn't really an issue. I play a wide range of music, from Beatles, classic rock, blues to modern stuff!

At the moment I'm kind of leaning towards a Laney, but no decisions have been made yet!!

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Jim

paligulus1

Hey!
I recently started using the Line6 DT25 + HD300 amp + pedal combo recently and I am blown away by the flexibility and sound. Its really ideal if you play in a cover band that does a wide range of styles of music.

Its a 25 watt amp but it packs a real kick. It has an option called Low Volume Mode so you can practice in the house without rattling the walls.

I know Line 6 probably are not everybodys cup of tea but keep an open mind on this one!

Happy searching!!!

Cheers

jimidalliance

Cool, I'll have to try one out! Cheers!

kevin65

Do you plan on using the amp's reverb and overdrive or are you using pedals for all effects? If you don't need master volume, reverb, channel switching features then there a quite a range of valve amps you could consider. The Thomann and Andertons websites have good filters where you can select a range of products based on your requirements, so you could see whats available and use this a starting point in your selection.

AFAIK, the Fender Blues Junior is made in Mexico and has a MDF cabinet and uses a printed circuit board(PCB). When people are bothered about where an amp is made, it's because there is an expectation that a US/British made amp to be of higher quality than one made in Mexico/China/India/Vietnam. A MDF cabinet won't be as robust as one made from birch plywood but should be fine if not getting knocked around the place. The potential problem with a tube amp that uses as a PCB is the heat from the tubes could cause damage to components over time. However, this depends on where the tubes are mounted in the amp, and how much use it gets used. Handwired tube amps are expected to be more durable than amps using PCBs, but are of course more expensive.

Sergio

Check out the blackstar amps they have some really nice gear with some lovely tones and features on their products.

zafo

I love my LC30, does really nice cleans right through to full on dirt, takes pedals really well too. Reverb is also nice on it. They're cheap too..

Grolschevik

I've a VC15. Lovely little amp. Surprisingly light, too: a very easy one hand lift. Only drawback in my opinion is the 10" speaker, which projects sound straight forward like a laser beam...

WerethoBike

Hello,

There is plenty of choice currently with Tube /Valve amplification
Most recently there is more and more smaller Valve amps on the market .

Most of these amp's you have mentioned in the post are Class A
The Class is reference to the electronic wiring , EL 84 Tube
Do not mistake class A as quality in grading
(There are good Class A amps and bad Class A amps)

Tube/valve Volume
Simply the Amp wiring is mostly relative the Output valve,
The tube gain section is a close second, Driver valve

Smaller amp's have basically less output valves

The main Output/Power Tube in the Amp helps produce Volume.

Power Tube Valve EL84

Laney 15 & 30 are homage to Vox ac15 ac30, all using EL84
The Blues Jnr is also an Ac 15 (2 x EL84)

How much Tube volume do you require?
How much Gain/drive do you require?

A lot of the modern amps are copied modifications of : Fenders, Marshall, Vox, (1950/1960's) Big and small amps alike
These amps all used different Output Tubes


With plenty of amp choice on the market, before you purchase

I'd advise you to research all the different Output valves,


Lot's of info On-Line
Most modern amp products have plenty of info regards Valves

Valve Information.

Check out the Watford Valves website


Good luck