Guitar & Musician Forums

I love my Marhshall Valve amp but you have to crank it so loud before you get the desired tone it makes it impractical for home use.

So I am looking for the next nearest thing that produces decent tone and sustain at lower volumes.

Currently I am using a Marshall Valvestate amp which I believe only has a valve in the preamp. It is the best alternative I have found but I am not 100% happy with it. I am sure there are better out there but I have limited amplifier experience.

So what amps are you using and how do they perform at lower volumes? I am not talking about being able to play them whilst your kids/partner/parents are asleep in the next room but just not ear blisteringly loud!

What's your budget? If I had a couple of hundred quid to spare I'd consider a Fender. But of course you end up paying a bit more for the name. Maybe a Vox?

I assume it's for an electric?

It is for an electric yes and I would say budget would be £200 - £300 for something if it was going to do the job!

I'd recommend Blackstar HT5, it's an amazing little valve amp built like a brick. pricey for a little thing but worth the dollar!

Have you actually played one of these and do they sound good at lower volumes?? 5watts can still be really loud!

I am currently finding myself playing more through my computer at the moment using the Peavey Revalver MKII which I am getting decent tone from.

I am still keen to get something that sounds great at lower volumes and perhaps your suggestion may be the solution...

watch this 40secs in
[youtube]/watch?v=GNcI5vVP9U0[/youtube]

So in other words you can simply remove valves/tubes from the current amp to get decent tones without having to crank the volume?

try it...what is supposed to happen is the wattage decreases therefore you get more distortion for the same volume..its an old technique according to the vid....i was watching for the m-s recording applications
i dont know much about valve amps...but he who dares................go for it and be a pioneer you might become a hero..ive never seen it before but im going to try it on my 50w marshall

Sorry only just noticed your response!

Did you try it?

I haven't turned my valve amp on now for probably coming up to three years. Now I have my cellar/studio up and running I can be much louder but I am kind of content at the moment with Revalver - especially as I am concentrating on recording rather than rocking out!

I might fire it up next week and see what it sounds like in comparison!

Blackstgar HT-1R is ace for low volume shredding or blues overdrive. Not much in the clean stakes unless by clean you want overdrive...

Olly wrote:I love my Marhshall Valve amp but you have to crank it so loud before you get the desired tone it makes it impractical for home use.

So I am looking for the next nearest thing that produces decent tone and sustain at lower volumes.

Currently I am using a Marshall Valvestate amp which I believe only has a valve in the preamp. It is the best alternative I have found but I am not 100% happy with it. I am sure there are better out there but I have limited amplifier experience.

So what amps are you using and how do they perform at lower volumes? I am not talking about being able to play them whilst your kids/partner/parents are asleep in the next room but just not ear blisteringly loud!

For home and practice use a friend told me about the Roland Micro Cube. 100 euros when I bought mine. Its packed full of effects and electronically mimics the tones of some great grown up amps. I use it all the time at home and occasionally use it as a pre-amp through bigger amps because its so easy to use.

I tried the new 1 watt Blackstar last week, when one of my reps swung by the shop, and it was pretty cool...had quite a tone to it. All tube, and a lovely clean and gain stage, with reverb.

Instructor

Instructor wrote:I tried the new 1 watt Blackstar last week, when one of my reps swung by the shop, and it was pretty cool...had quite a tone to it. All tube, and a lovely clean and gain stage, with reverb.

Instructor

And how loud did it have to be to get that tone? I understand even 1 watt is extremely loud?

I am getting a new amp next week Peavy viper 75. It is a modeling amp hopefully it will save me a fortune in effects pedals.

Any one had any experience.

i use a roland cube in the house 15x love it

Olly wrote:

Instructor wrote:I tried the new 1 watt Blackstar last week, when one of my reps swung by the shop, and it was pretty cool...had quite a tone to it. All tube, and a lovely clean and gain stage, with reverb.

Instructor

And how loud did it have to be to get that tone? I understand even 1 watt is extremely loud?

It didn't take getting loud at all to get it, it was not bad. But for me 200.00 is a lot for a small tube amp that Im not gigging with, and I'm not using it to record (though I certainly might if I wanted to, but my album is acoustic, so...). My 99.00 Line 6 is great. But if tube at home is your thing it absolutely delivers. I just cant justify the price, as I dont care if Im playing tube when Im home practicing. If it were 150.00 I might spring just because it does sound very good and the reverb's a nice touch. And it would make a solid small recording amp.

Instructor

...really surprisingly, my Fender Super Reverb (40w 4x10) is very controllable - more so than my Tweed Deluxe (12w 1x12) which just booms at you!

Put a transparent drive in front of the SR and you have great drive tone at sensible levels still. I did have a 59Bassman which was just ear-carnage indoors...

That fender looks a beast

Yeah - it certainly does!

For home use I have a Marshall Class 5 - still loud when cranked but with a couple of pedals can sound real good at reasonable home levels without causing the neighbours to come around complaining.

Tbh if it's just for home use, I wouldn't bother with an amp. I use my BR 600 either pluged into my stereo or with head phones. Sounds better than any practice amp for the same price, or even dearer to think of it.

For me now i just model either with pod farm or GR though my computer speakers....