low-watt amps

Peter Cummins · Post by **Peter Cummins** » 7 Mar 2007 2:15 pm

Howdy Drew,
I use a Fender Deluxe Reverb RI, a great little amp and at 22watts, its really a loud amp for the power
Great clean sound and starts to overdrive at around 3.5 - 4.
Usually dont wind her past 4. Thats plenty loud on stage, then the PA does the rest.IMHO a good combo with Tele & Stringmaster.
Pete

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 8 Mar 2007 8:51 am

Peter,

I'm using a friend's ten-year-old DRRI and want him to sell it to me, it is the perfect amp for my Stringmaster as well!! I tried out a new DRRI and it was pretty clean even when cranked. I need that earlier break-up. Perhaps it's the speaker inside. The guitarist in the band has a DRRI as well. He said changing the speaker cable in those amps makes a huge difference in sound.

cheers,
Drew

Brian LeBlanc · Post by **Brian LeBlanc** » 8 Mar 2007 9:15 am

Changing speaker cable makes a big dif in sound?

Never heard that...

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 8 Mar 2007 11:24 am

Brian LeBlanc wrote:Changing speaker cable makes a big dif in sound?

Never heard that...

Changing the player makes an even bigger difference

Actually high quality, low capacitance cables can improve signal and clarify tone.

Dennis Schell · Post by **Dennis Schell** » 8 Mar 2007 11:57 am

Brian LeBlanc wrote:... I just paid $300 !

...for a 71'

Gee, I would've sold you mine cheaper than that! Have you checked in the local pawnshops? Usually, there are some good bargains on equipment and guitars that sit around and don't sell for awhile....

Dennis

Brian LeBlanc · Post by **Brian LeBlanc** » 8 Mar 2007 12:08 pm

Nothing pre 1980 with Fender on it never even hits the Pawns around here!

Ebays seem to be over $3...

(also this guy delivered to my gig)

...
on "Speaker Cable" for a Deluxe Reverb...

What cable we talken about?

Gary Lynch · Post by **Gary Lynch** » 8 Mar 2007 12:28 pm

$300 for a 70's Fender Vibro Champ is a good price if it works well. You can play these for years and sell it for what you paid or maybe even more. They are great for all types of music considering thier size. It's a classic and the Tremolo is pretty cool. I have three of them besides my other styles and brands of amps.

Alan Kirk · Post by **Alan Kirk** » 8 Mar 2007 12:48 pm

I had a 5-watt Gibson GA5 Les Paul Junior amp (newer model). Sucker hummed too much. Side-by-side with other Class A amps, the Gibson was too noisy. Sent it back to Gibson. Lousy customer service. Techs with attitude. They sent it back to me, not fixed, with the power tube flopping around in the box. I faxed the company CEO and asked him why his customer service sucked. Gibson sent prepaid shipping label, replaced the amp with a newer model. Still hummed. I dumped it. Gibson sucks, in more ways than one.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 8 Mar 2007 12:52 pm

The Epiphone 5 watt head that I have is sooooo quiet you don't even know it's on.

Randy Cordle · Post by **Randy Cordle** » 8 Mar 2007 6:36 pm

I've got a few small tube amps and bought the Epi valve jr. head from Musician's Friend. I was going to team it up with a custom tweed cabinet with a Weber alnico 12" that I purchased for this project, but it was dead on arrival. Sent the first one back and its replacement was dead also. MF was very nice to deal with, but I just got a refund and decided that someone doesn't want me to have an Epi valve jr. head. I've been working with sound equipment and electronics for 40 years, so I know it wasn't me.
I'm thinking of getting the brand new Peavey Royal 8 five watt tube amp and putting it in my new cabinet instead. It's $75 more, but I can ebay the cabinet and speaker and get some of that back. I've always had pretty good luck with the Peavey stuff.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 8 Mar 2007 7:27 pm

I'm a tube guy, but I have a Microcube!!
This winter I built a clone/Fender Tweed Deluxe, a clone/Fender Princeton Reverb, and three amps based on a Valco design with different tubes and caps etc in each one.
To me, the Valco types have the tone I want. The Tweed Deluxe isn't what I would go out and buy, although Fender is just coming out with a re-issue of it. I wonder what that one is gonna cost!!

All the above mentioned are 6V6 type push-pull AB types. I haven't built a single-end class A type (yet)

John Bushouse · Post by **John Bushouse** » 8 Mar 2007 8:01 pm

Alan Kirk wrote:I had a 5-watt Gibson GA5 Les Paul Junior amp (newer model). Sucker hummed too much. Side-by-side with other Class A amps, the Gibson was too noisy. Sent it back to Gibson. Lousy customer service. Techs with attitude. They sent it back to me, not fixed, with the power tube flopping around in the box. I faxed the company CEO and asked him why his customer service sucked. Gibson sent prepaid shipping label, replaced the amp with a newer model. Still hummed. I dumped it. Gibson sucks, in more ways than one.

Hmm... I think should check mine out.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 8 Mar 2007 11:07 pm

I've never been a big fan of Gibson stuff, but I do have an old GA8T amp. I tried to sell it once, but no takers. I finally got into it and replaced a bunch of coupling caps in the pre-amp section to bring out more bass. That did the trick big-time. Now I like the way it sounds and I'm gonna keep it!!

It has zero hum, hard to tell it's on, but it was always a quiet amp.
Lots of power, EL84s in push-pull.

Randy Cordle · Post by **Randy Cordle** » 15 Mar 2007 6:26 am

I did what I said I was going to do and picked up Peavey's new entry in the 5 watt club. It was $100 more than a Epi head, but worth it. Thought I might as well add a quick review if anyone is interested. For the record, I love low watt tube amps when pushed a little, but also dislike dealing with older (read vintage)tube amp issues. I'm still waiting for someone to do a 1 watt amp with the gain, tone, and master volume controls. Five watts is still seriously loud. You can gig with 5 tube watts in smaller venues, and larger ones will mic your stage monitor amp or feed you DI to the board anyway, so why haul more amp than you need to get the tone you want?
Here's the lowdown. Peavey Valve King Royal 8, 5 watts, class A, 12AX7 & EL84 tubes, gain , tone, master volume controls, low and high gain inputs, headphone output (disconnects speaker for late nite playing), jeweled pilot light and REAL toggle switch. All in all a great amp so far. It has a lot of versitility straight from the box, but I plan on putting it in a custom tweed cabinet with a Weber 12" driver. I do like an amp that pushes a little more air, and a 12" will do it. I do like the ability to overdrive the amp at low volume and the tone control is also quite nice to have. I've got a fair amount of Peavey equipment already, and for good reason. Most of it works fine and lasts a long time. What more can you ask for if you like the sound? This one is a keeper.

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 12 Oct 2009 10:58 pm

Drew Howard wrote:I would love to find something that's older and not Fender, like a Silvertone, Gibson, etc.
Anyway, what do you use/recommend?
thanks,
Drew

How about those old Danelectro Cadets or other models?
The fact that these were made in Neptune, NJ in no way affects my biases and superstitions towards these relics.

Gary Lynch wrote:If you folks have not played your lap steel through a Honeytone by Danelectro, it's a trip. It sounds like a 1930's recording. Something Tom Waits would lay a mic close to and record it. Way funky but retro cool distortorama also..

The "Cadet" was my very first amp. Kinda collectible. Heres a "Corporal" (slightly bigger 10 watt version) on ebay currently:

Link to auction on eBay.

Clete

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 13 Oct 2009 6:22 am

I guess at 15 watts you would consider it to be low wattage so yesterday I ordered a used Fender Blues Junior from MF.
They had a special one day "Columbus Day" special and I got an extra 15% off the amp.
If I don't like it, I can return it within 45 days.
Sure beats going e-bay.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 13 Oct 2009 8:04 am

Drew,

I have a 10 year old DRRI in M-I-N-T condition (with protective cover!). It's for sale. Let's talk. You can come down to A2 and try it out. It'll be fun.

GBR

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 13 Oct 2009 4:09 pm

My Fenders haven't been turned on for over a year. I don't like their "scooped mid" sound. The Valco/Supro/National amps don't seem to do that, and are my favorites for tone.
I had a new Fender Acoustasonic Junior for a while. Solid state. Didn't like that either, and loaned/gave it to my niece, and told her not to ever bring it back.

Rocky Hill · Post by **Rocky Hill** » 13 Oct 2009 6:54 pm

I have used my Gibson Scout GA-17RVT for 42 years! Modern speaker, new caps, it rocks!

You can find them once in a while, and generally, they are not to expensive. It's the one behind me in my avatar.

Rocky

George Rozak · Post by **George Rozak** » 13 Oct 2009 7:52 pm

I'm using a Silvertone 1481 that I bought from Ken Fox here on the forum. Absolute best tone I've ever gotten on a lap steel. I usually don't even use any reverb with it. They show up quite often on eBay & are still pretty reasonably priced.

George Rozak · Post by **George Rozak** » 13 Oct 2009 8:08 pm

Just noticed that there's a 1481 in the for sale section here at a really good price. You might want grab it before I get too tempted again

Veli-Pekka Haanmäki · Post by **Veli-Pekka Haanmäki** » 14 Oct 2009 11:37 am

I play my lap steel through older model BadCat MiniCat,very nice and warm little amp.Here is a link to the new model: http://www.badcatamps.com/badcat_amps.html

Chris Scruggs · Post by **Chris Scruggs** » 14 Oct 2009 12:18 pm

I would recommend the Deluxe Reverb. The extra 7 watts it has over the Blues Jr. Makes it an amp that can keep up with a drummer but still is ideal for low volume perforances. Plus, it has Tremelo which is nice for guitar. Also it is a two channel amp so you can run your Tele and Stringmaster simultaniously without the need to unplug and replug you guitars inbetween songs or solos.

I use a Deluxe Reverb as my main amp and have played it in living rooms with acoustic accompaniment and small clubs as well as in large theaters, auditoriums wand outdoor ampetheaters with loud drums and electric bands. It's just the right amp for just about any application.

CS

Mark Roeder · Post by **Mark Roeder** » 14 Oct 2009 12:58 pm

My 2 cents:

I like the Deluxe, I also use a Champ Jr. with an AB box for multi instruments into it. Its the simple one tone knob setup.

Marty Broussard · Post by **Marty Broussard** » 19 Oct 2009 8:16 am

I know this thread is old but I want to share some information that might help others. In my quest for a low watt/portable tube amp I found a device called the Rock Block. You can google it and go to the website. It looks very interesting, flexible, and guaranteed portable!! It can be used as an amp or a pedal. You can see it on YouTube also.

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