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Mesa Express series - 5:50 is 5 or 50 watts, 1X12 and has a Fenderish voice. Its my bring it along if I don't know what to expect or need more power.

On the lower watt offerings, you always have the Blues Jr and AC15.

I've always had a thing for Peavey Bandits if you can do solid state. Used Roland Jazz Choruses are usually cheap. Look for something like a JC77. I think mine was $250 CDN a couple years ago. Its about the size of a AC15 and much lighter.

Fender Pro Jr.

This isn't helpful with you not being in the US, but my 60's Ampeg Jet sounds gigantic and weighs maybe 25 pounds. A very loud 15 - 20 watts.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:24 am

Fender Pro Jr.

i had a pro jr. i liked it a lot, but it was very noisy. apparently the yerasov gta15 is basically the same but a better quality build. just a shame it doesn't come in tweed!

IME, any good small amp with a 12" speaker is going to do fine. Hell, get a 112 cab with whatever speaker you like, and find a lunchbox to suit.

parry wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 6:22 am

Whatever 5-12 watter you end up getting - if you don't already have one, pick up a $40 wish KLON and stick that in front of it. Crank the amp, dial back the gain on the KLON (or set it to 'off') adjust treble and use the volume to attenuate to taste. I'm feeling confident it'll take a mediocre, boxy-sounding amp and give you the sound you're after (based on your description).

At the risk of derailing the thread, you specifically mention Klons. Does this trick require a booster that operates at 18v internally, or can anything with a reasonable amount of volume on tap work?

Veitchy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 6:11 pm

parry wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 6:22 am

Whatever 5-12 watter you end up getting - if you don't already have one, pick up a $40 wish KLON and stick that in front of it. Crank the amp, dial back the gain on the KLON (or set it to 'off') adjust treble and use the volume to attenuate to taste. I'm feeling confident it'll take a mediocre, boxy-sounding amp and give you the sound you're after (based on your description).

At the risk of derailing the thread, you specifically mention Klons. Does this trick require a booster that operates at 18v internally, or can anything with a reasonable amount of volume on tap work?

I'm almost certain it doesn't need to be 18v. And the volume on the pedal is actually going the other way... dime the amp and turn the volume on the KLON down to playing level. The amp becomes clearer, more of that classic "Jazzmaster", single coil clank/jangle - cuts through like nobody's business.

I mentioned it because I find my '58 tweed champ to be boxy and somewhat 'meh' on its own. At first, I was using it with a Wish KLON because it was handy and I was using it in the standard MORE+MORE fashion - hitting the amp with a boosted signal from the KLON. Sounded much better. Cleared up the boxiness, but was getting a bit too broken up. I remembered reading about the subtractive technique and thought I'd give it a go. Turned the champ up to 7-8, which is way too mushy, compressed and wooly not good to my taste... turned the KLON down, distortion "off" and Treble waaaay up - it sounded ridiculously good. I figured that might be a cheap trick and good workaround to add some flexibility on the amp side for OP.

mackerelmint wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 5:08 pm

IME, any good small amp with a 12" speaker is going to do fine. Hell, get a 112 cab with whatever speaker you like, and find a lunchbox to suit.

Jup. My 5-watt amp sounds lovely through its 10" speaker and breaks up at a fairly reasonable volume, but through my 2x12" cab it's so much louder, it can actually hold its own in a (really quite loud) band without getting too distorted. I've found that speaker size and efficiency matter at least as much as wattage, that moving from 10" to 12" is a big step, and that any amp over 5 watts may well be too loud to expect breakup, even in a loud band. With tube amps over 5 watts, you'll likely need an attenuator.

I wish Fender made a head version of a Champ; put that on top of a 12" cab and you'd be set. It'd sound better (and bigger) and be more practical (IMO) than something like a Pro or a Blues Jr.

Of course, you can always make one yourself

Bam:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instru ... 1410545086

Dont let the "bass" part fool you.

A 5 or 6 watt amp with a 12” is kind of borderline for gigs in my experience.

I’d do it in my 3 piece in situations where the amp would be miced, but otherwise no.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:14 am

Bam:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instru ... 1410545086

Dont let the "bass" part fool you.

i'd go for that if it were nearer to me!

Dr Tony Balls wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:14 am

Bam:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instru ... 1410545086

Dont let the "bass" part fool you.

i've owned 3 dominator bass amps. i've loved every one but never stuck with them for some reason.

Sauerkraut wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 10, 2021 5:28 am

mackerelmint wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 09, 2021 5:08 pm

IME, any good small amp with a 12" speaker is going to do fine. Hell, get a 112 cab with whatever speaker you like, and find a lunchbox to suit.

Jup. My 5-watt amp sounds lovely through its 10" speaker and breaks up at a fairly reasonable volume, but through my 2x12" cab it's so much louder, it can actually hold its own in a (really quite loud) band without getting too distorted. I've found that speaker size and efficiency matter at least as much as wattage, that moving from 10" to 12" is a big step, and that any amp over 5 watts may well be too loud to expect breakup, even in a loud band. With tube amps over 5 watts, you'll likely need an attenuator.

I wish Fender made a head version of a Champ; put that on top of a 12" cab and you'd be set. It'd sound better (and bigger) and be more practical (IMO) than something like a Pro or a Blues Jr.

Of course, you can always make one yourself

I used to have a little Orange crush 10W practice amp, I think it had like an 8" tops. It had basically one "good" sound you could dial in. So I hooked it up to a 12" cab with a Celestion Vintage 30 in it, because I'd read somewhere on the internet that it magically transformed the TONZ. Boy, did it ever! Suddenly, it had a bunch of good sounds in it, and was LOUDDDD.

Lots of ground to be gained (heh, pun not intended) with just speaker size and efficiency. Learning that was kind of a revelation for me. People talk about "moving air", and they're right. Though you don't necessarily need a 412 in order to do it.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:14 am

Bam:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instru ... 1410545086

Dont let the "bass" part fool you.

I used to play guitar through a Fender sidekick bass amp, and it sounded pretty amazing. 15" speakers can really flatter a guitar.

Have you thought of an Orange Rocker 15? Really nice clean channel and super useful power options for bedroom volumes. There's a used one for sale in the UK on ebay for under £500.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334108577283 ... SwEVVhEqGO