In praise of small Tube Amps!

[hexes]

Is that pink tolex? Is it supposed to be the Simpson's TV?

it definitely is pink tolex, but not a simpsons reference. the ‘static’ grill cloth was a happy find. i’m building another harvard to look like an old tv to go with this fuzz antenna!

That would be awesome! I've never played a Harvard, but I love the idea of a TV aesthetic.

probably won’t play live ever again, so i’m matching my amps with my furniture.

[panoramic]

it definitely is pink tolex, but not a simpsons reference. the ‘static’ grill cloth was a happy find. i’m building another harvard to look like an old tv to go with this fuzz antenna!

That would be awesome! I've never played a Harvard, but I love the idea of a TV aesthetic.

probably won’t play live ever again, so i’m matching my amps with my furniture.

I fucking feel this post.

[Shadoweclipse13]

it definitely is pink tolex, but not a simpsons reference. the ‘static’ grill cloth was a happy find. i’m building another harvard to look like an old tv to go with this fuzz antenna!

That would be awesome! I've never played a Harvard, but I love the idea of a TV aesthetic.

probably won’t play live ever again, so i’m matching my amps with my furniture.

[hulakatt]

That would be awesome! I've never played a Harvard, but I love the idea of a TV aesthetic.

probably won’t play live ever again, so i’m matching my amps with my furniture.

I fucking feel this post.

Me too. I think that's why I'm drawn to the finished wood look like Trainwreck amps and the old hardwood/cane Boogie's.

[hulakatt]

What's some good tiny SE amps with tremolo? I guess the obvious is the old Vibro Champ/Bronco amps but what else is out there?

I have a handful of tiny amps and really dig them. Do they replace bigger amps for me? Nope, they all sound so different!

Swart immediately springs to mind.

They don't have many with tremolo and none that have it without reverb. I don't know if I desire any amp more than the Swart ST-Stereo though. It's way out of my price range but I drool a bit every time I see it on their site.

[hulakatt]

Found a small SE amp w/ tremolo that's not a Fender Bronco/Vibro Champ and it's on it's way to me! Somehow I talked myself into this one and another old amp that I used to own.

[Veitchy]

Found a small SE amp w/ tremolo that's not a Fender Bronco/Vibro Champ and it's on it's way to me! Somehow I talked myself into this one and another old amp that I used to own.

What did you get?

[hulakatt]

Found a small SE amp w/ tremolo that's not a Fender Bronco/Vibro Champ and it's on it's way to me! Somehow I talked myself into this one and another old amp that I used to own.

What did you get?

Don't worry, I'll post when it comes in . Just 2 old 2nd tier company amps. I will say that one of them is a Silvertone and one is not and both used to be cheap as hell until the mid 00's.

[garyfanclub]

Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

[hulakatt]

Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

Old Ampeg's don't get enough love. The old Rockets and Jets are a big step up from the Princeton and Deluxe Reverbs.

[Veitchy]

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket... Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff

That my friend is a rig.

[hexes]

Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

Old Ampeg's don't get enough love. The old Rockets and Jets are a big step up from the Princeton and Deluxe Reverbs.

that is a great setup, garyfanclub. i used an sg into the same amp around 2002, except humbuckers. p90 would have been better.

I have owned 6 ampegs, and only 1 was a reissue.

i love them so much more than fender, they’re just tougher to clone without a healthy stock of NOS tubes or Id have made a few.

[garyfanclub]

Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

Old Ampeg's don't get enough love. The old Rockets and Jets are a big step up from the Princeton and Deluxe Reverbs.

that is a great setup, garyfanclub. i used an sg into the same amp around 2002, except humbuckers. p90 would have been better.

I have owned 6 ampegs, and only 1 was a reissue.

i love them so much more than fender, they’re just tougher to clone without a healthy stock of NOS tubes or Id have made a few.

Thanks, it's a favorite for sure! Love that it's not cripplingly bright and has a nice midrange oomph. It's also got that wonderful round "bloom" on notes, thanks to the lovely octal preamp setup. Trem and Reverb on this are functional and divine, no surprise there. May need to see about modding it to get the trem a little slower but that's splitting hairs.

I've also owned quite a few other Ampegs in my day, and in general, I've liked the smaller lower-wattage ones the most for guitar (Reverberocket 2, this early Reverberocket, Reverbojet). The larger ones (GV22, V2, V4) all seem to make far better bass amps if you're playing at reasonable volumes. I find them a bit stiff as guitar amps, and they're so brutally loud that you can't really turn them up to where you're getting some compression and sag.

The V2 might be my favorite recording bass amp ever for recording; 60W means you get some growl but no one's doubled over in pain.

I'd still like to try some of the earlier oddballs like the M12, M15, and some of the 2x12 fliptop guitar models with reverb and trem.

Below is the latest obsession... a late 70s Traynor YGM-3, which from what I've read is a Deluxe Reverb preamp married to a Marshall-style EL84 output circuit, with a Bandaxall tone circuit being the cherry on top. Still need to try it out with a band, but it definitely *barks* like an old British amp. Loving it for 60s-70s style rock tones (nails the Santana-style sustainy tones with the SG Classic and my Ge Karma Suture).

Extra points for being ugly as sin and not horrifically loud, which means it's a decent recording amp for an apartment dweller like myself.

[hexes]

Thanks, it's a favorite for sure! Love that it's not cripplingly bright and has a nice midrange oomph. It's also got that wonderful round "bloom" on notes, thanks to the lovely octal preamp setup. Trem and Reverb on this are functional and divine, no surprise there. May need to see about modding it to get the trem a little slower but that's splitting hairs.

I've also owned quite a few other Ampegs in my day, and in general, I've liked the smaller lower-wattage ones the most for guitar (Reverberocket 2, this early Reverberocket, Reverbojet). The larger ones (GV22, V2, V4) all seem to make far better bass amps if you're playing at reasonable volumes. I find them a bit stiff as guitar amps, and they're so brutally loud that you can't really turn them up to where you're getting some compression and sag.

The V2 might be my favorite recording bass amp ever for recording; 60W means you get some growl but no one's doubled over in pain.

I'd still like to try some of the earlier oddballs like the M12, M15, and some of the 2x12 fliptop guitar models with reverb and trem.

Below is the latest obsession... a late 70s Traynor YGM-3, which from what I've read is a Deluxe Reverb preamp married to a Marshall-style EL84 output circuit, with a Bandaxall tone circuit being the cherry on top. Still need to try it out with a band, but it definitely *barks* like an old British amp. Loving it for 60s-70s style rock tones (nails the Santana-style sustainy tones with the SG Classic and my Ge Karma Suture).

Extra points for being ugly as sin and not horrifically loud, which means it's a decent recording amp for an apartment dweller like myself.

Funny, I was just simulating tone stacks and wanted to try something very similar to that traynor while I build a princeton reverb for a friend. I haven’t had many el84 amps.

I do love my V series ampegs. I did use my V2 as a bass amp when recording with a surf band for that growl. v4 and vt40 on guitar were used primarily for loud surf music, or effects heavy big loud instrumental space-rock. lately I’ve gotten back into the blue diamond era stuff and I play much differently these days. my love of small amps is a recent one.

[Jonesie]

Yep, 15W is a sweet spot for me. Cringe at the idea of playing most amps over 20W; usually way too loud and stiff feeling. Love a softer, spongier attack for my style.

An 67 SG Special into this 61 Reverberocket has been my go-to for a while now. Love this damn thing, fat and glassy, and absolutely rips once you get the volume past half way.

Usually paired with a volume pedal, a DMM and Percolator clone for live stuff - covers all the bases for me! It *does* need to be mic'd, it's not particularly loud in its own right.

So I love Ampegs and have an old jet myself. But I need to give props for the Rose Foods tote bag. Holy fucking shit their bagels.