Help chasing that "clean" amp!

[Nico]

Their own thing, for sure...

I'll install that new speaker to see where it takes me but that sparkle that I usually find in every other amp is nowhere in this one... I like that it's honest like that... so honest that I can now confirm that my guitar playing sucks

I think it was a bit ambitious of Supro to market this as a clean platform. Still, it's a Supro with a loop, which I find pretty versatile.

It's still fighting for my love, I still think it's an awesome looking amp.

[Embenny]

While I don't have experience with the real thing, the Supro 1624 model in my AxeFX is my favourite amp for single coil guitars. It just straddles the line between several iconic tones while being its own thing as well. I spend probably 90% of my time with that Supro as the main building block of my tone.

[Sauerkraut]

that sparkle that I usually find in every other amp is nowhere in this one...

Not even with the Jensen speaker you mentioned earlier? If you liked it with the Jensen, why not get one? If you didn’t, I doubt that Celestion will give it that sparkle you’re after. I’ve got nothing against Celestions, but to my ears, with the exceptions of the alnico models, they hardly “sparkle”. I faffed about with Celestions for ages in my BF Fender, only to find out that what I’d wanted all along was a good Jensen (a Jupiter speaker).

[Nico]

Yes, I get a way better sound with the old Jensen 12 cab. The whole frequency range is sweeter; sweeter highs, balanced mids and deep basses. I bought the Celestion because it's cheap and want to get closer to what the 12 can give me in natural openness, with thinner paper cone and smaller coil/magnet. We'll see but i'm already chasing another amp

[Bill Ashton]

@nico , keep your eyes out for an older late 50's/early 60's Guild tube amp, either 6V6 powered or 6L6 powered. Loud and clean. One that is in good nick will go almost full throttle and not distort, though that kinda depends on the speaker. If you see such a Guild and they say its "like a Fender Deluxe," something is wrong with it! These Guilds were made for jazzers, and the owner of the company hated rock. He wanted amps that jazz players could use on gigs. The take pedals well, but a good one is clean, CLEAN, CLEAN...

Think silver-face Fender Princeton, but louder and cleaner, if you can believe it

[Sauerkraut]

Also, I think something like this would probably suits your needs very well. In that particular case, especially so if you’re a bit handy with a soldering iron, because that tremolo won’t be hard to fix, nor will undoing whatever modding was done. I realise you wrote 25 watts is your max, but… I think you’re wrong: my Tremolux puts out 35, but sounds really good at low volume too. The extra wattage will help with your desire for clean…ness. These only get distorted when turned up way beyond what I presume you need. Plus it’s a head: always a big plus in my book.

[hulakatt]

@nico , keep your eyes out for an older late 50's/early 60's Guild tube amp, either 6V6 powered or 6L6 powered. Loud and clean. One that is in good nick will go almost full throttle and not distort, though that kinda depends on the speaker. If you see such a Guild and they say its "like a Fender Deluxe," something is wrong with it! These Guilds were made for jazzers, and the owner of the company hated rock. He wanted amps that jazz players could use on gigs. The take pedals well, but a good one is clean, CLEAN, CLEAN...

Think silver-face Fender Princeton, but louder and cleaner, if you can believe it

You could replace Guild with Ampeg throughout this whole post and it'd still be 100% accurate!

[JSett]

Loud. Clean. Fender sparkle. Can be had cheap....How has no one suggested a Silverface Twin reverb yet? Or Pro Reverb even if you don't want the weight or need 85-100w. Clean for daaayyyss and take pedals great. I dunno what they're like over in the US but here in the UK you can pick them up for £600-1000 all day long (and vintage Fender is historically more expensive here).

[hulakatt]

Loud. Clean. Fender sparkle. Can be had cheap....How has no one suggested a Silverface Twin reverb yet? Or Pro Reverb even if you don't want the weight or need 85-100w. Clean for daaayyyss and take pedals great. I dunno what they're like over in the US but here in the UK you can pick them up for £600-1000 all day long (and vintage Fender is historically more expensive here).

You should be able to get a UL MV Twin Reverb or Pro Reverb for under $1k in the US but you'r be lucky. Those prices have been climbing lately. Even Bassman heads are hitting $1k lately.

Also, let's be honest, a lot of guitar players have never really played anything that big and are scared off by the size and wattage. I love Twin Reverbs but people have been dunking on the big Fenders in particular since the early 00's when smaller amps became cooler than big amps.

[Nico]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I had a big Guild once, clean and loud but it didn't thrill me. As for the Twin, I DO love it on my MM bass BUT it's damn too big for my apartment.

25w being my max is to get some character out of it at moderate volume. My main purpose is bedroom playing and recording, no rock gig.

I've been researching some Mesa models in the last couple of days and THAT got my attention. Not for the modern drive tones but everything from cleans to edge of breakup sounds.

That rectoverb 25 is really tempting but i'm set on that transatlantic 15 for now for the simple bass/treble eq and Vox/Fender channels. Since I have an amazing cab, going with a head is the most logical option for now.

[hulakatt]

I will give credit to the Twin Reverb for how good they sound at low volumes. One of the better Fenders when getting really quiet.

The closest sounding amp I've played to a quieter Twin Reverb was a '65 Ampeg Jet at a screaming 15 watts.

[s_mcsleazy]

i'm gonna echo the traynor sentiment everyone else is. even though i'm not the biggest fan of the speaker in my ygm3, it's still a fantastic amp. it is a bit too loud for home use but small gigs/practices/jam sessions with yer cousins, it's great. my cousin (who is a metalhead) was actually pretty blown away by it. stick an 80/90's "metal" pedal into it and you've got a great skate-punk machine.

[Embenny]

Speaking of Traynors, I was shocked to see how expensive they've gotten. I used to have a YCV40WR (great, great amp!) with the extra 1x12 cab and was feeling a bit nostalgic for it...until I discovered just the combo costs $1500 now.

They go for much cheaper on the used market, so if you happen across one for the right price, that would be a great way to go as well.

[horseblanket]

I just nabbed a 69 Traynor YSR-1 for 375. I know this is an outlier, but the deals are still out there. This model is Loud and Clean for DAYS.

[Nico]

I picked up that Transatlantic 15, it's a noisy, shrill little booger. I don't think that it plays well with low wattage Jensens... sounds great online but not for me when it comes to speaker preference.

I decided to load the Supro with the Celestion Ten 30 and voila! That's a nice, balanced speaker. Impressed considering the low price.
Nice, clear cleans, ballsy, thumpy bass, tamed mids, warm low end and balanced highs. Right up my alley

I wish I swapped for that speaker before buying the TA-15. Now I need to sell that Mesa.