Best "straight ahead" guitar amp 25-30 watts?

[p90jr]

Carvin Vintage 16 is good.

 

The New Zealand-made Crowther Audio Hotcake overdrive pedal should be a nice pairing with those 12AX7 preamp tubes.

 

I was curious as to whether there were any Australian amp companies so I looked around... I guess the market is so small and isolated that they're all basically small custom boutique operations...

 

and wow, is gear expensive there!!! I don't know how exchange rates and the difference in wages and things work out, but yeow...

 

look at these prices, fellas:

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/prodcat/Guitars/Guitar_Amplifiers/Combo_Guitar_Amplifiers.aspx

 

so the local boutique handmade amps might be a relative bargain!

 

 

[p90jr]

Just did a check on Blackstar on the pricing!

 

The Blackstar HT series has a 20 and 40 watt combo here in the states that are in the $400-600 range, new... with used specimens coming in cheaper. They have more expensive models that are hardwired that get pricey, the lower-priced ones are probably made in China with printed circuit boards but people give them a thumbs up. We have a giant national instrument chain here called Guitar Center/Musician's Friend who kind of bully manufacturers into creating affordable import models of their gear and sell them in such high volume they can't refuse. Everybody wins in that arrangement... except American workers and the poor local music shop down the street.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Good call on the Boss RT-20, Dannyalcatraz. I have one, myself, and it gets a LOT of use.

 

 

I haven't found any overdrive or distortion pedals to be very useful with my Carvin Vintage 33's "Soak"/Lead/overdrive/distortion Channel, but fuzzes- ESPECIALLY octave-fuzzes- are very cool with it, particularly when rolling the guitar's volume-knob down to various unusual 'sweet-spots' of semi-cleanish tones.

 

A wah works great with it! "Parked", as well as in motion.

[Dannyalcatraz]

I haven't found any overdrive or distortion pedals to be very useful with my Carvin Vintage 33's "Soak"/Lead/overdrive/distortion Channel, but fuzzes- ESPECIALLY octave-fuzzes- are very cool with it, particularly when rolling the guitar's volume-knob down to various unusual 'sweet-spots' of semi-cleanish tones.

 

I've been listening to you on that for a while now, and have this one in my sights:

 

http://www.catalinbread.com/perseus.html

[miden]

thx Danny re the pedals..He has pedals with his bass and the one he favours a lot is his Big Muff (oh and his Dunlop Cry Baby), so he may go for one of those in guitar form.

 

We will check out the RT 20. Edirol/Roland/Boss gear is good kit so it won't surprise if the RT 20 turns out to be the ducks nuts

[miden]

Carvin Vintage 16 is good.

 

The New Zealand-made Crowther Audio Hotcake overdrive pedal should be a nice pairing with those 12AX7 preamp tubes.

 

I was curious as to whether there were any Australian amp companies so I looked around... I guess the market is so small and isolated that they're all basically small custom boutique operations...

 

and wow, is gear expensive there!!! I don't know how exchange rates and the difference in wages and things work out, but yeow...

 

look at these prices, fellas:

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/prodcat/Guitars/Guitar_Amplifiers/Combo_Guitar_Amplifiers.aspx

 

so the local boutique handmade amps might be a relative bargain!

 

 

Yeah p90 - music gear, electronics/I.T. in particular is unjustifiably expensive imo. It was why when our dollar was above US so many folk out here bought heaps from the US, however since the exchange rate has dropped (to near where it SHOULD be in my view, purely from a national economic concern) and it seems the UPS has jacked prices with so much OS business happening, it is just as easy to buy the gear here now, albeit at huge prices.

 

I guess it is the size of the available market that controls it to a degree, however our government is never shy in claiming its slice of the pie

 

The cheapest "decent" Blackstar (in tube format) we could find was approx $1200, so when the dealer quoted me on this Carvin we jumped at it really.

[Larryz]

I like the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe...it's a 40watt tuber that puts out a great clean sound. I love my Hot Rod DeVille it's a 60watt tuber. The Deluxe weighs in at 50lbs and the DeVille weighs in at 55lbs. Both are loaded with a couple of 6L6's. You can find them used in the $300 to $400 range. Hard working amps that will handle any venue and you can always turn them down for bedroom studio use...Pure Fender reverb clean sound at affordable prices IMHO.

[Caevan O’Shite]

 

I haven't found any overdrive or distortion pedals to be very useful with my Carvin Vintage 33's "Soak"/Lead/overdrive/distortion Channel, but fuzzes- ESPECIALLY octave-fuzzes- are very cool with it, particularly when rolling the guitar's volume-knob down to various unusual 'sweet-spots' of semi-cleanish tones.

 

I've been listening to you on that for a while now, and have this one in my sights:

 

http://www.catalinbread.com/perseus.html

 

Cool! Super upgraded MXR Blue Box / "Fool In The Rain" tones! I have a Blue Box- and I also have an old Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso "clean boost"/overdrive- and I bet I'd love the Perseus!

 

 

I must add that the Foxrox Octron absolutely ROCKS- think combining an upgraded Foxx Tone Machine octave-UP fuzz, a buffered straight/unaffected signal, and a Mu-Tron Octave Divider octave-DOWN fuzz, all blendable/mixable, all in one pedal. UNBELIEVABLY COOL sent into overdrive or distortion (either another pedal or a cranked tube-amp). You can NAIL Live Rust "Hey Hey, My My" tones this way!

[p90jr]

Carvin Vintage 16 is good.

 

The New Zealand-made Crowther Audio Hotcake overdrive pedal should be a nice pairing with those 12AX7 preamp tubes.

 

I was curious as to whether there were any Australian amp companies so I looked around... I guess the market is so small and isolated that they're all basically small custom boutique operations...

 

and wow, is gear expensive there!!! I don't know how exchange rates and the difference in wages and things work out, but yeow...

 

look at these prices, fellas:

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/prodcat/Guitars/Guitar_Amplifiers/Combo_Guitar_Amplifiers.aspx

 

so the local boutique handmade amps might be a relative bargain!

 

 

With some of the amps being built in China and Korea I'd think you'd get a break, but it seems like they make the trip here and then back to Australia and the charges get passed on to the consumer. I recall a friend here who makes boutique amps telling me had to ship one to a buyer in Australia and that added close to thousand bucks to the total (on a $4,000 amp).

[miden]

p90, that does not surprise me in the least...then add ridiculous amounts for shipping and it becomes huge!

 

Back to OP, the Carvin Vintage 16 has been ordered. Son was happy with it from what he read here and elsewhere plus listening/watching a couple of online demos.

 

So thanks again to you and all the other folk who contributed ideas, tips and opinions...

 

cheers

[Fred_C]

I think he'll be really happy with the Vintage 16. It's a nice little amp. The tone from the 5 watt triode setting is really sweet. As I recall (I've only played through one twice), you'll probably need to mic it if your son plays out with a drummer.

[Bluesape]

"I bought my Vintage 33 used and put all new tubes in it (thanks again, Myles! grin thu cool ). A good "Matched" or "Balanced" Phase-Inverter tube and a matched set of Ruby EL84CZ's turn these into new amps, really taking 'em to the next level or two up! Reif, aka "Bluesape", has heard mine first-hand and played through it himself, ask him what he thinks of it."

 

 

It's a neat little amp, and I really like most Carvin gear. I've been seeing Blackstars that really impressed me for the price, and I think they may be the new "go to" brand, at least among the Asian stuff. I've seen nothing from that side of the world that compares to Blackstar. I personally like PTP gear, but that'll be either pricey or ancient.

[Dannyalcatraz]

I almost bought a low-wattage used Blackstar at a going out of business sale.

 

I am sorry I didn't.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I think he'll be happy with the Vintage 16. Start with the Bass and Treble high, Mid around 4, Soak around 3 or 4 and Volume at about Noon, no Reverb at first; bring the guitar's volume-knob(s) up from zero a little bit at a time to explore the varying touch-sensitive clean, clean-ish, overdriven and distorted tones. Adjust controls to taste, add Reverb...

 

I personally like PTP gear, but that'll be either pricey or ancient.

 

[groaning, nearly tearful] Yeah, tell me about it!!

[miden]

I think he'll be happy with the Vintage 16. Start with the Bass and Treble high, Mid around 4, Soak around 3 or 4 and Volume at about Noon, no Reverb at first; bring the guitar's volume-knob(s) up from zero a little bit at a time to explore the varying touch-sensitive clean, clean-ish, overdriven and distorted tones. Adjust controls to taste, add Reverb...

 

I personally like PTP gear, but that'll be either pricey or ancient.

 

[groaning, nearly tearful] Yeah, tell me about it!!

 

thx - those settings are noted

[SEHpicker]

I have played through most of the amps mentioned here - some really good suggestions.

But I must chime in since no one has mentioned Egnater amps.

I bought a used a Rebel 30 head from GC about six months ago. Paid $399 for it in like new condition.

This thing is freakin amazing. Excellent build quality. A pair of 6V6s AND a pair of EL84s - you can dial in either pair or any combination of the two pair. And you can dial from 1 to 30 watts and everything in between. You can do this on two different channels. You can achieve Fender chime and Marshall crunch all in the same amp. I am buying a second one for backup.

Do yourself a favor and check this amp out.

BTW - don't go for the Rebel 20 - it's only 1 channel and doesn't have the headroom of the 30 and cost isn't that much different.

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have heard good things about Egnater, except that their clean channel isn't what it might be. What do you thnk?

[Caevan O’Shite]

thx - those settings are noted

 

It occurs to me that while these two amp models have some strong similarities, the Vintage 16 your Son is getting has a different speaker- the Celestion Vintage 30- than my Vintage 33- that has a stock Carvin VL12- which will make the overall tone/EQ-curve a bit different. My suggested settings won't be a bad place to start, though. Adjust to taste by ear! Even if the control-settings seem odd or unconventional- what sounds good, IS good.

[SEHpicker]

I have heard good things about Egnater, except that their clean channel isn't what it might be. What do you thnk?

 

I like the clean channel. With my GT10 I can get very chimy cleans - not 100% fender but close enough. But I like the clean channel best with a little bit of break up. Then the volume knob becomes more of a tone knob.

[miden]

thx - those settings are noted

 

It occurs to me that while these two amp models have some strong similarities, the Vintage 16 your Son is getting has a different speaker- the Celestion Vintage 30- than my Vintage 33- that has a stock Carvin VL12- which will make the overall tone/EQ-curve a bit different. My suggested settings won't be a bad place to start, though. Adjust to taste by ear! Even if the control-settings seem odd or unconventional- what sounds good, IS good.

 

Gotcha

[harvey]

Carvin Vintage 16 is good.

 

The New Zealand-made Crowther Audio Hotcake overdrive pedal should be a nice pairing with those 12AX7 preamp tubes.

 

I was curious as to whether there were any Australian amp companies so I looked around... I guess the market is so small and isolated that they're all basically small custom boutique operations...

 

and wow, is gear expensive there!!! I don't know how exchange rates and the difference in wages and things work out, but yeow...

 

look at these prices, fellas:

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/prodcat/Guitars/Guitar_Amplifiers/Combo_Guitar_Amplifiers.aspx

 

so the local boutique handmade amps might be a relative bargain!

 

 

Yeah p90 - music gear, electronics/I.T. in particular is unjustifiably expensive imo. It was why when our dollar was above US so many folk out here bought heaps from the US, however since the exchange rate has dropped (to near where it SHOULD be in my view, purely from a national economic concern) and it seems the UPS has jacked prices with so much OS business happening, it is just as easy to buy the gear here now, albeit at huge prices.

 

I guess it is the size of the available market that controls it to a degree, however our government is never shy in claiming its slice of the pie

 

The cheapest "decent" Blackstar (in tube format) we could find was approx $1200, so when the dealer quoted me on this Carvin we jumped at it really.

 

 

Hi I've been away, so I'm late to this party. Yes, I must agree on music stuff and IT being expensive down here. Even iTunes songs are inexplicably more expensive here and Apple geoblocks us from the US iTunes Store. Limited globalisation?!

 

I love the idea of a second hand Blues Deluxe or Deville between $300-400 but here prices are often above $600.

[miden]

Hi guys -

 

Well, Christmas morning and the amp is a HUGE hit!!! Now, as it has no channels, what are the suggestions for a pedal that will allow clean and o'drive/distortion channels?

 

Also does he need an EQ pedal? Or any other pedals...

 

Thanks

[russclan]

Since you mentioned he liked the Big Muff w/his bass, seems logical to start there. EHX has a few different iterations of that one to choose from.

 

I like EHX myself, and there are also a few newer OD pedals in their lineup which look to be really cool, as well as very reasonably priced. I'm particularly interested in this one , which is their take on the Klon Centaur (not available until January, I believe). While you're there, check out the OD Glove, the East River Drive, and the Hot Tubes nano (another one which I believe isn't available yet).

 

Does he need EQ? I think only he will be able to answer that one...they're nice to have though, and MXR makes a good one.

 

Other pedals....besides the OD/Dist/Fuzz, I might suggest a delay? There's a gaggle of them to choose from, most are pretty good, it's just a matter of personal taste/budget. I have and prefer a Deluxe Memory Boy from EHX. Very cool pedal, though some prefer a digital box (it's all analog), which you can get with the Memory Man (a few different versions of that one are available). There is a distinct difference in the sound...

 

Happy Holidays

[haywired2]

Merry Christmas. We still have a few hours

 

That's great news on the amp. I only have two overdrive pedals and they're both made by Fulltone. I love both of them and some times I run both of them at the same time just to get nasty.

 

Pedal demo. Must be played "LOUD"

 

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OCD?device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CMD68pqHyrsCFQtBQgodjDUAog

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FD2MOSFET/

[miden]

Thx russclan - I will pass it on...

[Caevan O’Shite]

Hi guys -

 

Well, Christmas morning and the amp is a HUGE hit!!! Now, as it has no channels, what are the suggestions for a pedal that will allow clean and o'drive/distortion channels?

 

Also does he need an EQ pedal? Or any other pedals...

 

Thanks

 

Glad he likes it!

 

 

My similar Carvin Vintage 33 has two channels, the second, "Soak"/"Lead" Channel being essentially the same as the 'single channel' of the Vintage 16. Like your Son, I most often play a two-humbucker, Gibson type guitar. I almost never, ever bother with switching the channels, instead rolling back my guitar's volume-controls to "clean up"; thus, I effectively have multiple channels at the touch of a knob.

 

Turn its Volume up to 4 or 5 or more with the "Soak" set to about 2, 3, or 4, using the guitar's volume-controls and picking-hand "touch" to vary the cleanness or dirtiness of the sound, and you really won't need pedals for overdrive or distortion. Try the amp's Triode Mode for leads and fills, too.

 

Conversely, if you roll the guitar's volume back a bit and adjust your "touch", especially in Pentode Mode, tones that are cleaner and spankier than one might expect from a 16 watt 2xEL84 amp are attainable, and the amp's reverb works nicely toward that end, as well.

 

It responds VERY well to adjustments of the guitar's volume-controls and the player's dynamic "touch". I almost never use the "Rhythm" Channel at all, instead rolling my guitar's volume-knobs back for cleaner tones, and back up by degrees to go from clean to mean to scream to beam-me-up-Scotty.

 

 

It gets on well with most pedals, particularly my Foxrox Octron octave-fuzz and a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah in front, and my Strymon El Capistan tape-echo-sim and Boss RT-20 Leslie-sim in its effects-loop. (AFAIK, your Son's Vintage 16 doesn't have an effects-loop, but these echo and modulation pedals will also work plenty alright in front of the amp's input. If he plays in a group with a PA and monitors, the Cabinet Voiced Line-Out can be fed through a good delay/echo/multi-effects and on to the PA and monitors; I can tell you that this sounds quite good!) The amp's reverb is very nice.

 

 

I really like- make that LOVE- using my Foxrox Octron (octave-fuzz, both octave-down and octave-up) with the Vintage 33. Maybe you could find a used one?

 

The way I use the amp, with continuous/variable "virtual channel-switching" via the guitar's volume-knobs and my "touch", the amp works very well with aggressive, quirky fuzzes, whereas many more typical overdrives and distortions are either blurred into the amp's "natural" overdrive and distortion, or they just don't sound right with it, or have other issues...

 

For example, I have a beautiful fuzztortion pedal that starts off based on the "Version 3 era" EH Big Muff Pi pedals, a VFE 'Fiery Red Horse' "Saturated Fuzz"; if I turn that pedal's gain and other controls up enough to make a notable difference in the already cranked, overdriven/distorted Soak Channel of my Vintage 33, I sometimes have trouble with a strange feedback-like issue that sounds a bit like acoustic feedback- a low, resonant hum- but it is strictly electronic, born of excessive cascaded gain, and not anything to do with the sound from the speaker vibrating the guitar and strings, and it's also not that squealing and whistling oscillating parasitic feedback.

 

I also have a beautiful Radial Tonebone Plexitube dual-channel distortion pedal, a hybrid SS/tube design, that just doesn't quite work with the Carvin the way I use that amp, and it's largely unnecessary.

 

I do have some particularly gainy ECC83/12AX7 type preamp tubes in the amp, among others, that our own Myles Rose tested and cherry-picked for me...

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'll reiterate my suggestion of the Visual Sound Jekyl & Hyde OD/Distortion- not just a good deal for the price, but a good pedal, period.

 

For a pure OD, I have the T. Rex Michael Angelo Batio Overdrive. Well made, and it does exactly what is says it will do. It won't drive like some of the OD pedals favored by metalheads, though- it's a scalpel, not a broadsword.

 

One of the best bang for the buck delay pedals is the MXR Carbon Copy. AND it has a tiny footprint, too.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Just so everybody knows, it's not that I think that any of the overdrive or distortion pedals suggested by others here aren't good- they're excellent!- it's that this particular amp is a dark, fairly gainy, low-watt tube amp, that is at its best when cranked to the point of dynamic output-stage overdrive and distortion; as such, played to its strengths, it doesn't have much need for overdrive or distortion pedals in general, and it doesn't really work well with most of them. I speak from years of experience with mine.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Fair points!

[Dannyalcatraz]

Before I make any other suggestions, what kind of price range do you see yourself in for pedals? I ask, because I personally have a taste for..."boutique"...and unusual pedals, and they can sometimes be a bit pricey.

 

Not ALL of my pedals are expensive- I have almost all of the Line6 ToneCore modules, for instance- but a budget will make a difference in what I recommend.