Cheap tube amp suggestions please

[TerryD]

My friends son, who is actually a pretty good "old school" player is yearning for more sustain.  He uses a transister amp.  I think he needs a tube amp.  He's coming over to try a couple of mine.

What are some good cheap tube amp reccommendations in the 400-600 dollar price range....for a kid!!!  We need some pretty hefty power, 50 to 100 watts or a loud 30.   The peaveys I've seen look pretty road worthy.  Any suggestions?

[plexi50]

You could get an old Traynor Bassmaster Reverb for $500.00. Ive seen a few of them here local latley

I think there great plexi style amps and they do sound good! Not a high gain amp though but still a great one

Plus you will always get your money back out of them if you need to sell

[andrew_k]

More sustain? What guitar? Set neck or bolt on? What tremolo, if any.

[theundeadelvis]

I may get flamed for this, but I used to have a 50 watt Crate Vintage Club (VC-50), and I really loved that amp. It was a PCB amp (probably to be expected in this price range), but sounded nice. I had to re-flow some solder joints, but the clean channel was great, it had enough reverb, and when you wanted that cheesy Crate gain channel, it was there. I paid $400 for the 50 watt head and matching 4x10 cab. Sold the head a while back, but still have the cab (which I have no use for). You can't expect a lot for $400, but it was very versatile and sounded pretty darn good. I wouldn't trade any of my builds for it, but  I wouldn't mind still having it in my arsenal either.

[bbirling]

Any of the Fender Hot Rod's Deluxe/Deville. Loud as he!!. I have guys come in my store all the time wanting to trade e'm in for something quieter. Some of them can be finiky but once thier stable they play.

Bruce

[rafe]

Need more information ....what kind of music? What kind of Guitar? $600 is a lot of buying power at the right time and place.....2 years ago I picked up a supro thunderbolt for $60 I'm just saying....I just bought a vibro-champ for $200 I see another one local for $225 and it's a 68 I know he'd take $200 you can line one of those out to the SS he has. Lot's of options , I really liked my HRD but I'm glad I sold it and unless it's almost free I don't want another PCB amp, but that's just my opinion

[Shrapnel]

If time and some labor isn't a major concern... the Valve Jr. -  Modded of course - to be a better beast. then again... it isn't at his required power level.... yet, there have been plenty of 18-watters told to turn down.

It will probably be easier to know the "flavor" he likes best once he hears some of your various prodigies though.

[tubenit]

We need some pretty hefty power, 50 to 100 watts or a loud 30.

Why do you need that?  Where are they playing?  What kind of music is the "old school" music?

30 watts is a very loud amp. 50 watts is waaay loud.  100 watts is deafing, IMO & more appropriate for an outdoor stadium.

I was using a 56T with 6BM8's (maybe 9watts) mic'd thru the PA and was asked to turn it down in a band with keyboards, loud drummer and 3 singers.

I played a Music Man 50watt and later a Carvin 30watt for a few yrs & I am confidant some of my hearing loss is related to playing those two amps. Sad part of it is, that I never could find my "tone" with those amps. I regret playing amps that loud. I can remember my ears ringing after playing.

I see some younger players who have had SS amps not realize how loud tube amps are.

A good lower watt tube amp that has some clarity to it will cut thru a band mix quite well. A Deluxe Reverb is 22 watts and is considered a fabulous amp for small clubs.  I have two amps now. One is about 14 and the other is maybe 23 watts. Both amps have a very clear sounding overdrive that isn't muddy at all, IMO.

My opinion is that some of the production amps like HotRod, Peavy, Crate ......etc...... don't have much of a clear tone and that the overdrive is somewhat muddy sounding. And invariably, I then see someone turn up the volume trying to hear their muddy tone amp better only to have louder mud. The band tone then sounds like mush to me.

In contrast,  a lower watt amp that has great tone and clarity can cut thru the mix just fine. Numerous forum members have commented how their lower watt amp cut thru better than someone's HotRod for example. I think Dynaflow has commented on this for example several times?

Building something like a 5E3 Deluxe (maybe with 6L6's) or an 18watt might be an excellent choice.  You can look to even convert an old Bogen, Hammond, etc..... PA and put it in a cabinet with a nice speaker.  I've done that for under $250 several times.  Ebay occasionally has converted PA amps into guitar amps for reasonable prices.

That's my 2 cents worth.   With respect, Tubenit

[Jack1962]

Well bang for the buck the Peavey Windsor is a 100 Watt amp it gets louder than I want , but it's $399(new) for the head and I think around $499 for the combo , it sounds very simular to a marshall JCM800.

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