Cleanest 40-50w circuit?

[Diverted]

Hi,
A friend has asked about a 40-50w amp that plays clean. Really really clean. He will probably dime it most times and doesn’t want any breakup.

He also wants a single 12” with it.

I have a Celestion Classic Lead 80 which hopefully should stay clean.

But what about a circuit? He wants reverb but i could use the Fender Reverb circuit if someone recommends an amp that doesn’t have it.

He wants TMB controls and reverb only.

Ampeg?

Thanks!

[shooter]

jack into a line 6, call it good 

want adventure try a fender AB763 circuit, use an ultra-linear oversized OT
scope it out once built and tweak all the distortion out, which shouldn't be much.
use self biasing instead of fixed bias, helps keep it tamer, limit the drive signal to the PA

[sluckey]

He also wants a single 12” with it.

I can't think of any 40-50W amps that use a single 12.

[SILVERGUN]

Mosey on over to TAG and search for Steel String Singer or SSS.
Or just search for the .sch vesion that tubenit posted here.

I built a 2 x 6L6 version that is unapologetically clean with big, bountiful reverb.
Sync it up to a single EV and stand back.
50 clean watts through a highly efficient speaker will make you rethink your life choices.

[Leevi]

HIWATT DR103, can be built as 50w.
/Leevi

[shooter]

not a guitar player, but fixing 5-6 fender twins, they were near impossible to distort at 40W both scope n ears.  My bench speakers are 2 X12 96 n 102db or 15" Altec 417
so a simple 763 circuit kit or caboodle 

[ALBATROS1234]

to me it seems to relate alot to how hard you drive the poweramp. i have 2 se amps which have identical power section. one uses an ef86 into a 12ax7 and screams like a marshall. the other uses just a 6u8a , even fully cranked there is barely any breakup, if i used negative feedback it would have none. granted even though both amps are dissipating the same wattage the ef86 one is also alot louder.

[DummyLoad]

HIWATT DR103, can be built as 50w.
/Leevi

DR504 is a the 50W ver. of the DR103. PS are slightly different: DR504 is a FW and the DR103 is FWB. other than obvious PT & OT ratings they are the same.

clone the DR504 - you'll like it for clean with EL34 outputs.

another very clean amp would be the standel 25L15, only with fixed bias 6L6GC output stage rather than the cathode bias 807.

any of the popular clean preamps coupled to a pair of 6L6GC running in fixed get you into the 50W arena with the appropriate B+ and load - reference super reverb or bandmaster, marshall 50W, ampeg VT40, etc..
 
--pete

[Leevi]

Yes, Standel is extreme clean and furthermore it's very silent because of many chokes and huge filtering.
/Leevi

[pdf64]

...A friend has asked about a 40-50w amp that plays clean. Really really clean. He will probably dime it most times and doesn’t want any breakup...

Unless an amp has insufficient gain for any guitar to push it to clipping, those goals are unrealistic; the projects sounds like a recipe for losing a friend.
Maybe they just need showing how to set up the amp they've got? Some folks are befuddled by all the knobs on most modern amps, or just don't dare to turn the master volume up high.

[Ritchie200]

pdf64 hit the nail on the head.  Never build for a musician "in search of...".  You will not get paid for your efforts and most likely end up with the amp at the end of the painful journey.

There is clean - sterile clean and if that's what he wants, buy a SS PA head and upcharge him 20% to cover you time.  Sometimes when a player says they like clean clean clean, they actually mean warm.  This probably due to some sort of PTSD with a Bogner Uberschall or something similar with todays cascaded preamp buzz.

The Hughes and Kettner Puretone has peaked my interest ever since someone posted here asking for a schematic so he could do a repair.  I had no luck finding one, but I did listen to a few youtube posts and reviews.  Everyone raves about it's clear tone and how touch sensitive it is and I mean they RAVE!  Soundclips are impressive.  Very full bodied and rich.  I was very surprised for a class A amp with two EL34's.  Due to the massive amounts of headroom, people say it is much louder than the specs suggest, although it is supposed to kick 40 watts into 8 ohms .  Single channel, simple tone stack, what could be better!  AND, supposedly the "Growl" control gradually bypasses the tonestack if you need a little more bite.  Point to point construction.  Boy it would be cool to find the schematic for this....

Bottom line, have him show you or find an amp that meets his needs and go from there before you start ordering parts.

Jim

[DummyLoad]

ah! a huge & kettle. are they still giving them away?


--pete

[shooter]

Never build for a musician "in search of...". 

YUP, I knew artists with brushes were odd
Artists with guitars got us paint slingers beat hands down 

[vampwizzard]

Hi,
A friend has asked about a 40-50w amp that plays clean. Really really clean. He will probably dime it most times and doesn’t want any breakup.

He also wants a single 12” with it.

I have a Celestion Classic Lead 80 which hopefully should stay clean.

But what about a circuit? He wants reverb but i could use the Fender Reverb circuit if someone recommends an amp that doesn’t have it.

He wants TMB controls and reverb only.

Ampeg?

Thanks!

What does he play now? thats going to give you an idea. IDK about the dont go tone chasing.. the discussions are cheap, steer them into a flavor, guarantee they'll pay for it, then go for it. If theyre serious about it theyll find a way to try a couple of example amps. For instance, I had a buddy try a matchless and a two rock to see the difference between the cleanest vox style and fender style amps. Helped tremendously in his search. I did very little other than give suggestions.

If they dont pay, or if you feel they wont, then definitely avoid that situation.

[Ritchie200]

What's wrong Pete?  You got something against the Germans? 

Hey I got a Hughes and Kettner 100 watt head and it sounds just as good as a JCM800 and has channel switching to boot. It also has a built in Cream Machine, which sounds amazing. Fortunately it is a pre plexi-front-panel-light-up-disco-baby-blue-ridiculousness.  It is my fav low power amp behind my fav amp.  I think they build good stuff!

The Puretone sounds like a keeper.

Jim

[Ritchie200]

Here's another good video.  To get past the blah blah blah, he starts playing it around 6:30.  Wow....

Jim

[DummyLoad]

pre plexi-front-panel-light-up-disco-baby-blue-ridiculousness. exactly.

just because it's german doesn't make it better. :p

they sound ok. worth the money? up to the user.

--pete