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What's a good combo amp

Started by jimilee, February 24, 2014, 12:59:34 AM

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jimilee

So I was looking at a Bugera V5 but I'm finding mixed reviews. My brother has a 22 that I like but I don't want to spend that much. What's a good amp for 199 or less? Tubed is good and I really like the fender sound, been listening to blues lately.
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

atreidesheir

find a fender champion 600.  It is little, sounds great and can be found @$100. 
For $200 smackers, check out the a Yamaha THR amp.  I want one badly.  Not tube, but may be better.  I am serious.
Technically we are all half-centaur. - Nick Offerman

Leevibe

The Fender Pro Jr is a stellar sounding little combo. You might be able to find one used on CL in that ballpark. Mine has NFB disconnected and it rocks!

miter53

There are a lot of mods online for the 600 if you feel like tinkering. I tweaked mine quite a bit. Step 1, replace the speaker and speaker cloth. Weber has a little speaker that fits fine. Check this out
http://www.300guitars.com/articles/hot-rodding-the-new-fender-champion-600/
"Only sick music makes money today."-Friedrich Nietzsche
My photography website: http://michaelteresko.com/

slimtriggers

If you don't go too crazy on the iron, you could probably build a head for that much, anyway.  I think I spent about $200-ish on my 18watt build. 

I used THIS circuit board.

Wouldn't be much good without a cab, I guess, so I'm not much help  ;D

flanagan0718

I'm a peavey guy. I loved my valve king 212. They make a 50 watt 112 version. I have a peavey prowler right now. Sounds good I also had a fender pro jr but I use  a lot of distortion so didn't fit the bill for me, however the clean is beautiful on those.


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pryde

Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 12:59:34 AM
So I was looking at a Bugera V5 but I'm finding mixed reviews. My brother has a 22 that I like but I don't want to spend that much. What's a good amp for 199 or less? Tubed is good and I really like the fender sound, been listening to blues lately.

What Fender sound you after? Tweed, Blackface, etc. Very different worlds that might help you narrow down some choices


jimilee

Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

pryde

Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 02:18:19 AM
I like the tweed sound

Alright sounds like a perfect opportunity to build yourself a KILLER little amp. Maybe a bit more than $200 but so worth it.

Fender F51 Champ
Tons of kits out there and a great first amp to build (assuming you have not built before)


jimilee


Quote from: pryde on February 24, 2014, 03:15:18 AM
Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 02:18:19 AM
I like the tweed sound

Alright sounds like a perfect opportunity to build yourself a KILLER little amp. Maybe a bit more than $200 but so worth it.

Fender F51 Champ
Tons of kits out there and a great first amp to build (assuming you have not built before)
I have not, challenge accepted.
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Leevibe

Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 03:15:58 AM

Quote from: pryde on February 24, 2014, 03:15:18 AM
Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 02:18:19 AM
I like the tweed sound

Alright sounds like a perfect opportunity to build yourself a KILLER little amp. Maybe a bit more than $200 but so worth it.

Fender F51 Champ
Tons of kits out there and a great first amp to build (assuming you have not built before)
I have not, challenge accepted.

You're going to love it. I did a 5E3 tweed deluxe scratch build that is my pride and joy. If you want to keep the budget tight, you could try a Baby Will. I've done a couple of them as conversions from Epi Valve Jrs and they sound great. They are a simplified Marshall 18 watt lite IIb and they're PCB based and cheap!

http://www.guitaramplifierpcbs.com/liteiib.html


jimilee

Cool. The budget part is because I'm a bassist and will probably never be a rhythm guitar player in a band. Is hate to spend a lot but I want something that sounds good, a sub 200 tubed amps don't seem to be good quality.
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Leevibe

Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 04:17:56 AM
Cool. The budget part is because I'm a bassist and will probably never be a rhythm guitar player in a band. Is hate to spend a lot but I want something that sounds good, a sub 200 tubed amps don't seem to be good quality.

The Baby Will is fully tube except SS rectifier. It's a rock machine. I put VVRs in them too so I can get them cranked at reasonable volume. I put one on my tweed too. Works perfect!

jimilee

Looks good. Do they sell cabs also or just the pcb? I haven't looked too much at it just yet.
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Leevibe

Quote from: jimilee on February 24, 2014, 04:23:20 AM
Looks good. Do they sell cabs also or just the pcb? I haven't looked too much at it just yet.
Just the PCBs but there are detailed instructions and a good BOM. If you can pick up a VJ donor you have a cab, chassis, and power trafo already supplied. I've bought like new VJ's for under $80 on CL. You can't buy a cab and trafo that cheap. Then you can have fun retolexing and making your own face plate if you want. It's a great way to learn if you haven't done it before.

Here are the two I did. The white/black one is mine and the silver one I did for a good friend. I flipped the cabs and modified the front baffles and retolexed them. Controls are voltage, tone, volume. No bad settings and they take pedals great.

(Sorry I don't have the photo bucket thing figured out yet. I'll get there)