Riggin' Up the Average Joe way! Input/Suggestions welcomed.

[GrindCustoms]

Yaaaooowww!

Currently looking at getting myself a bedroom rocker setup to test out pedals... the goal and idea being, if with a hobbyist/budget oriented rig i can make my stuff sound bonkers, it should sound or have the ability to sound nice in most setup.

So i need a good budget guitar, single coils favored for this use so i can clearly hear the floor noise level of things... like with Compressors, etc.. pretty much made my choice on that, trading my Marshall 412 cab for a Squier CV Jaguar that i'm going to pick up this afternoon.

Where i need a bit of help is for the amp, i was thinking of small wattage Fender, Orange or Vox combos.

Definitly want something that have a good clean and that will take dirt pedals VERY well.

What do you guys have to suggest me?

Thanks

Rej

[GermanCdn]

Amp wise for bedroom rocker.....

Quick and easy - Fender Champ, the little 6" combo.  Decent cleans, single knob, small, picked mine up and Long and McQuade for $95 used.  It's the amp I keep on my build desk to quick test circuits.  Sounds good through a 2X12 too.  Drawbacks - not much in the way of tonal variety, turning it up means losing cleans as it's a single knob amp.  Epi Valve Jr. would work similarly.

Better Option - Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister, either 5W or 18W.  Can be obtained in a combo, has switchable output levels, excellent cleans and dirt on its own, 3 band EQ, takes pedals really well.  Drawbacks - a lot more moolah than the Champ.

Stay away from - the cheapie solid state Vox stuff (with the exception of the Pathfinder, IIRC it actually worked pretty well).  Put any kind of dirt in front of it and it gets really brutally ugly quick.

If you can find it, the Peavey Royal 5W combo would probably work as well, though I have no experience with it.

[billstein]

I love my Fender Blues Jr. 15 watts of awesome toanz and it sounds great with pedals.

[Scruffie]

What about a Vox AC4, has a built in attenuator, fairly clean and they aren't too pricey.

[midwayfair]

Hot Rod Deluxe. It is, I believe, still the most popular amp on the planet. It's also my bench amp despite its size and loudness. Mine has a variac installed.

It's still better to have multiple families of amps around the house -- some things just aren't good pairs but a pedal might sound glorious through one particular family of amps. I'd say that three amps could get you there pretty easily: Vox (AC15), Marshall (18W), and Fender (HRD).

I would NOT use a low-wattage amp, because it'll be single-ended. Push-pull amps cancel odd order harmonics (which are the main harmonics generated by power tubes*), which makes dirt in particular sound VERY different through them compared to single-ended; low-wattage also means low headroom and can give you a false impression of the distortion generated by circuits that are supposed to be clean, or make you think your tremolo isn't working.

*I find it particularly ironic that so many people will, in the same breath, claim they want only nice even order harmonics but call preamp tube distortion harsh and say that they want more power tube distortion.

[mjcyates]

Peavey Classic 30 or a Carvin Nomad would be good choices.

[GermanCdn]

It's still better to have multiple families of amps around the house -- some things just aren't good pairs but a pedal might sound glorious through one particular family of amps. I'd say that three amps could get you there pretty easily: Vox (AC15), Marshall (18W), and Fender (HRD).

In keeping with Jon's suggestion of different types of amps, to cover the tonal areas listed, and if you want to spend the money - The Mesa Boogie Transatlantic (either the 15 or the 30).  And I know you're a Mesa guy anyway.

[GrindCustoms]

Fender Blues Jr. got a bit of my favor as it's relatively cheap... so it would be a nice addition.

Otherwise for loud testing or Push-Pull duties, i have my Mesa MarkIV, '68 Bassman and SLO. Also have a highly modded Epi Valve Jr and a Firefly.... that's quite enough variety i think. With the MarkIV i can emulate bunch of amps out there by swapping the power tubes, Pentode/Triode modes, different powering options... it's pretty much like a POD but all in analog tubey goodness.

Also have a Fender HDR that i grabbed from a customer and currently playing through that.. but the thing is just damn too loud... ...though... it takes all the dirts and what not VERY well.

[jubal81]

Blues Jr. are insanely popular and being el84, should be close enough to AC15 to be a middle of the road option.

[billstein]

The Blues Jr. comes in two flavors. The III and the NOS (tweed). The III has a bright mod that some don't like, describing it as "Ice Pick" highs. The NOS has an upgraded speaker and is warmer and fatter. Since you mentioned using a single coil guitar I would think the NOS might be a better choice.
I have the NOS and use it with both single coils and HBs and am thrilled with the sound of both. Plus, like I said before, this amp loves pedals. I've owned it now for almost a year and have no buyers remorse whatsoever.

[playpunk]

I have a classic vibe strat and a Vox AC4. This thread, though, makes me want another amp.

[madbean]

What about a Vox AC4, has a built in attenuator, fairly clean and they aren't too pricey.

I use this primarily for testing and honestly would recommend against it. I find a Champ to be much more balanced overall for doing objective listening tests. I have modified mine a bit to round it out, but it just isn't great for all dirt pedals (btw it is a great little amp on its own). It's clean threshold can actually be quite low, too, but this also relates to the speaker (I have a Blue Dog in mine now).

The newer AC4 actually has a master instead of the wattage selector, plus bass/treb controls. Really wanna get one of those (look I'm a Vox whore okay?)

Anyway - vintage Champ all the way! You can usually score a re-tubed/re-capped 70's for $350 or so.

[blearyeyes]

For testing pedals in the long run, I would say to aim for a tube amp and a solid state amp as well.
I have a 76 strat I use with a split coil humbucker in the bridge so I can try both single and humbucker.
All I could afford was a Bugera 22 watt tube amp. The Bugera is a Chinese clone of an older Peavey built with bubble gum and scotch tape.
and I picked up a Marshall 150 watt Valvestate which is loud and has no caricature in the clean channel. Oh well, some day....

[GrindCustoms]

What is you guys opinion about the Vox Night Train, they have the 15watt head locally. I remember playing them when they came out and digging it, just can't remember how it was behaving with pedals.

Also saw that they had a TransAtlantic but i'm not able to bond with that amp, one of my friend have one, i've spent lots of time on it and it's not cutting it, like most Mesa amps.... only Boogers series that i like and always find my sound with are the Mark series.... OH! a Mark 25 HAHAHAHA.. no way.... that ain't what Joe would buy.

[playpunk]

A vht special might be a good choice too. Those can be had cheap used


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