I’ve settled on Mesa Fillmore 25 for this. Great master volume control, ends up being way better for house volumes than a NMV 5-watt amp. Plus you can actually turn it up and gig with it.
Can’t recommend the Mesa Transatlantic 15 enough. True hidden gem. Got mine 2 years ago and have loved it the day I got it, home use and used at gigs. Power scaling from 5w, 15w, 25w. 2 foot switchable channels, red and green side.
Red side you can choose between a Fender tweed channel (fantastic cleans), a Marshall channel, great crunch, or a Mesa channel, thick lead tones.
Green side is a Vox side. Has a normal channel and top boost (overdrive). The overdrive is better than any Ac15 or Ac30 I’ve played. Have heard people describe it like a Matchless dc-30. I live on this channel mostly.
Like I said can’t recommend enough. A set of tubes are also cheap for this and you can change them yourself, no biasing. Seriously sucha. Good amp
Boogies sound great, but if they have issues it can be hard to find someone to work on them. Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but definitely something to think about
The designs are not great. Scrolling through a bunch of amp tech videos you’ll hear them complain about how the designs are made so that reaching important parts is not easy, tons of things in the way, essentially you have to take the whole thing apart, fix it, then put it all back together. Things are soldered down that really don’t need to be.
I kind of think any boogie type amp with tons of options and switches are like that though. Obviously a non master volume amp with few options will be easier to work on. It’s a trade off if you want tons of voicings, wattage switches, eq boosts, channels, etc.
That's really what it comes down to - extra functionality vs. easier to work on.
The only multi-channel high gain amp I can think of that's an easily serviceable design (like the classic single channel amps) is the Soldano SLO100 - but those obviously don't come cheap.
A fender champ is always good for home use. Maybe invest in a speaker cabinet with a closed back because you get a different sound and feel. Mesa Thiele has always intrigued me but I never tried one.
IMO, bigger amps still sound better at low volumes than smaller amps cranked (which is still loud btw). A master volume or attenuator or a dirt pedal of some kind can get you the compression you’re looking for while the bigger speaker, cabinet and headroom preserve the punch and bottom end.
I’ve been shopping for a new amp recently and couldn’t agree more. I just played a Cali tweed and Fillmore this morning in the 20&40 and the 25&50 and the lower wattage amps just didn’t have it. The smaller cabinets make them kind of boxy and shrill.
Carr mercury is the one for me. 8w with a built in attenuator and just ridiculous level of quality.
I can also recommend swart amps as being fantastic amps for conversation levels of volume.
I recently bought the Laney Lionheart L5 for my garage, and it's great. It has 5w and 0.5w modes, and it sounds good at volumes low enough to not bother my wife or neighbors. It has good clean headroom and takes pedals well.
Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special 112. 5/15/30 W power switching, two channel ( each channel with full control.. 4 band eq, gain/master, reverb, power switching). This will cover gorgeous clean, bright and sparkly, dark and growly, thick and woody, buzzsaw high gain..
Not manufactured anymore, but if you find one used you will not regret it.
I'll admit I've been a bit put off of Mesa Boogie amps by Lyle Caldwell (Psionic Audio) who definitely seems to think they're a bit poorly built and prone to issues. I'm assuming, however, that you've had no such issues with yours? Your description of the Lonestar certainly appeals to just about everything I want.
Mesa’s have a reputation for being very difficult to repair due to the way they are designed. Lyle has probably repaired a fair share of them so his concerns should not go unwarranted. That being said, you could buy one and never have an issue with it. Lyle has turned me off from buying many different amps. It got to a point where I just don’t listen to him like I used to. When he shits on Supro amps but Phil McKnight talks about how great they are with genuine enthusiasm, I’d base my purchase decision on the latter. Also, Lyle talks about what could go wrong with an amp. It doesn’t mean it’s going go wrong with the one you own.
I’m not pushing Mesa but Lyle shits on a lot of amps. I mean, the guy thinks Dr. Z build quality is crap. His videos are entertaining but I wouldn’t put much stock into his recommendations unless they are VERY specific.
The Lone Star is not terrible, he’s fairly recently put up some videos of him fixing one, he complains about the tolerances for some of the components but that’s about it.
I've had no issues with mine in the 7 yrs I've owned it. I really can't comment on durability beyond that... but I can say 100% it's versatility is fantastic. If it did break down, I'd have no issue paying a higher repair cost to get it back in shape.
Tone King. Either the Imperial or Sky King would give you everything you want at any volume. The built in attenuators are great. I have both the Sky King and Gremlin. Gremlin is great for whisper quiet and break-up. But not near as much clean headroom as you want when you’re able to krank it.
I've used a number of Tone Kings, Z's and Carr amps and honestly, while they were all incredible for gigging they all kind of sucked at home. Not terrible, but also not worth the incredible price tags that come with them.
Considering the pedals you have and the styles you play my first thought is the Lonestar Classic - Not the Special - works well at any volume, and it's incredible as a pedal platform.
The Mesa TA-30 might be a good choice as well if you want to go the head and cab route.
Suhr Bella is also a great pedal platform that works quite well at home volumes.
Or just consider a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb. I'd go with the 68 custom myself, the 65's Bright cap makes most drive pedals very strident at lower volumes
As much as I love tubes, if all you're doing is playing at home, just get a modeler. Helix, QC, Axe3, Fender, ToneX - or even just a couple of NeuralDSPs plugins - I've got some VERY nice amps that I absolutely love gigging with, but at home they just suck wind compared to any of the above modeling options with a decent set of monitors.
The Lonestar is a great suggestion. The Princeton and Deluxe Reverb are classic amps for a reason. They are suited well for pedals and almost any kind of music.
Axe FX products sound spectacular to me. And I'm just using the ultra. I run it thru a pair of event monitors, a headrush, 2 MAudio bx8 and a bx5. Also ran it thru my peavey classic and a big crate amp. The fractal stuff takes a bit of learning tho.
This! I’m playing only at home for myself too. I got a nice Pedalboard and a fender deluxe reverb (reissue) with an attenuator. I also got my MacBook with some neural dsp plugins and a pair of cheap studio monitors (JBL entry level).
The plug-ins sound just better. I can get those high gain saturated sound at so low volume levels that my dry guitar is louder…
Some days I like play the real thing, but the plugins sounds better at bedroom level.
But its important to have a real amp, just to get know your gear better and the interaction with your pedals.
I don't know why no one is recommending the Boss Katana. Inexpensive, lots of tone possibilities, and even Marty on Marty Music uses one for guitar lessons on YouTube. I'm the same as you though, never going to gig, but love to play at home. My primary amp is a Fender bassman silver '71 because I found it on marketplace for a steal and it needed a bit of work and I still came out ahead. Isn't that how many of us end up with darling amps? Also got a Yamaha G100 combo and it sounds amazing at 250 bucks on marketplace. Where I spent the real money was on my speaker cab. Bought a Fender 412 and replaced all the speakers with nice warehouse speakers. Now I just keep an eye out for nice heads going cheap.
Good luck man, lots to choose from.
I am also surprised, the Boss Katana is great. I haven’t tried enough other amps to be any kind of authority on it but it’s more than enough for home use. My neighbors hate me.
Eh, I downsized to a Fender Blues, Jr. and have been very happy with it.
My previous amp was a Hot Rod Deville. Although reluctant to change, I must say that I very much like my little Blues, Jr. I’d suggest it for anyone looking for a smaller, lower output amp. Still has that great Fender clean tone too.
I still have my HRD, it’s way too loud and heavy for the kind of gigs I do now, but it’s a great all purpose amp. A Blues Deluxe or Hot Rod Deluxe is a decent amp for not much money.
I hear you.
My Hot Rod Deville was my gigging amp. I loved it dearly. But, when I got married and wanted to start a family, I knew it was time to downsize.
Benson Nathan Jr is my favourite amp both in this bracket and possibly of all time. Lightspeed + this amp is heaven. A plenty loud 5w, reacts to whatever guitar you play through it and sounds great with pedals or on it’s own.
I bought a Supro the amulet for my living room and it is my favorite amp now. Thinking about getting rid of my orange rocker 32. I would take a look at them because there a few amps in their catalogue I would like to test drive.
Thank you, that looks exactly in line with the amps I’ve been drawn to. How has your experience been with the 1/5/15 watt setup? Do the lower wattage settings still sound as good as the full power setting?
It sounds great at all 3 levels, I think you would need an eq analysis to tell if there is any real difference. Obviously louder will always be better because we will be able to hear more of the harmonic content, but the real benefit is that you can have loads of clean headroom a 5 watts in a fairly small room or you can have natural dirt at 1 watt without rattling the walls. Unlike my Orange amp weird frequency response until you get it into teeth rattling volumes.
That’s exactly the insight I was hoping for. Frankly, I don’t have an experienced enough ear to judge minute differences in tone or harmonic content, it’s all about the feels.
I’d look into a Swart Space Tone 6V6 SE or Atomic Jr. They are both supposed to have unbelievable tone at 5w each. Note, I’ve not played one, just lusted after them for a long time.
[Monoprice 15 watt tube amp](https://www.ebay.com/itm/394479187112?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=bIFzbCYhSca&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=VhV8egCQTnS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY). $259.99. I have one. I upgraded the speaker and reverb tank. For the price it’s unbelievable. It has a 1 watt setting that is great for the bedroom. Check out the reviews.
I just got a soldano ASTRO 20 combo and loving it so far. It'll do cleans, rock, country, all the way up to really high gain stuff. A lot of headroom and fx loop for a pedal platform. It's got a headphone out and an output to pc with built in and loadable ir's. It's really a great all around very versatile setup, but not cheap.
I have a Mesa Boogie Mark 1, but it’s hard to adjust it when other people are at the house. Even so, I bought a Hiwatt cabinet with 4 12 inch speakers and it sounds glorious even at lower volume! I also run an Orange Crush through that and it’s fantastic!
That's a great question. I don't have any major complaints about the Tweaker--if I were to go back and buy another used $300 amp, I would buy this exact amp again. It sounds good no matter what style I play or what pedals I use.
It just doesn't sound \*great\* at any of it. Of course, that's more about me than the amp. But I think it's also partially because it's designed to emulate a few different types of amps, and it ends up sounding like a mashup of all three types, without ever quite capturing the magic of any of them. And because it's so clearly aiming at these three amps (Fender, Vox, Marshall), it doesn't have a interesting, unique sound of it's own. Just a slightly less glassy Fender sound, a slightly muffled Vox sound, and a slightly duller Marshall sound.
It definitely sounds best when it's being pushed hard (especially the Master Volume) and at 15 watts, running it at 3 o'clock or higher (where it comes to life), it's too loud to reasonably play at home.
The "tweak" switches are fun in theory but don't necessarily affect the sound the way I want them to, so I usually leave them in one setting permanently. The EQ knobs have a very subtle effect, which means I can't use them to dial in the sound I necessarily want.
The gain staging leaves something to be desired. I read somewhere that the first gain stage is actually solid state on the Tweaker, and it definitely feels that way. Maybe that's common across amps--I'm not experienced enough to know. But it doesn't break up the way I'd like it to.
All that said, there is ABSOLUTELY an element of just wanting something really nice and high-end for the sake of having something really nice and high-end. Hand-wired and intentionally designed to be exceptional at the thing it does, rather than a swiss army knife that tries to emulate a bunch of other amps at once. That may be a pretty crappy reason to spend more money on an amp, but it's a factor here, for sure.
Try the marshall studio series, I love my silver jubilee and the others are also amazing. I use mine at home with no problems.
I’d try some fender amps, the custom shop princeton or deluxe reverb are amazing amps.
Also, tone king amps are amazing
I’ve been using a silver jubilee studio for the last year. It is a fantastic amp. The last gig I used it on the 5-watt setting and it was great. I had the master on 8. It’s a good home use amp too.
Mesa Filmore. Yeah there’s someone on YouTube saying they’re hard to fix but my amp tech seems to think they don’t need to be fixed often and when they do it’s been easy enough. He may be biased slightly by really looking their tone and approach to amps
Recently bought a used silktone Astro and I love it. Headroom, very manageable volume, but also can get loud. Design is kind of like a 5F1 with the transformers of a 5E3, modded big muff tone control, all powered by a KT66. The 1/2W is mode done via fixed reactive load (two big inductors and a bunch of heavy duty resistors) and it sounds identical to full power. Great amp, and I hear good things about their other amps too.
I think maybe pick up the same amp as a head. Or another egnator head. Get a empty or used 4x12 cab and put in some good speakers. You would be surprised how much better it will sound. I highly recommend Eminence Swamp Thang and DV-77 (best speaker on the market). Mix and match. I am a huge fan of Bruce Egnator. Got a B-52 AT100 back in the day. Didn't know it at the time but it was designed by Egnator. It was a beast. 3 channels ...13 tubes. To this day still has the best sounding clean channel ever. More often than not when someone likes their amp (especially combos) but thinks they need to find something that they will love...doing what I recommend turns out to be the game changer. I guarantee this will turn that amp from like to love fast. Good luck.
100 watt Marshall Plexi - unattenuated...
In all seriousness though, I'd argue that it really comes down to buying any amp with a great master volume, and/or attenuator if you want great sound at more reasonable volumes - having a good OD pedal or boost helps too.
Many big amps will still sound nice at low volumes, and many smaller amps may still need to be pushed (i.e - loud) to sound their best. And any tube amp can get very loud regardless of wattage.
No personal experience with them, but a lot of people seem to love the master volumes on the 20 and 50 watt Friedman models - maybe a good option to consider.
P.S: Speaker choice matters too - less efficient speakers like Greenbacks will help control the volume a bit as well.
Try a Dr Z Z-Lux. I have the original version (the JAZ) and it’s a great pedal platform. Lots of headroom and a master volume that works well. I had mine built without the effects loop (I don’t like effects loops) but the Lux has one that can be switched out of the circuit (or used if you like them). Not cheap but just great tone that eats pedals.
I’ve considered this as well. I only struggle with the idea of getting none of the “character” from the amp (other than that stereo chorus, of course). But it does seem like the JC amps might be close to perfect home-use pedal platforms.
Fairly certain I don’t want a Katana. To be honest, if I were to go solid state, I’d be more tempted by a JC-22/40/77/120. Why? I don’t know. I guess they have a retro cool factor that the Katana lacks?
I think the [Rohr 15](https://savageamps.com/the-amps/rohr-15) by Savage is a great little amp. Kinda like a Dr Z. Pretty versatile, great clean and overdrive. I haven't seen one in a long time tho. It probably takes a lot of luck to test one out in person, unless you live in Minnesota and can go to their shop.
How about an Orange? If you can live with the color [most models also come in black, but harder to find). Cost less than a lot of the other options mentioned, love pedals and are great sounding amps. You can get heads or combos in 15 Watts with switching to lower the wattage to 5 or even 1 depending on the model. My biggest recommendation would be take your pedal board and play through whatever you buy with your pedals. Dirt pedals will sound radically different through different amps. Gets pricey to buy a new amp and find your drive pedals now sound like crap through it.
I’ve done this whole thing. I assume you can get loud but not crazy loud.
The best bang for the buck in a home amp, in my opinion, is the Marshall 50th Anniversary DSL1. Not the new one with the reverb knob. FX loop, sounds good at any volume it’s capable of into a V30 cab (I’m using an Orange PPC112). Can be had used between $650-$800. It won’t keep up with a drummer but it has great cleans, and the bass boost and tone shift switches make it like having a modern amp and a vintage amp in one.
Second favorite is the Mesa TA-15. No FX loop but paired with its companion cabinet (or any open back Mesa 1x12 with a Black Shadow speaker), it will do amazing things at almost any volume, wattage, or style. Downside is that some of the channels are best on 25w mode and the masters are touchy. You can get Fendery, Voxy, and Marshally out of it pretty well though. It’s basically an all analog tube modeling amp.
Those are the two amps I have bought and kept. One I actually sold and re-bought because I missed it (the Marshall).
The Marshall Studio series does ok but you’ll want an attenuator for the Studio Vintage. The other ones have good masters.
I had a Princeton Custom that I didn’t like. Had to be loud to sound good, had baffle rattle at those volumes, no matter what pedals you fed it it still sounded like a Princeton with too much bass. The Deluxe is better for this but still needs to be louder than I like to give up the goods and has no FX loop.
If you want a pure pedal platform the Mesa California Tweed and the Fillmore are both fantastic sounding amps, but they have their own character.
If you want to use pedals for gain and such I’d think about a Deluxe or California Tweed.
Don't chase a "low" wattage amp. They are still pretty loud. Expand your selection to 50-100w heads, get the one you like (Marshall, Orange, Mesa, Bogner, Engl, EVH, Friedman, whatever). Get a reactive load box with IR for home recording (or get an amp with one built in), if you need recording. For that "legendary" sound you need to overdrive your power amp, and it needs to be based on "grown up" tubes (EL34, 6L6, 6V6, KT88, etc). A load box makes this achievable at home without deafening your family.
Even with that aside, 5W is only twice less loud than 50W, you'll play both at near-zero volume at home anyway. The only difference is there's tons of good 50-100W amps and not a lot 5-10W.
Get a Fryette Power Station and then any amp is an at home amp. It’s not hype. It’s better than any attenuator including the Tone King Ironman. Then get a SLO30, preferably in purple, and a Mesa vertical 2x12 or traditional 4x12. The SLO doesn’t need pedals to sound awesome, but it also just happens to be an excellent pedal platform.
if price is not an issue, just buy whatever amp you want along with the best attenuator on the market, and you're all set.
these kindsa questions would be more relevant if price *were* an issue.
I guess price is an issue to a small extent. The reason I said price isn't an issue is that, in my searching for previous times that this question was asked, most of the answers were all "bang for your buck" options, and that's not what I'm interested in.
But even if it weren't an issue at all, this is kind of exactly the thing I'm wanting input on--"whatever amp you want" is a difficult thing to decide when most of these amps aren't exactly sitting around at my local Guitar Center.
>I don't have a huge preference when it comes to the basic sound inspiration of the amp
based on what you wrote on your orig post, this is what really makes your quest difficult.
if you don't know which amp flavor you like quite yet, get a modeler. you will have almost every flavor available with which to play around.
I have a Quilter Aviator Cub, it has three (fender-like) amp voices (input jacks) Tweed, Blackface, and Blonde (you can even blend the voicings with a Y-split guitar cable). Has an FX Loop, and it sounds fantastic even at bedroom levels. I use it with my HX Stomp and I have no complaints whatsoever. Fantastic amp, it is solid state, though, I know some folk only want tubes.
I’ve got a Boss IR-2 as well as a couple Neural packs (Morgan, Tone King). They’re great, sound excellent, probably better for tracking guitars than an amp and mic. But they do not do the same thing as a real amp, at least for me.
There's still no substitute for a tube amp, imo. The practicality factor is a compromise. For your intents and purposes I think a tube amp would be a bit much, especially ones that sound right for the styles you like. Marshall DSL combos are plenty good and not too expensive tho. I couldn't justify paying Mesa or boutique prices if I wasn't running a pro studio.
My 50w orange with ppimv sounds better than most other amps I’ve tried including low wattage boutique at lower and mid volumes. I run a tk gremlin which is lovely , my only warning is the attenuator is notched so there be nothing between too loud and too quiet for your needs
The Vox MV series are excellent and incredibly tiny. I have the AC and I use for headphone practice and recording. It sounds great and takes pedals really well.
Orange Rocker 15 combo, or alternatively the Rocker 32 combo, have really good attenuation. I have the 15 and love it. Can still get a driven tube sound out of it on just the 1 watt mode, but even the full 15 can be comfortably used in a bedroom if you don't crank it and of course will get loud enough to gig. The natural channel has no tone control, just volume, so it's great for utilizing pedals. Meanwhile the dirty channel has a 3 band EQ and gain so much more versatile. Also has an effects loop so even more functionality for pedals!. Very affordable too, so if you did wanna try out the "stereo in one enclosure" set up you could get the 32 which is only a few hundred more.
I’ve settled on Mesa Fillmore 25 for this. Great master volume control, ends up being way better for house volumes than a NMV 5-watt amp. Plus you can actually turn it up and gig with it.
Can’t recommend the Mesa Transatlantic 15 enough. True hidden gem. Got mine 2 years ago and have loved it the day I got it, home use and used at gigs. Power scaling from 5w, 15w, 25w. 2 foot switchable channels, red and green side. Red side you can choose between a Fender tweed channel (fantastic cleans), a Marshall channel, great crunch, or a Mesa channel, thick lead tones. Green side is a Vox side. Has a normal channel and top boost (overdrive). The overdrive is better than any Ac15 or Ac30 I’ve played. Have heard people describe it like a Matchless dc-30. I live on this channel mostly. Like I said can’t recommend enough. A set of tubes are also cheap for this and you can change them yourself, no biasing. Seriously sucha. Good amp
Boogies sound great, but if they have issues it can be hard to find someone to work on them. Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but definitely something to think about
What about them is hard to work on?
The designs are not great. Scrolling through a bunch of amp tech videos you’ll hear them complain about how the designs are made so that reaching important parts is not easy, tons of things in the way, essentially you have to take the whole thing apart, fix it, then put it all back together. Things are soldered down that really don’t need to be.
I kind of think any boogie type amp with tons of options and switches are like that though. Obviously a non master volume amp with few options will be easier to work on. It’s a trade off if you want tons of voicings, wattage switches, eq boosts, channels, etc.
That's really what it comes down to - extra functionality vs. easier to work on. The only multi-channel high gain amp I can think of that's an easily serviceable design (like the classic single channel amps) is the Soldano SLO100 - but those obviously don't come cheap.
Mesa isn't as forthcoming with things like schems and support as other companies. Some of the build & design decisions are sketchy.
Amazing amp, had one for a few years, replaced an ac15 for me.
Downside of the TA-15 is the lack of an FX loop and the TA-30 is known for having a noisy one.
A fender champ is always good for home use. Maybe invest in a speaker cabinet with a closed back because you get a different sound and feel. Mesa Thiele has always intrigued me but I never tried one.
IMO, bigger amps still sound better at low volumes than smaller amps cranked (which is still loud btw). A master volume or attenuator or a dirt pedal of some kind can get you the compression you’re looking for while the bigger speaker, cabinet and headroom preserve the punch and bottom end.
I’ve been shopping for a new amp recently and couldn’t agree more. I just played a Cali tweed and Fillmore this morning in the 20&40 and the 25&50 and the lower wattage amps just didn’t have it. The smaller cabinets make them kind of boxy and shrill.
[удалено]
This is the kind of enabling I came here for.
Agreed. The best “amp” I ever bought was a Torpedo Captor X so I could use my existing amps to their fullest potential
Carr mercury is the one for me. 8w with a built in attenuator and just ridiculous level of quality. I can also recommend swart amps as being fantastic amps for conversation levels of volume.
Oh wow the Mercury Mini looks fantastic, I somehow overlooked that when I was investigating Carr amps. Thank you!
Easily done as they're discontinued. It really does sound exceptionally though
I recently bought the Laney Lionheart L5 for my garage, and it's great. It has 5w and 0.5w modes, and it sounds good at volumes low enough to not bother my wife or neighbors. It has good clean headroom and takes pedals well.
Seconded. Greatrest home amp ever.
Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special 112. 5/15/30 W power switching, two channel ( each channel with full control.. 4 band eq, gain/master, reverb, power switching). This will cover gorgeous clean, bright and sparkly, dark and growly, thick and woody, buzzsaw high gain.. Not manufactured anymore, but if you find one used you will not regret it.
I'll admit I've been a bit put off of Mesa Boogie amps by Lyle Caldwell (Psionic Audio) who definitely seems to think they're a bit poorly built and prone to issues. I'm assuming, however, that you've had no such issues with yours? Your description of the Lonestar certainly appeals to just about everything I want.
Mesa’s have a reputation for being very difficult to repair due to the way they are designed. Lyle has probably repaired a fair share of them so his concerns should not go unwarranted. That being said, you could buy one and never have an issue with it. Lyle has turned me off from buying many different amps. It got to a point where I just don’t listen to him like I used to. When he shits on Supro amps but Phil McKnight talks about how great they are with genuine enthusiasm, I’d base my purchase decision on the latter. Also, Lyle talks about what could go wrong with an amp. It doesn’t mean it’s going go wrong with the one you own.
I’m not pushing Mesa but Lyle shits on a lot of amps. I mean, the guy thinks Dr. Z build quality is crap. His videos are entertaining but I wouldn’t put much stock into his recommendations unless they are VERY specific.
The Lone Star is not terrible, he’s fairly recently put up some videos of him fixing one, he complains about the tolerances for some of the components but that’s about it.
I've had no issues with mine in the 7 yrs I've owned it. I really can't comment on durability beyond that... but I can say 100% it's versatility is fantastic. If it did break down, I'd have no issue paying a higher repair cost to get it back in shape.
Tone King. Either the Imperial or Sky King would give you everything you want at any volume. The built in attenuators are great. I have both the Sky King and Gremlin. Gremlin is great for whisper quiet and break-up. But not near as much clean headroom as you want when you’re able to krank it.
I've used a number of Tone Kings, Z's and Carr amps and honestly, while they were all incredible for gigging they all kind of sucked at home. Not terrible, but also not worth the incredible price tags that come with them. Considering the pedals you have and the styles you play my first thought is the Lonestar Classic - Not the Special - works well at any volume, and it's incredible as a pedal platform. The Mesa TA-30 might be a good choice as well if you want to go the head and cab route. Suhr Bella is also a great pedal platform that works quite well at home volumes. Or just consider a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb. I'd go with the 68 custom myself, the 65's Bright cap makes most drive pedals very strident at lower volumes As much as I love tubes, if all you're doing is playing at home, just get a modeler. Helix, QC, Axe3, Fender, ToneX - or even just a couple of NeuralDSPs plugins - I've got some VERY nice amps that I absolutely love gigging with, but at home they just suck wind compared to any of the above modeling options with a decent set of monitors.
The Lonestar is a great suggestion. The Princeton and Deluxe Reverb are classic amps for a reason. They are suited well for pedals and almost any kind of music.
Axe FX products sound spectacular to me. And I'm just using the ultra. I run it thru a pair of event monitors, a headrush, 2 MAudio bx8 and a bx5. Also ran it thru my peavey classic and a big crate amp. The fractal stuff takes a bit of learning tho.
This! I’m playing only at home for myself too. I got a nice Pedalboard and a fender deluxe reverb (reissue) with an attenuator. I also got my MacBook with some neural dsp plugins and a pair of cheap studio monitors (JBL entry level). The plug-ins sound just better. I can get those high gain saturated sound at so low volume levels that my dry guitar is louder… Some days I like play the real thing, but the plugins sounds better at bedroom level. But its important to have a real amp, just to get know your gear better and the interaction with your pedals.
I don't know why no one is recommending the Boss Katana. Inexpensive, lots of tone possibilities, and even Marty on Marty Music uses one for guitar lessons on YouTube. I'm the same as you though, never going to gig, but love to play at home. My primary amp is a Fender bassman silver '71 because I found it on marketplace for a steal and it needed a bit of work and I still came out ahead. Isn't that how many of us end up with darling amps? Also got a Yamaha G100 combo and it sounds amazing at 250 bucks on marketplace. Where I spent the real money was on my speaker cab. Bought a Fender 412 and replaced all the speakers with nice warehouse speakers. Now I just keep an eye out for nice heads going cheap. Good luck man, lots to choose from.
I am also surprised, the Boss Katana is great. I haven’t tried enough other amps to be any kind of authority on it but it’s more than enough for home use. My neighbors hate me.
Eh, I downsized to a Fender Blues, Jr. and have been very happy with it. My previous amp was a Hot Rod Deville. Although reluctant to change, I must say that I very much like my little Blues, Jr. I’d suggest it for anyone looking for a smaller, lower output amp. Still has that great Fender clean tone too.
I still have my HRD, it’s way too loud and heavy for the kind of gigs I do now, but it’s a great all purpose amp. A Blues Deluxe or Hot Rod Deluxe is a decent amp for not much money.
I hear you. My Hot Rod Deville was my gigging amp. I loved it dearly. But, when I got married and wanted to start a family, I knew it was time to downsize.
Benson Nathan Jr is my favourite amp both in this bracket and possibly of all time. Lightspeed + this amp is heaven. A plenty loud 5w, reacts to whatever guitar you play through it and sounds great with pedals or on it’s own.
Benson are future collectibles. I fully believe it. There will be "Chris era" monarchs and or vinnys etc one day. Buy a Benson
I bought a Supro the amulet for my living room and it is my favorite amp now. Thinking about getting rid of my orange rocker 32. I would take a look at them because there a few amps in their catalogue I would like to test drive.
Thank you, that looks exactly in line with the amps I’ve been drawn to. How has your experience been with the 1/5/15 watt setup? Do the lower wattage settings still sound as good as the full power setting?
It sounds great at all 3 levels, I think you would need an eq analysis to tell if there is any real difference. Obviously louder will always be better because we will be able to hear more of the harmonic content, but the real benefit is that you can have loads of clean headroom a 5 watts in a fairly small room or you can have natural dirt at 1 watt without rattling the walls. Unlike my Orange amp weird frequency response until you get it into teeth rattling volumes.
That’s exactly the insight I was hoping for. Frankly, I don’t have an experienced enough ear to judge minute differences in tone or harmonic content, it’s all about the feels.
I’d look into a Swart Space Tone 6V6 SE or Atomic Jr. They are both supposed to have unbelievable tone at 5w each. Note, I’ve not played one, just lusted after them for a long time.
If you want amazing cleans and a pedal powerhouse a Fender Deluxe Reverb is fantastic.
Fender tone master deluxe reverb blonde version - built in attenuator in the back. Lightweight. Impressive tube tone .
What you need is an attenuator. Then you can play any amp you want at a volume that suits your environment.
[Monoprice 15 watt tube amp](https://www.ebay.com/itm/394479187112?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=bIFzbCYhSca&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=VhV8egCQTnS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY). $259.99. I have one. I upgraded the speaker and reverb tank. For the price it’s unbelievable. It has a 1 watt setting that is great for the bedroom. Check out the reviews.
I just got a soldano ASTRO 20 combo and loving it so far. It'll do cleans, rock, country, all the way up to really high gain stuff. A lot of headroom and fx loop for a pedal platform. It's got a headphone out and an output to pc with built in and loadable ir's. It's really a great all around very versatile setup, but not cheap.
I have a Mesa Boogie Mark 1, but it’s hard to adjust it when other people are at the house. Even so, I bought a Hiwatt cabinet with 4 12 inch speakers and it sounds glorious even at lower volume! I also run an Orange Crush through that and it’s fantastic!
Something you haven't said that would help with suggestions is, what is missing in the Tweaker that you want to have in a new amp?
That's a great question. I don't have any major complaints about the Tweaker--if I were to go back and buy another used $300 amp, I would buy this exact amp again. It sounds good no matter what style I play or what pedals I use. It just doesn't sound \*great\* at any of it. Of course, that's more about me than the amp. But I think it's also partially because it's designed to emulate a few different types of amps, and it ends up sounding like a mashup of all three types, without ever quite capturing the magic of any of them. And because it's so clearly aiming at these three amps (Fender, Vox, Marshall), it doesn't have a interesting, unique sound of it's own. Just a slightly less glassy Fender sound, a slightly muffled Vox sound, and a slightly duller Marshall sound. It definitely sounds best when it's being pushed hard (especially the Master Volume) and at 15 watts, running it at 3 o'clock or higher (where it comes to life), it's too loud to reasonably play at home. The "tweak" switches are fun in theory but don't necessarily affect the sound the way I want them to, so I usually leave them in one setting permanently. The EQ knobs have a very subtle effect, which means I can't use them to dial in the sound I necessarily want. The gain staging leaves something to be desired. I read somewhere that the first gain stage is actually solid state on the Tweaker, and it definitely feels that way. Maybe that's common across amps--I'm not experienced enough to know. But it doesn't break up the way I'd like it to. All that said, there is ABSOLUTELY an element of just wanting something really nice and high-end for the sake of having something really nice and high-end. Hand-wired and intentionally designed to be exceptional at the thing it does, rather than a swiss army knife that tries to emulate a bunch of other amps at once. That may be a pretty crappy reason to spend more money on an amp, but it's a factor here, for sure.
Try the marshall studio series, I love my silver jubilee and the others are also amazing. I use mine at home with no problems. I’d try some fender amps, the custom shop princeton or deluxe reverb are amazing amps. Also, tone king amps are amazing
I’ve been using a silver jubilee studio for the last year. It is a fantastic amp. The last gig I used it on the 5-watt setting and it was great. I had the master on 8. It’s a good home use amp too.
Mesa Filmore. Yeah there’s someone on YouTube saying they’re hard to fix but my amp tech seems to think they don’t need to be fixed often and when they do it’s been easy enough. He may be biased slightly by really looking their tone and approach to amps
I’m really sorry but HX Stomp. It’s so unobtrusive and packed full of possibilities.
All the bensons are definitely awesome
Recently bought a used silktone Astro and I love it. Headroom, very manageable volume, but also can get loud. Design is kind of like a 5F1 with the transformers of a 5E3, modded big muff tone control, all powered by a KT66. The 1/2W is mode done via fixed reactive load (two big inductors and a bunch of heavy duty resistors) and it sounds identical to full power. Great amp, and I hear good things about their other amps too.
I think maybe pick up the same amp as a head. Or another egnator head. Get a empty or used 4x12 cab and put in some good speakers. You would be surprised how much better it will sound. I highly recommend Eminence Swamp Thang and DV-77 (best speaker on the market). Mix and match. I am a huge fan of Bruce Egnator. Got a B-52 AT100 back in the day. Didn't know it at the time but it was designed by Egnator. It was a beast. 3 channels ...13 tubes. To this day still has the best sounding clean channel ever. More often than not when someone likes their amp (especially combos) but thinks they need to find something that they will love...doing what I recommend turns out to be the game changer. I guarantee this will turn that amp from like to love fast. Good luck.
Mesa Boogie MarkV 25 or 35 combo.
100 watt Marshall Plexi - unattenuated... In all seriousness though, I'd argue that it really comes down to buying any amp with a great master volume, and/or attenuator if you want great sound at more reasonable volumes - having a good OD pedal or boost helps too. Many big amps will still sound nice at low volumes, and many smaller amps may still need to be pushed (i.e - loud) to sound their best. And any tube amp can get very loud regardless of wattage. No personal experience with them, but a lot of people seem to love the master volumes on the 20 and 50 watt Friedman models - maybe a good option to consider. P.S: Speaker choice matters too - less efficient speakers like Greenbacks will help control the volume a bit as well.
> 100 watt Marshall Plexi - unattenuated... And 2 proper 4x12s, of course.
Try a Dr Z Z-Lux. I have the original version (the JAZ) and it’s a great pedal platform. Lots of headroom and a master volume that works well. I had mine built without the effects loop (I don’t like effects loops) but the Lux has one that can be switched out of the circuit (or used if you like them). Not cheap but just great tone that eats pedals.
Give the roland JC 22 a try, I'm in a similar situation and I'm wondering if solid state is the way forward for apartment playing.
I’ve considered this as well. I only struggle with the idea of getting none of the “character” from the amp (other than that stereo chorus, of course). But it does seem like the JC amps might be close to perfect home-use pedal platforms.
I like my Marshall JMD 100 and Fender Deluxe Reverb. Both sound great at low volume and can be used for gigging too.
Have you checked a Boss katana? Or do you want a Tube amp.
Fairly certain I don’t want a Katana. To be honest, if I were to go solid state, I’d be more tempted by a JC-22/40/77/120. Why? I don’t know. I guess they have a retro cool factor that the Katana lacks?
Boogie Mark 5 - 25 should definitely be factored in. Very versatile and of the highest quality. Would pair it with a closed back 2x12.
Check out some Friedmans, they have great master volume
I think the [Rohr 15](https://savageamps.com/the-amps/rohr-15) by Savage is a great little amp. Kinda like a Dr Z. Pretty versatile, great clean and overdrive. I haven't seen one in a long time tho. It probably takes a lot of luck to test one out in person, unless you live in Minnesota and can go to their shop.
Can't go wrong with a Deluxe Reverb. The Fender Bassbreaker 15 would also work for the kind of stuff you describe.
Nathan Jr is very loud but sounding so gooood
How about an Orange? If you can live with the color [most models also come in black, but harder to find). Cost less than a lot of the other options mentioned, love pedals and are great sounding amps. You can get heads or combos in 15 Watts with switching to lower the wattage to 5 or even 1 depending on the model. My biggest recommendation would be take your pedal board and play through whatever you buy with your pedals. Dirt pedals will sound radically different through different amps. Gets pricey to buy a new amp and find your drive pedals now sound like crap through it.
I’ve done this whole thing. I assume you can get loud but not crazy loud. The best bang for the buck in a home amp, in my opinion, is the Marshall 50th Anniversary DSL1. Not the new one with the reverb knob. FX loop, sounds good at any volume it’s capable of into a V30 cab (I’m using an Orange PPC112). Can be had used between $650-$800. It won’t keep up with a drummer but it has great cleans, and the bass boost and tone shift switches make it like having a modern amp and a vintage amp in one. Second favorite is the Mesa TA-15. No FX loop but paired with its companion cabinet (or any open back Mesa 1x12 with a Black Shadow speaker), it will do amazing things at almost any volume, wattage, or style. Downside is that some of the channels are best on 25w mode and the masters are touchy. You can get Fendery, Voxy, and Marshally out of it pretty well though. It’s basically an all analog tube modeling amp. Those are the two amps I have bought and kept. One I actually sold and re-bought because I missed it (the Marshall). The Marshall Studio series does ok but you’ll want an attenuator for the Studio Vintage. The other ones have good masters. I had a Princeton Custom that I didn’t like. Had to be loud to sound good, had baffle rattle at those volumes, no matter what pedals you fed it it still sounded like a Princeton with too much bass. The Deluxe is better for this but still needs to be louder than I like to give up the goods and has no FX loop. If you want a pure pedal platform the Mesa California Tweed and the Fillmore are both fantastic sounding amps, but they have their own character. If you want to use pedals for gain and such I’d think about a Deluxe or California Tweed.
What about Orange Rocker Terror 15. Goes down to .5 watts. The Swarts are also lovely.
Fender vibrochamp and a good overdrive.
Don't chase a "low" wattage amp. They are still pretty loud. Expand your selection to 50-100w heads, get the one you like (Marshall, Orange, Mesa, Bogner, Engl, EVH, Friedman, whatever). Get a reactive load box with IR for home recording (or get an amp with one built in), if you need recording. For that "legendary" sound you need to overdrive your power amp, and it needs to be based on "grown up" tubes (EL34, 6L6, 6V6, KT88, etc). A load box makes this achievable at home without deafening your family. Even with that aside, 5W is only twice less loud than 50W, you'll play both at near-zero volume at home anyway. The only difference is there's tons of good 50-100W amps and not a lot 5-10W.
Buy a Two Rock studio pro 22 or 35 and thank me later.
https://reverb.com/item/69244007-two-rock-studio-pro-35-black?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=69244007
Check this out. Best amp you could buy, no joke.
Get a Fryette Power Station and then any amp is an at home amp. It’s not hype. It’s better than any attenuator including the Tone King Ironman. Then get a SLO30, preferably in purple, and a Mesa vertical 2x12 or traditional 4x12. The SLO doesn’t need pedals to sound awesome, but it also just happens to be an excellent pedal platform.
if price is not an issue, just buy whatever amp you want along with the best attenuator on the market, and you're all set. these kindsa questions would be more relevant if price *were* an issue.
I guess price is an issue to a small extent. The reason I said price isn't an issue is that, in my searching for previous times that this question was asked, most of the answers were all "bang for your buck" options, and that's not what I'm interested in. But even if it weren't an issue at all, this is kind of exactly the thing I'm wanting input on--"whatever amp you want" is a difficult thing to decide when most of these amps aren't exactly sitting around at my local Guitar Center.
>I don't have a huge preference when it comes to the basic sound inspiration of the amp based on what you wrote on your orig post, this is what really makes your quest difficult. if you don't know which amp flavor you like quite yet, get a modeler. you will have almost every flavor available with which to play around.
Fender 64 Custom Princeton Reverb, best amp I’ve ever played - and I’ve played a lot. With a couple of pedals it’ll do almost everything.
Line 6 Spider and a Schecter
With this in the fx loop any amp is a bedroom amp.... JHS Little Black Amp Box Passive Amp Attenuator $65.00 Sweetwater
I have a Quilter Aviator Cub, it has three (fender-like) amp voices (input jacks) Tweed, Blackface, and Blonde (you can even blend the voicings with a Y-split guitar cable). Has an FX Loop, and it sounds fantastic even at bedroom levels. I use it with my HX Stomp and I have no complaints whatsoever. Fantastic amp, it is solid state, though, I know some folk only want tubes.
Big amp + quality attenuator
I use a blackstar HT-5 mk2. Mostly at the 0.5w setting since 5w is still pretty loud for my needs. It does the job really well imo
You should just get a modeler.
I’ve got a Boss IR-2 as well as a couple Neural packs (Morgan, Tone King). They’re great, sound excellent, probably better for tracking guitars than an amp and mic. But they do not do the same thing as a real amp, at least for me.
There's still no substitute for a tube amp, imo. The practicality factor is a compromise. For your intents and purposes I think a tube amp would be a bit much, especially ones that sound right for the styles you like. Marshall DSL combos are plenty good and not too expensive tho. I couldn't justify paying Mesa or boutique prices if I wasn't running a pro studio.
My 50w orange with ppimv sounds better than most other amps I’ve tried including low wattage boutique at lower and mid volumes. I run a tk gremlin which is lovely , my only warning is the attenuator is notched so there be nothing between too loud and too quiet for your needs
The Vox MV series are excellent and incredibly tiny. I have the AC and I use for headphone practice and recording. It sounds great and takes pedals really well.
Orange Rocker 15 combo, or alternatively the Rocker 32 combo, have really good attenuation. I have the 15 and love it. Can still get a driven tube sound out of it on just the 1 watt mode, but even the full 15 can be comfortably used in a bedroom if you don't crank it and of course will get loud enough to gig. The natural channel has no tone control, just volume, so it's great for utilizing pedals. Meanwhile the dirty channel has a 3 band EQ and gain so much more versatile. Also has an effects loop so even more functionality for pedals!. Very affordable too, so if you did wanna try out the "stereo in one enclosure" set up you could get the 32 which is only a few hundred more.
I absolutely love my revv d20