Up to 5W valve amp recommendations?

Exorcist

FWIW I have a bogner duende which cured my home amp GAS years ago. Its not 5 watts but has a great MV and everything I need on board, fantastic cleans, OD and lush reverb and tremolo. 

gatheredinsong

pjf said:

Seziertisch said:

Audio Kitchen Big Trees. 2.5 watts, doesn’t really do clean clean, but covers everything  from edge of break up to exploding amp sounds.

That said, it’s still probably too loud as an amp to use in the house, unless you have no neighbours and understanding co-habitants 

I think this will be the one for me tbh. Love the Andertons demo of it and I have a voucher for there burning a hole in my pocket. 

I did check out the other amps recommended in this thread, and was offered one at I think a very reasonable price, but the AK Big Trees just tips it for me. It also means I can spend more £££ on a Zilla cab or two... 

Unfortunately I've yet to get my Zilla cab to pair with my Milkman The Amp 100 as I am about to move house, so I can't yet comment on how well it does 'home volume' through a speaker, but these are a similar price from Andertons, so may also be worth a look if you're looking for a little desktop/pedal amp thing and a seperate cab?

Mine sounds great through headphones and the power is there if you ever wanted to use it in other environments and need a bit more clean headroom. 

Here is Jason Isbell messing with the white version with a 2x12 pretty much next to him:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CChSzCNp-7Y/?igshid=15ledp9aep1h2

Dave8

There were the Marshall 1w JMP/JCM/DSL from a few years ago. They pop up on eBay every so often. 

Evan

I’m really enjoying using my new VibroChamp reverb at the moment. 

I’ve also got an Ibanez TSA5TVR, which stays clean right up until it’s almost maxed out, it also looks fantastic.

I’ve had a Juketone Royal Blood 10, which sounded great with bright sounding guitars- telecasters etc, but a bit too dark with humbuckers. 

For me, the key to playing at home, is having a really good attenuator.

JayGee

Ampmaker SE5a. 

You’ll have to either assemble it yourself (and organise cabinet and speaker to taste), buy one as somebody else’s project, pay a tech, or bribe a hobbyist to put it together for you, but it’s a great little amp and even if you have to pay for the build probably still good value compared with big name boutique stuff, plus you get to have exactly  the cabinet, speaker, and finish combination you want.

EmprizeAmps

The Emprize Mini was mentioned earlier on in this thread.  It is based on the Fender 5F2 circuit and point to point.  It has a single 12AX7, 6V6 power section.  Chassis is 180mm x 130mm.  I do bespoke builds for different circuits and sizes etc.  Things being well with events opening up I will be displaying and demoing at most of the Northern Guitar shows this year

CFH

EmprizeAmps said:

The Emprize Mini was mentioned earlier on in this thread.  It is based on the Fender 5F2 circuit and point to point.  It has a single 12AX7, 6V6 power section.  Chassis is 180mm x 130mm.  I do bespoke builds for different circuits and sizes etc.  Things being well with events opening up I will be displaying and demoing at most of the Northern Guitar shows this year

Lots of choice from Emprize in this wattage category.

I have an Emprize Artisan and it really is a brilliant amp. 

De_Batz

The opjf said:

Hi everyone, I don’t think I’ve posted in 9th or 9loo subforum before but would be v. grateful for your wisdom 

I’m looking for a valve amp, home useoo only as I don’t gig. It’d be used in a little garden office / home and 9
Road k453llktyope thing. I’ve searched on here and seen 9oogood things said about the Vox AC4 and zvex nano (seems very hard too find one of those now!). 4x12 mr9

oo

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Opinions and experiences really poor ooooooooo, thank you. 

looooo

JezWynd

dindude said:

I couldn’t get on with the AC4 - all upper midrange and not a lot else.

The new Vibro Champ Reverb is what I’m using and it’s great, sounds grown up in the sense that it has decent bottom end, takes pedals really nicely and is the prefect volume range for hone use. 

Well i sold my Carr Rambler a few weeks back and I don’t miss it at all (I’m a home only player) 

I have the AC4 bl at present. I get what you’re saying about the sound. I find it very pleasing for about 15mins and then it starts to get tiring on the ear; it’s almost too sweet. I’m hanging on to it for now as I plan to try it in stereo with my Pathfinder 15r when I get somewhere to live.

I’m very taken with the idea of the new Vibro Champ, esp as it has verb and term on board but I wonder if I’d need an attenuator, 5w is pretty loud for playing at home ime. How does it work for you?

munckee

I’ve had a lot of amps in this range. As mentioned earlier a silver face champ is a great home option. I tried the new vibro champ recently. Nice enough but the clean is not a good as the originals if clean is your thing. 

I’ve been using a 65 Princeton which is lovely and can be played at home volumes but won’t break up with single coils. My latest amp is a tone king gremlin and the attenuator makes it the most useable home amp I’ve found. The cleans are a match for the Princeton’s/champs but you can have lovely drive really quiet. 

JezWynd

munckee said:

 I tried the new vibro champ recently. Nice enough but the clean is not a good as the originals if clean is your thing. 

After listening to the GAK demo, I'd agree that the clean sound isn't that impressive and not dissimilar to the Vox Pathfinder 15R I currently use. It seems to lack the lush sparkle of the best Fender cleans. Might a speaker change fix that or is it baked into the circuit?

Apologies to OP for slightly derailing the thread but hopefully the nuances of small combos is useful stuff in your search.

munckee

I had the 68 Princeton and it’s cleans were not as good as the 65. Putting a Jensen alnico in made a good improvement. You could apparently quite easy make it sound like a 65. Whether a similar mod to more like a vibrio champ is possible I don’t know. 

JezWynd

Thanks for the info @munkee. I'm leaning towards the Rift PR6 - one for the OP to consider.

pjf

Thanks, @JezWynd  I went with the Big Trees in the end but am still following this thread. I’ll post a couple of photos in here and in my separate thread on Zilla cabs, cos I’m running the Big Trees through a Zilla mini stack and loving it! 

streethawk

I've got a Bad cat mini cat II 5 watt. It has a master volume and breaks up early. Think it's a 12" speaker.
Hand wired. Sounds great. Never considered changing the speaker or even using a pedal in front of it. Maybe reverb. 

I'm looking for a dedicated jazz amp at the moment but will likely keep the Bad Cat for everything else. Highly recommended.

Vox AC15 is a decent shout too with its master volume. I enjoyed mine. 

WindmillGuitars

Supro's Delta King range are worth a good look .. 

Beexter

slowpilgrim said:

dindude said:

I couldn’t get on with the AC4 - all upper midrange and not a lot else.

The new Vibro Champ Reverb is what I’m using and it’s great, sounds grown up in the sense that it has decent bottom end, takes pedals really nicely and is the prefect volume range for hone use. 

Well i sold my Carr Rambler a few weeks back and I don’t miss it at all (I’m a home only player) 

I'm thinking of upgrading from my silverface vibro champ to the reissue for that built-in reverb and bigger speaker. Glad to hear some positive reviews here. Also considering the Mesa Express 5:25 which seems a lot more versatile, and can be had around the same price (if not cheaper).

Has anyone tried the small Mesas like the Express, Subway, 1x10 MkV?

I've got an Express 5.25+ head and it is indeed very versatile. A couple of years ago I spent a day at Coda and Peach trying out all sorts of "boutique" amps from Carr, Dr Z, Louis Electric, Bad Cat, Morgan and came away empty handed because I didn't find anything that I preferred to the Mesa and I still have it.

Voxman

pjf said:

Hi everyone, I don’t think I’ve posted in this subforum before but would be v. grateful for your wisdom 

I’m looking for a valve amp, home use only as I don’t gig. It’d be used in a little garden office / home studio type thing. I’ve searched on here and seen good things said about the Vox AC4 and zvex nano (seems very hard to find one of those now!). 

Just wondering what else might be out there. Budget isn’t unlimited of course but I’m not looking to scrimp either as it will be my only amp. Some of the Swart offerings sound good to my ears and my preference would definitely be to go with something more boutique-y than e.g. the Vox AC4. 

Opinions and experiences really welcome, thank you. 

What guitars do you use, what type of music do you like to play, and what pedals/mfx (if any) do you want to use with the amp - or are you more a 'straight-amp' player?

rlw

WindmillGuitars said:

Supro's Delta King range are worth a good look .. 

Really?

rlw

I'd be looking here

http://www.633amp.com/dragonfly