Practice Clean amp recommendations valve or solid state

Dickinstein

Hi all

Been away a long long time but I’m glad to see everything is still going here. 

I currently use a Blackstar HT20 but it’s slowly dying (volume randomly goes up and down) and I’m thinking about getting a new small amp for home use that’s primarily a clean amp that I can use pedals with it as the dirty channel. As my current amp is Valve I was leaning that way but I’m interested to know whats recommended on here. 

I’m can be combo or a head,not super expensive as it’s for home use but would need a effects loop. 

So what do you guys recommend ? :-) 

Fuengi

Blackstar Studio 10 range. Really rather good sounding things. 

vivalacoulter

You could also see how much yours could be to repair, might save you a bit of money.

Dickinstein

I think my Blackstar is prob ok, just only played at very very low volume which prob doesn’t help it. Hence why I’m looking at practice amps now, but thanks for the suggestion :-)

russpm

Fuengi said:

Blackstar Studio 10 range. Really rather good sounding things. 

This, brilliant value for money. The 6L6 is divine.

personalnadir

Well might looking to shift a 100W solid state ‘practice’ amp in a month or so…

Dickinstein

What is it ? 

personalnadir

Dickinstein said:

What is it ? 

It’s the Yamaha DG100-212 as mentioned here:
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/215159/fair-price-for-solid-state-amp#latest

Good amp, and having owned it for sometime am perhaps more sentimentally attached to it than I realised when I so glibbly purchased it’s replacement 

Hootsmon

laney VC 15 110 is a beauty....GREAT cleans

HAL9000

russpm said:

Fuengi said:

Blackstar Studio 10 range. Really rather good sounding things. 

This, brilliant value for money. The 6L6 is divine.

+1. I’ve got the 6L6 version and it really is rather good.

skunkwerx

HAL9000 said:

russpm said:

Fuengi said:

Blackstar Studio 10 range. Really rather good sounding things. 

This, brilliant value for money. The 6L6 is divine.

+1. I’ve got the 6L6 version and it really is rather good.

I have the kt88 one and I like it

thomasw88

Do you gig or plan to? If so if recommend the quilter tone block 202 or the pro block. They are excellent for practice and gigging plus awesome as a backup amp. Bit more money than alot but worth it.

Alternatively for a home only amp the Roland cubes are still Excellent

Dickinstein

I am not sure if I’ll gig with it. The idea is mainly for a practice amp. I will look up the tone block now. 

Does anyone have any experience of a Marshall Origin 20 ? 

https://marshall.com/marshall-amps/products/amps/origin/origin20c

ICBM

Dickinstein said:

Does anyone have any experience of a Marshall Origin 20 ?

Avoid. Overly big and heavy but weak and uninspiring-sounding. The speaker is the main culprit - it’s ridiculous to put a 10” in a cabinet more than large enough for a 12”, even for playing at low volume. (It’s not a great 10, either.) The 20W mode was bad enough, but the 5W was so dull and strangled-sounding I found it basically unusable.

For almost exactly the same price, the Orange Crush 60 sounds far better - I’ve been using those in a practice room, they take pedals really well, both on the clean (more Fender-like) channel and the dirty (more Orange/Marshall-like) channel if you set it for a clean sound (volume up full, gain about 9 o’clock). Easily loud enough to gig with but sounds good turned down too.

Dickinstein

Thanks for that ICBM. Was really considering it as their seemed a lot of head room on it for pedals, but I think I may look at other things now. Will try to try one in the flesh so to speak next tome I’m in the city. Anything else valve that’s similar or is a orange crush type of thing my best option ( I will see if they have one of them in PMT in nottingham too) ? 

downbytheriver

Dickinstein said:

Does anyone have any experience of a Marshall Origin 20 ? 

Not sure as a practise amp but when my mate turned up with one at a gig he was inaudible. Borrowed my spare (a blues junior) at half time and was immediately back in the game. 

Evan

The new Fender VibroChamp reverb is a lovely amp. The tremolo is fabulous and even the digital reverb sounds good.

slowpilgrim

original Fender Vibro Champ is even better! and will appreciate in value.

De_Batz

Not actually answering the question, but...

For straight-up home use, I've found that any options (choice of sound!) become a barrier to actually playing the damned guitar. I'd really like to go back to the days where I switched it all on and then was ready to go, because then the playing - rather than searching for a sound - became the main thing. I've got a bit more disciplined recently, using a couple of sounds of the Mustang I and trying to ban myself from fiddling with tones during any kind of home playing. 

I've had all sorts of stuff at home (from the big 100W amps and 4x12 cabs) and the quality of sound is always compromised by something, whether it is latency from the amp models on GarageBand, option paralysis (and overall not sounding quite so good) from the Mustang, the odd voicing of amps designed to go at 115dB played at 70, or indeed the way that the attenuator doesn't quite get you there in the 70-odd dB range. 

The Mustang is the best compromise at home for me, but if I didn't have the option of keeping amps at the studio or a separate amp at home, I'd bring home my Deluxe (non-Reverb) combo and accept the low volume compromises.

JezWynd

Dickinstein said:

I currently use a Blackstar HT20 but it’s slowly dying (volume randomly goes up and down)

Could that just require new valve(s)?