Which smaller head for high-gain? 30-50w

Loobs

What should I be looking at? Victory Kraken VX Mk II sounds great in demos, but perhaps a bit dark? EVH 5150 III? 

fretmeister

I really liked the 5150iii

Mine was original that had the stupid volume jump between channels 1 and 2.
The new version with the stacked control pots solves that completely.

It's a great amp - Now that the volume issue is solved I'd have one very happily. 

All 3 channels are very good and work well together. Channel 2 is particularly good though. Very plexi like.

Petepassion

It just so happens I’m selling my 50w Brunetti Pleximan at a reduced price, basically because I think it suits a heavier sound.
quite small and light for a 50w and has power reduction to 5w.

Loobs

fretmeister said:

I really liked the 5150iii

Mine was original that had the stupid volume jump between channels 1 and 2.
The new version with the stacked control pots solves that completely.

It's a great amp - Now that the volume issue is solved I'd have one very happily. 

All 3 channels are very good and work well together. Channel 2 is particularly good though. Very plexi like.

Nice one! Thanks! Which guitar/pickups/cab are you using? 

Jetfire

Noting these are lunch box heads, PRS MT15 is "supposed" to be louder than it's supposed 15 watts so worth looking at maybe? Engl do some smaller heads, Mesa 25 watts could be considered. Hughes and Kettner Grandmiester 40 will do LOADS for your money and Laney IRT SLS has a power amp built in which would work too

Loobs

15 watts doesn’t cut it for live in my opinion. 25 maybe. Engl Fireball jr maybe.

Neilybob

I was going to say Ceriatone Son of the Yeti as I recall seeing one in the classifieds but can’t seem to find it now. 

spirit7

Bogner XTC 3534 35w is my favourite. 

Loobs

spirit7 said:

Bogner XTC 3534 35w is my favourite. 

Way out of my budget, does look great though. 

Loobs

Neilybob said:

I was going to say Ceriatone Son of the Yeti as I recall seeing one in the classifieds but can’t seem to find it now. 

Is it supposed to be good? 

De_Batz

My bandmate has the GrandMeister 40 (I think - he's had it a while, and from memory there has been more than one version). For a small, fully featured valve amp with higher gain sounds right at the fore, it's spot-on. I have had a few goes with it and it doesn't suit me at all, way more gain than I need, and voiced in such a way that the lower gain sounds I naturally choose felt a bit constrained. 

For comparison, I use a Mesa Heartbreaker or a Cornford MK50ii, and those both have very different characters - the MB has a low-mid growl in its low(er) gain drive mode that I don't get from anything else, and the Cornford is clear and bright; compared to these, the GM has a granular quality to its drive with recessed mids. 

With all that in mind, the GM is worth a look but might not be right for you if you like the Kraken. Channel one of said Kraken always sounds a bit like the MK50ii drive to me. 

fretmeister

Loobs said:

fretmeister said:

I really liked the 5150iii

Mine was original that had the stupid volume jump between channels 1 and 2.
The new version with the stacked control pots solves that completely.

It's a great amp - Now that the volume issue is solved I'd have one very happily. 

All 3 channels are very good and work well together. Channel 2 is particularly good though. Very plexi like.

Nice one! Thanks! Which guitar/pickups/cab are you using? 

I had the EVH 1x12 with it, so whatever speaker is in that.
I think these days though if I needed a new cab I'd probably get one of the Harley Benton vertical 2x12. There's a few different speaker options, and I think they now offer them empty so you can put whatever you like in them.

Strats with singles / strats with SD Pearly Gates / Epi Les Paul with EMG.

All of them sounded great to me.

Boromedic

Any of the Friedman 20 watters with a 2x12

Loobs

Boromedic said:

Any of the Friedman 20 watters with a 2x12

Any of them? Which in particular is best suited to heavier stuff? 

Boromedic

Probably the artist ones like the JJ Cantrell, or the JEL, the Pink Taco is the BE variant which is their highest gain head. They'll all do high gain which you can tighten with a TS and they're loud as hell too. 

Loobs

Thanks! I have played the Runt head and was impressed. 

Boromedic

No worries, I've got a Runt 20 and it's awesome.

rockmonster

EVH 5150 Illl 50 6L6 no contest! But get the mk2 coz the mk1 is hopeless due to the volume drop as FM said. You’ll never run out of volume either!
I found the EVH 1x12 very boxy. I wouldn’t recommend using one of them. They sound good in a stacked pair with Creamback 65’s in them though!

randella

Jetfire said:

Mesa 25 watts could be considered

Good shout. As a one-small-box solution that can do you a reasonable facsimile of a crunchy Fender, a cranked 800, and a Rec chunk, my Mini Rec head is great. Good for the pub band guitarist with bits of spine missing.

They're crap value now though - expensive and rare. I spent a long time bemoaning Marshall for not making a lunchbox Jubilee, have a guess what they did a couple of months after I ponied up for a used Mini Rec.

randella

If I was in the same position now I'd be looking long and hard at the smaller Friedmans. 

StefB

randella said:

Jetfire said:

Mesa 25 watts could be considered

Good shout. As a one-small-box solution that can do you a reasonable facsimile of a crunchy Fender, a cranked 800, and a Rec chunk, my Mini Rec head is great. Good for the pub band guitarist with bits of spine missing.

They're crap value now though - expensive and rare. I spent a long time bemoaning Marshall for not making a lunchbox Jubilee, have a guess what they did a couple of months after I ponied up for a used Mini Rec.

RichTone listed a used minter today for £799, which I didn’t think was too bad in today’s climate. 

Incredibly it doesn’t appear to suffer from their hugely frustrating collection only policy on used valve amps either, although they may just have forgot to state that on the ad. 

https://richtonemusic.co.uk/mesa-boogie-mini-rectifier-25-head-gig-bag-2nd-hand/