Another amp suggestion thread - loud clean 2x12?

John_P

Not for me - I have way too many.

The singer in one of my bands is looking for a new amp.

He uses a variax and line6 pedal so the priority is a clean sound, it must be a 2x12 (possibly 2x10 I guess) and loud.
He would prefer a valve amp.

I've lent him my fender twin in the past and that would tick all the boxes but he would like the option of a drive channel to give a back up if he had a pedal problem. 

I'm making a list of suitable candidates for him to think about - I suspect there is a hughes and kettner that would do the job and a split channel marshall might be good.

Any more thoughts?

ICBM

He can have my spare Mesa Trem-o-verb for a sensible price... true pro quality amp with a great clean sound and a great drive channel, reverb and tremolo.

Although shipping is no go due to the extreme weight (100lb) so we'd have to meet somewhere. The weight alone may put him off though!

John_P

ICBM said:

He can have my spare Mesa Trem-o-verb for a sensible price... true pro quality amp with a great clean sound and a great drive channel, reverb and tremolo.

Although shipping is no go due to the extreme weight (100lb) so we'd have to meet somewhere. The weight alone may put him off though!

I agree that woud be a great choice.    I don't think my twin is heavy but he would prefer lighter if possible not heavier ;-)

If postage was an option I'd have considered it.  Great amps and definitely the type of thing he should get.

ICBM

It might actually be hard to find a loud, clean valve 2x12" that's much lighter than a Twin - the '65RI is really not *that* heavy. (And yes I know I might be in a minority on that opinion!)

Peavey Valve King? Lighter than a Twin I think, and cheap. Not great sounding though, rather generic and characterless.

John_P

No - I agree that the weight is fine, mine is only too heavy when I use the flight case!.  It's on wheels so just a lift up stairs or into the car but I thought I'd check for other options.

Peavey is probably a bit bland (even though he will be running a modeller into it).

A good rep for being reliable is high on the list as well after a number of problems he's had with gear last year.

ICBM

Fender Hotrod Deville? Good enough for serious touring rock stars who can afford anything. Probably as reliable as any modern amp with switching and stuff unless you go to really high-end quality and cost, loud and a good clean tone. I actually like the overdrive channel too, although I know I'm in a minority on that too!

Richardj

If you want two speakers, loud and clean there is probably only one option.  I would add however that as I have said on here my '68 Custom Twin breaks up earlier on the Custom channel than I expected (still bloody loud), but certainly before the Vintage channel does..  I am going to try it with a more boost type overdrive (rather than a distortion type) to see how that works out.

Jeremiah

I wonder if a Laney VC30 2x12 would have enough headroom?

meltedbuzzbox

ICBM said:

Fender Hotrod Deville? Good enough for serious touring rock stars who can afford anything. Probably as reliable as any modern amp with switching and stuff unless you go to really high-end quality and cost, loud and a good clean tone. I actually like the overdrive channel too, although I know I'm in a minority on that too!

good shout

The twin for £300 can be had and is a good amp (imo)

Supersonic?

Can he do a head and cab,

ICBM

meltedbuzzbox said:

The twin for £300 can be had and is a good amp (imo)

Heavier than a Twin Reverb though - almost Trem-o-verb weight, and arguably more awkward to move - and (in my opinion) has something of a "high quality solid state amp" character… not the same depth and 'bloom' (silly word I know but it seems to fit) of the Twin Reverb. Not as unreliable as their reputation though - at least not when upgraded in a few areas.

I also very much like the 'Evil Twin' ('94 Twin Amp ), but it's also a heavy brute.

mike257

Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 (if you can find one) would be great. Single channel but with footswitchable boost. Loads of tonal options, runs at 30, 15 or 7 watts, loaded with Eminence Red Fang speakers and came in 2x12, 1x12 or 3x10 flavours. You're not having mine, it's a keeper! Will go loud as hell and stay clean but the driven sounds it's capable of are great too.

meltedbuzzbox

ICBM said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

The twin for £300 can be had and is a good amp (imo)

Heavier than a Twin Reverb though - almost Trem-o-verb weight, and arguably more awkward to move - and (in my opinion) has something of a "high quality solid state amp" character… not the same depth and 'bloom' (silly word I know but it seems to fit) of the Twin Reverb. Not as unreliable as their reputation though - at least not when upgraded in a few areas.

I also very much like the 'Evil Twin' ('94 Twin Amp ), but it's also a heavy brute.

you cheeky slag :-P

The "Twin amp" is a fair bit lighter than "The twin". I say fair bit, probably 5kg or a bit more. 

I notice the difference when I have to shift them round the house/into the car off to gigs etc

I would say The Twin has more depth and bloom. Especially when I have had them side by side. 

the only down side is the sheer number of tubes. 

thisisguitar

I'd say a Twin with a good gain pedal for emergencies would be easy enough.

GavRichList

My Artisan 30

ICBM

meltedbuzzbox said:

I would say The Twin has more depth and bloom. Especially when I have had them side by side.

Interesting - (sorry for the thread hijack!) - I prefer the 'Twin Amp' because it seems to have more of that real valve amp depth and bloom, especially in the 'pushed' (or whatever they call it) mode on the first channel, which is why I like this amp so much, it's pretty much the only one of the modern Fenders with it. The Twin is either very clean on the clean channel or very dirty on the dirty channel, and seems quite stiff on either (to me), particularly the dirt. It could come down to settings, volume, guitars or several other factors though...

shaunm

How much volume are you needing? Those fender hodrod 212 I played yesterday was deafening.

John_P

Thanks chaps - at the moment, the obvious idea of a twin seems the way to go, although I do think a marshall might work for him if we one in the right condition.   

I was just talking to the chap looking for an amp and he's probably going to borromw something from me and buy in the summer now an might get something new rather than used.

What are the clean and reliability like on something like a vintage/modern marshall?

I need to check out Hughes and Kettner and Blackstar as well as they probably do something that would suit. 
(blackstar might be out though - I also do regular dep gigs with a local band called blackstarr so the name puts him off lol)

John_P

shaunm said:

How much volume are you needing? Those fender hodrod 212 I played yesterday was deafening.

Enough to keep up on stage with a loud drummer.  With that band I usually use my evh 50 on about 2/3 master vol or my 65ri twin on about the same.

meltedbuzzbox

ICBM said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

I would say The Twin has more depth and bloom. Especially when I have had them side by side.

Interesting - (sorry for the thread hijack!) - I prefer the 'Twin Amp' because it seems to have more of that real valve amp depth and bloom, especially in the 'pushed' (or whatever they call it) mode on the first channel, which is why I like this amp so much, it's pretty much the only one of the modern Fenders with it. The Twin is either very clean on the clean channel or very dirty on the dirty channel, and seems quite stiff on either (to me), particularly the dirt. It could come down to settings, volume, guitars or several other factors though...

the gain boost mode is a great idea on the clean channel. It really brings pedals to life. Its never breaks up either.

I think it could be a setting thing. To my ears, The Twin is a darker sounding amp, the Twin amp is very bright and spanky.

I would happily use either though

I will agree on the Dirt channel on the twin. Its awful. Its like satans arse gravy. The Twin amp has a much better dirty channel. 

hubobulous

An unpopular suggestion from me would be the Blackstar Series One 45. I really liked it

ICBM

John_P said:

What are the clean and reliability like on something like a vintage/modern marshall?

Sound - good, although it needs to be cranked up a bit or it's hard to dial in, it's either muddy or harsh until it gets up to a fair volume.

Build quality and reliability - not great.

I would not buy a modern Marshall, personally. Too many issues, and I don't really like the sound of them compared to the old ones either (even the Vintage Modern). I would avoid the TSL combos as well.

If you could find an old Club & Country that's a great amp though, basically a Marshall Twin, but richer-sounding and with overdrive, although it's not switchable. Still the size and weight of a Twin, too. JCM800 combos are also very heavy.

A JCM900 Dual Reverb 100W combo is a possibility. The clean sound on them isn't bad at all, and they're loud, smaller and lighter - and with very good end handles. They do have some known issues but they're probably better than the newer ones, and easier to repair and improve.