15-20 watt british combo

Ben8010

Currently using a Blues Junior but I've been using it for a while now and fancy something new (to me).

I want a british amp (preferably combo) because none of my gear is and I want that to change! I play mostly indie with the amp set to where it's nearly about to break up and then use an OCD and Micro Amp for more drive.

I've thought about:

AC15 - I've never played one but have played an AC30 on many occasions. I would get this without question but the other guitarist in my band has an AC30 and I don't want to look like your typical indie band with Vox ACs for breakfast dinner and tea. His AC30 has also broken a couple of times in a few years which makes me question the reliability.

Orange Tiny Terror - Don't know too much about it. Played one briefly a few years back but can't remember much about it. Not sure the single tone knob would suffice or if it has too much gain. How would it do for indie?

Orange OR15 - Apparently this is very similar to a TT but with added controls. I've also heard that it has a lot of gain and the gain control is very sensitive/not too great for clean-to-edge of breakup sounds. It looks great though.

Hayden Cotton Club 7/15 - Don't know much about it at all but it sounds good on demos. Availability is obviously a problem.

Can anyone chime in with advice or any more suggestions?

stickyfiddle

Don't overlook Laney. VC series is good at the lower level and the Lionhearts are excellent.

Mkjackary

The OR15 and the tiny terror are very very different beasts.
Having had both, I much prefer the OR15, I still use it. Plenty of headroom for everything unless you want crystal cleans.
I'd also say it is quite Marshall flavoured too, the effects loop, really nice eq, and frankly nicer sound make it ten times better than a TT IMO.

It is only available in head and you have said you want a combo. Then again I have always preferred a mini stack (or15 with a nice 1x12) to a combo.
Loads of people try the TT and because of its lack of everything, assume the OR15 will be the same, all I can say is get down to a shop and try it out.
Sadly a lot of the online demos use it will all the gain and that is where it lacks, IMO it is a tone monster between 9 and 1 o'clock on the gain control. From just breaking up to acdc (depending on your pickups) I only use this amp for just what you use it for, being just on the edge of breakup then boosting for more gain.

Also IMO the Hayden stuff is forgettable.

Vox ac15s are nice, but if your mate has an ac30, you will end up comparing the two and the ac30 will always win at that game (unless you get a vintage ac15/ac10.

Marshall do small stuff too but the orange is better frankly.

worth checking out jet city, amazing value for money to be had there.

Also defenatly check out mjw, that's what I did and I ended up ordering one.

crunchman

Hayden are made by Ashdown as far as I know.  Some of their other products do not have a good reputation for quality/reliability.  The Cotton Club is probably a relatively simple circuit so might not be as bad though.  @ICBM would probably be able to give words of wisdom on that front.

What is your budget?  If you are looking at the mass market stuff then the ones that have already been mentioned are probably the main contenders.  If you are willing to spend a bit more then you get into the realms of the handwired 18W Marshall, or some of the Cornell Plexi stuff.  Some of the small builders like MJW and Riftamps who are on the forum would also be able to build you something.  If money is no object then the Lazy J 20 is probably the best amp on the planet - although it does depend on what you mean by "British".  It's built here and has a British speaker (Celestion or Tayden) but is based on a Fender circuit - although some classic Marshalls were knock-offs of Fender circuits as well.

4114Effects

I might be selling my AC15 style amp if it's of any interest? Hand wired (by me) to Ceriatone Creme Brulee layout - basically the EF86 channel of an AC15. It's wired into an old valvetronix cab with a Celestion G10 vintage in. 

See the build thread here: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/45608/nad-ac15-style-conversion-solid-state-meh-to-valvey-goodness

Ben8010

@StickyFiddle Cheers, I'll check them out.

@MkJackary That's good to know. I wish they did a combo version but I'm not against getting a head/cab.

@Crunchman Budget is around £300 and i'll most likely be buying used. I know the OR15 would be a bit much for that but you never know.

english_bob

stickyfiddle said:

Don't overlook Laney. VC series is good at the lower level and the Lionhearts are excellent.

This. The Lionhearts have a few small issues for me- crap reverb and unusable stock effects loop, both easily remedied- but they're fantastic amps.

You might be pushed to get a Lionheart for the amount you're willing to spend (but keep an eye on eBay for "collection only" auctions from weird places) but I remember the VC15 being a bloody good little amp.

McToot

Yep - as @stickyfiddle and @English_bob say, Laney is a very good idea.  For that budget I'd look for a VC30.  More power than you need, but better to have more than  not enough.  I had a VC15 and it was great.

You could look at the smaller Ironheart, but that's more geared to rock/metal IIRC.

stickyfiddle

english_bob;983563" said:

stickyfiddle said:

Don't overlook Laney. VC series is good at the lower level and the Lionhearts are excellent.

This. The Lionhearts have a few small issues for me- crap reverb and unusable stock effects loop, both easily remedied- but they're fantastic amps.

You might be pushed to get a Lionheart for the amount you're willing to spend (but keep an eye on eBay for "collection only" auctions from weird places) but I remember the VC15 being a bloody good little amp.

Perfect analysis I'd say. Reverb on my L5T is utter shite but aside from that it's a wonderful amp. And before that I gives a VC15 for years.

nick79

McToot said: You could look at the smaller Ironheart, but that's more geared to rock/metal IIRC.

Yeah, the Ironheart is very rock/metal, more metal really. It will do quite a nice clean(quietly) , but comes alive with the gain and volume cranked up. Anything half hearted just sounds a bit weedy and harsh. 

57Deluxe

Cornford Hurricane

Richardj

It is a bit over your budget but I know where there is a Cornell Plexi 7. Doesn't get much more British.

p90fool

If you're handy with a soldering iron you could build an Ampmaker 18w kit.

That's the only thing I can think of that'll answer your sound, size, budget and Britishness requirements.

ICBM

I know you said 15-20W, but…

Orange Rocker 30

The best-sounding modern amp they'e made, now discontinued for some inexplicable reason but not too rare second hand.

The combo came stock with a V30, but the head sounded much better through G12H-30s, so I would recommend replacing the speaker either with an H30, or with a G12H-75 Creamback if you're worried about putting a 30W speaker in a 30W amp.

ChrisCox1994

laney vc15 is lovely, maybe a cornford hurricane? I got mine back from repair (again) yesterday and its a splendid sounding amp

WeegieBoy

ICBM;984741" said:

I know you said 15-20W, but…

Orange Rocker 30

The best-sounding modern amp they'e made, now discontinued for some inexplicable reason but not too rare second hand.

Did the rocker not have a half power switch?

I agree though, only plugged into one a couple of times but was great sounding amp and if I remember correctly had more gain on tap than I could ever imagine needing.

ICBM

WeegieBoy said:

Did the rocker not have a half power switch?

No - rather unusually for a 30W amp, it's 2-EL34 cathode-bias, so you can't turn off half the valves like you can with a 4-EL84 one… although it could be done by lowering the voltage (which is how the Tiny Terror does it) or pentode/triode switching.

davedave

@ben8010 have a trip over to the Matamp factory near Huddersfield mate. I run their social media for them.
There's a limited run of GT20s available at the minute. 2x5881s in class A. There's a nice trem circuit in there too. I nabbed the prototype for my hire company.

JohnnyN

Another vote for the Laney VC15 - I love mine. There is a Jet City Custom 22 on the way which should be very british sounding, and probably worth checking out.

matone

davedave said:

@ben8010 have a trip over to the Matamp factory near Huddersfield mate. I run their social media for them.
There's a limited run of GT20s available at the minute. 2x5881s in class A. There's a nice trem circuit in there too. I nabbed the prototype for my hire company.

For £300 ?