Small garage rock appropriate amps - head or 1x10 combo

thecolourbox

As per the title really, I've been getting my garage rock on recently, most specifically white stripes and strokes end of things, got me thinking of what amps would suit that for my small room. So small head amps, or 1x10 combos. I had a Pro Junior before that was perfect for size, and sound, however I would really like it with master volume and reverb or a loop.

I dislike the rockier Marshall sounds (I know that's quite a broad description but I think you'll know what I mean) and I prefer instead the scratchier end of things, like fuzzy amp about to explode type, Jack White Neil Young kind of thing. Budget wouldn't be very high

Thanks

olafgarten

Just get any amp and plug a Wolly Mammoth into it.

thecolourbox

olafgarten said:

Just get any amp and plug a Wolly Mammoth into it.

Nah that's a different sound, that's intense fuzz rather than scratchy overdriven type thing. 

This is the kind of thing I mean:

professorben

Boss MT-2

thecolourbox

professorben said:

Boss MT-2

set to off?

olafgarten

If you really want Authenticity, you need either a Tweed Deluxe with 6L6's or a Deluxe Reverb with a Big Muff and a POG.

pintspiller

Got to have 12" speaker though. I've had combos with 8" and 10". You got to have a twelve incher.

SimpleSimon

Fender Vaporizer on the cheap for £150 s/h or look in the classifieds at the watkins dominator 18watt if you have more to spend. Ultimately 'any' cheap valve amp with some good fuzz pedals in front would get you in the right ballpark.

Bucket

Secondhand Princeton reissue with a Nobels ODR-1 in front.

RandallFlagg

Victory V40 and matching 1x12. The V40 has reverb, master volume, attenuated power (if neded) and fx loop.

it can do the just breaking up 60s sound well and sounds fat and warm on voicing II with the mid kick on. With the gain all the way up with Humbuckers there is a fair amount of drive but add a pedal and you can get all manner of light to heavy distortion as required

stickyfiddle

Laney VC15. Lovely little things and mega-cheap used.

FX loop is shite but has reverb onboard.

JCA2550

Vox AC10

rlw

Vox AV30 or AV60.   No valves, light, great sounds, not expensive.  Try them.

bingefeller

Def a tweed type amp, or even a loud clean amp and a tweed style overdrive, like the Catalinbread 5f6  always turned on.  

professorben

thecolourbox said:

professorben said:

Boss MT-2

set to off?

Set to fuzz 

thecolourbox

Thanks guys, though the space restraint is pretty strict so whilst I would like something like a Vaporizer, 2x10 is way too big for my room I think the proper full on setting in that amp is non-master as well so would blow my head off sat 4 feet away. I already have a Princeton for my other style of playing (ie clean) but with a pedal for drive you lose the dynamics range and also it's a lot harder to balance between playing the overdrive bits and the fuzz bits. Which leads me to...

olafgarten said:

If you really want Authenticity, you need either a Tweed Deluxe with 6L6's or a Deluxe Reverb with a Big Muff and a POG.

I'm not after the big muff or octave effect sections, I know how to do that, it's the standard rhythm tone in the videos above

RandallFlagg said:

Victory V40 and matching 1x12.

I'll have a look into them (though not the 1x12 cab, I'd like 1x10), never considered them before as I'd assumed they sounded quite Marshall derived and fat rather than scratchy and edgy. Will give them a try.

Likewise for the Laney and Vox suggestions, thanks

olafgarten

thecolourbox said:

Thanks guys, though the space restraint is pretty strict so whilst I would like something like a Vaporizer, 2x10 is way too big for my room I think the proper full on setting in that amp is non-master as well so would blow my head off sat 4 feet away. I already have a Princeton for my other style of playing (ie clean) but with a pedal for drive you lose the dynamics range and also it's a lot harder to balance between playing the overdrive bits and the fuzz bits. Which leads me to...

olafgarten said:

If you really want Authenticity, you need either a Tweed Deluxe with 6L6's or a Deluxe Reverb with a Big Muff and a POG.

I'm not after the big muff or octave effect sections, I know how to do that, it's the standard rhythm tone in the videos above

RandallFlagg said:

Victory V40 and matching 1x12.

I'll have a look into them (though not the 1x12 cab, I'd like 1x10), never considered them before as I'd assumed they sounded quite Marshall derived and fat rather than scratchy and edgy. Will give them a try.

Likewise for the Laney and Vox suggestions, thanks


The big muff works well if you turn the gain low into a crunchy amp. At least it works on my Zoom g5

thecolourbox

Yeah that's not what I'm after really though, I'm after an amp that will do the rhythm sound (with or without being boosted) to which I can add the muff fuzz for the bits that need it - using White Stripes as a reference there are three basic sounds. Crunch for the most part, some riffs are then bolstered with a muff, then muff plus octave effects. The second and third sounds are easy, if the first one can be done

Those v40 things are a bit steep and having listened on YouTube, not really quite the sound either.

At the other end of the budget I understand the v2 Mustang modelling amps have a Silvertone model on them, anybody know if that's any good and whether it would take a muff as well?

bbill335

SimpleSimon said:

Fender Vaporizer on the cheap for £150 s/h or look in the classifieds at the watkins dominator 18watt if you have more to spend. Ultimately 'any' cheap valve amp with some good fuzz pedals in front would get you in the right ballpark.

This is the right answer. 

The Orange Terrors also sound good for this sort of thing. You might have to run the tone control flat out to get enough treble. 

bbill335

You should remember that Jack White used a low watt Silvertone paired with a Twin. He also drove stuff hard with a micro amp, muff and the level control of the whammy. The twin would probably eat that drive up happily without getting too compressed or squished, whereas the Silvertone would be doing the "your amp is about to explode" thing. 

thecolourbox

bbill335 said:

SimpleSimon said:

Fender Vaporizer on the cheap for £150 s/h or look in the classifieds at the watkins dominator 18watt if you have more to spend. Ultimately 'any' cheap valve amp with some good fuzz pedals in front would get you in the right ballpark.

This is the right answer. 

The Orange Terrors also sound good for this sort of thing. You might have to run the tone control flat out to get enough treble. 

The vaporiser is too big sadly. Never really heard an Orange amp sound like that kind of fake garage indie sound to be honest, though I will listen afresh.

Re the Silvertone and Twin thing, im pretty sure the Twin was only for reverb purposes as the verb on the Silvertone is awful, so was just a splitter between the two as far as of always understood it. Later tours though he only used Twins though I suspect there were some modifications to them. 

It's the Silvertone kind of sound I want (and not the JHS pedal of it) ideally, in small 1x10 pro junior size, with matter volume and reverb. I think I'm asking too much and that digital will be the only way