Valve. Amps. ?

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TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
In all my years of playing, I've never - ever - had a valve amp.

Ever.

I was booked to do @RiftAmps' build a (valve) amp before lockdown etc happened.  And would have built my own.  But that couldn't happen due to this flu thing.

So I was keeping my eyes open for a cheap (ish) valve amp to buy.  Quietish too, preferably.  And @DrCornelius recently advertised this;


So I bought it.

Mainly, I bought it because I figured if he'd bought it, it couldn't be all bad.

Today, I've enjoyed a few revelations.  

I used to set up my tranny amps to the edge of dirty - because that's the sound that suited what I played, and add a few of the built-in effects and emulations (that's what makes a really good amp, obvs, built-in effects!).  And then, whatever I played, it sounded dirty (and a bit shite too, tbh, but that's my style).  Whatever pedals I put in front of it changed it from a little dirty to a little more dirty.  Whichever guitar I plugged in maybe changed the sound from loud to a little more loud.  But they all sounded pretty similar.

This is not a dirty amp.  (Fender BJ III, rehoused).  It's a wonderfully clean amp.  It's a wonderfully warm amp.  A wonderfully transparent amp.  A wonderfully precise amp.  It showcases the guitars.  It makes guitars sound different from each other.  (Suddenly I have a reason for having so many different guitars).  (Well, some of them).

At first I thought "whooops, bad choice. Dr Con knows nothing".  I could get "dirty" by tweaking vol & master controls, but a slight twitch on the master control and I'm suddenly deafened.  (It's loud).  

Then I remembered I had a pedal or two tucked away in a cupboard.  A Thorpy something.  And a Keeley something.  And a something something.

So I dug them out, dusted them off, and plugged them in.

Pedals sound better through this amp.  The pedals take it from clean, and warm, and precise ... to - err - various shades of dirty, and warm and precise.  But even the pedals sound better through this amp than through any of my others.  They *do* more.  And sound better doing it.  Now I realise why there's a fuss about these pedals.  I thought my ears were defective before, but now I hear them.  This amp makes sure I do.


It's been a while since I've had so much fun playing guitar.  Different guitars that actually sound properly different.


Someones can now come along and tell me that there are so many, so better, valve amps.  Don't.  Not just yet.


For now, I'm pretty happy with this one.  Cheers Con!
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Comments

  • Rich210Rich210 Frets: 577
    A Beautiful moment! Enjoy Tony
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  • Hey Tony, that's a great post! I wasn't aware that you'd never had a valve amp before.

    I won't start girthing myself all over the shop about valve amps. Not yet :)

    But, grab a reverb pedal! A Boss RV5 would do it, and put it in front of the amp. Then dial the pedal in for a small amount of reverb, and then start really digging into your guitar strings with it activated. Really nice swooshies!!!

    Bye!

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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
    Cheers @Rich210 - I'm planning some more enjoyment time tomorrow  ;)

     @WiresDreamDisasters - My Boss ME80 is getting plugged in tomorrow :+1:  


    Feel like I've been missing out for the last few years tbh.


    Ok, last few decades.
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  • I’m wiping away tears of joy here . To think I helped make that happen !
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
    The dog's happy here too @DrCornelius ;
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  • really find it odd that somebody with boutique pedals wouldn't have had a valve amp previously. That may say more about me though.

    I'm not saying they are better, but I do seem to prefer a valve amp. I think it's the way I think they appear to respond to the way I play (probably a lot less dynamic than I think). 
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  • dazzajldazzajl Frets: 5653
    edited October 2020
    Congratulations on a great buy. There are thousands of other valve amps out there but I’m sure none could have made you happier than that one. So you can definitely count it as the best there is
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  • TheMarlinTheMarlin Frets: 7744
    Wow, that nice!
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  • LebarqueLebarque Frets: 3755
    Valve amps are better than trannie amps? Who knew?!
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  • Rich210Rich210 Frets: 577
    I had the same kind of experience Tony! My musicman amps at the front end behave like solid state amps so I never really got that 'living on the edge of breakup' thing, and as soon as I tried a little class A champ all of a sudden my guitars took on new dimensions. Different tube amps definitely behave differently with different guitars! 

    Try messing with a compressor pedal or something similar you can really dial in a tubey tone that you want to hit consistently. Enjoy!
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  • Alex2678Alex2678 Frets: 1088
    I had the same moment a few years ago. Just sounds more ‘real’ with valves.

    There may well be ‘better’ amps out there. But you could spend 5k and there’ll still be ‘better’ amps out there. The only time it’s worth worrying about is when you’re looking to buy. When you’re playing and enjoying it,  no other amps have a say
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12254
     Blues jrs get flack but they are the best selling amp ever for a reason. 

    Right size, reverb, master volume and sound great. 
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  • TTony said:
    My Boss ME80 is getting plugged in tomorrow :+1: 
    Nope...you need to start obsessing about buffers and true bypass now ;)
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  • martmart Frets: 5205
    You’ve only just discovered the joys of valve amps? And with a Blues Junior? Oh boy, you’ve just started yourself down a very long and very expensive road. :)
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    I'm not only surprised you've never had a valve amp, I'm surprised you've never built one!


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    munckee said:
     Blues jrs get flack but they are the best selling amp ever for a reason.
    I find their popularity at the price they are new baffling. The reasons they get flack are perfectly valid - but this one has had one of their biggest faults corrected, which is the awful stock cabinet. I changed a couple recently for a customer and I was really surprised at the difference it made - it cured the normal constipated sound they had before completely and made them sound really nice.

    Just make sure that the voltage is set to 240V not 230V and they have less of a tendency to catch fire as well :).

    (I think the Hotrod Deluxe is actually the best-selling valve amp ever, if it matters - and that really is for a good reason.)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
    edited October 2020
    I'm not only surprised you've never had a valve amp, I'm surprised you've never built one!

    Well, I was supposed to have done earlier this year ... and then I was looking at the ampmaker & Vyse kits ... and then I just bought this one.

    Of course, that doesn't stop me building one some time in the future @LastMantra ;;  


    mart said:
    You’ve only just discovered the joys of valve amps? And with a Blues Junior? Oh boy, you’ve just started yourself down a very long and very expensive road. :)
    Errrrrm, @mart ;  ...
    TTony said: Someones can now come along and tell me that there are so many, so better, valve amps.  Don't.  Not just yet.
    I'll have to shift a few other large noisy boxes before I buy (or build) another large noisy box ...
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    mart said:
    You’ve only just discovered the joys of valve amps? And with a Blues Junior? Oh boy, you’ve just started yourself down a very long and very expensive road. :)
    It's been rehoused, which means it'll probably sound way closer to an expensive valve amp than it did before. 
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
    TTony said:
    In all my years of playing, I've never - ever - had a valve amp.

    I am a LIAR.

    LIAR, LIAR, LIAR.

    I had an Epi Valve Jr for a while, many moons ago.  My old pub mate @Phil_aka_Pip bought that.  

    Hope he’s found himself a decent pub again ...

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    TTony said:

    I had an Epi Valve Jr for a while, many moons ago.  My old pub mate @Phil_aka_Pip bought that.  

    Hope he’s found himself a decent pub again ...
    And a decent amp ;).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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