Blues amp choices

[lefty]

Looking for a 1 x 12 or 1 x 15 combo to do strictly blues at the local open mic nights. I have a full pedal board to plug into it.
Looking for something portable and preferably all tube and it must have reverb. I was looking at the Fender Blues Jr, the Crate Vintage series, the Crate Palamino, The Peavey Delta Blues etc...
Any other suggestions? I don't want to spend a ton on a small combo for open mic nights and its a pain in the but dragging my heavy 2 x 12 combo around.

http://www.jetcityamplification.com/.../24/jca2112rc/


These are great and can be had for ~$350 new. And it's already got a nice reverb.
It's a medium gain amp so it takes pedals great for that 'extra push over the cliff.'
Quite heavy in weight for a 20 watt combo, but also quite heavy in sound. I really
like mine. For blues, I don't think you could go wrong here, esp for the $...


tj

[markD]

if it sounds anything like an astro-verb, then "bleech!!!"

[jgcable]

if it sounds anything like an astro-verb, then "bleech!!!"

I had 2 Astroverbs. A head and a combo. I tried so hard to like them. I thought it was a very sterile sounding amp that sounded solid state.
I would really like to get a hold of that Spitfire clone that Cygnus built. I remember seeing it a while back on the JCF. Very nice work.
The only issues I have are price and time. I need something right away. I might have enough money for it. I'll never be able to afford the real thing and the Spitfire is my favorite amp tone.

[Michael Scarn]

two rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSM3FL7zUdw

[roodyrocker]

two rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSM3FL7zUdw

The only problem is he stated about a $350 budget for this amp. $350 might buy you a couple knobs and tubes from Two Rock as they are certainly not cheap

[axmann]

That Princeton wasn't that much. I just gave it back, actually going to use it again tomorrow. It's a bit tattered. I'm guessing early 70's. He paid $375 for it ,I think, a few years back. Hell, I can't tell him its worth anything more, I want it. The reverb is just nice.

[Cygnus X1]

Two Rock is nice, no doubt.
But by their own admission it's not much more than a Dumble ODS clone.
D-clones can be had for $2500 if you look hard enough.

Again...over budget.

Still curious what year that Princeton is, axmann.

[axmann]

I just left him a message asking what year. He probably doesn't know. I know he bought it with a old Sears Silvertone guitar. I'll try and get a pic next time I see it. All I know is that it has a really nice range of tones even with the cheapo speaker that got replaced. Man that thing can blister when the gain is cranked up.

[Grim]

Looking for a 1 x 12 or 1 x 15 combo to do strictly blues at the local open mic nights. I have a full pedal board to plug into it.
Looking for something portable and preferably all tube and it must have reverb. I was looking at the Fender Blues Jr, the Crate Vintage series, the Crate Palamino, The Peavey Delta Blues etc...
Any other suggestions? I don't want to spend a ton on a small combo for open mic nights and its a pain in the but dragging my heavy 2 x 12 combo around.

Played a Blues Junior the other day (Thursday) and thought it was really great. For me, it's all about my Hot Rod Deluxe. Does the blues perfectly. Perfectly portable, too. Also look at a Deluxe re-issue. I may be buying a '79 Silverface Deluxe soon. Stick a TS9 in front, and it's SRV tone for days.

[Grim]

i was in nashville last week and saw TONS of awesome blues players. just about ALL of them were using either a blues jr. or a hot rod deluxe. they all had killer tone also.

At B.B. King's? I saw the house band there when I was there in the summer, and that lefty guitarist absolutely killed. Then he'd go offstage and some singer chick would come on and I'd order another drink

[axmann]

Cyg, I just got done getting the lowdown. I'm off on my description. It didn't come with a Silvertone guitar, it came with a Fender Mustang. It was from a cousins aunts cousins brother thing. Radio Shack speaker. Its a 1968 , functions great, looks are at about 65/75%. He rarely uses it, has other firepower he prefers for the style of music played.

[Cygnus X1]

Cyg, I just got done getting the lowdown. I'm off on my description. It didn't come with a Silvertone guitar, it came with a Fender Mustang. It was from a cousins aunts cousins brother thing. Radio Shack speaker. Its a 1968 , functions great, looks are at about 65/75%. He rarely uses it, has other firepower he prefers for the style of music played.

Cool.
At 375 he stole it!
Should be a silverface drip edge, one of my favorites.

[catzodellamarina]

I'd stick with Fender or a close cousin.. like Zinky.
I've had a Zinky BlueVelvet 50 w/5881's for 6 years. It's been very reliable and has balls of tone. I'm not sure the price of their 25 watt el84 version but perhaps it's worth a look. I almost bought a Carvin Nomad 50 but once I heard the Zinky, I was sold. I'd still consider a used Carvin if cost was tight.

[Chad]

Why not just use the RM100? It weighs 90 pounds, looks good on stage, and can't be carried in a backpack. What more do you need?

[axmann]

Yeah, I have a little bit of a handle on some of the going prices. I like to think there is a deal still floating around out there on old equipment. I actually passed on a Princeton many years ago. It was cheap, like a couple hundred bucks. I was playing a JCM 800 50watt lead head at the time and no other amp existed (ha). Some day I would love to have a more in depth talk about smaller tube amps and the building process. I'll leave that for another day and not melt this thread. I will say though, that little Fender amp has some serious soul in it. Nice ,nice tones. If I played mostly blues and wanted something to easily carry to rehearsals and gigs, that might be my first choice. That thing just has a feel. I would probably have some cat build me one with some tweaks. Thats me . I also own a Carvin and have had great tonal experiences with it.

[Cygnus X1]

I'm with you axmann.
Great suggestions!
Not a derailment.
J and I have been dancing around the Spitfire idea for a while, someday it will happen for him.
Concerning amps in general, I love high gain amps as well as vintage styles.
I build old designs to teach myself more, and the Spitfire is really the only one
I "cop" on a regular basis, as is, with a master volume.

The trick for me is an amp that sounds good clean, slightly dirty good, and gain.
There are a lot of good suggestions here and I think CL will probably provide the answer for now.

[sambencuda]

Hey John, Jay the other guitar player in my band just picked up a Seymour Duncan combo off of ebay for about 300. He hasn't gotten it yet, but he's going to have me go over it for him when it arrives. I'll let you know what the deal is with it. A buddy of mine had one back in high school when they first came out. Seemed like a good amp, but I wasn't much into tone back then so I really have no idea. We still have to hook up to compare the Randall and the Engl too. I haven't forgotten.

[markD]

I had 2 Astroverbs. A head and a combo. I tried so hard to like them. I thought it was a very sterile sounding amp that sounded solid state.

i am with you....i thought the astroverb was a total turd. i couldn't wait to get rid of mine!!!

[Firebird V]

I played a hot rod deluxe yesterday with a hollow top strat ( had f holes - dont remember model but it was set up with a blend knob between the humbuckers which was very cool) and the amp was really nice. the clean and crunch channels were very versatile and you could do a lot with this amp.

[jgcable]

Hey John, Jay the other guitar player in my band just picked up a Seymour Duncan combo off of ebay for about 300. He hasn't gotten it yet, but he's going to have me go over it for him when it arrives. I'll let you know what the deal is with it. A buddy of mine had one back in high school when they first came out. Seemed like a good amp, but I wasn't much into tone back then so I really have no idea. We still have to hook up to compare the Randall and the Engl too. I haven't forgotten.

Thanks Bro, I brought the Randall home so let me know because I want to make a move on it. I have a fresh 5150 4 x 12 cab we can compare the 2 amps with.

JG