Fender tube Amp-your recommendations?

JMArr

Well folks,
I'm savin me pennies for a nice Fender tube amp.
I noticed quite a few of you have Fender amps and wondering what are your recommendations...

The Twin Reverb is prob the ''classic ''one . Too much for my needs at 100w though. I want to play at reasonable levels indoors and small gigs. oh yeah and its a lot of €€€!

I'm thinking of a Hot Rod Deluxe as its the entry level and only €711 on thomann. Also the HR Deville 212 caught my eye...whats the difference sound wise?

I think the pro models are too small and I didnt like the tone last time I tried in musicmaker. There was one amp I tried there that sounded sweet but I dont remember the exact model..it was a brown colour and had 'blues' on the front..blues deluxe?

I 'll be using it to play everything except really hard stuff so indie blues & rock .

I would prefer to fork out extra € now and not have to upgrade in the future as well.

Anyway all guidance and opinions appreciated ...
:cool:
JMarr

david

Blues Deluxe i'd say, it'd whip a HRD anyday, get it, you wont be sorry

Kenny_D

Check out the Blues Junior. Sure its only 15W but it can reach very loud levels. It sounds so sweet when cranked as well. Really able to nail that beautiful valve sound when pushed. Bit of a tried and tested favourite

Jack Vegas

GStormcrow wrote:

Check out the Blues Junior. Sure its only 15W but it can reach very loud levels. It sounds so sweet when cranked as well. Really able to nail that beautiful valve sound when pushed. Bit of a tried and tested favourite

YES. Absolutely gorgeous amp.

tibor

Another recommendation for the Blues Jnr here. Fantastic amp, beautiful tones.
LOVE it.

Using mine as a practice/recording amp atm, but planning on buying a second to run in stereo and retire the Twin from active service.

Eoin Madsen

JMArr wrote:

The Twin Reverb is prob the ''classic ''one . Too much for my needs at 100w though. I want to play at reasonable levels indoors and small gigs. oh yeah and its a lot of €€€!

Yeah... it's classic for good reason though. The hotrods aren't really in the same league at all.

Maybe a "57 Twin" might be more what you'd be looking for wattage wise? It's expensive, but such is life. Check out the Princeton too, another classic fender amp, but lower wattage again. They do several variant reissues. I'd definitely recommend you spend the extra cash now anyway.

Also, be sure to factor in the cost of a revalve when you buy. Stock valves are invariably cheap junk.

tibor

Just one thing about the Twin...
No disputing they sound fantastic, but if you're gigging regularly with it will be a serious pain in the bollocks(and back!) carting it around the place... it's one seriously heavy motherfecker.

punchdrunk

go for the deluxe reverb re-issue!
the 22watt "baby twin" a true classic amp!

JMArr

Ok I see 3 votes for the blues junior ..I'll def give it a spin so and the blues deluxe too. Cheers for the advice lads. I guess I'm kinda restricted to what I can try out in the shops in dublin as I will def try before I buy but will ask around for those models. thanks.

Voodu Child

Does it have to be fender? No love for Mesa/Boogie?

Theres a tonne of old ones that do the fender thing brilliantly, plus a whole lot more on top. Im thinking maverick, blue angel, heartbreaker. Pretty much all boogies can trace their circuits back to classic fenders. Too many people's only knowledge of mesa stems from the rectos, but theres so much more they do and used to do.

Granted, youd have a hard time picking one up here, but you'd get one cheap as chips from the states or the uk on ebay. If you stick with heads the shipping shouldnt go too high either.

JMArr

Well I guess it doesnt HAVE to be fender ..just has to have that classic fender clean sound - fat, warm ,lush & sparkling (to my ears). So I thought who better ?
but then on the downside hand with fender it seems to be fantastic clean /overdriven blues but they wont do the rock crunch/ Heavy blues sound a la say Zep or Lizzy or bluesbreakers..(or will they I dunno? I heard a sound clip of a guy playing 'Moby Dick through a Fender Champ and it sounded like the record !..EQ or what??)

I 've read up on Mesa Boogie ..the Lonestar combo got awards all over the shop looks interesting..but I havent been able to track down sound clips that arent high gain rectifier metal style.

So I guess the root cause of going towards fender is , I've got a Marshall DSL401 that has a nice crunch/overdrive channel. That covers one style I like.But the clean channel is unspired and flat.So I want a top notch clean to do say Stones/Beatles-y retro sound , indie stuff, country, surf ,funk etc . So methinks its either fender or Vox AC30 territory ?

Eoin Madsen

The problem I'd see is that the Fenders you're looking at don't characterise the sound you're talking about. The Blues Junior is a lovely little valve amp. But having recorded and played one pretty extensively, as well as a DSL, I'd have to say that you're probably getting closer to your clean sound at the moment. Hotrods sound like hotrods, not classic fender. You'd get much nearer trying the old Boogies.

AC30 and AC15 would both be worth a look, especially if you're playing something like a tele. There's still some pronounced differences to the fender clean, but you might even find it more to your liking. An AC30 can certainly crunch up anyway.

punchdrunk

blues junior ain't that great clean,tis why i sold mine...

fitz

Vox ftw:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/vox_ac15_cc1.htm

http://www.thomann.de/ie/vox_ac30_cc2_gitarrencombo.htm