Decent Amp - > €400

askmysack

Hi Folks,

Ill keep it quick. Looking for an amp. Possibly Tube as I've been advised they are the cats pyjamas.

Id spend up to €400 for one second hand. Not interested in paying double that for a new one. Reverb would be a bonus. Im playing a Strat in pub sized venues and will be using a number of effect pedals...Distortion, Wah, Tremolo.

Ive had a look online but I would like some advice as to what to buy and why

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks vety millions.

sei046

That should be <400 then no? Im not sure. Its tough at that price? Maybe on of the new spider tubes? I thnk they may be a bit out of budget. Valve junior and pedals?

askmysack

sei046 wrote: »

That should be <400 then no? Im not sure. Its tough at that price? Maybe on of the new spider tubes? I thnk they may be a bit out of budget. Valve junior and pedals?

Ah yes thats , €400 folks.

Cheers buddy. What are the spider tubes like? Who makes them?

sei046

Line6. I know you can get them for around 500 euro. I actaully quite like the sound from them but havent given them a really good bash. Check them out. Its a collaberation with Bogner

askmysack

sei046 wrote: »

Line6. I know you can get them for around 500 euro. I actaully quite like the sound from them but havent given them a really good bash. Check them out. Its a collaberation with Bogner

Is it a tube?

fish-head

A second hand Blues Junior could be what you're looking for.

askmysack

fish-head wrote: »

A second hand Blues Junior could be what you're looking for.

You wouldnt have a link to one of those would ya buddy?

Voodu Child

The Peavey Classics are great as well, and usually pretty affordable 2nd hand. A Classic 30 combo would do the job great for pub venues, and they're simple, sturdy and reliable amps. I see one in the buyandsell at the moment.

eoin5

Have you been advised that tube amps require heating up and cooling down time and will need new tubes every year or so? Dont get me wrong they are the cats pjs and are definitely worth it but theyre much more awkward and expensive to run than tranny amps.

Quattroste

eoin5 wrote: »

tranny amps.

:eek: We'll not have that sort of thing around here....:p

Try to get a go on a Laney LC15/30/50 or the VC ones too. They are in your price range second hand and the LC30 is plenty for pub sized venues.

The warm up and cool down time is usually a matter of seconds on valve amps(on mine anyway) and yes they require a new set of tubes every year or so depending on the amount of play they get. You'd probably get away with changing the power amp tubes every secound time you changed the pre amp tubes.

Eoin Madsen

You've got to try some amps out and get a feel for the different types.

Quattroste wrote: »

The warm up and cool down time is usually a matter of seconds on valve amps(on mine anyway) and yes they require a new set of tubes every year or so depending on the amount of play they get. You'd probably get away with changing the power amp tubes every secound time you changed the pre amp tubes.

It's actually supposed to be the opposite - power valves wear out twice as fast as preamp valves! :pac: It's a couple of seconds for plate voltage to be applied to the valves when it comes out of standby - the purpose of giving them a minute or two to warm up before taking the amp out of standby is to stop the valves from being damaged by constantly hitting them with plate voltage before the cathodes are heated up.

But then, I've also heard that leaving the amp in standby for too long is also bad for the cathodes.

Reportedly, some valves in some devices sometimes sound better the longer they're on as well, but I haven't noticed that myself.

sei046

Off topic,

Dont they break in valves and speakers in some high end amps?

Quattroste

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

It's actually supposed to be the opposite - power valves wear out twice as fast as preamp valves! :pac:

Reportedly, some valves in some devices sometimes sound better the longer they're on as well, but I haven't noticed that myself.

Whoops, yeah that's what I meant

Funny you should mention that about the valves sounding better the longer they are on. I was only talking about this yesterday. I have noticed that before or at least thought to myself that the sounded even warmer/fuller.

Alanstrainor

eoin5 wrote: »

Have you been advised that tube amps require heating up and cooling down time and will need new tubes every year or so? Dont get me wrong they are the cats pjs and are definitely worth it but theyre much more awkward and expensive to run than tranny amps.

I would disagree about needing new valves every year. I;ve got a blues deluxe that's only needed one valve change in 2 years, and that was because i ended up smashing one when replacing the speaker!!! Yes you'll need a spare set of valves just in case, but a yearly change of valves is over the top.

Eoin Madsen

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would disagree about needing new valves every year. I;ve got a blues deluxe that's only needed one valve change in 2 years, and that was because i ended up smashing one when replacing the speaker!!! Yes you'll need a spare set of valves just in case, but a yearly change of valves is over the top.

Valves are worn out when they start to sound dull, or start to become a little microphonic etc. The consensus of players around the various web forums seems to be that this happens after about a year of regular play for power valves and two years for preamp valves.

Valves are not light bulbs, and you don't wait for them to blow or fail. For a start, if you care for the amp this could take a very long time, and the valves will be long past sounding dead when it happens. And perhaps more importantly, catastrophic valve failures are completely unpredictable and in worst case scenario can completely destroy one or both of your transformers.

Quattroste wrote: »

Whoops, yeah that's what I meant

Funny you should mention that about the valves sounding better the longer they are on. I was only talking about this yesterday. I have noticed that before or at least thought to myself that the sounded even warmer/fuller.

I dunno really. Being fair, there's a dozen other components that could be argued to be changing sound as they heat up/settle in. I remember reading something on Plexipalace ages ago about someone having actually measured and analysed outputs from various valves and finding that there was absolutely no mean difference after the first twenty mins or so of heating up, but I don't remember if they posted any actual data.

sei046 wrote: »

Off topic,

Dont they break in valves and speakers in some high end amps?

Signal capacitors and speakers are common. I haven't heard of breaking in valves so much.

askmysack

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

You've got to try some amps out and get a feel for the different types.



It's actually supposed to be the opposite - power valves wear out twice as fast as preamp valves! :pac: It's a couple of seconds for plate voltage to be applied to the valves when it comes out of standby - the purpose of giving them a minute or two to warm up before taking the amp out of standby is to stop the valves from being damaged by constantly hitting them with plate voltage before the cathodes are heated up.

But then, I've also heard that leaving the amp in standby for too long is also bad for the cathodes.

Reportedly, some valves in some devices sometimes sound better the longer they're on as well, but I haven't noticed that myself.

Cheers for the advice lads,

I've found a Marshall TSL601. Great price and looks to be in good nic. I've heard that Marshall are generally more suited to Gibsons but reviews online say that this badboy offers nice clean tones for Fenders and you can even get a twang out of it.

Anybody ever used one or know what theyre like?

darrenw5094

Good amp from reviews. You won't be disapointed with that one for the cash.
I was going to say a second hand ENGL Thunder, but you picked a decent one.

Wonder how long it will be before someone knocks the Marshall.

Eoin Madsen

askmysack wrote: »

I've found a Marshall TSL601. Great price and looks to be in good nic. I've heard that Marshall are generally more suited to Gibsons but reviews online say that this badboy offers nice clean tones for Fenders and you can even get a twang out of it.

Anybody ever used one or know what theyre like?

I've recorded a couple. I don't really like them, but like, that would be coming from someone with neurotic tastes who wouldn't shop with your budget limit. If you put in a fresh set of good valves as soon as you get it (expect to spend around €100 on valves) it should be well worth the cash as a first valve amp.

As for certain amp brands being more suited to certain guitar brands etc, that stuff is mostly worth ignoring imo. Nobody with half a clue would be making blanket generalisations like that. Besides, Hendrix played a Strat into a Marshall, so obviously Marshalls are more suited to Fenders.