Valve amp with most clean headroom?

quicklickpaddy

More so out of interest/very very long term aspiration because I have a Fender Deluxe HotRod which I'm in love with and don't really have the cash to upgrade to anything more expensive. My one and only complaint with it is that once you get past 4/5 you start getting a bit of natural overdrive (which I like for the most part).

If I was looking at other amps what would be my best bet? Would a straightforward upgrade to the DeVille do it for me or maybe some of the Vox series? Or would I have to start looking at Blackstar and that kinda thing?

rcaz

Fender Twin Reverbs are legendary for their clean tone. I've never played one, now, but any time I've heard a Twin discussed, there's always been the mention of how it never breaks up. Also legendary for its paint-stripping applications.

novarock

+1 on the fender twin - also the orange rockerverb has the best clean and overdrive channels on one amp..

Glassheart

The Twin Reverb is the way to go altough in my experience it is very fussy over what kind of dirt pedals you can put through it.

Another option is the 59' Bassman.Not as sparkly clean as the Twin but it has plenty of headroom (depending on the tube biasing) and sounds great with just about any pedal you throw at it.

ball ox

I ditched my Orange AD30 in favor of a '79 twin for that very reason, I needed more headroom. Best move I've ever made, absolutely beautiful amp.
Beware though, it weighs a bloody ton!

Sandvich

Bassmans don't have as much clean headroom as Twins by quite a bit but they do have a more flat frequency response, which IMO makes them better at taking Fuzz pedals and the like. The smaller Tweeds tend to colour your sound a lot more though and have even less headroom.

PMI

If you want clean to stay clean go for a higher volume amp....

Its the natural saturation of the output valves that is giving your the grit. this is less likely to happen on a good 100/150watt valve head they will give you slightly more headroom

Twin Reverbs still do it but in a different way, you would have to listen and try some good luck in your search.

-Chris-

Before you spend a big amount on upgrading your amp, AFAIK you can change the valves in your HRD to give you more clean headroom. Also, upgrading your speaker to a louder/more sensitive one should give you more volume without extra break-up.

Just a thought...

Sandvich

-Chris- wrote: »

Before you spend a big amount on upgrading your amp, AFAIK you can change the valves in your HRD to give you more clean headroom. Also, upgrading your speaker to a louder/more sensitive one should give you more volume without extra break-up.

Just a thought...

Then you have to turn it up way louder to actually get an appreciable amount of t00biness. Part of why t00b amps are a pain.

quicklickpaddy

I had a bash of the Twin Reverb there the other day. It's great but at the same time, I definitely prefer the tone off my HotRod. Would the Deluxe 80watt cab help me out with headroom or will it just boost volume?

Lurcher

I tried a Twin Reverb the other day and was not impressed at all. Ice pick cleans (and my guitar is not the brightest sounding) and little else. Then I tried a Hawatt HG50 head through a Maxwatt 4x12 and that baby had it all. There's a 2x12 combo version that is high on my gas list as its not expensive as these things go. Anyway, headroom is unreal on it and I got it to 7 in the soundproof room without a trace of break-up. The cleans are warmer than Fender but less dark than Vox. Exactly what you expect from Hiwatt. But there's the higain channel that would have Marshall users green with envy. Worth checking out.

rcaz

Lurcher wrote: »

Ice pick cleans (and my guitar is not the brightest sounding) and little else.

That's what Twins are made for

punchdrunk

the nicest fender clean sound is the super reverb (40ish watts of heaven)

dannyluvsu

Having owned a Dual Recto previously I didn't have high hopes for the clean tone on the Mark III combo I purchased but hell was I wrong. This thing has a beautiful jangly Fender-esq clean tone that puts a lot of my previous amps to shame completely in that department!

eagle10

I have a boogie mkIV when it is runiing right with good valves it stays clean at massive volumes it has an ev speaker have not tried a celistion model.
But it weighs a freaking tonne!

quicklickpaddy

So will a cab give me extra clean headroom? Or will it break up at the same point? The amp is 40watt and the cab is 80 by the way...

deisehoonts

messa all the way dude,you get wat you pay for and with the messas you pay a lot but u get a lot in return:Di also have a hotrod deluxe and if you need to be playing it any louder than 4 on da vol you should seriously think bout mic`n it!! da loudest i drive mine is 3.5 and its painfully loud at that and still perfectly clean..

Backline Boy

Boogie all the way fair enough, but you are looking at four times the price of a hot rod ... still if you have the bread its well worth it....

10-11-2010 16:09
eagle10 I have a boogie mkIV when it is runiing right with good valves it stays clean at massive volumes it has an ev speaker have not tried a celistion model.
But it weighs a freaking tonne!

Never seen one with Celestions but those EV Black Shadow speakers are the bit that gives the boogie so much head room they are like PA Drivers ...

quicklickpaddy

Nah don't have the cash for a Mesa.

So would the cab help clean headroom? Or would it just boost volume with the breaking point in and around the same place?

Backline Boy

It won't really give you any more headroom, if the impedence matches on the cab and amp it will give you a bit more volume... but hot rods are 8ohm and most guitar cabs (say marshall 4X12's) are 16 ohm so by placing a bigger load on the amp you might actually lose a little (probably won't notice) and you can damage the amp by having a mismatch...

Paolo_M

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

So will a cab give me extra clean headroom? Or will it break up at the same point? The amp is 40watt and the cab is 80 by the way...

Depends on the speakers, and to some degree the construction of the cab itself.

Some speakers are more efficient than others and so will be louder with the same amp and settings. Different speakers begin to break up at different SPLs.
Some cabs are more solidly built and can be a touch louder as a result.

What cab are you talking about?

quicklickpaddy

The Deluxe Hot Rod cab. I think it's a 1x12 80watt tube

Backline Boy

Maybe I'm stating the really obvious and there is very good reasons why you can't but couldn't you just bring the amp to wherever you are getting the cab plug it in and see if it works ....

Paolo_M

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

The Deluxe Hot Rod cab. I think it's a 1x12 80watt tube

Is it a cab or an amp combo?
A cab doesn't have tubes in it.
What speakers are in it? Do you have a link where I can see one of what you're talking about?

quicklickpaddy

Paolo_M wrote: »

Is it a cab or an amp combo?
A cab doesn't have tubes in it.
What speakers are in it? Do you have a link where I can see one of what you're talking about?

http://www.thomann.de/ie/fender_hot_rod_deluxe_112_encl_bk.htm

Ah you're right. Makes sense now that i think about it

Paolo_M

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

http://www.thomann.de/ie/fender_hot_rod_deluxe_112_encl_bk.htm

Ah you're right. Makes sense now that i think about it

The G12P-80 spec says it's 98dB. It's similar G12T-75 tonally but with a smaller magnet. It's a scooped sound.
The V30 or G12H are 100dB and so will produce more volume with the same amp. Both speakers have more mids.

What tones do you like? What guitarists are your tones similar to?

Are you stuck on a fender cab for some reason?

quicklickpaddy

Paolo_M wrote: »

The G12P-80 spec says it's 98dB. It's similar G12T-75 tonally but with a smaller magnet. It's a scooped sound.
The V30 or G12H are 100dB and so will produce more volume with the same amp. Both speakers have more mids.

What tones do you like? What guitarists are your tones similar to?

Are you stuck on a fender cab for some reason?

I've just always loved fender tone is all. If there are other ones with somethin similar I'd be more than willing to try it out! But yeah, scooped about covers it. Fat bass that spits at you is how I always describe it.