Low volume tube amp?

[dronemachine]

Hey people!

I'm about to move to the big city to finish my last year on academy of art.This time/year,I want to bring my jag and some of the pedals with me.
I can't drag my old piggyback bassman,so I'm thinkin' of buying some small tube apartment friendly amp...

I was thinkin' of this one,so if anyone had experience with it,some info would be nice.

Also,any input/idea will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[smile_man]

Maybe a Vox AC15 or a Blues Jr.

[ohsojayadeva]

i have a vox ac15. it is not what you are looking for. it is loud. i really can't say that enough. it is as loud (maybe louder?) than the 5150 i used to use.

[Louie62]

Well, it all depends on how loud you want to play!!

Valve/tube amps are AT LEAST 3-5 times louder than their transistor equivalents - so a 15w valve amp will blitz a 50w tranny amp (and give tons of tone ). It also depends on your valves imho. I re-valved my Peavy 30 Classic from Sovtec valves to high gain Harma and had a significant increase in both gain and volume.

You considered an amp with headphones socket?

[dorfmeister]

Zvex Nano

http://zvexamps.com/amp_view.html

[Louie62]

Good call dorfmeister!!

Or possibly: http://www.matamp.co.uk/minimat.htm

Just a thought..........

[jrmy]

If you're willing to go the DIY route, you could get the Beavis/OLC Tube Cricket kit:

http://www.olcircuits.com/olc_tubecricket.html

[metalmariachi]

how about Blackheart

combo
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=481675

heads
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=483077

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=488006



Epiphone Valve Jr

combo
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=480260


head
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=482069

Crate

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=487050


MM

[ohsojayadeva]

i've heard a lot of good things about those blackhearts, but i've never played one myself. i've come pretty close to pullin' the trigger a couple of times though, definitely.

[dronemachine]

Thanks so much guys!

I'll see where this takes me...don't have the money to go for Z.Vex,maybe sometimes later when I get rich

I was thinking about those blackheart amps...dunno anything about amps with headphone option,is that a good solution?

And yeah,vox ac 15 is too loud for my application,as is the blues jr.But I love both of 'em.

Thanks again!

[dorfmeister]

Thanks so much guys!

I'll see where this takes me...don't have the money to go for Z.Vex,maybe sometimes later when I get rich

I was thinking about those blackheart amps...dunno anything about amps with headphone option,is that a good solution?

And yeah,vox ac 15 is too loud for my application,as is the blues jr.But I love both of 'em.

Thanks again!

Check out the Zvex's on e-bay. I've noticed that you can often get a used one for about $300.

[Tell-Electro]

Definitely a Vox AC15 CC2, around $600, and quality.

Nice!

[ifeellikeatourist]

This all really does depend upon what you mean by a "low volume" tube amp. Obviously a 15 watt tube amp is low wattage, but still too loud to crank in the apartment, so as you said, the ac15 and blues junior are out. The epiphone/blackheart 5 watters are sweet (I'm under the impression that these amps are the same basic design, though the black heart has a few more features) but you (a) don't get much clean headroom, and (b) with the absence of both gain and master volume knobs, are probably unable to get much gain at lower volumes. However, if quiet is what you're looking for, or you're playing through headphones or something, then maybe clean headroom isn't an issue; similarly, if you're using pedals to get your distortion, you might not mind the absence of a gain knob. Just my take on it. I don't know much about the Fender that you posted, but I think that having a 6" speaker would be a big downside for the amp. Just my opinion.

[hazelwould]

I'd get a Champion 600. I demo'd one and of sounded awesome.

I tried the valve jr. And was pretty unimpressed. Maybe of was just the setup. Cause I usually love el84's. I tried a Peavey Delta Blues... Man that thing sounds sweet. And my little Velocette sounded rad as well. Any of these with an attenuator would be awesome at low volumes.
You could also just get an attenuator for your bassman... Tedweber.com is supposed to have some nice ones at reasonable prices.