kidsmoke Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 I bought one of these. It's voiced like a Marshall and sounds great at low volume 1/4 watt levels or can push a pair of 4X12 cabs with 33 or 50 watts (not sure which, but it can push them at stage volumes.). Kidsmoke recommended it in a similar thread I started earlier this year and I went ahead and bought one. Couldn't be happier. Great bedroom level tube amp for sure, but not a wide array of tones available, IMHO. If you know you want a crunch/gain of a Marshall at those levels, you won't be happier. I didn't mention it thinking someone who's never owned an amp may want the "variety pak" with his first purchase. (glad to hear you're diggin' it, Blunote!!)
Gitfiddler Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Check these out and read any reviews you can find about them. Tech 21 Trademark 30 amps are awesome little beasts, especially when connected either to an extension speaker or direct into a pa system! http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/amps/guitar/trademark30.html
yoslate Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 Check these out and read any reviews you can find about them. Tech 21 Trademark 30 amps are awesome little beasts, especially when connected either to an extension speaker or direct into a pa system! http://www.tech21nyc...rademark30.html Tim, I think you're the first person on this forum I've seen mention these. I gigged one for about a year. Used it with a 4x10 Marshall cab. They are indeed useful, have a wide variety of tones, are not really expensive, and are plenty portable. Good call....
Gitfiddler Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 Tim, I think you're the first person on this forum I've seen mention these. I gigged one for about a year. Used it with a 4x10 Marshall cab. They are indeed useful, have a wide variety of tones, are not really expensive, and are plenty portable. Good call.... Oh yea! I always bring my Tech 21 T-30 ltd ed. with me in its cute little gig bag/carrying case as a back up to my gigs.
Fernando Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 I really like my Vox AC4TV, 4 watts and an attenuator to make it 1 watt and 1/4 watt. I also would like to recommend the 20 watt Dr. Z Prescription Jr., which has a master volume that allows you to crank it up while keeping the volume down, you can play it pretty much anywhere. I am selling one (I have two), just FYI.
NoNameBand Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 Congratulations on your new 555. I'd go with an Egnator Rebel 20 or 30. Check them out at any large retailer including GC. A lot of flexibility at low and hi volume, dual channel, good clean & dirty. Good luck.
needane Posted November 10, 2011 Posted November 10, 2011 Congrats on 555 excellent semi body sure with a set up to your touch it will be what you expected. As far as amps I would consider 10 -20 amp clean clear tube fender and then try some pedals with amp, these are on the cheap side and you can get money back or MOST on resell if amp dose not work out, not quite 2 cents worth
barrymclark Posted November 10, 2011 Posted November 10, 2011 Oh yea! I always bring my Tech 21 T-30 ltd ed. with me in its cute little gig bag/carrying case as a back up to my gigs. Oh, yeah! I had completely forgotten about these amps! Great, great amps!
DetroitBlues Posted November 10, 2011 Posted November 10, 2011 Hi, Thanks all for your input. I am quite impressed by the number and quality of the answers I got in so little time. As far as the type of music I will be playing with it, it will be mostly blues and some rock. I am still browsing a lot of amp specs on the internet but I am surprised to see that not many of them have an headphones jack which I am sure my wife and neighbor would love for me to have for late night practice. Thanks Rookie If you want headphones, you cannot have a tube amp. Tube amps must have a speaker load to function (or else you'll fry your amp). A pocket pod is a great tool for silent practice at night if you don't get into solid state amps (which don't require speaker loads).
H Posted November 10, 2011 Posted November 10, 2011 If you want headphones, you cannot have a tube amp. Tube amps must have a speaker load to function (or else you'll fry your amp). Not so, I'm afraid - see the Blackstar HT-5 review here as just one example: http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/amplification/instrument-amps/guitar-stacks/ht5-s-mini-stack-179251/review
kbp810 Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Correct, you can have a headphone out on a tube amp - but it requires a buffer and/or attenuation of sorts to do safely. To elaborate... things like feedback or a tube going by the wayside can create an incredibly loud and/or displeasing sound - when you are just plugged into a regular speaker, you just reach over in a hurry and hit the off switch; when that noise is going directly into your ear, by the time you reach over to hit the power switch the damage may already be done.
lavalllj Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Tim, I think you're the first person on this forum I've seen mention these. I gigged one for about a year. Used it with a 4x10 Marshall cab. They are indeed useful, have a wide variety of tones, are not really expensive, and are plenty portable. Good call.... I'm new just signed up today and my question is how did you get the Marshall 4x10 speaker cabinet to work. I'm about to buy a Tech-21 60 1x12 Power Engine but i would like to use a 2x12 or 4x10 speaker cabinet. The Tech 21 site is a little confusing as to what you can use for extension speaker cabinets. I just started playing Guitar in the summer and I have a 1997 Guild Bluesbird, Tech-21 60 1x12 Trademark, Line 6 M13, Line 6 POD XT Live, Morley Volume/Wah. Any help would be great Thanks, Lou
TalismanRich Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 on the Guild Bluesbird. I've been a fan of Guilds for many years. I always wanted a Blues 90, but the baseball neck and I don't mate well. Wish it had the neck of my S100! As for adding an extension cabinet to the Tech21, I don't see a place for it. The Power Engines output is limited to XLR outputs (line level). There is no external speaker out. The only way I could see to do that would be to pull the leads from the internal 12" speaker lugs and connect that to an external jack. If you do that, make sure you use an 8 ohm cabinet. That's what the power engine is rated for. If you do that, make sure you don't fire it up without a speaker attached.
lavalllj Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Thanks for your help, a friend of mine has a 2x12 cabinet sitting around I'll try pulling the leads from the internal 12" if it works & sounds right I'll keep it if not I'll pickup the Power Engine after new years. I've been looking for a 1970 to 1972 S100 there're fantastic. Back in 1960's I had a Cherry Red 1960 Gibson ES335 w/vibrato and a Cherry Red 1962 Guild Starfire III w/Bigsby vibrato I wish I still had then. Lou
pushover Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Lots of really good input for you on this thread, but let me add that you might not need to get caught up in the snobery of the tublishious sound. It is very likely that you could get plugged into amps behind a screen, one tube and one solid state, and not be able to tell the difference. In your case your driving factor is the constraints of an apartment, and even a 5 watt amp is going to be LOUD. I really don't think you can properly appreciate a tube amp in a small space, and although there are some that will sound better than other when played at room volumes, most likely you'll still want something different when you're ready to play out. In an apartment I'd probably just get a SS modelling amp with an earphone jack. I'd prolly even just go for a used one just to get me started, since hopefully you'll eventually out grow it both in terms of ear, talent and in terms of having a larger space to play.
rookie Posted December 19, 2011 Author Posted December 19, 2011 Hello All, I did buy a Swart STR Tweed. The finalists were Blackstar HT-5R and the Swart. I did try the Balckstar which was ok, I also tried it with headphones and was not impressed at all. Then I tried the Swart and I was blown away, this has the cleanest sound I have ever heard. The Swart was about 3 times the price of the Swart but you get what you pay for, and I am glad to support North American craftmanship instead of mass production in Asia :-) when I can. Thanks for all your recommendations. Rookie
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