Amp Advice

[Brad]

Hi Folks,

I am new to Heritage guitars and to this site. So far, I am thrilled with both. I could use a little advice. I am an intermediate player who just picked up a used 1998 535 Classic in great shape (probably too much guitar for me, but I love it anyway). I play just for myself at home. I tend towards basic Gypsy Jazz, a few standards, some blues and some picking. I stay away from the hard rock stuff (obvious with my choice of guitars). I was wondering what others would suggest as a good amp match for this guitar for a player of my level.

Thanks,

Brad

[barrymclark]

Hi Folks,

I am new to Heritage guitars and to this site. So far, I am thrilled with both. I could use a little advice. I am an intermediate player who just picked up a used 1998 535 Classic in great shape (probably too much guitar for me, but I love it anyway). I play just for myself at home. I tend towards basic Gypsy Jazz, a few standards, some blues and some picking. I stay away from the hard rock stuff (obvious with my choice of guitars). I was wondering what others would suggest as a good amp match for this guitar for a player of my level.

Thanks,

Brad

My first question is... what is your budget for an amp?

[Brad]

My first question is... what is your budget for an amp?

 

Good point, I should mention I got one kid in college and two in the pipeline. So, money is tight. That said, I have some flexibility, but would like to if possible keep it to around $1000 or so.

[fxdx99]

Hi Brad - welcome to HOC. You obviously have good taste from your guitar selection. There's a recent thread here about a 'favorite amp' which turned out to be a blackface vibrolux, so that may be in the running but would also likely exceed your budget. For your musical genre, I might still go with a fender type amp, though. For home volumes I've always liked the Princeton Reverb... could maybe find a silverface version in your budget, or look at used Headstrong or maybe even a new Allen (builders with takes on the Fender design).

 

Or... for that budget might even consider going for 2 amps to allow for some tonal variation. Something like a Fender Pro Junior used I think is 300-something and could then could compliment it with another amp like a Mesa Subway or even a Gibby 'tweed' amp from the 50s like a GA6 or Gibsonette or even a recent (but gently used) fender princeton.

 

All of these I'm thinking of as a used buy... other options for new amps I suppose. Good luck with your amp-hunt and congrats on the new 535.

[barrymclark]

Good point, I should mention I got one kid in college and two in the pipeline. So, money is tight. That said, I have some flexibility, but would like to if possible keep it to around $1000 or so.

If you are just kicking the amp around the house... man... you can really get about anything. Lots of lower wattage amps at VERY reasonable prices. If you are wanting a good jazzy sounding amp, a Roland JC120 you get new for about $700 or so. It is stereo 60watt and WAY more than you need at home... but... should you ever play with others... you got the oomf.

 

That is the one I would recommend.

 

If you are wanting some edge in your tone though... Fender is hard to beat. The Blues series stuff is great. You can get old Bassmans and Vibro series amps for under a grand if you look around.

[Gitfiddler]

Hey Brad, welcome to the friendliest Heritage guitar owners site on the web. Never mind that it is the only Heritage owners site on the web!

 

Anyway, back on topic...For playing at home, and for the styles you mentioned, check out the Fender Blues Jr. (Vintage Tweed option with Jenson speaker).

I know plenty of players who use their BJ's for gigging, so it ain't a one-trick-poney.

 

 

For my gigs, I recently fell for a Fender Blues Deluxe. It has great cleans, 6L6 valves, nice sounding Eminence speaker, and plenty of clean headroom. This amp sounds great and is not too heavy. This is an important factor as one ages...or has back issues like yours truly.

 

Good luck and let us see that H535 when you get a chance.

[barrymclark]

For my gigs, I recently fell for a Fender Blues Deluxe. It has great cleans, 6L6 valves, nice sounding Eminence speaker, and plenty of clean headroom. This amp sounds great and is not too heavy. This is an important factor as one ages...or has back issues like yours truly.

I completely agree here! Great amp. Way under a grand. I had the 410 deville. That was very heavy... but it sounded awesome.

 

I stand a bit corrected. I guess they don't really make the blues deluxe I remember anymore. Well, they do... but they dress it up like a reissue and sell it for about $800. Still... great amp.

 

If you don't mind the extra bells and whistles... you can get the Hot Rod Deluxe for about $700.

[pegleg32]

I would strongly reccommend the Fender Blues Jr. - 15 all tube watts through a 12" speaker, very home friendly. I have owned 2 and love them. Do your shopping on Ebay, you will get one for about $300.

[smurph1]

I would strongly reccommend the Fender Blues Jr. - 15 all tube watts through a 12" speaker, very home friendly. I have owned 2 and love them. Do your shopping on Ebay, you will get one for about $300.

I agree...My Blues Jr sounds great..It has a kick#ss reverb, plenty of power for most applications..and, it's light to boot..Just add your favorite overdrive pedal and you are good to go!!

[slider313]

Keep your eyes open for a '70 or '71 Fender silverface Vibrolux Reverb. These can still be found for a reasonable price if they're not "mint". A few scrapes and snags will not affect the tone, so one in very good condition should run you about $1100.

[JeffB]

Another option are the Rivera designed Fenders from the 80's.

Hand wired p-p etc. Good clean amp with nice reverb. They slide under the radar and can be gotten quite cheaply.

[cook]

Lots of good suggestions. When I was getting my first tube amp several years ago, I set a budget of $1000 also. I ended up getting a used Peavey Classic 30 for $300. Still love it. My brother has a Classic 50 4x10, sounds great too but is a lot louder! He got it used also for $400.

 

I tried one of those Rivera designed Fender Concerts (50 w) also. Loved that amp, but way too loud for my apartment. Can't wait to get a house with a basement.

[Neanderthal]

Oh man, I just got rid of an 80s Rivera-era Fender Concert II, the 1-12" version. Like you guys said, it was a sweet clean amp. They take pedals real well too. I'll probably regret dumping it. I think I bought mine for like $500 a few years ago.

[Saminc]

i have a 4 ch amp to push my front and rears and a mono for the sub.

Should I just run one power cable to the 4ch and then run power from that amp to the mono?

or would it be better to use a distribution block?

or even 2 power cables from the battery?

 

thanks for any advice

[Mikenov]

Peavey Classic 30 or a Blues Jr would do nicely and you can save the rest of your budget for the kids college. I am a fan of both of these amps.

[Doug]

I have a Peavey Classic 30 that I am running my 535 through that sounds pretty good.

[t0aj15]

I've had most of the amps suggested above and didn't like any of them as much as this:

Traynor YCV-50 Blue

It sounds great and is both versatile and dependable with a two year "even if you break it" warranty.

[paul144]

'70-'73 Princeton Reverb, do new caps, tubes & speaker. Will only go up in value the longer you own it.

I've done plenty of rock gigs with a 6pc band using one, so this will totally work for you. Light as a feather too.

[Mills]

If you are even remotely DIY there are a lot of Fender 5E3 kits available online. I love those amps. They are really simple, great for home use, mike them and they sound awesome. They are also called Tweed Deluxe. I am planning on making that the next amp that I build. A huge amount of tone in a really small package. Ted Weber has kits and so does Marsh amplification. I think they are getting pretty expensive to pick up used these days.

 

-Nate

[rjsanders]

so, Brad, what did you end up with?

 

(+'s galore on the early 80's Rivera Fenders or any used Rivera combo from the 90's or after)

 

[teamshakenbake]

Valvetech VAC 25, if you can find one used it is 700 or 800 and it can do anything clean on channel one and when you want to get the led out or something to that effect the second channel has some monster gain sounds. It sounds amazing all over the place.