Good low priced blues amp?

[rjsanders]

Very nice lead on that fxd, very tasty. I haven't seen any Silvertone 1474's for sale and I worry about buying some else's problems. Having said that, I have been looking at Gibsons in the Ebay vintage amp section and they are cheap, as are Silvertones. Slider has an Ampeg Rocket R12 for sale that is spotless and gone through that catces my eye. Currently I am pricing what I think I want at several boutique builders to get an idea as to cost. That may well bring my back to the used market.

 

+1 on the lead, very tasteful & DBettsian

 

we had this friendly amp tech & he collected every old Gibson, Fender, Marshall, Magnatone, and Ampeg he could over the years. gigged with a Marshall plexi/4x12 rig and a Silvertone 1484 + original 2x12. and he'd loan me examples for a week or so when i expressed interest in something. heckuva guy. anyway, that's how i got into old Ampegs...and the Gibsons were all beauts, too, ('cept ol' Evan claimed he couldn't take something about 6QB5's, so i never heard Gibsons that used those...)...Evan said the old Gibson combos used all redwood for the cabs & that added to the warmth...

[slider313]

rj,

The "woody" Fender's are akin to the early tweed circuits and used octal preamp tubes like 6SC7, 6SJ7, 6N7, 6SL7 and 6SN7. These amps sound quite different than the later tweeds using nine pin minatures, that's why I seperated the two.

Your friend Evan and I share the same views on the 6BQ5 tubes. I am not a fan of these tubes, no matter which circuit they're used in, and I owned a Goodsell Super 17 MKII, a Peavey Delta Blues, a Gibson GA-8 Discoverer and a Rockytop Marshall 18 watt clone. I like Gibson amps built up until 1961 and don't care for the later "Crestline" series. A friend had a '60 tweed Gibson Invader with a 12" and 8" speaker, which was one of the better sounding Gibson's I've ever heard.

[rjsanders]

rj,

The "woody" Fender's are akin to the early tweed circuits and used octal preamp tubes like 6SC7, 6SJ7, 6N7, 6SL7 and 6SN7. These amps sound quite different than the later tweeds using nine pin minatures, that's why I seperated the two.

Your friend Evan and I share the same views on the 6BQ5 tubes. I am not a fan of these tubes, no matter which circuit they're used in, and I owned a Goodsell Super 17 MKII, a Peavey Delta Blues, a Gibson GA-8 Discoverer and a Rockytop Marshall 18 watt clone. I like Gibson amps built up until 1961 and don't care for the later "Crestline" series. A friend had a '60 tweed Gibson Invader with a 12" and 8" speaker, which was one of the better sounding Gibson's I've ever heard.

 

yeahman, another friend was a friend of Ken Fischer, who loved octal pre's. they may have been the key factor in why i liked my lil Ampeg so much.

 

6QB5's/EL84's: Ken also did wonders with this tube and my friend had a custom jobby done with 4xEL84, kinduva Trainwreck Rocket. i myself love the darn things, which is the reason i got my Heritage Briton II. but Evan (our tech) didn't even like the Gibson GA-79RVT, for which so many would do violence to own

 

others i've dug: AC-30, Bruno Underground 30, VHT Pittbull 45, even the lowly (yet delightful) Blues Jr., and a number of Dr. Z amps - chacun a son gout!

[pegleg32]

I came across this on the internet on a website for harmonica players, notice the tone description:

 

 

Silvertone 1474 Twin Twelve (1962)

Speaker Config: 2 x Jensen P12Qs

Wattage: 60 w

Tube Setup: 5U4, 4x6L6s, 6AU6, 12AX7s

Danelectro-made, hi-powered Twin amp with trem and reverb is loud and very toneful - Not roadworthy due to cab/chassis construction but great in a studio/club setting with plenty of headroom!

Tone: Dark and smoky with slow, saggy attack - Excellent tone/headroom/$ ratio!

Mic Preferred with this Amp: NOS 60s Shure 440 Silver Bullet.

[pegleg32]

It's a done deal. I ordered the Richter 5E3-G amp.

 

I wanted to say thanks to all the HOC member who helped me narrow down my amp search, with a special shout out to Mike (Slider313) and Jeff (rjsanders) who really brought there extensive knowledege and intellect to bear on my hunt. You guys are special and I really appreciate it.

 

IIf anyone is interested, this link should show you the amp:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Richter-5E3-G-Narrow-P...=item1c0e00d471

[rjsanders]

...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Richter-5E3-G-Narrow-P...=item1c0e00d471

 

man, that Les Paul clip sounds great! hope yours has whatever speaker was used for that...(or better )

[hiro]

I was looking for a bluesy amp that didn't mess up the wallet. Got the delta blues, but it was a quest.

 

These videos helped

 

is what alerted me to this . . .

 

and finally this one made me realize you could do alot with it . . .

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9mi8i1mnm8

 

 

But before that, when I was still in college, a blues musician (harmonica) and his guitarist would show up, part of a lunch two hour playing by various bands of all different types of music out in the main lunch area open air patio. Though most of the SDSU crew was into hiphop, rap, pop, top 40, ska, punk, alternate etc . . . Few people would be milling around, and then few songs, the whole place would get packed. One time 300+ people and lots of students passing by missed their class! They just jammed with so much soul.

 

 

I remember someone asking him about the amp, which was a delta blues. I wasn't playing then but I just thought it sounded so sweet and I still remember the two kids, one of them was napoleon dynamite meets kurt cobain and the other was dressed jimi hendrix and but looked like sting and the amp they were jocking.

 

 

I tried the Fender Blues Jr, which was in stock everywhere I went, but it just didn't sound like the peavey delta.

 

 

I was trying to look for peavy delta . . . it was pretty hard to find it. I didn't want to mail order it b/c if anything happens to it, its trouble to send it back. Also Fedex / Brown delivery ninjas tend to hurl / drop heavy stuff (as long as the box looks ok . . . its good).

 

Another clincher is guitar center always gets shipments in but I kept missing it. And all the peavey dealers were out of this.

Craigs list last 3 of them posted and I was too late. Not to be out done, I talked to my software programming guru friend and we made a search engine script to do auto searches and do a lil pop up. This week saw 7 of them go on sale and each time I called the guy and 1 gal selling them already had enough buyers.

 

I finally got lucky, the main peavey licensed repair guy ran a shop and he had one that was a few years old. He had just replaced the tubes. He sold it to me for $470 and with a 5 year new warranty and said I could always take it back to him for anything.

 

Awesome.

[t0aj15]

I wish I had an amp with tremolo. The old Heathkit amp I have had it on there but the damn thing is so noisy and bad sounding I can never bear to use it. What are some good add-ons (stomp boxes etc.) that would give me a good, quiet trem sound for my Peavey Classic 30?

The Boss TR-2 Tremolo modded by Robert Keeley is an excellent pedal. If you already have one you can send it to them to be modded or you can buy a new one already modded directly from them. See it here: http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=26

[FrankV]

I was looking for a bluesy amp that didn't mess up the wallet. Got the delta blues, but it was a quest.

 

I got GAS for a Delta Blues, can't even explain why I had to have one so bad. I wanted to trade up from the Fender Champ I started with, and was all over the 'net, reading everything, watching all the YouTubes, etc. Money is a factor, so I wanted to go under a grand (way under if possible). Finally picked up a Delta Blues 115 used for just under $400. Maybe not the best deal, but I was on a mission.

I'm going to put in a new set of tubes, no idea how old these are. But it sounds nice, and it's LOUD for sure. The 535 sounds great!

[smurph1]

don't know how this fit's into the discussion, but my old Gibson GA-8 has a beautiful Blues tone!! Tons of clean headroom with the P-90 equipped H-137..Then I stomp on my old TS-9 for some nice overdrive!! TASTY!! Enjoy..You could probably find one on E-Bay..

[smurph1]

don't know how this fit's into the discussion, but my old Gibson GA-8 has a beautiful Blues tone!! Tons of clean headroom with the P-90 equipped H-137..Then I stomp on my old TS-9 for some nice overdrive!! TASTY!! Enjoy..You could probably find one on E-Bay..

[Kuz]

don't know how this fit's into the discussion, but my old Gibson GA-8 has a beautiful Blues tone!! Tons of clean headroom with the P-90 equipped H-137..Then I stomp on my old TS-9 for some nice overdrive!! TASTY!! Enjoy..You could probably find one on E-Bay..

 

Yea, what he said, EXACTLY!!!!

[pegleg32]

I was surprised to see this thread come up again. I started it 8 months ago, and ended up buying a Richter amp which is a really nice amp. After playing it for awhile I decided it just wasn't for me so I sold it and bought a Carr which I use with an OD pedal. This does it for me. The end story of the whole process for me is, quit futzing around with low priced amps and hoping for the best. Spend the money for a true quality amp. Buy more amp than you can really afford and it will pay off in the long trun. I'm about to start the process of selling my modified Fender Blues Jr. I plan to replace it with another low watt tube amp in the $2,000 to $4,000 range somewhere down the road. Anybody need a really nice Blues Jr?

[212Mavguy]

I agree, do not compromise a Heritage guitar with an inexpensive modern production amp with modern production tubes, a great vintage style guitar will sound great with a great amp and great vintage tubes to go with. Once a player really understands about the guts of a good tube amp and how they work, then building or modding one is very rewarding, and a lot less money than boutique prices.

 

Peace.