extremely specific amp question

[Errant Tiger]

So I'm at the point where what I really need to do is is scrap all of my current amps and find THE AMP. I thought this would be a good place to turn for opinions...

THE AMP is almost definitely a combo (1x12 or 2x12), probably tube, sounds good (not necessarily perfect) clean and takes pedals well. Preferably with reverb. It will almost definitely be used for nothing but recording and home playing (a big house with a basement), so gigging is not really a concern. Ideally I would spend in the $500-800 range.

I'll be playing some kind of Sabbath/Black Mountain/Om stoner doom hybrid. For the record, the amps I'm looking to get rid of are a JC-120 (love the reverb and effects [other than distortion]; don't love the cold tone anymore), a Laney Protube AOR30 (great for sounding like Sleep, but I can't do anything else with it), and a Crate GX-65 (momentary lapse of reason).

I haven't actually tried any amps yet - I'm still in the research phase - but various recommendations have been Twins, Bassmans, Hot Rod Deluxe/Devilles, JCM-800s, Traynors, and most recently old Peaveys.

So, hivemind, what would you recommend? Let me have it!

PS: I play a Les Paul Custom. Pedals are in flux as well, and TBD once I get the amp squared away.

[HeavyXIII]

All the AORs I've ever had took pedals quite well. I'm personally a fan of their cleans so They're basically JCMs, although a little bit grittier in the low end. A speaker swap might be helpful. I've heard mixed reviews on the stock Fanes (?) they came with. I think it could probably do what you want if you think outside the box a little bit.

If you've already done all that can be done with it, look out for the now discontinued Ampeg GVT15s. I hear lots of good stuff about them, and they still sell for well under your budget. You might be more of a fender cleans kinda guy though, so again YMMV.

[Errant Tiger]

All the AORs I've ever had took pedals quite well. I'm personally a fan of their cleans so They're basically JCMs, although a little bit grittier in the low end. A speaker swap might be helpful. I've heard mixed reviews on the stock Fanes (?) they came with. I think it could probably do what you want if you think outside the box a little bit.

If you've already done all that can be done with it, look out for the now discontinued Ampeg GVT15s. I hear lots of good stuff about them, and they still sell for well under your budget. You might be more of a fender cleans kinda guy though, so again YMMV.

I'm totally going to have to go back to the Laney once I move, and see what I can do with it. Part of the problem is that the reverb's busted (it was when I bought it) and I use a lot of reverb, so it's been unsatisfying since the beginning. And it's been awhile since I've played it - and I haven't played it that much - so my recollection's fuzzy - but I seem to remember that channel-switching was a pain. And maybe it was just my mood at the time, but between the amp's natural sounds and a Muff, Rat, and a TS, I couldn't come up with any tones I really dug.

Anyway, all my amps are in storage until I move on Thursday, so sometime soon I'll be setting up in the new basement and hopefully start to figure it out. Thanks for the feedback!

[krlpuretone]

I have a Sunn T50C (the reissue series) which is basically a Fender design on steroids! Gobs of power, but cleans up nice and has a great reverb....super flexible in what you can do with it (which is pretty much everything from shine to grind)



https://reverb.com/item/65880-sunn-t50c-1x12-combo

Plus the design is freaking bulletproof.

[Errant Tiger]

I have a Sunn T50C (the reissue series) which is basically a Fender design on steroids! Gobs of power, but cleans up nice and has a great reverb....super flexible in what you can do with it (which is pretty much everything from shine to grind)



https://reverb.com/item/65880-sunn-t50c-1x12-combo

Plus the design is freaking bulletproof.

VERY interesting... for some reason I hadn't even thought about Sunns. How is it at lower volumes?

They seem pretty hard to find, even on youtube - but I like what little there is. There's an 1970s A212 for sale near me ($750) but again, I don't know anything about them...

Also, your footswitch looks exactly like the one that came with the redknob Princeton Chorus I got circa 1988.

[fever606]

T50C is baller.

I was in a band for years with a guy that had a JCM800 2x12 combo, and it was great for low-volume clean to gigging crunch... hung with my Hiwatt half-stack for damn near everything but definitely usable at basement volumes...

[doommeow]

Couple of options and opinions...

- Red Knob Twin. Underrated, underpriced. Heavy as fuck, so put it in the basement and don't move it until you move again. Great clean platform, all sorts for switchable wattage options, fx loops, on board verb.

- Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville etc. Meh. Acceptable clean platform, but for the money I'd rather have the Twin or any of a number of other amps. Don't buy new - these need a couple of mods right out of the gate so why waste the money on a warranty that you're going to void.

- Why combo? If you go with a head/cab set up your options open up exponentially.

- Old big bottle Peavey? One of the pre-EL84 Classics or a Deuce? Certainly get get one, if not two or three, in your budget.

- Vintage Traynor. You'll have better luck finding a head, but combos are out there. YGL-3 and YSR-2 would have on board 'verb.

[Errant Tiger]

Couple of options and opinions...

- Red Knob Twin. Underrated, underpriced. Heavy as fuck, so put it in the basement and don't move it until you move again. Great clean platform, all sorts for switchable wattage options, fx loops, on board verb.

- Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville etc. Meh. Acceptable clean platform, but for the money I'd rather have the Twin or any of a number of other amps. Don't buy new - these need a couple of mods right out of the gate so why waste the money on a warranty that you're going to void.

- Why combo? If you go with a head/cab set up your options open up exponentially.

- Old big bottle Peavey? One of the pre-EL84 Classics or a Deuce? Certainly get get one, if not two or three, in your budget.

- Vintage Traynor. You'll have better luck finding a head, but combos are out there. YGL-3 and YSR-2 would have on board 'verb.

Thanks! Combo because I fear a head/cab would be - much as I hate to say it - too loud.

I think this is the first time I've ever been recommended a red knob Fender (apart from when I was 14 and all I knew was "It's a Fender!"). I had been led to believe they were terrible. Myth?

I don't know anything about Peaveys other than the solid state ones everyone had growing up in the 80s/90s, which were completely awful...

[doommeow]

Couple of options and opinions...

- Red Knob Twin. Underrated, underpriced. Heavy as fuck, so put it in the basement and don't move it until you move again. Great clean platform, all sorts for switchable wattage options, fx loops, on board verb.

- Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville etc. Meh. Acceptable clean platform, but for the money I'd rather have the Twin or any of a number of other amps. Don't buy new - these need a couple of mods right out of the gate so why waste the money on a warranty that you're going to void.

- Why combo? If you go with a head/cab set up your options open up exponentially.

- Old big bottle Peavey? One of the pre-EL84 Classics or a Deuce? Certainly get get one, if not two or three, in your budget.

- Vintage Traynor. You'll have better luck finding a head, but combos are out there. YGL-3 and YSR-2 would have on board 'verb.

Thanks! Combo because I fear a head/cab would be - much as I hate to say it - too loud.

I think this is the first time I've ever been recommended a red knob Fender (apart from when I was 14 and all I knew was "It's a Fender!"). I had been led to believe they were terrible. Myth?

I don't know anything about Peaveys other than the solid state ones everyone had growing up in the 80s/90s, which were completely awful...

All other things being equal - the amp, the speakers, the cab design, placement, blah blah etcetera - head/cab vs combo, the volume will be the same. If controlling volume is your concern but your looking at amps like Twins and JCMs, there's no reason why you shouldn't be looking at heads that you can then pair with the speaker/cab config of your choosing.

The Red Knob series are at best misunderstood, at worst hated. Why? Because they aren't the vintage Fender amps of yore. They've got push pull pots, FX loops, switchable gain stages. Said gain stages are sharper, more aggressive than the blues rock most associate with Fender. They aren't hand wired and are supposedly a pain to work on. They're often confused with (or purposely mis-sold as) the more popular and valuable amps designed while Rivera(?) was at Fender. With all the extra sonic features/options/controls they obviously aren't the same circuits as the names they're given (Twin, Champ etc). They were something different and most guitar players don't like different. But they - especially the Twin, the various Deluxe models, and the Dual Showman - are good amps if you need clean and loud and cheap.

[Errant Tiger]

Couple of options and opinions...

- Red Knob Twin. Underrated, underpriced. Heavy as fuck, so put it in the basement and don't move it until you move again. Great clean platform, all sorts for switchable wattage options, fx loops, on board verb.

- Hot Rod Deluxe / Deville etc. Meh. Acceptable clean platform, but for the money I'd rather have the Twin or any of a number of other amps. Don't buy new - these need a couple of mods right out of the gate so why waste the money on a warranty that you're going to void.

- Why combo? If you go with a head/cab set up your options open up exponentially.

- Old big bottle Peavey? One of the pre-EL84 Classics or a Deuce? Certainly get get one, if not two or three, in your budget.

- Vintage Traynor. You'll have better luck finding a head, but combos are out there. YGL-3 and YSR-2 would have on board 'verb.

Thanks! Combo because I fear a head/cab would be - much as I hate to say it - too loud.

I think this is the first time I've ever been recommended a red knob Fender (apart from when I was 14 and all I knew was "It's a Fender!"). I had been led to believe they were terrible. Myth?

I don't know anything about Peaveys other than the solid state ones everyone had growing up in the 80s/90s, which were completely awful...

All other things being equal - the amp, the speakers, the cab design, placement, blah blah etcetera - head/cab vs combo, the volume will be the same. If controlling volume is your concern but your looking at amps like Twins and JCMs, there's no reason why you shouldn't be looking at heads that you can then pair with the speaker/cab config of your choosing.

The Red Knob series are at best misunderstood, at worst hated. Why? Because they aren't the vintage Fender amps of yore. They've got push pull pots, FX loops, switchable gain stages. Said gain stages are sharper, more aggressive than the blues rock most associate with Fender. They aren't hand wired and are supposedly a pain to work on. They're often confused with (or purposely mis-sold as) the more popular and valuable amps designed while Rivera(?) was at Fender. With all the extra sonic features/options/controls they obviously aren't the same circuits as the names they're given (Twin, Champ etc). They were something different and most guitar players don't like different. But they - especially the Twin, the various Deluxe models, and the Dual Showman - are good amps if you need clean and loud and cheap.

Thanks - that's really helpful. Much to think about.

Of course, if I start thinking about heads and cabs, not only do my options increase, but my option paralysis increases!
That is really helpful.

[ShaunNecro]

Get one of the musicman combos with reverb, problem solved, plus you can get them for around 500-600 all day long. Tough as shit, takes pedals like a champ and you can go half power if its too loud.

[HeavyXIII]

All the AORs I've ever had took pedals quite well. I'm personally a fan of their cleans so They're basically JCMs, although a little bit grittier in the low end. A speaker swap might be helpful. I've heard mixed reviews on the stock Fanes (?) they came with. I think it could probably do what you want if you think outside the box a little bit.

If you've already done all that can be done with it, look out for the now discontinued Ampeg GVT15s. I hear lots of good stuff about them, and they still sell for well under your budget. You might be more of a fender cleans kinda guy though, so again YMMV.

I'm totally going to have to go back to the Laney once I move, and see what I can do with it. Part of the problem is that the reverb's busted (it was when I bought it) and I use a lot of reverb, so it's been unsatisfying since the beginning. And it's been awhile since I've played it - and I haven't played it that much - so my recollection's fuzzy - but I seem to remember that channel-switching was a pain. And maybe it was just my mood at the time, but between the amp's natural sounds and a Muff, Rat, and a TS, I couldn't come up with any tones I really dug.

Anyway, all my amps are in storage until I move on Thursday, so sometime soon I'll be setting up in the new basement and hopefully start to figure it out. Thanks for the feedback!

Ya, the combos were the only ones with built in reverb. Honestly I have't missed it since I had an old Peavey Transtube. I ended up with reverb in pedal form because I wanted control for atmospheres. The channel switching is a misnomer, really just a gain boost. I recall there being an extra level control, but I always left it maxed out because it caused volume drop when I engaged the boost. I find them better when used like single channel amps.

[Errant Tiger]

Get one of the musicman combos with reverb, problem solved, plus you can get them for around 500-600 all day long. Tough as shit, takes pedals like a champ and you can go half power if its too loud.

Another idea that hadn't occurred to me! Any particular ones you fancy? I know nothing about them.

[ShaunNecro]

Get one of the musicman combos with reverb, problem solved, plus you can get them for around 500-600 all day long. Tough as shit, takes pedals like a champ and you can go half power if its too loud.

Another idea that hadn't occurred to me! Any particular ones you fancy? I know nothing about them.

Solid state preamp and tube poweramp, the main models were the HD 130/65 and HD 150/75. The HD 130/65 usually have a tube phase inverter. They are like a more powerful and cleaner twin reverb. If you get your dirt from pedals, then these amps are for you. The only reason I got rid of mine were because I needed more power and wanted my dirt from my amps.

[Errant Tiger]

Chiming back in for a brief update: having moved (mostly) and taken a couple minutes to welcome my gear out of storage, I am now about 90% convinced that my Laney is in fact The Amp. More research (at high volumes) is necessary but I think if I fix the reverb and come up with some kind of footswitchery, I might be good to go...

Thanks for all the suggestions - filing them away for future reference!