Blues amp choices

[roodyrocker]

How about a Marshall Class 5? Nice and light but with a big sound! Crank that amp then roll your guitar volume to where you want it for cleaner tones. They're $349-399 new and plenty of used ones pop up for sale. No reverb on it but it sounds good and can drive a 4x12 cab if you wanted to do that. Otherwise just use the factory 10" speaker.

Rudy

[jgcable]

How about a Marshall Class 5? Nice and light but with a big sound! Crank that amp then roll your guitar volume to where you want it for cleaner tones. They're $349-399 new and plenty of used ones pop up for sale. No reverb on it but it sounds good and can drive a 4x12 cab if you wanted to do that. Otherwise just use the factory 10" speaker.

Rudy

The Class 5 is another amp I am looking at.

[roodyrocker]

The Class 5 is another amp I am looking at.

If you buy a used one you may want to find a newer production one as they changed the back on them, among other smaller changes, to combat some rattling issue on the early ones. FWIW, I bought my first Class 5 used over the net and it was an early one but I never had any issues with it. Just figured I'd let you know about the rattling before you sniped one off E-Bay or something other than that I love that little amp!

[Cygnus X1]

I find the C5 rather limiting.
I suspect there's some "branding blindness" going on.

"It's a Marshall"!

[jgcable]

I find the C5 rather limiting.
I suspect there's some "branding blindness" going on.

"It's a Marshall"!

What do you think of the Fender Pro Junior. I figure if its good enough for Jeff Beck to play live its probably good enough for me. I haven't read a single bad review of it. Most people prefer it over the Blues Jr which is almost the industry standard for blues players.

[roodyrocker]

I find the C5 rather limiting.
I suspect there's some "branding blindness" going on.

"It's a Marshall"!

Nah, no branding blindness here. I have several amps ranging from Marshall to Bad Cat to rack stuff and even an Axe Fx. In that $300-400 range for a light, portable amp, with simple controls and can be cranked full throttle I like the Class 5

[jgcable]

Nah, no branding blindness here. I have several amps ranging from Marshall to Bad Cat to rack stuff and even an Axe Fx. In that $300-400 range for a light, portable amp, with simple controls and can be cranked full throttle I like the Class 5

Is it dry without the reverb?

[Grim]

Blackstar HT-5?

[Cygnus X1]

I've not played a Pro Deluxe but heard good things about them.
Blues Jr., yes, and HRDX...but avoid anything related to the HR's (reliability issues).

[DonP]

I've not played a Pro Deluxe but heard good things about them.
Blues Jr., yes, and HRDX...but avoid anything related to the HR's (reliability issues).

Pro Deluxe? No, we are talking the Pro Jr. It's like a stripped Blues Jr.; 10" speaker, 1 volume and 1 tone control. Very basic amp.

[jgcable]

A few more choices, just want to see what you guys think. I haven't owned too many super low wattage amps.
I need this amp for blues and classic rock. I have a nice pedal board loaded with pedals so I can pretty much make any amp sound pretty decent.

Late 80's Fender Champ 12. Completely stock. It has the original tubes and speaker. The reviews on this amp are either love it or hate it.
I would need to retube for sure. The clips I heard on Youtube sound great but many players hate the lead channel. I would probably only use the clean channel with a tube screamer out in front.

1979 Gibson/Norlin L3. This is an SS amp with 1 x 12". I owned an L5 (2 x 12") for about a year and it was an absolutely awesome amp. I sold it to fund the purchase of a new guitar.

Fender G-Dec 30. Apparently, these came with 10" and 12" speakers. A few local guys I talked to told me its a great amp for open mic gigs because it does a fantastic job emulating many Fender amps and other high gain amps. Its also supposed to be great fun jamming at home with. I am not opposed to modeling amps. Its not crazy loud but I could always line out to the board for jam nights if I had to. The clips that Steve Stevens and Eric Johnson have of it on Youtube make me want to run out and get it immediately but you know how that is!

I decided against the Pro Junior. I just can't live without reverb. Very very good sounding amp though.

I would like to get a Blues Jr but they are a little out of my price range. I want to spend about $250.00 total.

What do you guys think?

[veemagic]

I wish I had something to add to this thread John, but like you I have very limited experience with low wattage amps. I am however very interested in what you decide on, as I too am in the market for a very similar tone. So far this has been great, and as always everyone has been throwing out some great suggestions. I hope you can give us a detailed review of whatever you end up with.
Thanks man for starting this.



Kevin

[hippietim]

Seriously? You need reverb? Get a pedal. Personally, I hate amp spring reverbs. Blech.

BTW, Jeff Beck toured with Pro Juniors

[hippietim]

More suggestions: Jet City PicoValve or 22H.

Believe it or not, I'm using my 22H as my main amp for a Stones tribute band I'm in. I run it into my Boogie 2x12 vertical cab and it sounds fantastic. I've got a number of other amps that are much more expensive that don't do as good a job for this sound. The PicoValve sounds pretty damn good too - it's basically a scaled down THD Univalve.

BTW, I've got a PicoValve for sale - I'll hook you up if you want it.

[hippietim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAUAAn46ji0