Blues amp choices

[jgcable]

Hey Tim, I was looking at the Picovalve too but I would like to get a combo instead of a head and cabinet. I am just using it for open mic nights and portability is important. I currently have a 2 x 12 Crate XT120R combo that sounds pretty darn good but its a little on the heavy side even with casters. Lugging that to an open mic night with my SKB pedal board and a guitar is a pain in the neck. Many of the guys that show up have 1 x 12 Fender tube combo's. Blues Devilles or amps like that. 12" speakers are the norm. There was one guy with a Blues Jr sitting on a chair onstage and his tone was really good but he was a little hard to hear when compared to the other combo's onstage. He had great tone though.
They walk in with amp in one hand and guitar in the other, a few cables, maybe a wah and thats it. I am showing up with entire production. In order to get my Crate XT120R to sound convincing doing the blues I dial down the gain and I use a Tube Screamer and a compressor out in front. It actually doesn't sound bad at all but its a pain to set up fast and to get in and out of these clubs.

I would like to walk in with a small combo, my guitar and maybe a tube screamer and a wah in one trip.

[hippietim]

I do open mic's pretty regularly as well. I take a head, 1x12, and guitar in one trip. Anything that doesn't fit in your gig bag is unnecessary Sometimes I take a pedalboard and make a second trip - the places I go to don't require me to park a mile away.

[Cygnus X1]

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.

Ouch...4:29AM didn't treat me very well!
Thanks Don, that was the one.

[DonP]

Actually for a blues amp, I'd bet one of Cyg's class A amps would be pretty sweet. For more power, maybe run a pair of tubes in parallel, or a quad like an AC30.

[tonemonster]

jgcable, have you considered the VHT Special 6 ultra? I posted it several times on this thread, but you didnt respond to it. no reverb, but I think it would really meet your needs. its worth looking into.

[roodyrocker]

Is it dry without the reverb?

Yes, the Marshall Class 5 is dry. Its only controls are vol, bass, mid, treble, and an on/off switch The more you turn it up the more it breaks up and distorts. People describe it like a 5w cranked Plexi
Here is a pretty good clip on Youtube doing some early Led Zep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2km_b...9CD82900D8F3FB
And here is Joe Bonamassa usning the Class 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce1fi...4286148E7D14F8
Sounds damn good to me. As Tim said, if you need reverb just use a pedal with it. There are plenty of other clips on youtube doing blues rock, classic rock such as AC/DC, etc...

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.

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.

I had an L3 back in the early 80's and hated it! Couldn't wait to get rid of it. Ended up trading it for a Rockman which I still have

[Cygnus X1]

Actually for a blues amp, I'd bet one of Cyg's class A amps would be pretty sweet. For more power, maybe run a pair of tubes in parallel, or a quad like an AC30.

Thanks for the props Don!

J and I are in contact, but taking our time to get it right.
I have plenty of great old iron to do just that...his heart is set on a Spitfire and
we'll just see.
IMO a "club beater" is in order for now.

[jgcable]

Thanks for the props Don!

J and I are in contact, but taking our time to get it right.
I have plenty of great old iron to do just that...his heart is set on a Spitfire and
we'll just see.
IMO a "club beater" is in order for now.

I would have no problem with a Cyg combo either. Think about the publicity!! I do 2 to 3 open mic nights a week during the week!!

[jgcable]

I checked all the suggestions including that Jet City JCA which is a cool amp. I came an inch from getting a Marshall Class 5 but it didn't seem like it would do the blues that well. Funny, the guy who was selling it had just sold his Blues Jr and told me that the Class 5 did a better job with the blues than the Blues Jr. Anyway.... I ended up pulling the trigger on a Fender Pro Junior with the Fender amp cover.
Seller claims it was only used a few times and its a Made in the USA model.
I listened to all the clips online, I listened to Hippietim who has a great ear. What sold me is that Jeff Beck live Youtube video. I also found a bunch more clips on Youtube. Thats the amp for me. It just sounds amazing and so pure. I will have to tame it down a bit live though with a TS9 tube screamer most likely. Full review once it arrives in about 5 days.
Thanks everybody for the suggestions!

[markD]

good choice!!

[Cygnus X1]

+1, good one!

[jgcable]

Got the Pro Junior and the cover for it yesterday. Mint condition as the seller described.
Here is the review. Its loud. Way to loud for home use if you want to use the natural gain from the amp.
1 volume and 1 tone. Both controls go to 12. Tone needs to be set at at least 7 or the amp sounds a little muddy.
1-3 on the volume. Clean. Perfect for home use. Not loud enough for anything else.
3-5 on the volume. A nice semi fat break up. Great for slightly overdriven blues. Roll down the guitar volume and it cleans up perfectly. Too loud for home use unless your family doesn't mind hearing a loud amp.
5-7 on the volume. Lots of gain, fat distortion. Doesn't really clean up that well when you roll the volume down on the guitar.
7-10 on the volume. Amp starts to compress a little, unlike a Marshall which opens up. This one does the opposite. Lots of gain.
10-12 on the volume. I don't hear any change. Maybe a little more natural distortion.
Regarding tone. This amp likes single coil pickups. Humbuckers give it a boxy sound with too much compression and some weird overtones. Its also hard to clean up the signal rolling the guitar volume down.
Single coil pickups (I have a Fender Nashville Deluxe Telecaster) sound outstanding when the amp volume is on 7 and the tone knob is on 10. If I had to compare it to any popular guitar player I would say it sounds alot like The Edge's guitar tone in Vertigo.
I have been experimenting with a few pedals to tame it down a little for home volume levels.
Ibanez TS9DX. Not much luck with this pedal. The amps natural gain sounds much better than this pedal. Even if I use it to push the Pro Junior a little it still changes the tone too much. It loses its clarity and note definition. Also, the TS9 bleeds the clean signal through a little unless its turned way up and when its turned way up it loses its punch.
Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainor. I am having some good luck with this pedal. It adds the perfect amount of sustain so I don't need to have the volume up that high on the amp although its not suitable for home volume levels.
Ernie Ball Volume pedal. This is almost a must for this amp. Put the amp volume on 5-7 and the tone on 10 and use the volume pedal to go from clean to overdrive and it works great. Again.. way too loud for home use.
So... I am searching for a distortion pedal rather than an overdrive/tubescreamer type pedal. Something that I can have some good gain at low home volume levels.
I didn't buy this amp for home jamming though. I bought it for open mic blues nights.
I am not sure if its gonna be loud enough until I sit it in a live band setting.
I sure do miss reverb though. My home studio has no natural reverb at all so its really dry sounding.
Cool amp. Very cool actually. I could see one reason lots of players buy them (and the Blues Jr) and sell them soon afterwards though because its a small amp and I bet guys think they could use it at home volume levels. Thats not gonna happen.
This amp is designed for recording loud or rehearsing loud or jamming loud or gigging loud!
15 watts of Class A power even through a 10" speaker is LOUD.

[Hellbat]

I'm pretty happy with my Wampler SLOstortion pedal. All of his distortions are made to run with good clean amps, I'd recommend checking one of them out depending on the sound you are going for. Only problem is they are not inexpensive. Build quality and sound is great though and quite a few of his distortions have a clean volume boost circuit that works independent of the distortion so you can use it as a a clean solo boost, an always on slam the front clean, or a distortion.

[jgcable]

I'm pretty happy with my Wampler SLOstortion pedal. All of his distortions are made to run with good clean amps, I'd recommend checking one of them out depending on the sound you are going for. Only problem is they are not inexpensive. Build quality and sound is great though and quite a few of his distortions have a clean volume boost circuit that works independent of the distortion so you can use it as a a clean solo boost, an always on slam the front clean, or a distortion.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I am bringing this little guy to band rehearsal tonight and mic'ing it and adding some outboard reverb and see how it holds up in a live band setting and more importantly, if I can hear it.
I am really digging it so far. For a no frills amp, this little 15W Class A combo has real character. I really need to get used to playing with no effects. I tend to use alot of delay and/or reverb when I play live. Its almost a crutch.
I thought I played with alot of delay live until I saw Dokken over the summer. John Norum had a ton of delay for the guitar solo's. If you go back and listen to the old Dokken records Lynch used a ton of delay for the guitar solos.
Since I am playing the blues, there is no delay but most of the guys do use reverb.

[toejam]

I thought I played with alot of delay live until I saw Dokken over the summer. John Norum had a ton of delay for the guitar solo's.

John Norum hasn't been in Dokken since 2002. You mean Jon Levin.

Great amp review, though!