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Two choices: Joyo clone of a 5W Fender Champ with 8" speaker, it's called the Sweet Baby Amp. Second, costing about 30% more, is the Fender Pro Junior IV at 15W and 10" speaker.
I need an apartment amp. I have the 65 DRRI which is great for the rock band where there's another guitar etc. but it's not going to work in an apartment.
Julian Lage talks about using a 3W Fender Champ, and I'm looking at those two amps above as something similar. Any other options I might be missing?
First priority is a nice sound at home, not much louder than an acoustic guitar. Next priority is something that could actually be used for small gigs, mostly with other acoustic instruments, but also with drums.
And for price I'm looking at less than $500 CAD (about $350 US).
Please feel free to weigh in.
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08-31-2023 06:17 PM
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Those are quite a few (and varied) requirements!
Check out a used DV Mark Lil Jazz 1x8 combo if you don't want either of the two you listed above.
With a higher budget, there's a lot more to choose from! I'd grab this Frenzel and a small cab (Toob, Raezer's Edge, etc.), or this DV/RE.
Happy hunting!
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Most tube amps don't sound great at the same volume as an acoustic guitar. That's where solid state amps have an edge.
I plugged into a Sweet Baby at friend's house and if I recall it's not too bad at lower volumes (for its price point). I found it struggled to keep up with a drummer in a rock jam though. Depending on the sound you're going for, you may have to mic it in small venues (similar to Lage).
Do you have a cab? What about something like a Quilter Superblock... it's an amp in a pedal format within your price range. I love mine and it sounds great for home use.
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The Little Jazz was just on sale for $200. More power than the OP wanted, but it doesn't weigh anything.
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People are going to think I’m getting money under the table because I keep recommending it, but one more time: Fender Champion 20. Small, light, a variety of good sounding digital models of Fender amps. It has a usable master volume, so it sounds good at living room volumes, and is usable on small gigs. Around $120 these days.
If you insist on real tubes rather than digital ones, the Buguera v5 sounds great, probably not gigable, though. Ditto for a used Fender Champion 600.Last edited by John A.; 09-01-2023 at 10:15 AM.
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I have the Sweet Baby under a different brand name (Fame - the house brand of Musicstore Cologne). It's an amp that really puts a smile on your face. Plus, it doesn't go to eleven - it goes to twelve
I like it at bedroom levels. It is also great in a band rehearsal context - I have used it in a quintet with drums, keys, sax and vocals, as well as in a small bigband with five horns. By itself, it doesn't sound so great when turned up to seven or higher, but in a band it's great - a fat warm sound with just the right amount of hair. I can't remember if I ever gigged it, though.
Having said that, since I got my Quilter Superblock US with TOOB Metro cabinet, I don't use it much anymore.
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I really, really like my vox Pathfinder for practicing in my house. I don’t think it’ll be loud enough to gig though. Maybe an older one, I think they used to be 15 watts and are now 10.
It can have a very clean, natural sound.
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VHT Special 6 is a nice, portable single-ended tube amp that lies somewhere in the classic Fender sounds realm. I believe it can take 6V6, 6L6, EL84 (with an adapter), and EL34 tubes, but you may want to doublecheck that. Should be able to find them used for under $300 US.
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Originally Posted by docsteve
Yep, this is the way!
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peavey transtube, 99$
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What kind of sound are you trying to get out of the amp? I have a princeton reverb, a champ and a pro junior iv, and they are not that different from a DRRI at home in terms of usability. You just play them at low volume. If you want power amp distortion and breakup, this doesn't even happen on the 0.1 watt mode of Marshall one watt amps (had one of these too), they are still too loud for an apartment. For best sound at low volume, tube amps can greatly benefit from a simple eq pedal. Most of the good ones are voiced for loud volume, so at home you can cut/boost frequencies till you get a sound you like.
I have never understood why small tube amps are that popular for home use, i have found most bigger ones to be better at low volume too. If for example you play a twin or super reverb very low, you still get a great full sound. If you play a Marshall 4x12 huge cabinet at whisper volume it stills sounds better than any 5 watt amp with a small speaker. It is just sound physics, nothing quiet is going to compare to loud volume playing, unless you artificially enhance frequencies to kinda get close, and still it wouldn't be the same thing. If i had an amp for house use only, for clean sound, it would probably be a big fender one.
The only way to really enjoy tube amps at home volume is attenuators..
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If you just want to have great sound at low volumes at home, I’d consider a computer simulator like Amplitube or Gemini (a Twin sim). There are many excellent free or low cost plugins like this that you can use live in either a DAW or a plug-in host like Cantabile or Apple’s Mainstage. You could plug the guitar directly into the computer’s audio input, but even a $35 digital interface will probably give you better sound quality.
I tried Garage Band on my iPad, and I could live with it for a practice rig. Through good headphones or a decent Bluetooth speaker (even my little Edifier 1280s), it sounds fine - and you can use amp sim plugins in AU format.
If you don’t have decent monitors, this’d be an excellent time to get a pair. The only problem I’ve run into is latency. But with a decent computer and software, this is not an issue.
You could also get a good little tube preamp like an ART and play through it into your computer’s audio input, again using good inexpensive powered monitors like the JBL 305, KRK, etc.
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Seems like this is cutting against the grain of the replies which is a bit surprising, but I think you can't go wrong with a Champ. I have a '76 that I absolutely love. It doesn't break up at low volumes, but I think it still sounds great, and I've taken mine to some restaurant gigs and it's loud enough with a drummer and gets just the right amount of breakup. It's definitely a small, midrange-y amp so you have to want that sound, but I think it works very very well for a straight ahead sound. Throw a good reverb pedal in front, and who needs a Princeton haha.
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I think this is really one of those subjective/YMMV things. I have not found bigger tube amps at low volumes to be better than smaller ones. I'd much rather have a smaller amp that can get a little hair on the tone at home than a bigger one that is way too loud at the point where amp coloration starts to kick in. I do agree that a 5-ish watt amp with with a 6" or 8" speaker is never going to have the same sound as a Twin at any point on the volume knob. However, it will have _a_ sound, and if you like that sound it's a good tool. Originally Posted by Alter
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$500 CAD? I would look at used amps for sale and let my ears decide. Because you want to use it at low volume (apartment) I would concentrate on SS amps -- their volume knobs work great. OTOH, I think you can never have enough watts, so I would buy the biggest amp in your budget -- it's always good to have volume on tap when playing with others.
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Blackstar HT1R mk2 sounds great!
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Why not consider one of the Yamaha THR amps? Great sound, stereo, effects, various amp models, usb interface, super portable, built-in tuner, Bluetooth audio for backing tracks or just plain listening to music. I’ve used several in my teaching studio since they came out. One of the best practice tool/home amp/music accessory investments I’ve made.
THR5 is a 10 watt amp for around $200. The THR10 is 20 watts and around $330.
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The Boss Katana 50 works well at low volumes, It has volume, gain, and master volume controls and built in effects (if that is something you use). About 26 lb, small footprint, under $300 US. Loud enough for small gigs, appears to be very reliable. I have the 50W and 100W Katana and have no complaints.
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Actually, I was shopping for a Boss Katana when I came across the Fame Sweet baby mentioned above. The Katana left me cold, but the sweet baby came home with me. Originally Posted by fenderville50
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I have used a ProJr with an attenuator for home use. Probably my favorite home amp setup so far. It also did well out. Now I just use my Henriksen at home, and also out.
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I separate the amp, speaker, and source of clipping. I get good results for overdrive, trimming the peaks with a trace of distortion, from the AnalogMan pedal King of Tone. It tends to leave the lower frequencies cleaner, and adds a nice "grunt" to high notes. This makes my electric mandolin sound large, not like a tiny toy. (Amp or speaker distortion tends to happen on the lower pitches, and can get muddy.)
The amp I use is a Class D bass head, either the Trace Elliot Elf, or a GK MB200. The latter is handy because its midrange-scooping "acoustic" contouring balances the midrange boost caused by the distortion pedal. The amps are about 200 watts into my 4 ohm cabinet. These heads are super lightweight, 1.6 lbs. for the Elf, and 2.2 lbs. for the GK.
The cabinet I use for jazz is usually two 8" woofers in a ported tilt-back solid wood box. I like Eminence Beta cones. Very smooth, few clangy resonances.
I can get performance tone at apartment-safe volume. The same rig is loud enough for any stage, and records well. I mike the speaker.
I also have a single-8 cabinet, and one with a neodynium 6.5" cone. That one fits in a carry-on bag, roughly shoebox size. The single 8 is my box for acoustic gigs playing folk dances. Same amp, no distortion.
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For playing in the living room, I have an old Crate GFX15. They sell for about $50 used. It sounds great.
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Of course it is, just set the tones ALL the way down and the guitar tone and volume all the way up. Plug into input 2 (which is -6dB) and set the amp volume about 2-3. You will sound like you're playing an L-5. Originally Posted by oldHaus
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How about one of the Fender 68 Custom Champ or Tonemaster amps? They seem to offer more bang for buck in features, sound and weight.
If I were looking for a small amp I'd seriously consider one of these.
My preference would be the Deluxe Reverb, but since the OP designated "Small", maybe the Champ or Princeton version would suffice.
Buying used could even keep the cost down to around the desired $500 mark.
https://www.fender.com/en-US/guitar-...279000000.html
https://www.fender.com/en-US/guitar-...l/tone-master/
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I’ve used a Mesa 2x100 at bedroom volumes. It sounded great for Jazz clean, but I could never use it for driven tones. Not even in a detached house. At that time, I had a Mesa 2x100, 2x90, 20/20 and a 2:95. Quite the rack setup. I now live in a townhouse by myself, and the neighbors can easily hear my Two Rock Cardiff above 9:00 on the dial. I guess the question is whether you want the overdrive amp tone at all. If you do, turning up almost any low watt amp will deliver. Clean headroom is another matter entirely. Some amps will give you sufficient volume, while others will not. It’s hard to recommend a specific amp. Only you can demo them and determine what works for you
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