Question:
ive gone through a few amps, switching from multi-effects to single (and back to multi again very shortly) and guitars to try to find the tone i want. luckily ive gotten a lot of good deals or i would be really upset. my mesa just isnt working for me, im just not into that mesa tone. this is my last attempt before i save up for an older Vox. the only time i really like my tone is when im playing through my line 6 ux2 with the ac 30 amp model on, but it still feels a little like something is missing. my limit right now is around 800$ prefer a single channel amp class A, but it doesnt have to be. nothing smaller than 1x12 combo. or i can spend about 600$ on just a head. dont want anything over 15 watts prefferably 10 or less. my ideal tone would be a long the lines of U2 and no heavier than the lead guitarist for skillet on the P&W album style is similar to the edge. thanks for suggestions
Answer:
only major commecial tube amp with less than 10 watts that i know if is the Valve Jr.
Answer:
if there are none then i guess no more than 15watts but the lower the better.
Answer:
again, the VJ seems to be it, may i ask you why you want less than 15 watts?
Answer:
i want to be able to drive it easier. i dont need any cleans, just a chimey soft drive sound with good sustain. i will only be playing lead with this amp.
Answer:
It seems like your options are pretty limited below 10 amps, but at 15 you've got several. First, probably obviously, there is the Vox AC15, which might get you close to what you are looking for.
Being a big U2 fan myself, I went through the same hunt as you. I got a Crate Palomino V16, which is 15 watts. Now, it gets pretty loud when you crank it enough to get that chimey breakup from the power tubes (too loud for my playing situations). But there are ways around this. Thanks to a lot of help from this board, I got to the chimey overdrive I was looking for by:
(1) playing around with EQ a lot and getting a 7-band EQ pedal, which helps you accentuate the frequencies that help bring out that chime;
(2) keeping the signal hitting the preamp tubes at a minimum, and relying primarily on the power amp tubes; and
(3) getting a Menatone Top Boost in a Can, an overdrive pedal specially designed to sound like the top boost channel on an AC30. It's not dead-on, and it's not cheap, but it does do a great job of adding just a little bit of chimey dirt without going to full-out overdrive crunch.
Hope that helps!
Answer:
for that much money, and that small wattage, you should be checking out boutique amps. maybe www.americanguitarboutique.com will help. Also, check out tophat amps (you may have to go used on your budget).
Answer:
i ended up buying an ampeg jet on ebay last night. i hope it sounds good it looks like it might work for me.