OT Inexpensive Small Amp for gigging

[travissk]

You *might* be able to find an older-generation Peavey Classic 30 amp for $250 (I assume you want shipping or local tax included in your budget).

My amp is a Peavey Classic 50 4x10, and used it cost me $325 or so, which was -much- lower than anything I could find on Ebay at the time. If you manage to find one of these amps for a good price, they're good gigging amps, and depending on what you already have, you may want to use this instead of your main amp. Incredible bargain... the amp sounds incredible. Mine came to me with the Peavey logo removed, as if the amp was "too good to be a Peavey." Finally, if you're into Spinal Tap, the knobs on this go to 12 instead of 10 . Love my Classic 50.

Though if you want portability, by all means go for the Classic 30 1x12... I don't lug this 4x10 around any more than I have to

Other "bargain" amps I've heard of:
-Sovtek, (Mig 50)
-Crate Vintage Club amps... I've heard non-VC Crate amps are junk, but I've never played out of any Crate besides my friend's little 15W SS practice amp.
-Traynor, although they are indeed getting more expensive
-Various fenders, including the Bassman


Another option that I hope I don't get killed for suggesting is a modeling preamp like a Behringer V-AMP2 or a Line6 POD. If you have access to a PA system, you can throw one of these in with your pedals and not have another thing to lug around, plus you're pretty much equipped to play a variety of styles. I have a V-AMP 2, and while I don't plan on using it for any important gigs, for $80-100 used it's a great practice tool, and is invaluable for recording to a computer in a dorm setting... no way can I crank my Classic 50 without having 20 angry people come yelling at me.

If you don't have easy access to a PA System, however, the V-Amp is less useful and I'd suggest going with a bargain amp.

[javacody]

All the suggestions are greatly appreciated. There are so many options out there, especially if I can afford an extra $100 or so.

I'm prepared for less than perfect tone at my price range. I don't want any more excuses not to be out jamming and clubbing. I figure if I can start earning a little money doing this, I could easily afford a better amp in a year. The Peavey Bandits look like they can be had for as little as $125 (on ebay). If it gets a decent clean, then I can use stompboxes to tweak my sound.

I haven't come close to making up my mind yet, so any more ideas are welcome and thanks!

[cajununicorn]

JC, i'm throwing my hat in for the peavey bandit also (the special is even better, same series, more watts). it really is a workhorse and it's loud as hell. i used one for years in punk rock bands and it always kept up with anything. and it did have an ok clean sound. it's probably the most amp you can get in your price range (unless you get lucky). there's my 2 cents. jon

[ErikMiller]

Finally a soft drummer is possible. We have them here.

Gee, it really IS paradise!

[aron]

I recommend a Tech21 Trademark 60 although it might cost you about $250 to $300 used. It's a nice two channel SS amp with a 12" speaker.

Yes, if he could find this, it would work.

The Pignose 40 watt combo would work as well.

[aron]

Gee, it really IS paradise!

Depends. This is an extremely over-generalization, but over here, you will find extremely skilled musicians of all types. A lot of the guitar players can read and chart out music. In addition, the bass players are amazing. Great skill and work ethic.

OTOH, you will find less "angry" (for lack of words) players. What I mean is "intense", fast, players. I guess what I mean is that you will not find Dream Theater here or similar fusion/progressive etc.... players.

You can tell them to play with aggression, but it's different.

Anyway, I'm getting mellow too so I shouldn't talk  :roll:

[gtrmac]

Stick with tubes. In the long run you'll be a lot more satisfied with the sound. Unless you're a jazz player who wants a clean HiFi sound tubes are much easier to work with.

I second the Peavey Classic 30 as a good choice too. I used one on a gig in a decent size club in New York and it was pretty good. A little thinner than my Fenders but still not bad.

[javacody]

OK, I'm down to deciding between the Bandit and the Classic 30. On the one hand, I'm very limited by price, on the other hand, I love tube sound.

I'll have to try them both out at a music store and see if I can live with the Bandit.

[petemoore]

The PEavey 50/50 and also the 60/60 power amps.
 They tend to go cheap [I got one] because there's no preamp.
 You can build something to drive one of these hard I think.
 also Ppl like their Mono guitar amps [most of the available cabs are mono]
 The one I had, I used for stereo playback, analog and digital instrument amplification and PA use. It performed very well, providing great sounding reliable service.
 I like keepers', I've had lots and lots of 'stuff too. alot of that stuff sat, sat and sold after losing an A/B test or two. Take a heed from my mistakes, it will serve you well...try to stick to better/best rated products, save your time and money for days when you're darn certain a cash outlay won't be regretted for a long long time.
 IMO starting with a couple high quality output tubes [or four], and a couple better quality speakers is sound advice...get this part right and you will be using it religiously...
 Go for tubes you know you can get, and ppl work with regularly like EL34's 6L6's EL84's etc.  
 Not having a bunch of input tubes has it's advantages.
 Having a stereo amp is cool...I dont think I ever bridged the PV...don't know if it does..I think you supposed to be able to run different ohmage loads off each side, I did anyway and found it handy for running speakers of different ohmage on the same signal.
 Pretty dang nice bang for buk amp, one side of it gets pretty darn loud..even a Fuzz with strong output would get it going, but to get it really cooking you'd need to figure out some kind of preamp...more Fun and Flexiability to be had There!!!

[casey]

the sovtek mig-50.....it's an all tube head with a real gutsy sound.

it'll cost around 200 bucks....if you have a speaker cab, you cant
beat it for the price.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=sovtek+mig

[Lonehdrider]

Ok, so I'm a blues player and bias'ed (and some would say my transistors are not biased correctly ), but you might want to see if you can locate a fender blues jr and give it a whirl. The guys gig with them at the small clubs I play all the time and at only 15 watts its a loud little amp, cleans up well and can get gritty when needed (I'm told its a class A amp and thats why its loud for its size, but I don't know that for fact because unless one bit me and had a class A shirt on I wouldnt know). Depends on the club too as some have eluded to, at the clubs I play, my 30watt crate vintage tube 30 gets me in all sorts of trouble and I am asked to turn down frequently (specially if I use any of the effects I build from here, the rangemaster in particular drew such reaction, guess they ain't beano fans haha). Good luck with your amp finds..

Regards,

Lone

Ps: Another plus of the B Jr, its LIGHT, particularly important if you have to slep it up flights of stairs like some clubs I've played have, but then again I'm old...