I need a portable tube amp

AudioAUnderdog · 06-16-2009, 02:29 PM

This July I'm going to a guitar workshop in Austin, and I'd like to trade up to a better practice amp before then. I'm going to sell my Roland Micro Cube and several other things that are sitting around collecting dust in order to buy a small tube amp. I just can't get used to solid state again after playing with my Fender for the last six months, and I don't need a modeling amp anymore.
My budget is at max about $200, and since I need to carry it around from class to class along with my guitar and anything else I take along, one 10" speaker is about as large as it can be.
It needs to be loud enough to play with in a band, and loud enough to possibly be mic'd at a gig. However, if it has an external speaker jack then I should be able to borrow someone's cab on the gig.
Gigging wouldn't even be a problem except for the fact that I'm going to be a three hours drive away from my Fender Deluxe VM. There's no way I'm going to leave it in the hotel room for a week, if it got stolen it'd take months to replace it. And I don't want to leave my Peavey Classic 30 in a hotel room either, because it would be nearly as hard to replace.

So far I've narrowed it down to three options.

1. Fender Champion 600
I like the tone, I like the fact that it's a Fender, I like that it's very portable, and I like that a used one is well within my price range. I'm worried that it wouldn't be loud enough to play with in a band and that it might break up too early or not enough. If it's not enough I'd have to bring pedals with me, I want the least number of things to drag along as possible.

2. Vox AC4TV
I really, really like it. I know it does rock fine, but I'm wondering how it would handle mellower things like blues and jazz. If I'm lucky I could find a used one just within my price range.

3. Fender Pro Jr.
It's basically a Blues Jr. with a 10" speaker instead of a 12" speaker. My main problems with it is that it could still be too big to carry around everywhere and that I'd have to be very, very lucky to get one close to my price range.

If any of you have any suggestions or have played or own any small tube amp, please tell me what you like/dislike about it. Thanks.

mulletman · 06-16-2009, 03:02 PM

Orange AD-5.

**Sean.thomson** · 06-16-2009, 03:16 PM

I have a fender champ 600. I dig it, but (at least for me) it's not loud enough on its own for playing with bands. Sounds great through a 4x12 cab though...

dtaylorl · 06-16-2009, 04:58 PM

Just so your aware the Fender Champ 600 is also sold as the Gretsch G5222. I haven't tried any of these, but the Champ doesn't seem to get great reviews.

Major Tom · 06-16-2009, 10:07 PM

A lot of the budget low watt tube amps have undersized output transformers which really choke the sound - flabby, compressed in a bad way, lacking headroom. I used to have a BF Champ - I got a couple decent tones out of it - with the right guitar and the right settings, but I never did like it enough to try it live....

I have tried the Epi VJ combo, the first version, thought it was a piece of useless garbage With a new output tranny, it would probably sound pretty decent. While I was at the store, a sales kid was demo'ing a Micro Cube to someone, and I was impressed at how big it sounded, and how, unlike the VJ, it sounded like a real amp.

The Champion 600 only has a 6" speaker, doesn't it? That would be hard to use in a band context unless it were right up close to yer ear. Never tried one, the speaker size is just too small for me.

In general, the ones I have tried, and the ones that fit that profile - I would not recommend as a primary amp.

Good luck finding a used Vox AC-4. I live in the 24th largest metro area in the country, and cannot find even a new one to try out.

I do own one amp that fits your criteria, however I'm not parting with it....

Its an Epiphone Galaxie. 10 watt, 10" speaker, bass mid, treble controls, gain, master volume. Pretty light and small, about the same as my old BF Champ. In stock from, it is another piece of junk due to the undersized tranny - no clean headroom, muddy, etc. I would not have let my dog play thru that amp. I put in a Hammond tranny, increased the value of 1 filter cap and it is now a nice sounding, giggable amp - twice as loud, some actual headroom and note definition. Tonally, I'd say in the ball park of a tweed, maybe old marshally. I have around $160. in it total. Very high decibel - weight ratio.

As far as volume, in general, speaker size / efficiency is more significant than amp wattage. For using in a band context, personally, I would recommend 10" as the smallest, at least for semi-clean - mild OD type tones..

AudioAUnderdog · 06-16-2009, 11:47 PM

Yeah, the more I look into the Champion 600 the more I'm leaning towards something bigger. I have two Micro Cubes, one is mine and one is my brother's. My brother never uses his, so if I sell one I still have the other. I have used my Micro Cube at rock camp here in Houston, and it's the same idea as what they have in Austin. I'm too old/advanced for the one in Houston this year, which is why I have to go the other one in Austin.
The Micro Cube was able to keep up in bands with three guitar players (including me), a bass player, a drummer and keys. I just wish I could pack the tone of my Fender
into a Micro Cube sized package.

There's a used Vox AC4TV on ebay right now for $210. I've checked local listings, and there are none. And I live in the 4th largest city in America, so if you can't find it here you'd be lucky finding it anywhere. I could pay a visit to Guitar Center and see what the best price they can give me is, they sort of know me even though I mostly just look. If they'd go down to $220 I could probably pull it off, and I'd get to try it first.

Thanks for bringing the Epiphone amp to my attention. It sounds pretty good from what I gather from the sound clips I've heard. How hard was it to make the modifications? I'm not very good with electronics, but my Dad is.

Another amp I really like is the Fender Blues Jr. A guitarist in a band that was opening for mine was playing one the other night and it really sounded great. It was a little bigger than I expected, but still a bit smaller than my Peavey Classic 30. If I put on a small dolly I could roll it around just fine. It might be a little overkill for a practice amp though, and it might be a little out of my budget. But maybe I could swing it if I sold some more gear.

**thesteve** · 06-17-2009, 01:33 AM

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned the Blackheart Little Giant. This amp really seems perfect for what you want to do. I'm not sure of their availability on the used market though.

AudioAUnderdog · 06-17-2009, 11:32 AM

I like that Little Giant, and it's more possible to find one of them used than an AC4TV.

It's about as big as it can be for what I'm going to use it for, but something like that would do nicely for band practice and with that 12" speaker it would be gigable.

This weekend I'm going to get to work on cashing in all the change I have accumulated in addition to selling some gear on ebay. Then I'll have a better idea of how much money I have to work with, and narrow it down to a couple of amps.

Dbmaj7 · 09-09-2009, 08:37 PM

I just bought a Fender Super Champ XD and it sounds great. I never thought that I'd like anything but a traditional type tube amp but I plugged into this amp on a whim after trying a bunch of small tube amps (including the AC4 with 10" speaker) and it really impressed me. It is a tube amp of sorts sporting a 12AX7 & two 6V6's and it has nice tube warmth. I just spent about an hour playing it. My primary amp is a VOX AC15 with the Alnico Blue speaker but that things weighs in at almost 50 lbs. The Super Champ XD is about 1/2 the weight so it is much more portable. The clean channel is very sweet. I can't say enough good things about it at this point. I thought I was going to love the AC4 given my affinity for Vox's but it sounded boxy to me and the low end was pretty weak. I'm looking forward to playing it at church soon.