Tube Amp Question

[fordman]

Ive been playing on non-tube amps for about a year now and have grown tired of the sound and crappy effects.I was told that if I wanted a full sound I should use a tube amp.Well I did some shopping and found the only one in my price range is the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.Seems like a good amp but I dont know a good tube amp from a bad one.Is this a decent amp for a intermediate player?

Also I read some of the comments on Harmony Central and alot of people said that it doesnt have much for distortion.Is this something that can be fixed by using pedals?I have a few like a DS-1 dist.,a flanger and a chorus.Im going to get a Cry baby very soon.Will I get a decent tone from this amp with a combo of these pedals? Thanks!!

[Bizarro]

Hi!

A good friend of mine has this amp, and I have the Hot Rod Deville (very similar to the deluxe.) They are both very nice amps and they've been durable.

Tone ultimately comes from your hands, but this amp will certainly give you a full, rich tube sound. It is extraordinarily LOUD! No joke, it goes from off to ears-bleeding very quickly.

It doesn't have the scooped-out mids distortion sound. It has really full mid range. With a humbucker it'll get as heavy as the Robert Palmer Addicted to Love guitar sound. It won't do Metallica without help!

If you have a metal distortion pedal you probably could get a crushing sound. I don't use one, but I'm not playing any Metallica in my band!;)

You might want to compare it to the Cyber Deluxe. It's really nice too, and it sounds WAY better than 99% of the solid state stuff, IMHO. I'll probably buy one in the next year (it's light and very versatile). The rhythm guitarist in my band has one and it is awesome.

I recommend going into your local Fender shop to try it out. Bring your guitar and pedals, tell the owner that you're a serious customer and you need to give it a good workout before purchasing. You'll be much better off trying your own gear through the amp.

I actually test drove mine several times before buying it. I kept comparing the Twin to the Deville, over and over, and over...:p Everybody was sick of me, but money talks!

Good luck!

[fordman]

Thanks for the great reply!

Maybe I should tell a little more about my setup.I use a LP copy with EMG 81/85.Right now Im learning Mettallica some old Sabbath and a couple of cool blues type rythms from a DVD Im watching.If this particular amp isnt for my musical style can someone steer me in the right direction.There must be 100 amps just at a couple of stores in my area.Im looking to spend about 550.00.Im 34 years old with 2 kids a wife and a full time job + and to tell you the truth I just dont have the kind of time to audition a bunch of amps.After reading this forum for a couple of weeks alot of you seem pretty knowledgeable and I hope you can give me some advice where to start.Im even open to a good solid state amp.

Look forward to your responses!!

[Bongo Boy]

The Hot Rod Deluxe is the only thing I see in your price range, new, from Musicians Friend (for example). I have not heard this amp, but my concern would be that it's rated at 40W--that may make it tough to get it into really 'fun' areas of tone without killing your ears, and could possibly be why folks don't think it does much for distortion.

My amp is set up to deliver about 6-10W, roughly, and there's no way I can run that thing even close to wide open without sending it thru a Hot Plate type load. Maybe more experienced folks here have some opinions on the whole power vs tone thing. My opinion is that, if you want to use an all-tube amp to get gobbs of tone that goes beyond 'clean', and do it at home for hours, you've got some serious challenges because most stuff is just way overpowered.

[Bizarro]

The Fender Cyber-Champ should be out in a few weeks. That's supposed to be around $400, maybe a little more. If it is anything like the Cyber Deluxe or Cyber Twin, it will be an awesome amp.

The Cyber Champ is solid state and it'll probably sound amazing. It's a 65W amp so it'll get LOUD, but you can still get a nice sound at low volume since it's solid state.

If you can wait about a month I'd suggest looking at the Cyber Champ.

[Bongo Boy]

I'd like to see a simple 5W head offered for about $200 USD or so...something like the Fender Champ, but maybe with tone & controls. Combine that amp with a 1x12, 2x10, 2x12 or 4x12 cab and you'd have something.

The Nano Amp is now being offered on the market...it's an amp head that produces either 0.5W or 1W I think, but the damn thing lists for $480USD, which is ridiculous. They recommend playing thru a 4x12 for ultimate excitement.

The problem with amps like this is that they aren't too marketable to most folks. It's the issue of paying for something that seems 'less'--it's hard to do.

If you listen to sound clips of the THD Univalve (www.univalve.net, www.thdelectronics.com and elsewhere) or the 18W MAZ-18 by Dr Z Amplification, you'll hear incredible, serious tone from these smaller amps. But in order to sell them, they have to put high prices on them (else you'd feel they weren't serious amps).

To me a 40W tube amp in the house is just not going to ever get spankin' unless you live up in the hills or don't mind the ol' Polezei coming to the door. :(

Here's what the little Champ looks like without the cab:

[Bongo Boy]

Originally posted by Bizarro
The Fender Cyber-Champ should be out in a few weeks. That's supposed to be around $400, maybe a little more. You can order it now from Musicians Friend for $450. Impressive set of features, I must say.

[cozimnot]

Wow, these tube amps are much more cheaper than I thought they were...Kinda makes me wanna regret running out to a music store and running back home with a 50 Watt Marshall.. :)

[Bongo Boy]

Well, okay. There are 'tube' amps, then there are 'tube' amps.

What I mean is, there IS a little bit of marketing going on in the amplifier world these days. For one, tubes are in. So...you have folks building any damn thing they can to say they have a tube tone.

I'm not making a judgement here at all. Jeff Beck recently talked about doing his latest album using a Line 6 amp, which as far as I know, is total solid state. If it's good enough for Jeff, it's good enough for anyone.

Point is...manufacturers are putting tubes in stuff maybe as much to say it has tubes as anything else. It all comes down to what you can do with the product, and what you want to do with it.

So...I know you could easily fool me with an all solid state modeling amp...I'd never know the difference between its 'Blonde Tolex' mode and a real 60's Fender Bassman. It's all about what you want, and what you like to hear. I don't think anyone can say your Marshall isn't a great amp that does cool things. Don't worry about it--there's always another product out there that does more or does the same differently.

Rock on!