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This could probably go in the talk me out thread, but I'll make it a more open ended discussion. I'm thinking of getting another amp, but I'm not sure what direction to take. Ideal format is a 1x12 combo, low to medium wattage. Mostly shooting for good clean sounds to throw overdrive and distortion at. Bonus points for good reverb and tremolo. I currently only play my 68 Champ and my SS Vox Pathfinder 15-R. I'm looking for something that can sound fuller than these little 1x8 combos. Not really looking to be very loud or even louder. Could try a 1x12 for the champ, but I also wouldn't mind just trying something a little different. Below is the rambling version. Perhaps the good Doctor Balls has a diagnosis.

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It has been ages since I played one, but I have a soft spot for 60's Ampegs. I keep considering a Reverberocket. They tick a lot of boxes for me. 1x12 open back combo, reasonably small, at or below ~20 watts (closer to 10-15), nice clean tones, and the reverb and tremolo are awesome. Never played one cranked, but I rarely crank amps. The Reverberocket IIs seem a little more affordable and have separate bass/treble controls plus a bigger cab. I don't really know which models to look for however.

Downside is Ampegs are fucking nutty inside, no? Aren't the circuits changing several times a year? Lot's of unfamiliar tubes, some of which you can get now, some probably not. IDK. Plus, I live a good 1.5-2 hours east of Raleigh, NC. Not a lot of amp techs out here. You also sure as shit don't see old used Ampegs in these parts. But you'd have to go to Raliegh-Durham-Chapel Hill to find anything but current model fenders or old Peavey church gear (actually been tempted to snag a cheap peavey keyboard amp for my synth, but I don't have room).

I've also always loved a good BF/SF Bassman, but I never need that much amp. Plus, the head & cab format isn't my ideal. A little more affordable are those little Silvertone 1483 heads, but I've never spent time with one in person. Neither have reverb or trem. I like my SF champ quite a bit, but find contemporary Deluxe Reverbs a little off.

I've also never spent time with a tweed style Bassman or related Traynor. However, I've never quite liked any Marshall's I've sat down with or heard demoed. I do know that whenever I see a cool old SF Fender in a guitar store and plug in to only hear it sound assy, the sales guy comes over to tell me the channel was modded to sound like a Marshall. Whenever I've heard such mods online, I also really dislike them. I have played a friend's Vox AC30 (one of the overseas models) and found the eq on it much more agreeable than Marshalls. I tend to like recordings of Vox amps quite a bit more as well.

How much do you want to spend? Reverb is going to make everything you want more complicated and expensive.

Check out these. Except for the Ampeg and Garnet, they are mostly low power, without reverb, and within the tweed realm. If you’re using those, the trick is to rock them around 3 or less and then boost with pedals from there for a more standard guitar sound. I don’t think the tweed sound necessarily needs reverb but I also like putting “Jimmy Page doing rockabilly” slapback echo on everything.

Garnet (some can be weird but all are cool)
Gibson (50s, very very early 60s - lots of low power fender tweed analogs)
Rickenbacker
Massie / St George
Ampeg (as mentioned)

There’s always Pro jrs, Blues jrs, etc.

I was in a band for a few years and front man played a Reverbrocket and I always thought it sounded great. He played tenor guitar and tenor banjo almost exclusively, mostly clean with maybe a little overdrive going in. They're heavy for their size, which you instantly notice the first time you pick one up.

2 others that aren't 1x12 but are very nice amps that may get you:

Gibson GA-8T. Clean, not loud but breaks up in a nice gentle way when pushed.

Magnatone M10. The one in the plastic TV cab. Lush and full and hard to believe it's a 1x10. Real pitch shifting vibrato on hand too.

VaticanShotglass wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:29 pm I've also never spent time with a tweed style Bassman or related Traynor. However, I've never quite liked any Marshall's I've sat down with or heard demoed. I do know that whenever I see a cool old SF Fender in a guitar store and plug in to only hear it sound assy, the sales guy comes over to tell me the channel was modded to sound like a Marshall. Whenever I've heard such mods online, I also really dislike them. I have played a friend's Vox AC30 (one of the overseas models) and found the eq on it much more agreeable than Marshalls. I tend to like recordings of Vox amps quite a bit more as well.

It's good to know what you don't like. Makes it easier to find what you do.

VaticanShotglass wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:29 pm This could probably go in the talk me out thread, but I'll make it a more open ended discussion. I'm thinking of getting another amp, but I'm not sure what direction to take. Ideal format is a 1x12 combo, low to medium wattage. Mostly shooting for good clean sounds to throw overdrive and distortion at. Bonus points for good reverb and tremolo. I currently only play my 68 Champ and my SS Vox Pathfinder 15-R. I'm looking for something that can sound fuller than these little 1x8 combos. Not really looking to be very loud or even louder. Could try a 1x12 for the champ, but I also wouldn't mind just trying something a little different. Below is the rambling version. Perhaps the good Doctor Balls has a diagnosis.

-------
It has been ages since I played one, but I have a soft spot for 60's Ampegs. I keep considering a Reverberocket. They tick a lot of boxes for me. 1x12 open back combo, reasonably small, at or below ~20 watts (closer to 10-15), nice clean tones, and the reverb and tremolo are awesome. Never played one cranked, but I rarely crank amps. The Reverberocket IIs seem a little more affordable and have separate bass/treble controls plus a bigger cab. I don't really know which models to look for however.

Downside is Ampegs are fucking nutty inside, no? Aren't the circuits changing several times a year? Lot's of unfamiliar tubes, some of which you can get now, some probably not. IDK. Plus, I live a good 1.5-2 hours east of Raleigh, NC. Not a lot of amp techs out here. You also sure as shit don't see old used Ampegs in these parts. But you'd have to go to Raliegh-Durham-Chapel Hill to find anything but current model fenders or old Peavey church gear (actually been tempted to snag a cheap peavey keyboard amp for my synth, but I don't have room).

I've also always loved a good BF/SF Bassman, but I never need that much amp. Plus, the head & cab format isn't my ideal. A little more affordable are those little Silvertone 1483 heads, but I've never spent time with one in person. Neither have reverb or trem. I like my SF champ quite a bit, but find contemporary Deluxe Reverbs a little off.

I've also never spent time with a tweed style Bassman or related Traynor. However, I've never quite liked any Marshall's I've sat down with or heard demoed. I do know that whenever I see a cool old SF Fender in a guitar store and plug in to only hear it sound assy, the sales guy comes over to tell me the channel was modded to sound like a Marshall. Whenever I've heard such mods online, I also really dislike them. I have played a friend's Vox AC30 (one of the overseas models) and found the eq on it much more agreeable than Marshalls. I tend to like recordings of Vox amps quite a bit more as well.

Re: Ampegs - Are they nutty inside? I dont have that opinion. They can be built a bit different but they're built well.

Re: SF/BF - Try a Princeton Reverb? A bit different than a DR

Re: Marshall - There's a lot of Marshalls out there so saying you dont like Marshalls is vague. JTM45s essentially ARE 5F6As. Plexi's are similar. AC30's (the top boost channel) is also quite similar.

Yes Princeton reverb! I know a guy whose rig is a '74 Tele Deluxe into a '63 PR and he slays with it and it can be clean for his hammer claw banjo work and also sound like 1970 Keef.

djimbe wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 9:01 pm Yes Princeton reverb! I know a guy whose rig is a '74 Tele Deluxe into a '63 PR and he slays with it and it can be clean for his hammer claw banjo work and also sound like 1970 Keef.

+1. The other guitarist in my band has one and it sounds great.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 4:52 pm Re: Ampegs - Are they nutty inside? I dont have that opinion. They can be built a bit different but they're built well.

Well I don't really know, just a vague memory of something I came across when looking into them many years back. I've read that they are both very solid/well made and that they might be more of a pain to work on or have circuit variations that don't always agree with schematics. But really I just don't know. I'll have to look into which tube load outs to be cautious of. I know this lovely little Jet I got to spend some time with years ago had octal preamp tubes that, at the time were a bit dicey to get. The clean tone on that was just awesome.

djimbe wrote: I was in a band for a few years and front man played a Reverbrocket and I always thought it sounded great. He played tenor guitar and tenor banjo almost exclusively, mostly clean with maybe a little overdrive going in. They're heavy for their size, which you instantly notice the first time you pick one up.

One thing that that speak in favor of the Ampegs is that they kinda sound like a 60s Fender yet also a little different. I honestly haven't spent good time with any tweed style fenders, but I worry I'd not like the eq in comparison. I've thought of just building a tweed deluxe style amp as a reasonable learning project, but I never got on with the sound I could find from demos. That probably applies to the Gibsons from that era. Whenever I hear comparisons between tweed champs and BF/SF champs I always prefer the latter.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 4:52 pm Re: SF/BF - Try a Princeton Reverb? A bit different than a DR

djimbe wrote: Yes Princeton reverb! I know a guy whose rig is a '74 Tele Deluxe into a '63 PR and he slays with it and it can be clean for his hammer claw banjo work and also sound like 1970 Keef.

You know, that actually sounds near ideal. I don't know how reasonable it is for me to be so attached to the idea of a 12" speaker. Maybe I just haven't played a 10" speaker I particularly liked (and have played a few I did not). I've played some of the reissues in big box guitar stores that sounded okay, but the setting was always a bit shit to really get a good feel for it. I have a pretty good chance of finding one to play at the one nicer guitar store nearby. I remember reading about those SF fender reissues, which have their drawbacks for that price, but just the concept of voicing some of them a little more like a Bassman, sounded like a cool idea (I'm guessing that is just a difference in the resister and capacitor values in the tone stack). Not sure if this is one of the cases where the 70s examples are still a better value to the new ones or not.

I'll definitely dig in on this idea though.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Tue Sep 16, 2025 4:52 pm Re: Marshall - There's a lot of Marshalls out there so saying you dont like Marshalls is vague. JTM45s essentially ARE 5F6As. Plexi's are similar. AC30's (the top boost channel) is also quite similar.

Fair! I will say I a while back I looked at a lot demos comparing various bassman eras and tended prefer the mid to late 60 examples. At least for not cranked stuff. At that point the differences were of less interest. But I've never played a vintage marshall or tweed fender. Or Traynor for that matter.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: How much do you want to spend? Reverb is going to make everything you want more complicated and expensive.

Check out these. Except for the Ampeg and Garnet, they are mostly low power, without reverb, and within the tweed realm. If you’re using those, the trick is to rock them around 3 or less and then boost with pedals from there for a more standard guitar sound. I don’t think the tweed sound necessarily needs reverb but I also like putting “Jimmy Page doing rockabilly” slapback echo on everything.

Garnet (some can be weird but all are cool)
Gibson (50s, very very early 60s - lots of low power fender tweed analogs)
Rickenbacker
Massie / St George
Ampeg (as mentioned)

There’s always Pro jrs, Blues jrs, etc.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: How much do you want to spend? Reverb is going to make everything you want more complicated and expensive.

Check out these. Except for the Ampeg and Garnet, they are mostly low power, without reverb, and within the tweed realm. If you’re using those, the trick is to rock them around 3 or less and then boost with pedals from there for a more standard guitar sound. I don’t think the tweed sound necessarily needs reverb but I also like putting “Jimmy Page doing rockabilly” slapback echo on everything.

Garnet (some can be weird but all are cool)
Gibson (50s, very very early 60s - lots of low power fender tweed analogs)
Rickenbacker
Massie / St George
Ampeg (as mentioned)

There’s always Pro jrs, Blues jrs, etc.

Will investigate.

The Pro jrs, Blues jrs, etc. all sound fine, but not something that excites me. Though I think the times I liked them ok versus when i didn't probably depended on what speaker was in them.

The problem is going to be that I live far from good gear hunting territory. When I was in Ohio and Michigan, there was a bigger variety of manufacturers of old amps I'd see in shops. Where I'm at now, the big improvement is that I found a shop that carries tube amps at all.

My plan is to try and get to that shop this weekend, bring my guitar, spend some time with the amps there, and see if that gets me some better points of reference.

Two tubes that I know appear in some old Ampegs that are wildly expensive/unavailable are the 7199, a triode/pentode, and the 6C10, which is three triodes (basically 1 + 1/2 12AX7) in the same bottle.

The octal preamp tubes like the 6SL7 and 6SN7 and the power pentode 7591A output tubes that some Ampegs used are being manufactured again.