Second Guitar Head

[realmike15]

Looking for some suggestions on Guitar Heads. Currently have a Mesa Boogie Trem-o-Verb Head w/ 4x12 Cab that's pretty versatile as far as amps go. Looking to expand with another head, that will give me even more versatility.

I'm mostly interested in playing Indie Rock, Blues, and Jazz... so extreme gain isn't a concern for me. A few amps I'm considering.

- Orange TH30 (British sound to compliment my American amp)
- Vox AC30 (Love the classic sound of Vox AC30)
- Hi-Watt DR-504 (Enough said)

I'm trying to keep my budget sub-$1,500. I know a lot of people might suggest Fender too, but the Fenders I want are NOT in that price range. Also want to keep the wattage below 50, since the Mesa is already entirely too much amp (volume I mean).

Please help!

Thanks for reading,
Mike

[nedorama]

Instead of the Vox, look at the Dr. Z Maz 38 head. Same vibe, but handbuilt and incredible sound. Within your budget.

[cwalker]

I know you said no fender but my favorite amps of all time are the blackface mid early 60's fender bandmaster and bassman. Both do completely different things and excel at why they do. I would be just fine if these were the only amps I could have!! Although if you want a ac30 you certainly can't go wrong there.

[drbob1]

SOOOO many choices and they all sound different. Looking at heads, you're quite wrong about Fender being out of your budget, but you want to cast your net a bit farther than the local GC...

Fender Bassman: BF or SF, 50w, nice Fendery clean, crunch hard rock distortion. $500-1000 in this market. Blonde is more bluesy/rockabilly and a better clean-they'll take all of your $1500 budget. Don't be afraid of vintage Fenders they're hell for strong and any amp guy can fix or blueprint them. When that Mesa is long dead and moldering in its grave, a BF Bassman will still be cranking out the rawk...

Fender Showman/Dual Showman/Bandmaster: these are all primarily clean amps, although they'll do the blues. They take pedals really well. A Dual Showman will do multiple jobs: bass, steel guitar, slide and electric. They run anywhere from $400 to $1500 depending.

Don't neglect the venerable Deluxe Reverb, it's not a head but it's a great recording amp, along with the Princeton Reverb. The reissues aren't bad but a SF is a killer deal right now.

As long as we're wandering from heads, tweed Fenders can sound great and there's a lot of choice available below $1500. I've found Deluxes, Pros, just about everything but the Twin and Bassman can be had for less than that. And the reissue Bassman isn't bad. Another thought would be a Ceriatone clone in a head cabinet...

Vox AC30/Dr. Z/Matchless: more sparkle, more mids, great clean and mid-gain sounds. Probably as many great records have been done with Voxes as with Fenders. So many different sounds and possibilities but my sweet spot is the AC30HH handwired head, the original one with the EF86 channel, gives you at least 4 different generations of AC30 sounds, very cool...

Orange has the TH30 range, great sounding amps for rock, decent clean, nice crunch and high gain. Randall/Egnator have their modular amps that can cover a lot of ground. A Hiwatt would be cool, but I'm not sure you can land one for less than $1500. Lots of other stuff out there to try with that budget. How about a Dumble clone, several of those including Ceriatone or a used Fuchs mod for less than $1500.

[nedorama]

+1 on bob's reco on Fenders - as you can see in my signature, I'm a bit of a fan... Don't be scared by getting ones worse for wear - a good amp tech can rebuild them as good as new. They take Pedals insanely well and they also pair well with other amps in recording.

On the Dual Showman - if you're looking to shake the walls, fine; my Showman is stupid loud with a 2x12 8 ohm cabinet and I only use it for outdoor shows - or recording at like 2.

A Tremolux head would be another one to look at since it has the tube rectifier whereas the Showman, Bandmaster, Bassman all have solid state rectification. It's the next one on my list.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by realmike15

I'm mostly interested in playing Indie Rock, Blues, and Jazz... so extreme gain isn't a concern for me. A few amps I'm considering.

- Orange TH30 (British sound to compliment my American amp)
- Vox AC30 (Love the classic sound of Vox AC30)
- Hi-Watt DR-504 (Enough said)

I'm trying to keep my budget sub-$1,500. I know a lot of people might suggest Fender too, but the Fenders I want are NOT in that price range. Also want to keep the wattage below 50, since the Mesa is already entirely too much amp (volume I mean).

Originally Posted by nedorama

Instead of the Vox, look at the Dr. Z Maz 38 head. Same vibe, but handbuilt and incredible sound. Within your budget.

+1. I hate to be such a Dr Z fanboy, but the Maz 38 is one of my favorite amps of all time. It's extremely versatile, and is the unholy combination of the Vox and a Blackface, with a touch of JTM45 thrown in. Cleans are crisp and sparkly, the overdrive can be rich and either tight or loose. No, it doesn't do high gain, but as the OP has said, that isn't a priority. Despite having a pile of very desirable amps, because the Maz 38 is so versatile and light, it's the only one that ever leaves my house anymore.

As far as wattage goes, you don't buy more wattage in order to get more volume. You buy more wattage to get more clean headroom. If you want less volume, get a 1x12 cab so you're not spreading your sound around as much. The Maz 38 can be deafening through a 2x12 EVM12L cab, or it can be tight and tame through a 1x12 Celestion. Even my Champ can get a little raucous when I put it through the EVMs or my 4x10 Jensen cab.

Personally, while I love Fenders and Fender cleans, and for many years only played through a Twin Reverb, they're just not versatile enough for me anymore. My Fuchs ODS and my Mesa Mark IIB are my 'big clean' amps. I'd love a Hiwatt, although it may be somewhat redundant at this point.

[trippy]

I would suggest a Matchless Lightning head. They are hard to find on the used market but you should be able to score one for less than $1500.-

[FFTT]

If you want a New amp with true BF Fender voicing, the Gries 35
or the new Gries 12 Princeton Reverb Circuit.

If you're thinking Vox keep the cost of upgrading to
Celestion Blues, Golds or Fane AXA12's in your budget.
The speakers are quite important.
The new Vietnam built Vox offerings do seem to be
considerably better built than the earlier Chinese versions.

If you want clean headroom and Hiwatt mil spec construction
in a new amp, the Reeves Custom 50 is built better than
the U.S. Licensed Fernandes Hiwatts.

For Marshall circuits, I'd go for Reinhardt, Germino, Friedman

If you're O.K. with Vintage and the cost of refurbishing,
Silver Face Fender, 64-65 Ampeg Gemini I, or a vintage
Hiwatt DR-504.

On a tight budget, I'd put all I can into the build quality and
worry about matching cabs and speaker upgrades as your budget
permits.

[subspace]

I added a Randall modular head to the studio last year and it's been great for finding complimentary tones to whatever the guitar player brings with him. A couple of the new custom modules would cover a lot of ground, like JadedFaithmods.com PlexiTweed and Voxless modules in an RM22. I use mine with Mesa and Randall 1x12s loaded with WGS and Celestion models, as well as Marshall 1x10s loaded with Celestions and Jensens.

[mattseidel]

I'd look at a Laney Lionheart - excellent build quality and only 20 watts, and they're under $1,000 USD brand new. The cleans are brilliant / chimey, the EQs are super-responsive, and the drive channel is gnarly as hell.

[realmike15]

Thanks for all the replies, I forgot about Matchless and I'll definitely look into the Dr Z amps (just watched a Youtube demo, good stuff!). Probably going to skip the Randall amps, always thought of them as suited towards metal players.

[nedorama]

don't know how far you are from Pittsburgh, NYC or NJ, but there are several Dr. Z dealers near you to try them out. I was able to try out my Mini Z before purchase and it definitely sold me.

Dr. Z Amplification | Dealers

[realmike15]

Originally Posted by nedorama

don't know how far you are from Pittsburgh, NYC or NJ, but there are several Dr. Z dealers near you to try them out. I was able to try out my Mini Z before purchase and it definitely sold me.

Dr. Z Amplification | Dealers

Thanks for the heads up. I'm East Coast PA outside of Philadelphia but I have a friend who lives in Pittsburgh that I visit a few times a year. I'll have to check one out the next time I'm over there.

[FFTT]

Morgan Amplification is also a strong contender is the affordable ranges.

For me, the Magic Brit MKII TB86 fills the one
open position in my collection of current available tones.

The very best AC15 build with Top Boost and EF86, all true
hand wired and built to last decades.

My Hot Cat 100R can cover a lot of Vox AC100 tones as well as Custom Shop
Marshall voicing with 4 EL34's and 7 12AX7's.

[AllAboutTone]

Fuchs Viper for me, even though the OD is good, I had rather use my double hotcake for dirt.

The Dr Z amps or ok, but I think the name is horrible, sounds like a soda.