I need a FAIRLY low volume tube amp for home recording purposes. Suggestions?

[Tommy G]

Good idea. We get great sounds from small amps when overdubbing and prefer them to our fifty watt combos for that.
Currently enjoying the fender champion 600, has a great vintage tube tone.
The vox pathfinder 10 although transistor sounds voxy and has a low price tag.
Tgthumbsup

[istealhotelsoap]

I'm watching YouTube videos of the 600 now.
I was thinking of investing in a 15 watt tube amp, but am concerned that it would still be too loud. The AC15 still seems to be fairly loud. The 600 definitely sounds great. What about the THD Univalve?

[Tommy G]

Yes the 15 watt tubes amps can be loud and usually push a twelve inch speaker. Loud enough to play small gigs with drums etc...
Seems like you need something with a small 6 inch speaker as this helps get good tone at lower wattage and volume.
Have not heard the univalve?

[AbsoluteSpirit]

The Blackstar HT-1 or 5 are both worth looking into...

[luketronz]

If you do choose to invest in a 15w tube i would recommend the orange tiny terror. Looking to get a 15w tube myself and have compared this with the Marshall Haze and the VOX Night Train, all three GREAT amp's and well worth the cash... Comes down to preference really but i really dig the distortion on the TT! Also has the option of 7W and 15W so im sure it would be perfect for you.

As far as a cheap tube amp id agree wit the above post about the VOX 10w Pathfinder! Cant go wrong with that price!

L

[istealhotelsoap]

Well, here is what I'm looking at right now:

Swart Space Tone Tweed
Dr. Z Mini-Z
Emery Microbaby*
ZVex NanoAmp*
Bad Cat MiniCat

Any more suggestions? The problem with the Microbaby and the NanoAmp is that I don't possess a cab.
I could probably drive the AC30's speakers, but I'm not sure that's what I want.
The Microbaby definitely sounds the best, but is also the most expensive of the batch.

[henge]

Fender Vibro Champ XD. Excellent amp that relies on a digital front end with modelling.5 watts.

[Whoopysnorp]

You should consider the Egnater Tweaker, which has a ton of different tones in it, including a Vox-like setting that goes from totally clean to thick with gain. At 15 watts it is still pretty loud, but the amp is a great value and a very flexible tool.

[istealhotelsoap]

I was thinking of a boutique amp more in line with what I listed above.
1/4-5 watts is preferable.
I've got about $700 to spend on a used amp.

[A440]

Maybe find yourself a used Fender Champ...I have one from around 1980, sounds great.

Or have you checked out the Cornell Romany amps? you can set them so they they overdrive at low volumes.

[rdobson2]

Have you checked out the fender blues jr? Its along the same lines as a super reverb/twin but smaller and lower wattage....

Sent from my DROID2 using Gearslutz.com App

[HudHudson]

I love my THD Univalve - low wattage, able to take virtually any power tube (you can buy an adapter to use EL-84s and get that Vox-like tone), and an onboard power attentator to boot. I get great tones at very low volumes and plugged into my 12" Weber Blue Dog cab gives me that AC-15 vibe.

[evangelista]

Originally Posted by istealhotelsoap

Is there a noticeable sound quality difference in recordings recording through a quieter amp? I'd imagine it would be based more on tone and how driven the amp itself is. Cheers. Thanks for any suggestions.

If anyone can make any suggestions as to how I can deaden the sound and keep from bugging the neighbors without using an iso speaker, I'd truthfully prefer that in leaps and bounds. I was thinking about building myself a guitar amp ISO box, but am exploring my options.

Many of the above suggestions are good, and people have gotten great sounds recording low-wattage amps.

However, quiet recordings of music that inherently wants to be loud is nearly always a compromise of some sort. So as engineers, we are looking to minimize that compromise.

While it's true that one can get nicely saturated tones at low volume with small amps, it's only part of the story. Loud sounds hit mics and pres differently that quiet ones do, and that accounts for a noticeable part of the recorded tone, IMO.

Conversely, putting a big amp into an iso box will only yield a very specific tight/dead sound. Useful, but hardly what I would want the majority of the time.

I'm starting to hear low wattage amps as their own "thing", now that they're so popular. I no longer see them as just an attempts to lower recording volumes. Taken on their own merits, they can be wonderful. I say, find some you like, embrace the tones for what they are, and capture them as best you can. Let them be what they are.

[-tc-]

I have not played one yet, but Vox have a new 4-watt combo out - really cheap - can't comment on the build or sound quality, but it seems worth checking out.

[LawrenceJamieson]

I've heard very good things about the BadCat mini.

Other thing you could try would be a THD Hotplate on any amp.

[Yfoiler]

My BIG studio rig is an Egnater "Rebel" which I love for it's ability to blend between the US 6V6 and the Brit EL84 output stages... In other words I really don't have or use any real big rigs (anymore).

My little studio rig is the Vox AC4TV with 4 watts, 1 watt, and 1/10th watt output selectable by top panel switch. I LOVE this little Vox amp on my Rickenbacker 660/12 string....it gives that Ric "chime" for days with the tone set a bit on the bright side. I got the Vox AC4TV new in factory sealed box for $160 off CraigsList. But you can get used ones a bit cheaper than that.

[Clayphish]

Since you looked into a Tiny Terror, did you get a chance to check out the Vox Night Train? It is 15 watts, but also has the 7 watt switch. You'll find the cleans are probably going to be a bit closer to the AC30 in how chimey it is. There is also the lil' Night Train, but not sure it'll have decent cleans you're after.

[jacoblee83]

+1 Tiny Terror
+1 THD
+1 Blues Jr.

You could also look into building an isolation cab to keep the sound level down. You could build one for fairly cheap and it might open up amp possibilities. I had a Marshall Power Brake once and felt that you lose tone the same as if the amp wasn't cranked so I sold it and got a lower watt amp. Build a box out of plexiglass or plywood, attach 4" of sound absorption material, make sure its ventilated so heat can escape and there's no parallel walls. It might be a good compromise. I use something similar at my church to have the amp on stage but keep volume comparable to a stage monitor.

There are companies that make fully enclosed speaker cabs with a mike built in but you are locked into the sound of the cab at that point. Consider it but I don't necessarily recommend it.

[steve 413]

I Have the Swart Spacetone 6v6, which I got for the same purpose. Anything louder than 5 watts will still be hella loud for home recording...even 5 watts is too much at times.

The swart gets a great clean tone at low volumes, and still has some character. Its very sensitive to dynamics, also to the guitars volume knob.

[istealhotelsoap]

I was seriously considering a Microbaby, but I'm a bit worried about the price. It sounds beautiful though. Just listened to an incredible sample.

[PhilDW]

The THD amps work for me - I have a Bivalve with two 6K6 tubes that's probably about 5 watts.

I have spare Owens Corning 703-based 4x2 boards - they do a fair job as baffles to keep the noise down. The room is treated too, because even a 5 watt amp in a crappy room is loud enough to sound crappy because of the room.

[Kiwi]

Don't make the mistake that "low watts" = "low volume". I tried the THD Univalve, and while I admit it's a nice tweakable amp, it is freakin loud if you were hoping to get quality tone at low volume levels. And I found the built in attenuator was a real tone sucker.

With tube amps, 6 watts is enough for a neighbor to get the police involved. Not that I have that problem in my concrete studio bunker. But if you can contain the sound in a smallish room, it's even louder inside than it would be in a leaky house.

Also - do you need clean headroom for anything? Small wattage tube amps are pretty much for full on distortion. If you need clean, then you need a lot of spare watts for headroom.

The secret for good low-volume tone is good control, regardless of watts. This is why I love my Orange Rocker 30 - I can get good tone at any volume level, and it is far easier to work with than most low watt tube amps i've tried.

I also do stuff with solid state power amps (e.g. 100W or greater) with an assortment of guitar preamps (digital - e.g. Line6, analog - e.g. Sansamp) and I find that I get some great tones, at reasonable levels and all far more controllable (and seriously lower noise floor) than many tube amps i've tried.

The other issue is your speaker cabs. Most are designed to project volume in noisy clubs - the opposite of what you want in a low-volume studio situation. Infinite baffle (closed cab) is very energy efficient, but not necessary good tone. Open back cabs aren't energy efficient, but give more tonal options (including micing the back). I also find that diffusers can give a sweet tone too (like those big brass disks with holes in that look like manhole covers on those sweet old Gibson amps).

If you want sweet tone at low volumes, question the need for a closed back 4x12 and maybe get some nice single 12" cabs or even 10", 8", 6" - and possibly open back. A wide range of tones for small dollars. Note that small speakers can sound huge - because they can't translate the low end, so that energy gets pushed up into the midrange, which is where hugeness really resides.

In a studio, volume is completely relative. You don't need to bring down the walls to get big heavy tone. I personally don't like to induce rattles and room resonances with abusive volume - I don't see the need.

I'm just saying that i've found some counter-intuitive things in my quest for great tone at reasonable volumes ...

[istealhotelsoap]

Microbaby vs. Swart Space Tone, anyone?
Go!

SWART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3g4c...eature=related

MICROBABY
http://www.zacharyguitars.com/EliPlink2WJazz_01.mp3

[Aeolian]

Probably the most popular studio amp of all time is the Fender Princeton. Tommy Tedesco to Jeff Beck to Larry Carlton. The new thing they make with the built in attenuator is pretty cool. If I didn't already have a BFDR taking up the last available space...

[drBill]

Originally Posted by istealhotelsoap

I was seriously considering a Microbaby, but I'm a bit worried about the price. It sounds beautiful though. Just listened to an incredible sample.

I cannot recommend that amp more. A 15 watt amp is too loud for quiet recording. Screw attenuators, you need to open it up to get the tone and "feel" to your fingers. A 1-2 watt amp is what you want. 5 watts max if you are looking to "dime it". The microbaby is a killer amp, and I knew within 2 minutes that it was one of the best investments I've ever made. With a distortion or other pedal with a touch of gain between your guitar and the baby, you can make it wail like a marshall on 11. Actually, I've easily got it to sound LARGER than big loud cabs. I use one of the OCD pedals and it just SINGS. Paired with an old Celestion greenback that's in another of my combo amps, it's had two of the best guitarists I know say it's one of the best amps if not THE best that they have EVER played. These are not young guys, but experienced guys that have been playing Elec for 35+ years each. You will not regret getting a microbaby. thumbsupthumbsup

[rdobson2]

I may look into getting a lower wattage amp soon.I only have a marshall jcm 800 half stack which limits the times I can record guitar tracks to only certain points of the day hahaha.....in a perfect world id buy a bogner shiva combo....but that's not happening...

I agree with the low wattage doesn't necessarily mean low volume.its just high wattage amps have to be cranked to sound good most of the time,where a low wattage fender combo or something can find that sweet spot at a much lower volume.

Sent from my DROID2 using Gearslutz.com App

[FireMoon]

RAT HOTROD BLACKHEART BH15H 18 WATT VALVE AMPLIFIER AMP | eBay UK

This guy does superb mods to a rake load of the smaller bog standard amps and, in the end a lot cheaper than the ridiculous boutique prices.

[never-enough]

i use a Palmer PDI-04 load box and speaker simulator when i record guitars at home.
it lets me use whatever amp i want, from my 100w monsters to my little 5 watters, all in their own sweet spot without worrying about the volume issues.
the speaker simulator has enough controls to let me dial in what i like with minimal effort.
add a little verb and it is very easy to get amazing sounds.... and it sounds more natural to me than an iso cab (i used to use one).

[Ron Vogel]

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp

You should consider the Egnater Tweaker, which has a ton of different tones in it, including a Vox-like setting that goes from totally clean to thick with gain. At 15 watts it is still pretty loud, but the amp is a great value and a very flexible tool.

I thought the tweaker was not-too-shabby when I tried it out. It was fairly versitle, however it was a touch sterile; who knows, a good set of old tubes could change that.

I'm almost getting tired of typing it, but I cannont recommend high-enough how good a sliverface champ can sound. I can't imagine NOT using mine to record with.