madbeanpedals::forum

Hey everybody,
I've been looking at cheap low watt amps, seems that there are a million these days.  I've seen a lot of love for the Egnater Tweaker here.  What do you recommend?  I'm intrigued by the VHT Special 6.  I don't have time to build one right now.
Thanks!

I love my eggnator tweaker head , my brother swears by his bugera combo


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if you want to leave it clean & use pedals in front of it, the tweaker is great (I have the 15w head).  it is a sweet sounding amp once you have some decent tubes in it.

if you just want to plug straight in & jam I'd look elsewhere.  the top end crunch is a bit lackluster and there's no footswitch to change channels.

Quote from: Haberdasher on May 05, 2016, 01:35:27 AM
if you want to leave it clean & use pedals in front of it, the tweaker is great (I have the 15w head).  it is a sweet sounding amp once you have some decent tubes in it.

if you just want to plug straight in & jam I'd look elsewhere.  the top end crunch is a bit lackluster and there's no footswitch to change channels.

That's why it's so important to have 2 or three laying around. my black star has a great clean channel.

Quote from: jimilee on May 05, 2016, 01:44:37 AM

Quote from: Haberdasher on May 05, 2016, 01:35:27 AM
if you want to leave it clean & use pedals in front of it, the tweaker is great (I have the 15w head).  it is a sweet sounding amp once you have some decent tubes in it.

if you just want to plug straight in & jam I'd look elsewhere.  the top end crunch is a bit lackluster and there's no footswitch to change channels.

That's why it's so important to have 2 or three laying around. my black star has a great clean channel.

LOL, yeah most of us are probably covered in that regard, right?  Just wanted to point out the limitations though.

The tubemeister 18 from h&k has a nice clean channel too, it's kind of hi fi.  when you turn the gain up on it, you are in edge of breakup heaven.  i thought it was pretty awesome sounding the times I played it.

I use a Blackstar HT-5 Mini Stack. Sounds great, has an fx loop and an output for recording or using headphones.
It gets great reviews, and is probably one of the best for it's price range.

It comes in a regular combo version but the Mini Stack is great for me because it takes up so little floor space and is nice for playing whilst standing up.

Define "cheap" and also "low-watt". ;D

From what I've read, the VHT Special series amps are all quite good and designed with modding in mind. There are some great mods out there, including a very simple bias-on-a-switch mod that allows for alternating between the stock 6V6 and 6L6/EL34. And they have that adapter to use EL84s as well. I've been tempting many a drunk night by the Special 6 Ultra.  ;D

A fender Tweed Champ clone would be my choice.

If you are in the UK/EU, Ampmaker sell a really nice kit (WF-55) at a cheap price.

Really easy build and you end up with a really nice amp (that is ripe for modding) at the end of it.

Quote from: raulduke on May 05, 2016, 02:19:29 PM
If you are in the UK/EU, Ampmaker sell a really nice kit (WF-55) at a cheap price.

Really easy build and you end up with a really nice amp (that is ripe for modding) at the end of it.

I got one of these. I can highly recommend! I added a tone control to mine. With good speaker it can be extremely loud.

new: the blackstar does sound nice. got a lot of ICs in there doing some of the heavy lifting, but it does sound nice.
used: vht is much cheaper to buy used(I feel you're getting hurt buying one new due to no good resale value)
out of production: I like the blackheart little giant even if it doesn't have tons of gain
vintage: silvertone 1481, the one with the round speaker baffle hole.
diy: supro s1606/gretsch 6150 from watts tube audio
avoid: valve jr, bugera, fender champ 600

Quote from: thesmokingman on May 05, 2016, 05:08:38 PM
avoid: valve jr, bugera, fender champ 600

Never played the Champ 600, but I have had a ton of fun modding and playing the Valve Jr. Actually, the Blackheart Little Giant is just the next iteration of the VJ. From what I've read, the same guy designed both, and took the mods people were doing to the VJ and the best ones in the Little Giant. I'm actually about to start modding my last virgin VJ very soon. :)

Also, I think the current Bugera amps are pretty good. I had a V22 head and it was awesome.

sure, the valve jr is well documented as a mod platform and I've done a number of them but overall I like to remind people that the price point of that new was less than what Sears sold the Silvertone 1481 for (inflation adjusted) and it sounds as cheap. even after all of them I've worked on, I still don't think of them as easy to work on compared to others. the silver lining is that you can take that gift you didn't ask for or that insane bargain you beat someone up on via craigslist and turn it into a number of different amps, reverb unit, etc. I just wouldn't actively seek one out as an amp or a project.   

re the blackheart: its what the valve junior would have been at a realistic price point. it was designed with modification in mind, it was a completely better design, and unlike the valve jr sounds just fine stock.

re: bugera ... I don't have an opinion outside of the few I've worked on having heat issues leading to power tube related component failure. I should have been more specific that I was referring to the old bugera v5 and that's because I wasn't exactly bowled over on the sound.

I think most of these went away when the fad was over.

Fair enough. I suppose there is no accounting for taste.  8)

For a tiny low watt head, I recommend the Wangs VT1H. It's like a Vox/Matchless 1 watt head!

its all good, I'm as stubbornly opinionated about turning vintage pa amps, organ amps, and heath kits into guitar amps vs starting with a kit ... "ITS A TRAP!" which isn't well received either.

as an aside, I just couldn't play an amp named "Wangs".

are you looking for something to build yourself or are you looking for a commercial amp?
there are lots of diy kits out there, which is the way to start here. amps require a different amount of preparation for the parts, so good to have all the right things in a kit. I can recommend the low watt (4-5W) projects of tubetown.net in Germany. I built the Emma and am really happy with it. don't be fooled, still way louder than living-room level if turned up.
for commercial, you could always hit up second hand site and you might get a good score there without even going to low watts unless you specifically look for those.

^yeah Tubetown stuff looks cool

I think OP said he didn't have the time right now to build from a kit. So I think he's looking for a commercial amp that is cheap and can be modded.

I'd say go for one of the VHTs. Easy to mod, relatively cheap (especially used).

Thanks for the suggestions.  Yea, I'm looking commercial as I don't think I'll be able to find time to build an amp any time soon.
The VHT and Egnater are tempting.  The Mesa Mini Rectifier looks awesome, but don't know if I want to spend that kind of money on a spare amp.  Anybody have any experience with the Wang/Biyang VT1H?

you could also go for the Hotone Nano Legacy. They are solid state, but the demos sound really good and they sure are cheap.

Quote from: junkemail86 on May 07, 2016, 02:16:36 AM
Thanks for the suggestions.  Yea, I'm looking commercial as I don't think I'll be able to find time to build an amp any time soon.
The VHT and Egnater are tempting.  The Mesa Mini Rectifier looks awesome, but don't know if I want to spend that kind of money on a spare amp.  Anybody have any experience with the Wang/Biyang VT1H?

My video review:
https://youtu.be/T0alXmC5tEU

I stand by everything there. I learned about it from FSB and InTheBlues. (I still want a JTM1 sometime...) If it had more tone controls, bright switches, Blackstar's ISF that'd be awesome. But it doesn't and it's totally useable...a perk for those who want to keep it simple.

I was in a situation at a church where I was told it was too loud! Haha

The Carvin Vintage 16 could fit the bill.  Switches between 16 or 5 watts.  And not much more than I paid for my Blackheart Handsome Devil, which is a great little amp, too (15/7w).  I've added the Bitmo Dapper Devil and Reverb mods to the Handsome Devil.  Adds nice flexibility to it.
http://carvinaudio.com/products/vt16

I've never used the Vintage 16 but I have a Carvin V3M that I like a lot.  I've had it for about 5 trouble-free years.

Nice, and spring reverb!

Interesting stuff. I'm working through small tube amp heads now, too. Tried the Valve Junior, don't like it at all, don't feel like modding it. I'm using an AC4TV now, much better than the Junior, but not what I want. I use pedals for my tones, and just want a clean amp head with decent EQ that I can set and forget.

Depends on your price point I guess.  I've got 10 lower wattage heads, here's a quick summary from cheapest to most expensive

Epi Valve Jr - already covered, mod away
Blackheart Lil Devil - insanely loud for 7/15 W amp, retube is a must, though stock tubes are fuzzy good in their own way
Egnater Tweaker - already covered, good little amp, nice features, cleaner settings better than dirty
Jet City JA20 - Smoking dirty/dirtier amp, only problem is there is some signal bleed on the lower gain channel from the higher one
Traynor Darkhorse - less bells and whistles than the Tweaker, but a better sounding amp.  Wish it had an effects loop
Marshall DSL15 - Nails the Marshall Tone, who'd have thought?
Marshall JVM-1 - One trick pony, but it does that one trick really well.
Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 - hands down the best value for money.  Great clean channel, takes pedals like a champ, dirty channel starts where the clean leaves off, super switching option, FX loop, integrated DI
Mesa Boogie TA-15 - Amazing amp.  All modes sound "right".  Insane power management abilities.  Only issues I have with it are that it doesn't have reverb/FX loop, and that the Vox channel is on the same side as the Marshall/Mesa channel.
VVT Lindy Fralin 2 head - lush Fender-y goodness at ear and back friendly levels.

The TA-15 would be my choice if money wasn't an issue, the Tubemeister in the mid price range, and the Darkhorse in the lower (you can usually find them used for cheap).

Peavey's got some nice micro heads out now as well, as CJ has already described in a separate post.

All good suggestions, thanks everybody.
I ended up ordering a Blackstar HT5H in the end, thought it would complement my other amps the best.  Liked the idea of the Jet City JCA20 but I have a couple of Marshalls.  I thought the Egnater Tweaker, VHT Special 6, and Carvin VT16 would cover similar territory to my Vox AC15.  Didn't like the digital modeling aspect (for no good reason, just principle) of the Fender Superchamp X2.  I recently also bought an Orange Micro Terror.  I think the mini amp addiction is replacing my pedal addiction.  So much GAS so little time

Quote from: GermanCdn on May 10, 2016, 09:42:34 PM
Depends on your price point I guess.  I've got 10 lower wattage heads, here's a quick summary from cheapest to most expensive

Epi Valve Jr - already covered, mod away
Blackheart Lil Devil - insanely loud for 7/15 W amp, retube is a must, though stock tubes are fuzzy good in their own way
Egnater Tweaker - already covered, good little amp, nice features, cleaner settings better than dirty
Jet City JA20 - Smoking dirty/dirtier amp, only problem is there is some signal bleed on the lower gain channel from the higher one
Traynor Darkhorse - less bells and whistles than the Tweaker, but a better sounding amp.  Wish it had an effects loop
Marshall DSL15 - Nails the Marshall Tone, who'd have thought?
Marshall JVM-1 - One trick pony, but it does that one trick really well.
Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 - hands down the best value for money.  Great clean channel, takes pedals like a champ, dirty channel starts where the clean leaves off, super switching option, FX loop, integrated DI
Mesa Boogie TA-15 - Amazing amp.  All modes sound "right".  Insane power management abilities.  Only issues I have with it are that it doesn't have reverb/FX loop, and that the Vox channel is on the same side as the Marshall/Mesa channel.
VVT Lindy Fralin 2 head - lush Fender-y goodness at ear and back friendly levels.

The TA-15 would be my choice if money wasn't an issue, the Tubemeister in the mid price range, and the Darkhorse in the lower (you can usually find them used for cheap).

Peavey's got some nice micro heads out now as well, as CJ has already described in a separate post.

I've got a TA-15 here on loan from one of the other FFX guys.  It's a great little amp (although I agree with the criticisms about lack of reverb and effects loop).  Since I usually like reverb and sometimes delay, this basically means I don't use the distortion built into the amp.

Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

Quote from: pickdropper on May 14, 2016, 01:47:08 PM
Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

The Tweed era of Marshall amps is definitely my favorite.

Quote from: culturejam on May 14, 2016, 08:12:06 PM

Quote from: pickdropper on May 14, 2016, 01:47:08 PM
Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

The Tweed era of Marshall amps is definitely my favorite.

Well, seeing as Marshall started with a Fender Bassman, that would make sense.   ;)

Quote from: pickdropper on May 14, 2016, 01:47:08 PM
Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

You are correct sir, brainfart on my behalf.