Small practicing valve amp

[davidrf]

Hi there,
I have a Vox VT20X which I'm not satisfied of mostly because of the crappy headphone output. At the same time I tried the Zoom G1Xon pedal and it both has awesome headphone output and effects.

Since it would make little sense having a modeling amp AND a modeling pedal, I'd like to sell the VT20X and pair the Zoom G1Xon with a small, good valve amp.

It should not be much larger than the VT20X: (W x D x H) 410 x 225 x 347 / 16.14" x 8.86" x 13.66"

Any advice? Thanks a lot.

P.S.
I have a Se Custom 24 and a Stratocaster American Standard

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Need a price range and what type tones you'd be after.

 

[CVS]

What about a Fender Blues Jr - 15W - Unfortunately no headphone capability

 

[Huggy Love]

I'll give you a different way to look at this.
Valve amps are desired by guitarists for the pure tube sound, if you're going to be using a solid-state modeling amp tone from a zoom pedal, that defeats the purpose. You might as well keep using your Vox solid-state amp and have it at a very transparent setting so you can work from the zoom pedals amp models.

I own amp modeling equipment (line 6) and find it only useful for two purposes: direct recording and headphone jamming. So I am biased as a devoted tube amp player. The basic concept of a guitar plugged into a quality tube amp, using the clean channel or the natural overdrive of the tubes, with a little bit of effects processing can't be beaten.

My advice is to step back, do a little research on amps and guitar tones, look at your options again, and go from there.

 

[the.hatter]

If you like Vox tone (chime, sparkly, jangly etc.) and don't need high gain from your amplifier, I like the Vox AC4C1-12 (own one).

It's a little bigger than yours (Dimensions (WxDxH): 406mm x 211mm x 451mm / 15.98" x 8.31" x 17.76") and has a 12" Celestion speaker, which a lot of people find less boxy sounding. It's tube pre & power amp, 4 watts, does bedroom tones and can get loud (not gigging volume though, but it keeps up with my 4 year old drummer ). It is Chinese made.

It found it a bit too bright, so I did the bright cap mod, and that did the trick. Not all pedals sound great through it. The bright cap mod helped the pedal compatibility, but just throwing that out there as my experience. No effects loop. Delay and reverb are generally okay since you're not getting a lot of gain from the amp. I have the most trouble with distortion pedals and this amp, so I reserve this amp for clean-to-bluesy crunch.

Simple controls, but no headphone out. Is that a must-have feature?

$350-ish new.

 

[garrett]

I'll give you a different way to look at this.
Valve amps are desired by guitarists for the pure tube sound, if you're going to be using a solid-state modeling amp tone from a zoom pedal, that defeats the purpose. You might as well keep using your Vox solid-state amp and have it at a very transparent setting so you can work from the zoom pedals amp models.

I own amp modeling equipment (line 6) and find it only useful for two purposes: direct recording and headphone jamming. So I am biased as a devoted tube amp player. The basic concept of a guitar plugged into a quality tube amp, using the clean channel or the natural overdrive of the tubes, with a little bit of effects processing can't be beaten.

My advice is to step back, do a little research on amps and guitar tones, look at your options again, and go from there.

I mostly agree, but running digital modeling into a nice clean tube amp works just fine. Then you have the option to bypass all the fancy tech if you want and plug straight in or intto one or two stompboxes when the mood suits you.

 

[XiXora]

I like the Blackstar HT-5R (or maybe the HT-1?).
They're inexpensive and do the job.

I hear the H&K Tubemeisters aren't too bad either.

 

[AP515]

Got one of these in a trade. I like it.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bugera/V5-5W-1x8-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp-Black-1275776902533.gc

 

[Lee B.]

If you're just trying to amplify the Zoom amp models, I agree with Huggy B, a solid state amp would probably serve you better. The one I suggest is the Roland JC40, because it is fairly compact but has plenty of power, 2x10" stereo speakers in a wet/dry arrangement, and a stereo effects loop. A little pricey at $599 street, but Roland quality is worth it.

If you're planning to use your Zoom as multi-effects on a fundamental tube tone, I suggest finding a tube amp with great clean tone and a lot of headroom. My personal experience is that digitally modeled effects sound best over a clean tone, they typically sound harsh, brittle, and muddy when applied to overdriven tones. Lots of small combos are out there that would fit the bill! I personally like Fender and Egnater's clean tones the best, and they both have numerous combo options from $300-1200 street for Fender and $400-1100 street for Egnater.

I am not sure I could recommend any ultra-low watt amps for this application, though. To get adequate clean headroom out of a tube amp, you almost need to have a push-pull power section. Single-power tube setups distort earlier and run hotter besides. I had a Vox AC4HW1 for about a year, great fundamental tone, but my one frustration with it was not nearly enough clean headroom. The AC4 took analog stomp boxes great, but my Line 6 POD X3 modeler sounded tinny and muddy through it at even living room levels, because the AC4 lacks clean headroom and distorts at very low volumes. The same Line 6 board sounds worlds better through my Egnater Rebel 30's clean channel.

 

[László]

Every post on the internet will give you an answer that fits the person posting, but might not fit you. The only way to know is to check a few out.

There's an amp section where this has just been asked and answered.