Would like a low volume tube amp...any suggestions?

That is definitely not an over exposed photo of a DG head. :)
Oh, and DG amp heads have a nice wood fascia, whereas that photo just has more tolex, so I knew it wasn't a normal DG "stock". (I believe all DGs come with that nice mahogany fascia, I haven't seen any that don't, at least.)

The only amp heads that seem to meet the overall appearance of the top-set controls and straight tolex-covered fascia at top are the Dallas, Super Dallas, HXDA, Blistertone, and 25th Anniv, with maybe the Original Sewell and Recording Amps too (I couldn't find any examples online with plain fascias).

Hmmm. Again, hmmm.
 
Dude says tube amp inspired him, don’t tell me he needs solid state or bust.

Guess it's one of those "do you tell them what they want to hear, or do you give them the best answer you can" questions.

Small tube amp plus attenuater plus headphones? Any inspiration provided by tube amps would be lost by the time it got to headphones... for me. I think speakers and cabs are almost as important as amps in the final tone.

I'm not some guy at TGP who is recommending things he's never tried because of what he's heard. I tried numerous small amps and numerous headphone solutions. Suhr Corso plus quality attenuater plus decent headphones... $1400 or so??? For a headphone solution? Not for me. If I'm going to attenuate an amp, it's going to be a bigger better sounding one to start with. Now the price is going higher... So, for a beginnger looking for a night time very low volume solution, I'll stick with my answer.

I only provide my experience so the OP can have some feedback from someone who has tried it. He can then read all the other opinions and decide which way is best for him. Truth is, you know damn well I'd rather the guy get a nice tube amp! But not if he can't use it.
 
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Guess it's one of those "do you tell them what they want to hear, or do you give them the best answer you can" questions.

Small tube amp plus attenuater plus headphones? Any inspiration provided by tube amps would be lost by the time it got to headphones... for me. I think speakers and cabs are almost as important as amps in the final tone.

I'm not some guy at TGP who is recommending things he's never tried because of what he's heard. I tried numerous small amps and numerous headphone solutions. Suhr Corso plus quality attenuater plus decent headphones... $1400 or so??? For a headphone solution? Not for me. If I'm going to attenuate an amp, it's going to be a bigger better sounding one to start with. Now the price is going higher... So, for a beginnger looking for a night time very low volume solution, I'll stick with my answer.

I only provide my experience so the OP can have some feedback from someone who has tried it. He can then read all the other opinions and decide which way is best for him. Truth is, you know damn well I'd rather the guy get a nice tube amp! But not if he can't use it.

Good points.
 
He may have to settle for paisley. Speaking of which, I NEVER liked paisley. I don't own one paisley tie and never have. When I first saw the PRS amps and cabs in paisley I didn't like them. After seeing a few, I decided they were cool, and now I just LOVE some of them!

Obvious question: Have I been spending too much time with Sergio? Please, please, please somebody do an intervention if I decide to cover one of my beautiful PRS guitars with paisley fabric!
What is wrong with you? I loved paisley PRS cases and amps even before I was aware of this forum.
 
What is wrong with you? I loved paisley PRS cases and amps even before I was aware of this forum.
Well, like me, nothing is wrong with him now. It was an aversion to paisley in the past that colored (see what I did there) his first impression of PRS's paisley tolex.

Speaking of which, I was surfing the web sometime last week looking for something about PRS amps (can't remember now what it was), and read an article/post that commented about PRS amps that are covered "in your grandmother's curtains". Obviously someone likes plain black tolex, and only plain black tolex.
 
What is wrong with you? I loved paisley PRS cases and amps even before I was aware of this forum.

Look man, I've been around this forum for a while now. Surely you knew before now that something was wrong with me! :)

So a guy who has never liked paisley (because I had mainly seen it on ties and I thought it was an old man thing) sees the paisley case, or amp head or cab for the first time. Yeah, I kinda went 'hmm, not sure what I think of that." Saw a couple more and said "I guess that's not so bad, but I still wouldn't "prefer" that over black. (And in the next post, Shinksma mentions "your grandma's curtains. That is another thought I had when I first saw them).

Then the more of them I saw in use and in actual music rooms etc., they really started to grow on me. Couple of you guys have put up pics of a paisley head and cab that I just LOVED! Suddenly I'm thinking more along the lines of "that is REALLY COOL!"

Confession: I would have had my very first PRS at least two years sooner if I had liked Paisley at the time. There was a 2 Channel H head for sale locally at a time I had the money and was amp shopping and I didn't buy it ONLY because it was Paisley. Please don't hold this against me, as I have already punished myself enough. :mad:
 
Yeah, shinksma's quote reminded me that there are a lot of things wrong with a lot of people that isn't wrong with me. I sometimes find myself saying the same thing even when a majority of the people disagree with me -- like "why are the Beatles so popular, what is wrong with you people?" I mean, why the hell do people like anything? Because they have associations with it. I never made the grandma's curtains association with it. But exactly because it was a amp covering that I'd never seen before is part of why I liked it. But also the psychedelic association.

Don't doubt yourself, like what you like, question everything.
 
Hi all, thanks for all the great advice and discussion (with the possible exception of all the recommendations of the best paisley patterns....hmmmm).

I wound up buying the VHT Special 6 Ultra combo. The small local music shop where I take lessons got one in and I tried it out along with a number of other models at that store and others. I think the VHT sounds really great and the fact that it lets you dial down the output power enables it to hit the volume levels I need for late night playing. And when I can turn it up it sounds even better. The local shop owner let me play around with it each week before and after my lesson. They were really awesome about letting me compare it with other models, and even offered to let me take it home to try out before buying it. I really appreciated that and wound up pulling the trigger on the purchase a week ago.

So far so good. I think it sounds great and it feels like a quality piece of hardware. Plus, the price was pretty reasonable.

Thanks again for all the advice! Happy holidays!
 
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