Tube Amp Advice Needed

[whatsaguitar]

Any recommendations for a great tube amp. A friend of mine has a Twin Reverb, and another friend of mine has a (I want to say) 40w Princeton from the 70's. I really like the sound of them both. I'd like something that is comparable to those two. Maybe something with a little more umph than the princeton. I want to have a nice clean/jazz/blues sound. I'm playing a Strat. I'd like to hear your professional opinions. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Fender amp or a vintage amp but it needs to be $600-1000 the cheaper the better. I tried to be as specific as possible with my limited amp knowledge. THANKS!

[MWJB]

Princetons were 20-ish W, not 40.

Maybe something like a 65 Deluxe Reverb (25W) or 65 Super Reverb (50W)? Both might be found recent 2nd hand in the price range you suggest.

[mooreamps]

I want to have a nice clean/jazz/blues sound. I'm playing a Strat. I'd like to hear your professional opinions. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Fender amp or a vintage amp but it needs to be $600-1000 the cheaper the better. I tried to be as specific as possible with my limited amp knowledge. THANKS!

Cheaper ? Sorry, not possible. Just the parts alone will run you into that range. Also, the labor is hard work to build one.

-g

[Diablo]

You may want to try to find an Ampeg V4 from around 1969-1974. It's got a loud and clean sounding 100 watts with a nice reverb. They haven't gone up in price like the Fenders. There is also the V4's little brother, the VT-40 at 50 watts, which has the same circuit design but uses two 7027A power tubes instead of four on the V4. The VT-40 is a combo amp, and the V4 is a head + speaker stack. The V4 is also available as a combo VT-22 with two 12" speakers, but the thing weighs a ton - even heavier than a twin reverb.

[stingray_65]

the cost of building an amp can decrease with the amount of skills you have in other areas.

cabinets can be built for less than $30, but you should have a table saw and other wood working/ carpentry tools. or just as good a buddy who is into that sort of thing!

some basic metal working skills, a drill press, coping saw (for those confounded thru chassis power transformers), a large step drill set from harbor frieght ($14 for your tube sockets), a few hand files, and layout tools like a dial caliper and square. and you can build and modify most any chassis

If you lack these then you are left with building kits.

kits are expensive.

the route I took when building my son's 5E3 was to buy parts a little at a time.

My .02 FWIW:

Know exactly what you want to build.

Plan your build and break it down into sub categories ie amp, cabinet and speaker.

break down each sub category down into a Bill of Materials. Look around and get prices on parts and what nots and write these prices on your BOM. being new to this if you dont have this you will not know if you are finding a good deal or not, sometimes what looks like a real deal will only prove to be disapointing when your trying to keep this under budget without some sort of guide.

Get a fairly large plastic storage container to keep acumulated treasure in while you wait to amass others.

purchase the highest price items first. in each BOM you make you will see that 20% of the items are going to cost you 80% of the total cost. once they are paid for and recieved, the little stuff can be bought with beer money (sacrifices must be made when undertaking important projects )

Plan plan plan plan and then in your spare time plan some more!

you want to know for example if the chassis you are building will fit the cabinet you want and what size speaker you'll fit in it after, dont want that hasle? build a seperate head and speaker bin. I find these to be the most versitile and easiest to construct, but they cost more in wood and covering and are also more difficult to transport. Around here we have only 1 true combo amp and more often than not it gets plugged into one of the 3 speaker bins.

the HARDEST part is deciding what you're going to build and commiting to it. the rest is time vs money and you'll make those comprimises as they come up.

LOL remember thats just my opinions they don't mean nothin

[whatsaguitar]

I have access to a drill press, coping saw, a large step drill set, a few hand files, and layout tools, but I'm really not looking to build my own amp. I have slim to none electronics knowledge. Diablo has the right idea. I'd like to buy a combo amp that is already made. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be able to make my own amp, but at this stage in my life I think it's wishful thinking. I think I may be in the wrong forum to ask this question. Maybe.

Thanks for all of the help.

[whatsaguitar]

p.s. what do you guys think of the fender pro reverb? I emailed tonequest and the editor said that that would be the best amp in my price range. I am going to check out that ampeg.

[loudthud]

Many of the vintage amps built prior to the late 70s in your price range will have performance and reliability issues. It can easily require $200-$300 to have a tech restore the amp to what it is capable of. Keep this in mind. In spite of this, there are bargains to be found. Try as many amps as you can. A Pro Reverb, while not as loud as a Twin, would not be a bad choice.

[ahamay79]

How about an early 70's Bassman 50 watt head and a little 2x10 cab. You could stay within your budget even after you get new tubes and a cap job. There's even a mod to convert the bass channel to tremelo.

[billyz]

Pro Reverbs are good, Vibrolux reverbs are even better. Try to find a 1968 with the metal frame around to grill. These are almost always exactly the same internally as a blackface and less than half the price. The Vibrolux reverb has slightly lower voltages and sounds better to most everyone I know. The Ten inch speakers are lighter in weight, but don't give up much tone wise for guitar.
the pro does have the tilt back legs though. The pro should be less than the Vibrolux due to desirabilty. I have both as well as a Blackface Deluxe reverb and Princeton reverb. Most people think a Princeton reverb is not going to be not enough amp, BUT big surprise it usually is, and if not then mic it. Really depends on the amount of clean headroom you need. Good speakers are key though. The old Jensen's being the best. I have found the reissue Jensen work good too after you break them in.

[whatsaguitar]

I ended up getting a '68 super reverb. It has blackface circuitry with 3 jensen's and one "comparable" replacement speaker. It sounds beautiful. Thank you for all of the help.

[Regis]

I have a 68 Pro Reverb, it would suit your needs. They go for around $1000-$1200, maybe cheaper. On the other hand, I have a friend that has a Silverface Princeton that he put a high efficiency alnico speaker in and it's loud as hell.

[gregsguitars]

amps? did you say amps?

Any Fender silverface is a good buy right now and in your price range, I have a few pm me and I can shoot ya some pics of them,Greg.

[billyz]

I have a 68 Pro Reverb, it would suit your needs. They go for around $1000-$1200, maybe cheaper. On the other hand, I have a friend that has a Silverface Princeton that he put a high efficiency alnico speaker in and it's loud as hell.

Hey Regis,
I looked at your Silverface Pro reverb. Very Nice! If you rewired it to 100% Blackface it would really sing. Just remove that monkey business around the power tubes and might as well make the bias pre CBS as well. Would not hurt the value as quite a few 68' are wired Pre CBS anyway, mine is.

[Regis]

Hey Regis,
I looked at your Silverface Pro reverb. Very Nice! If you rewired it to 100% Blackface it would really sing. Just remove that monkey business around the power tubes and might as well make the bias pre CBS as well. Would not hurt the value as quite a few 68' are wired Pre CBS anyway, mine is.

Thanks, already been done. I just haven't updated the page. Had the speakers reconed by Ted Weber too, one of them was blown and the other was sounding fuzzy. I used that amp at an outdoor blues gig last week and it sounded great.