tube head and cab

[halty]

I'm looking into my first tube head and a good cab to go along with it. I would like to keep the combo relatively inexpensive without sacrificing too much tone quality and output. Any help would be appreciated.

[Enzo]

How about just buying a combo amp then? All things equal, I might think a combo would cost less than a head and cab separate. Who knows?

I suggest you listen to as many amps as you can - while YOU play them. Doesn;t matter if you play well or not, the guys in stores have heard it all, and they don;t care if you suck, and the y like it if you're good.

There are Fenders and Fendery amps, there ar Marshalls and Marshally amps. Maybe you like a Vox sound. If you are playing a lot of blues, you won;t probably like the amps they use for metal. and vice versa.

Once you know more or less what you want, then start looking for them. new will cost a lot more than used.

[eschertron]

+1 to what Enzo said about listening to amps as you play them, the choice is - in the final analysis - better off served if you are the one to make it.

I'd support your choice of head plus cab, for two reasons: 1) it's easier to shlep an amp of 50+ Watt size in two hands (or in my case, two trips!), and 2) you can pick the head that you want and get a speaker cab that fits your current needs.

[TomCarlos]

Halty....

Like you, I too was searching for a first tube amp. Well, besides playing, I like to tinker and rebuild. (I have two tube amps on my bench right now... almost done with both). So I also like fixing and experimenting, etc. In my small amp collection I have a Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube (Solid Stage) and a Fender Stage 100 (Solid State). Both nice amps and can be found for around $150. I wanted to get something similar in a tube amp.... a combo. That way, I could compare similar size amps. Of course, you cannot compare 30 watts in tube amp vs 85 watts of solid state. Don't let the "watts" number fool you. A 30 watt tube amp can hold it's own next to these solid state amps.

You might consider looking at the Peavey Classic 30. A Generation 1 or Generation 2 can run around $300 - $350 (if in good condition). Check out the YouTube videos- there are some good demo videos. I like the 1x12 config... small enough to be compact yet loud enough to be heard in a small venue.

I like having two or more amps... makes it easy to compare side by side.

Buy used... that way if you don't like it, you can resell and recoup. That has worked for me.

Good luck. Tom

[olddawg]

Decide what you need as well. A lot will depend on your application. I play club gigs with I live drummer regularly with a stock 5 watt Epiphone Valve Jr amp head through a 2x12 open back cabinet. The amp I paid $99 new for and the cab was given to me. You may not need a 50 or even 30 watt amp for your application.

[Enzo]

That peavey Classic 30 is a great little amp. And if it isn;t quite right for you, they also make the Delta Blues which is the exact same amp but different speakers.

[Chuck H]

Hard to make a suggestion without knowing what kind of music you play and what kind of power you require.

And consider buying at least the cabinet used. The amp is most likely to be where you'll need a warranty and good guitar speakers are expensive. Cheap guitar speakers sound awful. A budget speaker cabinet purchased new is likely to have bad sounding speakers in it. It's not a bargain if you need to spend another $200 to $400 on speakers before it sounds good. And trust me, no one wants to buy the speakers you'll take out of it.