Best tube amps under 1,000$?

[1989joolz]

Hi, folks. Took your advice and made the post more detailed. Thanks again for all the help

I'm looking for a combo tube amp for guitar that has great clean and distorted tone. Mostly gonna play in my room, jam sessions (drums and PA's), and small venues. Looking to play metal, blues, and psychedelic music on it. I'm currently using a super cheap Epiphone and hopefully going to play an american strat, PRS, or Les Paul out've it in the near future. Will eventually use an ME-80 BOSS pedal out've it so good amp distortion would be nice, but not the deciding factor. I keep running into the Marshall DSL 40C for 699$ and it looks great from what I can tell.. What tube amps would you recommend?

[Justin Thomas]

Define "distortion" a bit more clearly, and you will probably get a better (quality) response. Some of us like a "Bassman-head-on-10" distortion sound, while others might prefer a "Mesa-Rectumfrier-with-gain-on-10" distortion sound. They're worlds apart, and any honest person trying to help might send you up the wrong tree...

Personally, I like the Fender Prosonic; should be comparable, price-wise, to the Marshall, used... Get the combo. You can always run a cab with a combo, anyway. Cuz the combo has good Fender reverb. Caveat: must be played LOUD for best results, so...

Justin

Edit: better construction than most - PCB done right, w. chassis-mount pots, sockets, jacks, w. flying leads to 2 PCBs of pretty good quality. Only flaw - the recto switch shaft is plastic; make sure it stays securely mounted and the knob doesn't get loose. Otherwise... I made up a mini-turret-board for mine, since the switch scrapped out and I wrecked the mini-board in the process of repair...

[Chuck H]

Right. We need to define "Best". As in best for metal, blues, jazz, indy, country, etc. After that it's pretty easy. What amp under $1k do people seem to like and what service record does it enjoy?

Sort of like "What's the best lunch for under ten bucks?" You'll get a lot of opinions, but none that will address your peanut allergy, that you're a vegetarian or you just hate curry, etc.

It would help to know your other requirements too. Do you want a combo? A head? The amp you mention is a combo, but for the style of music your targeting is that a compromise for price. Perhaps you don't have a speaker cabinet and you think the combo will have to suffice when a head and cabinet would be better? Or maybe you need portability? What size venues do you expect now or in the future? Does it not matter because you'll be a bedroom player or your band mic's the amps? Not enough info to work with.

EDIT: Ok, I'll play... Like Justin and Jazz said. Two good suggestions there. There are a number of good, standard issue type "50(ish)watt channel switching w/reverb" combos on the market now. All you need to do is go to a few clubs and see what guys are using for road gear. The ones you'll see most will likely be the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Deville, Blues Deluxe or Junior. You'll probably also see some Peavey Valve Kings or older Classic series. I might suggest steering clear of the really budget stuff that may have more features, but much less track record. Not going to mention names, but those amps are usually only handled state side by the distributor and customer service is for shit. Go with something that has some domestic support and a good service record. Unfortunately this criteria would exclude the Marshall from what I understand. Tone is subjective. Most modern amps have good and useful distortion and clean tones but it's up to you what exact flavor you like.

[Jazz P Bass]

The Fender Blues Jr III is right up there in my book.

[Enzo]

And don't exclude the used market, you can get a lot of amp for the money used.

[olddawg]

Honestly ... You can get a Bugera V22 brand new for $249 free shipping and no tax if you look around. It doesn't have the best reverb but it is a 2 channel combo. I've been clubbing with one for a year and people think it's a boutique amp, lol. It isn't a metal amp (especially as an open back combo) but will come close with a pedal. Best bang for the buck I've seen. The Jet City JCA series go on sale too. No reverb and higher gain.

[Steve A.]

I don't know how this came up under New Posts but here's my 2 cents worth...
#1. The Marshall DSL-40C is really nice- the clean channel is amazing. (I returned the 40C because it was too darned heavy and got the 15C instead which does require mods to get same tone as 40C.)
#2. The Bugera 22W Infinium for $400 is pretty amazing with digital reverb a notch above the Marshall.
#3. The Orange Crush 35W combo for $259 is great for a SS amp.

So many amps, so little time...

Steve Ahola

[The Dude]

All good choices, Steve.

I'm going to throw in the Crate VC30 & 50. No longer in production, but you can find them used for a couple hundred bucks. I have a 30 and it's my favorite combo amp.

[nosaj]

All good choices, Steve.

I'm going to throw in the Crate VC30 & 50. No longer in production, but you can find them used for a couple hundred bucks. I have a 30 and it's my favorite combo amp.

Best one under a 1000? My vote would be one that you made so much more satisfying .

nosaj

[The Dude]

But not everybody's a builder.

[Leo_Gnardo]

But not everybody's a builder.

Hire your local competent amp mechanic. Should be able to kit together something tasty. Or rebuild/modify a garage sale/craigslist find.

[Chuck H]

Interesting topic anyway. Unfortunately the OP is MIA. We still don't know the context in which the amp will be used. So the thread just devolves into opinions based on personal tastes.

I vote for a used Peavey Classic 30 or 50. I put a pair of Eminence Private Jack's into a 50 and it sounded great with none of the cursory mods for these models. Used, and figuring on the high end, amp about $360 and speakers about $110. I could happily drop it on stage and play a gig through it. The guy that owns it also has one of my customs so the Peavey never gets used Just sits there as a backup. The guy also has a Crate Palomino V32 that I "corrected" (they have some issues). Also a very good sounding amp (other than the tinny, weak sounding reverb). But my personal vote would be for a used vintage Traynor Bassmaster or something similar. The less collectible vintages (with the separated dual inputs) can still be had pretty reasonably and they sound VERY good. Add a used 2x12 cab and you're probably still under a grand. With shipping it might go over though.