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[JDNelson]

josh wrote on Wed, 31 August 2005 11:09

Checked out a Fender Pro Jr...  not great.  Speaker stinks.  Maybe into an external cabinet it'd be ok.  Haven't tried it.

FWIW, I had a chance to A/B one of these with a Blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, just for kicks and giggles.  The Pro Jr. sounded like a transistor radio by comparison.  It'd maybe be a good emergency amp for a small bar/restaurant gig or something, throw it in the trunk "just in case", but I wouldn't rate it higher than that.

[garret]

The Tech21 Trademark 30 is an interesting little amp for <$300.  It's basically a Sansamp unit in a cabinet, with a clean 30 watt amp, a 10" speaker, and an accutronics spring reverb.

Great for taking to band practice (it's only 14 lbs!), and you can record with the sansamp as a DI.

[A.J.]

I've been gigging with a Tech 21 Trademark 60 for the last bunch of years and I think it has it great tone. The clean channel can do just about any sound pretty well. And like Garrett said, they're easy to lug around. I think mine is 36 lbs.

[Ian Visible]

Roland Micro Cube

I've been pleasantly surprised by the clean sound both times I've heard it.

It's a sound that sounds like it shouldn't be coming out of a box that small.

[Fibes]

A good clean sound that sits well is a lot tougher than one that just sounds good. Many times the right ticket is a dual set of DIs into good pres and a healthy dose of the right compression.

Yep, I said direct.

It doesn't have to be papery and lifeless.

Otherwise I'm all about Fender twins (even the red knob ones), Deluxes, and silverface Princetons.

I have enjoyed the Vox Pathfinder but it's not my go to amp for these duties which is my Tone King Imperial (think deluxe).

I always hate to tell people to spend more but a 600 dollar silverface fender will hold its value...

[Nick Sevilla]

Even those amps that the bands are bringing in can get clean tones, I'm sur of it.

It just requires tweaking those knobs, especially the "gain" knob before the EQ / output section. Back that off, and the guiar cleans up.

Cheers

PS what kind of amps are they bringing in that don't sound clean?

A 100Watt Marshall will sound clean, if set up properly...

[Secular_Tool]

Late '70/early '80s Peavey Vintage series amps are usually a bargain when you can find them. I paid $200 for mine in '94 and it looks like on they are about the same range on EBAY and other used markets when they appear.

I have the 212 version and it rocks.

Pete Townsend used the 410 version on Rough Mix and Face Dances
 http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/guitar/equip-peaveyv intage.html

There was a taller 410 or 610 version in the same series.

It is not the much later "classic" series that look very similar but have totally different designs and prices.

I have an early '80s peavey 2x12 classic which seem fairly rare but cheap when you can find them. Mine was around $200 when I found it.

I blew up the Jensen speakers and replaced them with celestions.

There's no master volume so I've never gotten it loud enough to see what the preamp sounds like over driven. I put a variac on it to hear what it sounded like turned up all the way, and it didn't suck.

The clean tones are really, really sweet. Put a ross or dyna comp on it and it's twang heaven.

Putting fuzz boxes on it sounds pretty good as well. Not as good as an amp with a tube front end, but pretty good.

The clean tones are as good as anything I've used.

[hargerst]

You want cheap, clean, AND dirty?  Try a 15 watt Fender Frontman, into a 4x12 Marshall cabinet.

[SpiderM69]

It's not exactly $200, but the new Princeton Reissue is awesome.  I wasn't in the market for a new amp, didn't need one, didn't want one, but happened to be in a music store getting strings.  Plugged into it for grins, bought it 10 minutes later.  It's that good, I kid you not.  Even at $800 it's a bargain IMHO, compares to amps much more expensive.

PS, I have no vested interest in promoting this amp, was just really surprised.  Quintessential blackface tone.  Perfect volume for recording.  Easy to lift .