Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all, as someone new here, and new to guitars in general, I have some questions for your collective knowledge. I am currently learning to play, taking weekly lessons on my acoustic, and I am leaning towards a 330 as my first electric. I'm serious about playing, but am still very much a beginner, taking weekly lessons, but only about 6 weeks into it. I am looking for some suggestions for a tube amp to pair with my hopefully soon acquisition of a 330. I need something small, along the lines of a "practice" amp I would guess. Anyone here have some direction to point me in? Thanks in advance, and looking forward to being a member of the family soon!

Vox Pathfinder 15R.

Great sounding and versatile little amp and very low priced. Solid state, though.

Since my recording amp is a Peavey 212 Stereo Chorus, I was also drawn towards using a similar amp for practise. Consequently I now use a Peavey 158 Blazer, 15 Watt amp. Peavey amps use "TransTube" technology which emulates a tube sound very well IMO.

Perhaps take a look at one of these. http://www.peavey.com/news/article.cfm/ ... rticle.cfm

You can have TransTube technology and..............emulate a few of the more popular tube amps as well.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll look for them when I go shopping and see if I can get to listen thru them.

These are quite good for around the home. http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 2354000000

Or try this amp, since you mentioned you'd like a tube amp.

I have an early '70s model that works and sounds fantastic with my even older 330.

Traynor YCV20WR - excellent value for money...

kiramdear wrote:Vox Pathfinder 15R. Great sounding and versatile little amp and very low priced. Solid state, though.

antipodean wrote:Traynor YCV20WR - excellent value for money...

I have both a Vox Pathfinder 15 (early non reverb model) and a Traynor YCV20WR. You can't go wrong with either one. I also have a Fender Champion 600 that I carry on the road to practice with in the hotel rooms.

The recent Vox AC4TV combo with a 10" speaker sounded really nice when I tried it out at a local shop. If you can find a silverface Fender Vibro Champ (plain Champ) for $300 or less they are also worth looking at. I've got two. They sound great pushing a bigger cab. It's like a little amp head with a built-in 8" speaker.

if you already have a speaker cabinet, the Vox Night Trains are pretty snazzy little units.$400.00-$500.00 depending on where you look, all tube 15 or 7.5 watt options (pentode and triode )single channel but has a "thick" setting that's great for really fuzzy Sabbath-esque tones. no reverb but you could use a pedal if it's that important to have.

As far as practice amps go, you don't need to spend the extra money for a tube amp. Take Kira's advice and go with the Vox Pathfinder 15R.
Sounds great, inexpensive and it also has a headphone out for silent practice.

Bugera makes a great little practice amp. Its class A - all tube and very affordable.

antipodean wrote:Traynor YCV20WR - excellent value for money...

+1!

'course it's loud enough to keep up with a drum kit too (long as no one's blasting an AC30 or Twin in the same room)

Pathfinder 15R is as close as you will get to AC30 sound in a small cheap amp. I also have a Traynor YCS50, which is much more expensive, but is switch-selectable to run at 50 or 15 watts --- the 15 watt setting is plenty loud as long as you're not competing with an aggressive drummer.

The general rule is that the LOUDEST amp will usually sound like it's the best. Just make sure you test for your conditions.

The Vox 15R and the Traynors all sound great at low volumes, and you don't have to raise the roof to get the sound you want.

Brand new - 350.00 USD.

Value? This one..... ALL tube class A - sounds incredible, and you can gig with it - WITH a drummer!