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  #46  
Old 08-25-2017, 09:57 AM
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Another option to the Kemper at about 1/2 the cost, is Positive Grid bias head amp and software

https://www.positivegrid.com/bias-head/
There is also a great review on Andertons tv youtube channel
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  #47  
Old 08-25-2017, 12:06 PM
roylor4 roylor4 is offline
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Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Another option to the Kemper at about 1/2 the cost, is Positive Grid bias head amp and software

https://www.positivegrid.com/bias-head/
There is also a great review on Andertons tv youtube channel
Wow. That thing sounds awesome. Good thing I'm too poor to have AAS (amp acquisition syndrome) for it.
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  #48  
Old 08-25-2017, 03:37 PM
TheChicagoTodd TheChicagoTodd is offline
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Originally Posted by roylor4 View Post
A LOT of amps can do similar tones of the supersonic at lower wattage and at a much lower price. The best, affordable, low wattage 2 channel tube amp that provides great cleans and excellent distortion sounds is the Blackstar HT-5R

The Blackstar HT-1R is also excellent sounding, but only one watt. Great cleans and dirt. There are many, many other amps that can do the tones you speak of. Some at low volume and some at ear-bleed levels.

I used to be a die-hard, tube only fanatic (I've been playing Blues harp for 25 years and have had dozens of tube amps). I have since come to appreciate modeling amps, especially for guitar. The Katana 50 is worth a look IMO.

You need to do some 1st hand investigating to know if you want a 2-3 channel tube amp, a tube amp and a pedal or two or go the modeling route. Even most avid music fans have a hard time telling if an amp is a 100 watt amp driving a full sized 4 X 10" or a modeling amp with an emulated speaker out into a pa. The new stuff being made is actually pretty incredible.
+1 for the Katana series. I have the 100w head, which as crazy as it sounds is great for home use because it has a built in 5" speaker and settings for .5 watt, 50 watts, and full blown 100 watts. I also have the Katana mini which us incredible considering u can run off 6 AA batteries! I do have a Sonic Pipe 18 watt tube amp for my tube needs/wants, but the Katanas are really good!

Todd in Chicago

Edit: In order to get anywhere near distortion on my tube amp (even though I can set it to 1/2 power, 9 watts), I need to use my Weber mini-mass attenuator, otherwise simply too loud.

Last edited by TheChicagoTodd; 08-25-2017 at 03:43 PM.
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  #49  
Old 08-25-2017, 08:09 PM
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Wow. That thing sounds awesome. Good thing I'm too poor to have AAS (amp acquisition syndrome) for it.
Well as always clearly one budget dictates .

For me though if I was a considering a top end modeling amp (which I am not)
The Bias Head with it's modern plugin style GUI software graphics is so much more intuitive to work with, it would be my hands down, no question, choice . The ability to tweak all the different sections of the amp is outstanding IMO And actually the fact that it does not any FX but has FX loop appeals to me.


here is that review I mentioned
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Last edited by KevWind; 08-25-2017 at 09:07 PM.
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  #50  
Old 08-26-2017, 06:08 AM
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Here's another thing to consider about modelers:

For my entire electric guitar life since 1970 I seem to have always approached the combination of guitar and amp as part of a search for a tone and feel that was in my head. I've never been one who was obsessed with the amps in their own right and finding an exact duplicate - my interest in amps was as a means to the end of the sound in my head that was usually something I'd heard on a recording and the feel I'd experienced with previous amps. For instance, I've always been willing to throw a clean boost in front of an amp to get closer to the sound I was looking for and did so often from the mid-70s on.

The modelers I work with serve that aim well. So, the point here is that perhaps that mindset is what allows person to acclimate to and be comfortable with modelers.

Bob
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  #51  
Old 08-26-2017, 08:45 AM
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Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Well as always clearly one budget dictates .

For me though if I was a considering a top end modeling amp (which I am not)
The Bias Head with it's modern plugin style GUI software graphics is so much more intuitive to work with, it would be my hands down, no question, choice . The ability to tweak all the different sections of the amp is outstanding IMO And actually the fact that it does not any FX but has FX loop appeals to me.
That device makes my once-daunting Mustang look like 2 cans and some string. Change your size/number of tubes in the pre-amp? Yikes! I'm not ready
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  #52  
Old 08-26-2017, 12:07 PM
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That device makes my once-daunting Mustang look like 2 cans and some string. Change your size/number of tubes in the pre-amp? Yikes! I'm not ready
Ha yes, I hadn't thought about it, but I suppose my familiarity with working with DAWs and plugins and navigating their GUI's (since 2003) , could make the Positive Grid software seem much more "intuitive" to me , than it might to someone new to that type of computer program.
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  #53  
Old 08-26-2017, 01:43 PM
wrathfuldeity wrathfuldeity is offline
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tales from the rabbit hole:

imho for small home amp...

kiss...keep it simple...as in git, pedals and amp....less is moar

has not yet been discussed...spkrs and cabs are a huge factor...thus have an assortment of alnico/ceramic spkrs in 4", 6", 8" 10" and 12's. If you want cranked champ with out the volume do a 4 or 6 in...if you want loud clean do a high efficiency 2x12. Side note: a Weber Z-matcher is a wonderful tool. Which reminds me, if you want a wall of sound or depth of field at low volume, use two cabs or 2 amps separated with a bit of distance for a dual mono or stereo in a wet/dry set-up. With 5 watts with a 2x12 will rattle the house and disturb the neighbors.

As for fatness on a single coil...roll down the tone and vol on the git...or get a parametric eq. If you want a chunky clean rhythm...add a compressor. I love the gruntage using a vfe rocket eq and vfe white horse comp.

as for amps...in the stable for home use are a 1950's se6L6, 1960's se el84, late 40-early 50's se6v6 with octal pre and a 1949 pp6v6 monoblock.

pedals most used are a ehx 2ube (used as a tube buffered fx loop for the analog pedals)...aya drivesta od/dist, vfe white horse comp, vfe para eq rocket, tech 21 rvb verb and a custom pultec eq. There are some other pedals but for the most part, the always on are the ehx 2ube, tech 21 rvb and the pultec.

edit: Also have an old modeller in to the board via a loop switcher...its fun for different sounds...but to my ears analog pedals in to an old simple ptp tube is simple and pure enjoyment. But a tele into the se el84 using a low efficiency spkr...is all about the satisfaction...ala keef.

Last edited by wrathfuldeity; 08-26-2017 at 02:00 PM.
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  #54  
Old 08-26-2017, 02:23 PM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrathfuldeity View Post
tales from the rabbit hole:

imho for small home amp...

kiss...keep it simple...as in git, pedals and amp....less is moar

has not yet been discussed...spkrs and cabs are a huge factor...thus have an assortment of alnico/ceramic spkrs in 4", 6", 8" 10" and 12's. If you want cranked champ with out the volume do a 4 or 6 in...if you want loud clean do a high efficiency 2x12. Side note: a Weber Z-matcher is a wonderful tool. Which reminds me, if you want a wall of sound or depth of field at low volume, use two cabs or 2 amps separated with a bit of distance for a dual mono or stereo in a wet/dry set-up. With 5 watts with a 2x12 will rattle the house and disturb the neighbors.

As for fatness on a single coil...roll down the tone and vol on the git...or get a parametric eq. If you want a chunky clean rhythm...add a compressor. I love the gruntage using a vfe rocket eq and vfe white horse comp.

as for amps...in the stable for home use are a 1950's se6L6, 1960's se el84, late 40-early 50's se6v6 with octal pre and a 1949 pp6v6 monoblock.

pedals most used are a ehx 2ube (used as a tube buffered fx loop for the analog pedals)...aya drivesta od/dist, vfe white horse comp, vfe para eq rocket, tech 21 rvb verb and a custom pultec eq. There are some other pedals but for the most part, the always on are the ehx 2ube, tech 21 rvb and the pultec.

edit: Also have an old modeller in to the board via a loop switcher...its fun for different sounds...but to my ears analog pedals in to an old simple ptp tube is simple and pure enjoyment. But a tele into the se el84 using a low efficiency spkr...is all about the satisfaction...ala keef.
Whoa, whoa, slow down! What comes after "if you want a wall of sound"? How do I overdrive my 4x15 cab again? Do I have to stack those Marshalls? Or can I just put them side by side? If this is your "simple," your "let's get complicated!" must be some scary [stuff]!

I'm kidding, I bow to your obvious experience/expertise and assume your comprehensive response was mostly intended for others on this thread who are way more advanced and, while I definitely learned some things from your post, I'm no John V, just the little home guy who can barely play trying to figure out low wattage, lower volume amps for use in the home, and why overdrive pedals fit into the mix if you can overdrive a tube amp at lower volume and how isn't that modeling? I think I've got that part nailed, thanks to the helpful info here. I'm leaning toward that Bugera V22, with a pedal or two (including a compressor!), when the timing's right. Thanks to all.
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  #55  
Old 08-26-2017, 06:30 PM
DHart DHart is offline
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Originally Posted by wrathfuldeity View Post
has not yet been discussed...spkrs and cabs are a huge factor...thus have an assortment of alnico/ceramic spkrs in 4", 6", 8" 10" and 12's. If you want a cranked Champ, without the volume, do a 4" or 6"...if you want loud clean do a high efficiency 2x12.
Ah ha! Perhaps I shot myself in the foot way back in 1975 when I replaced the 8" Jensen in my Silver Face Champ with a 10" JBL K-110. And then, just recently, when I replaced the JBL with a 10" Weber Vintage.

Looks like I've made it necessary for me to play even louder now to achieve a particular level of overdrive from the Champ. Thinking back to 1975, when I replaced the 8" Jensen with the 10" JBL, I probably was trying to get a cleaner sound with the Champ, as I was using it while teaching guitar in a music store. Fast forward to today, I'm not sure just what my motivation was to do that back then. That seems like a different lifetime for me now.

Perhaps I need to put together a small cab with a 4" or 6" speaker in it, and drive it with my Champ. Any suggestions on that?

I never thought of going with a smaller speaker to achieve that tone at low volumes.

Last edited by DHart; 08-26-2017 at 06:41 PM.
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  #56  
Old 08-26-2017, 09:16 PM
wrathfuldeity wrathfuldeity is offline
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Some old intercom spkrs 4" alnico, 8" ceramic and below is a old cts 10" alnico from garage sale finds. The 10" cts was put in an re-purposed birch ply drawer. I've tried to blow up the 8" its still hanging in there. Just a few minutes ago was playing the pp6v6 monoblock and board with the 4" in the basement and Mrs didn't complain (watching tv right above me). And the over-sized 1x12 cab




Last edited by wrathfuldeity; 08-26-2017 at 09:26 PM.
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  #57  
Old 08-27-2017, 10:44 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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Some old intercom spkrs 4" alnico, 8" ceramic and below is a old cts 10" alnico from garage sale finds. The 10" cts was put in an re-purposed birch ply drawer. I've tried to blow up the 8" its still hanging in there. Just a few minutes ago was playing the pp6v6 monoblock and board with the 4" in the basement and Mrs didn't complain (watching tv right above me). And the over-sized 1x12 cab



i love the repurposing. great job and gives me some ideas as i have some old small guitar speakers as well as radio speakers.

a bit of a tangent, but check out ballamps. he repurposes old radios, tvs and suitcases into amps.
http://www.ballamps.com/

hope i'm not hijacking this thread. if so, i'll delete and start a separate post.

play music!
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  #58  
Old 08-27-2017, 10:48 AM
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hope i'm not hijacking this thread.
Hijack away - I got what I needed.
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