Just got an American strat, now which small amp?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Malty

I'm looking for a small home tube amp myself and this thread has been helpful...Running my Tele through a Twin Reverb in a store did make both my wife and I say "Wow!"; however, I don't need to entertain my neighbors...

A Blues Junior, Princeton/Deluxe RI (65' or '68), Vox AC15, Carvin V3MC, or Bugera V22 will give you the same "wow" at home-friendly levels - and with the latter two (as well as the Deluxe) you can still get the neighbors in on the fun whenever you want...

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

A Blues Junior, Princeton/Deluxe RI (65' or '68), Vox AC15, Carvin V3MC, or Bugera V22 will give you the same "wow" at home-friendly levels - and with the latter two (as well as the Deluxe) you can still get the neighbors in on the fun whenever you want...

I think any of those amps can get loud enough to interest the neighbors; I used to have an early '70s Princeton Reverb Amp with a Celestion G12M-70 in it, so I do know how loud a good one can get. I am trying to sell my really nice 1962 Fender Concert Amp (4-10) so that I can get a much smaller amp for my own noodling needs. The Concert Amp can and does live up to it's name volume-wise!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I think any of those amps can get loud enough to interest the neighbors...

Agreed that the potential is definitely there, but since I'm a long-time fan of that blackface Twin-style "big clean" tube tone Malty raves about I've never had to push mine to that extent (I strongly doubt he did either) - some of my former Brooklyn neighbors' audio systems were far louder than I ever was - and the Bugera and Carvin can both be scaled back (to 7W in the latter case) if need be...

[Blunote]

I had a Blues Jr., and now have a very fine sounding Deluxe Reverb clone, and a boutique Chicago Blues Box Kingston 18. Without an attenuator, or a overdrive pedals none of those amps by themselves would qualify for home use. That is, unless all you want is clean tone.

With an attenuator, any of them are great for overdriven or distorted tones at household volume levels. With a pedal, they're ok (because I prefer the driven sound of the amp itself. But attenuators and pedals add a lot of cost to a starter rig. That's why I tend to think a Fender Mustang II or III would be be a better choice.

Now, if the OP has his heart set on a true bedroom level tube amp, then a Mahaffay Little Lanilei or Mahaffay HiLo watt Plexi would work. The power output can range from 1/4 watt to 33 watts using a three stage amplification. The first stage uses a 12ay7 as it's pre-amp, the second stage uses a 12ax7 as a power stage, and that feeds at line level into a solid state soak (third stage) that can push the tube tone to 33 watts. Kind of like a small bedroom amp with an on-board PA. I have one of these too.

[44Runner]

When I went amp shopping for a new electric amp I ended up between the Fender Blues Jr. and the Vox AC15C1. I ended up going with the Vox. On electric I tend toward a nice bluesy tone and I liked that of the Vox just a bit better.

Fast forward a month. I decide 15 watts of tube amp is just too dang loud for home use most of the time. I did some research and bought a Bugera V5. Best amp purchase I have ever made. It has a built in attenuator and a headphone jack. Full tube Class A circuitry and excellent tone. I can overdrive it to get sweet tone and my ears don't bleed. Heck, 5 watts is still really loud, I find I use the attenuator a lot. I use the V5 90+% of the time over my VOX. I love that little amp.

My Vox is sweet but I do contemplate selling it because the Bugera has the great tone at a volume I can live with and the Vox simply can't do that.

[Tadpole]

As others have stated...this thread has been very informative. I am soon to venture into the world of electric and have been reading and exploring about my amp options.
There are so many to choose from and so many different opinions! Also, like others have stated, my concern is too much volume as I live in a compact and quiet neighborhood- where windows are open all summer.

Thank you for all the sharing!

[6L6]

Get ye an original Fender Princeton Reverb or Fender Deluxe Reverb.

They sound noticeably better than the reissues and are easier to service in some areas since they have point-to-point wiring.

Here's a pic of my beloved '72 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Incredible amp!