tele amp suggestion
 

i bought this KATANA" amp by Boss to play my tele thru . don't like it . it's too "techy" . i just want a basic tube amp around the $500 mark . what do ya think? thanks.

I love the Egnater Tweaker head/cab. Also Fender Hot Rod Deluxes’s and Vox AC15’s can be had for under or around that. The great thing about the Tweaker is that it has the Fender/Marshall and Vox amp tones all in one package. And it’s all tube.

Blues Junior!

I played several Teles through a Katana 50 today at my local GC, and I completely agree with you. I had very high expectations after reading all the reviews and seeing all the comments, and ended up quite disappointed. The amp seemed sterile and very digital to me. Bummer.

Bingo! Another great choice would be a used Peavey Classic 30. Awesome amps. Rock on!

I love my Katana 50! But, be that as it may...

I bought my Twin Reverb reissue for $550 used and it's a killer amp. It's big and heavy though...

Blues Junior is a good one. For headroom and bigger low end, I'd go for a used Hot Rod Deluxe. There are a lot of them out there.

I use a volume pedal between the preamp and power amp, effectively adding a master volume. So I can run the amp volume high, the tubes hot and still play at lower volumes. And if you want to run it loud, this amp does that well. I just punch that volume pedal all the way down and crank it up.

I tried really hard to like a Blues Jr. But, it didn’t sound “Fendery” enough ro me. I broke down and I got a ‘65 Princeton Reverb Reissue.

You mean you STOLE it at $550. ;)

Just sold mine. Far too much amp for my needs. Sound is sublime. Weight is unreal. ESP with a spinal fusion.

And agreed on blues jr.’s. Even with mods they still sound “boxy” to me. HRD are fantastic amps for the coin. Still heavy but not TRRI heavy.

If you can scrape up another hundred or so, you can get a used DRRI all day long for $600-650. These are "Made for Teles"! ;)

as much as i love my ac15, to me, it has to be a fender. look for a blues or pro jr. used. much better would be a deluxe or princeton reverb but even the new ones are more than your budget unless it is a clone.

play music!

The amp is the second half of the instrument. You need one that you like.
What kind of places do you play in?

Bugera Infinium V22 1x12 combo and a complete set of tubes. I'm sure Steve DiRosa will chime in and direct you toward the best ones. Tue Turbosound speaker in the combo sounds really really good.

I just went back to a 68 DRRI after riding the digital buss for a couple of years and I couldn't be happier

I'd look for a used Fender PRRI or above or like someone said a used Peavey classic

I'm a person who has played examples nearly every type of electric guitar ever made. And I still play many different types of electric guitars, so the following isn't coming from Tele snobbery:

The nature of the classic Telecaster is that nearly any amp sounds its best with one. Part of it is the powerful brightness and tight low end, which allows even darker amps to cut and shine. If used with a bright amp, you use the amp, the amp mic'ing, or the Tele's tone control to taste.

I've got other guitars that only come to life with amps/amp paths with enough low end (or low end cut in the EQ) or enough sparkle.

Personally, I enjoy the combination of a Tele with the Fender Champ, Princeton, Blues DeVille, and the Hot Rod Deluxe. I've heard gorgeous sounds from Tele+Vox and Tele+Fender Deluxe Reverb and many other combinations too.

What he said - more tubey-good tone than anything this cheap has a right to have ($399 street, <$350 on Coupon/Holiday Sale days at your friendly local big-box/online dealer), and with the remaining funds (~$150 if you play your cards right) you can pick up the baby-brother V5 for late-night practice/coffeehouse gig duty...