Fender or Marshall Tube amps!

[pfflyer55]

Originally Posted by Trillian

I wondered about that, especially no knowing the gender or tastes of the person. I couldn't see another context though so kind of probing that one out.

I saw them in Hawaii about 40 years ago with Steve Miller as a special guest at the performing arts center on the U of H campus. Amazing is all I can say, what talent and only about 1000 seats available and I was 3rd row center. It was a blues jam of epic proportion. At no time was I tempted to think they were "hot", Just one of the best blues players I remember seeing live! It was smoke free and that was a pleasure in itself just to hear a watch pure blues. They held a backstage autograph session for about an hour after the show for the students in the music dept. to get up close and personal. A great night to say the least!

[pfflyer55]

I got some good advice from the salesman at GC where I bought my Tele. He told me the difference in the Blues Jr, and the Super Champ x2, both are great amps but for my situation without enough room to spread out with pedals and switches, go with the Super Champ x2. It has pre-set voicing and an FX channel for adjust-ability right there on the amp. It has 3 tubes combined with solid state FX's. I do not want to go through a setup and take down every time I play, I have no room for that at this time. So I went with the S.Ch. X2 and ordered one yesterday and it will be here by Wed. Can't wait and I still have the option to trade up to a Blues Jr if I want.

Check the link below for the specs! I have heard some demos of this and it comes in a Head only version as well.




http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/S...-Amp-H79021.gc

[thurston_pie]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Frankly, I've been hoping for years that some knowledgeable builder has the 'nads to take on some of those classic Ampeg designs; given their significant market presence (especially here in the Northeast US) during the '60s/70s - amp guru Ritchie Fliegler justly refers to them as "the other great American amp company" - I'm surprised nobody's gone that route...

I miss my original Reverb-Rocket.

Where I lived way-back-when, no one ever saw a Marshall except in magazine photos, it was all Fender and Ampeg, and the concensus among working musicians was that the Ampegs were more reliable. All the bass players wanted Ampegs.

[DESERTRAT1]

My opinion FWIW is that the choice of which amp to buy should always be based on the amount and quality of it's clean tone. The old maxim that, "you can add dirt but you can't add clean holds true". While there are an almost limitless number of pedals that can add to, improve and modify distortion there are none that do the opposite.

[Trillian]

Congrats, I hope you enjoy your amp! 6V6 power tubes traditionally have a nice sound, a little warmer and easier to overdrive than the 6L6s in larger amps such as the Twin. I also prefer them to EL84s, in a small tube I think they have a little more head room and sound better. I've seen that effects layout used on some of their solid state amps, it was fun to play with and seemed fairly easy to use.

[pfflyer55]

Originally Posted by DESERTRAT1

My opinion FWIW is that the choice of which amp to buy should always be based on the amount and quality of it's clean tone. The old maxim that, "you can add dirt but you can't add clean holds true". While there are an almost limitless number of pedals that can add to, improve and modify distortion there are none that do the opposite.

I agree, From what I have heard of the Super Champ X2 is the clean channel is very clean and that is where I will most likely live with this guitar and amp. All the other effects are a bonus for me. Telecasters are a very versatile guitar but are meant to be played clean, IMHO and do just that very well!

[pfflyer55]

Originally Posted by Trillian

Congrats, I hope you enjoy your amp! 6V6 power tubes traditionally have a nice sound, a little warmer and easier to overdrive than the 6L6s in larger amps such as the Twin. I also prefer them to EL84s, in a small tube I think they have a little more head room and sound better. I've seen that effects layout used on some of their solid state amps, it was fun to play with and seemed fairly easy to use.

I will keep you posted on my findings! Can't wait, my Loudbox with this guitar is just OK for now, but doesn't do my Tele any justice!

[DESERTRAT1]

Originally Posted by pfflyer55

I agree, From what I have heard of the Super Champ X2 is the clean channel is very clean and that is where I will most likely live with this guitar and amp. All the other effects are a bonus for me. Telecasters are a very versatile guitar but are meant to be played clean, IMHO and do just that very well!

I own both a Blues Jr. III and an SCXD and play a Tele as well. Depending on your needs either one is a great choice. Congrats and enjoy. With the Super Champ the clean channel is also my favorite place. In my experience, for maximum clean set your EQ nobs high say treble=8 bass=9. In either case at least 7 or above. Then control tone with your guitar volume. It's amazing how much clean headroom I get with those settings.

[Trillian]

For me a tube amp tends to have a sweet spot somewhere between half volume and 3/4. Depending on the amp it will start to break up a little, or be at a point where you can use a pedal to boost the input to break it up, and you can control your dirty sound with the guitar volume knob. Even if you only play clean they tend to sing better after 50%. If you want to play at lower volumes you can roll the EQs back a little with the volume knob up and get a pretty decent sound. I think this is relevant to you because you don't appear to have a master volume where you can drive the pre and power amps as much as you like and adjust the volume after the fact. Just some ideas to tinker around, because tinker you will!

[pfflyer55]

I purchased this Amp on the Labor day weekend special at GC, It arrived Tuesday am and I had it home by 4:00 pm and tinkered with it for about and hour or so. It has a very clear clean channel and the dirty channel is great for my little house. All I am going to get in the way of pedals is a simple channel switch.

The Super Champ X2 is a real hybrid amp with tube power and solid state effects, a little candy for both worlds. I will in the next few days play it more and give a better review of this little powerhouse!

It goes well with my Tele.

[anton]

I have a Fender Pro Junior I am probably selling. Its a nice little amp, and super loud despite its size. Breaks up at about 6 on the volume knob. But to my ear its not the same Fender cleans as a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb, or even my little 5 watt Silverface Champ. Maybe its the circuit or EL-84 tubes. Or the speaker. Paired with my Tele its just to bright.

They do seem to be a popular amp, as is the Blues Junior. I say go to a guitar store and try out a bunch of stuff.

Anton

[pfflyer55]

Originally Posted by anton

I have a Fender Pro Junior I am probably selling. Its a nice little amp, and super loud despite its size. Breaks up at about 6 on the volume knob. But to my ear its not the same Fender cleans as a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb, or even my little 5 watt Silverface Champ. Maybe its the circuit or EL-84 tubes. Or the speaker. Paired with my Tele its just to bright.

They do seem to be a popular amp, as is the Blues Junior. I say go to a guitar store and try out a bunch of stuff.

Anton

I purchased the SuperChamp X2 and love it. I never play it cranked up so I do not know it's capacity yet. But it is super clean and has very deep lows in either channel. Mine has Groove tubes so I do not know what that means in the real world yet but I am happy about this amp.

[Trillian]

Originally Posted by anton

I have a Fender Pro Junior I am probably selling. Its a nice little amp, and super loud despite its size. Breaks up at about 6 on the volume knob. But to my ear its not the same Fender cleans as a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb, or even my little 5 watt Silverface Champ. Maybe its the circuit or EL-84 tubes. Or the speaker. Paired with my Tele its just to bright.

They do seem to be a popular amp, as is the Blues Junior. I say go to a guitar store and try out a bunch of stuff.

Anton

Of course I can't say for sure why you're hearing what you're hearing, but EL-84s have traditionally been used in smaller British amps by Marshall and Vox, and one of their desired attributes is that they are easy to overdrive, much like the higher power EL-34s in the larger British amps. If you have 84s there's a good chance you're getting that kind of easily overdriven sound, great for rocking out to Cream without alienating the neighborhood. American amps notably Fender typically used 6V6 tubes in smaller amps and 6L6s in larger amps, these are harder to overdrive and better for louder clean sounds. I like the 6V6 because it does break up a little easier than the 6L6 but still has lots of usable clean sound. That's one reason the Princetons, Deluxes, Champs, etc. have been so beloved. They just have a really nice, flexible voice.

I haven't bought an amp in a long time, and it strikes me that we're talking about this ancient technology as though it were the only real option out there. I know for a fact that solid state has come a long way since those brittle beasts of the 60s nd 70s that were once seen as the Future Of Musiciankind. You can get some great sounds from solid state amps these days in an overall lighter, cheaper, and more reliable package. The world of amp modeling also looks really cool. I demoed some Line 6 amps when they came out and thought how cool it would be to be able to play with all those sounds at your finger tips.

I just have no real idea of the current state of the industry for this technology now. Traditionally solid state amps have been more popular with Jazz and Country artists, and some Metal astists that use head cracking amounts of overdrive. For the rest it has been tubes, tubes, tubes. Is this still the case? Has amp modeling caught on with professionals? You can record a whole album or perform a whole gig without even using an amp now, but how common is it? How common will it become? In a way to have a discreet object that amplifies guitar sounds is a 'cute artifact', but it still seems people are buying and using them in large numbers. What does the future hold? I'm sure I'd receive tons of opinions at an electric forum.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by anton

I have a Fender Pro Junior...Breaks up at about 6 on the volume knob...Maybe its the circuit or EL-84 tubes...

Originally Posted by Trillian

...EL-84s have traditionally been used in smaller British amps by Marshall and Vox, and one of their desired attributes is that they are easy to overdrive...If you have 84s there's a good chance you're getting that kind of easily overdriven sound...

In the words of the late Jim Croce, it doesn't have to be that way - I have a set of these in my Bugera V22:

http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/Pr...9-Premium-EL84

Pre-glasnost, honest-to-Pravda Cold War Soviet military issue - the Russian equivalent of those JAN tubes the hardcore Fender guys would sell Grandma to the Taliban to get - and in combination with a set of preamp tubes from the same source:

http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/Pr...ies-7025-12AX7

- you'd swear you were listening to a 6L6-powered 40-50 watter (one guy who heard it actually mistook it for the V55 - which does run 6L6's). A set of these and a high-efficiency American-voiced speaker (I've got an Eminence Swamp Thang in mine) should give you those blackface tones you're after, with a heckuva lot more headroom to boot...

[DESERTRAT1]

For the ulitmate clean/dirty set up you can't beat two dedicated amps run together with an ABY pedal. I can't speak to Marshall because I've never used them much. But, for pristine cleans I'm all in with Fender and for high gain OD I don't think it gets a whole lot better than Mesa. On the other hand, unless you must have that pure Twin tone the Mesa will do it all.