So you like 5-watt amps?

[Jerry D]

Listen to this 40-watt Super Reverb. May be the best sounding amp ever (and not just because I own one). You won't get sounds like this out of a 5 to 15 watt amp.

I realize some folks live in apartments, condos, duplexes, etc., but listen to the amp dialed down at about 6:30 in the video. I think that volume would work for a lot of folks who can't play it with the volume set at 5 or higher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h_iujpSUqA

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

Listen to this 40-watt Super Reverb. May be the best sounding amp ever (and not just because I own one). You won't get sounds like this out of a 5 to 15 watt amp.

I realize some folks live in apartments, condos, duplexes, etc., but listen to the amp dialed down at about 6:30 in the video. I think that volume would work for a lot of folks who can't play it with the volume set at 5 or higher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h_iujpSUqA

I have a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb which I play my Fender Strat American Pro through, LOVE it..

[Dbone]

I’m far from being an expert in electric guitars and amps, but I know a guy who is. He will claim that watts has nothing to do with tone. He’s got a 1 watt Marshall that he uses to drive a 4x12 cab. His setup is a beast...Really and truly...

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

Listen to this 40-watt Super Reverb. May be the best sounding amp ever (and not just because I own one). You won't get sounds like this out of a 5 to 15 watt amp.

I realize some folks live in apartments, condos, duplexes, etc., but listen to the amp dialed down at about 6:30 in the video. I think that volume would work for a lot of folks who can't play it with the volume set at 5 or higher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h_iujpSUqA

If you're playing clean then of course, the more headroom the better. Otherwise, not so much. And if you're Pete Thorn, you can make anything sound great.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

If you're playing clean then of course, the more headroom the better. Otherwise, not so much. And if you're Pete Thorn, you can make anything sound great.

+1. Pete Thorn is one of the best guitarists in the world. He even has his own signature Suhr guitar, amp, and pickup models.

I have bunch of tube amps and one of them is a 5 watt H&K. It sounds huge through my Marshall 4x12 ... but still doesn't sound as good as my Marshall heads though but that's not the wattage but rather the manufacturer's tone.

I think 18 w is a sweet spot for amps, especially the Marshall clones. I don't have an 18 watter though - yet.

Jerry - great thread.

[FrankHudson]

I have used Champs, the classic around 5 watt amp. I still have a Champ 600, a more recent Fender around 5 watt re-issue, but I never bonded with the speaker/cab on that one and when I use it I usually use it as a "head" with a another cab. The one similar model I use a little more often is the Vox AC4TV, which also has an attenuator.

When recording, any issues with headroom can be minimized, because you don't need to crank it, the mic will hear it fine. But I think something more like a Princeton is a better all-arounder, good enough for small combo playing and loud enough to get some rock feel (and even feedback) in a room. If I designed a "signature model" it'd probably be something in the teens of watts.

There is a certain character to a small combo amp cranked though.

[Steve DeRosa]

I own (and regularly practice through) relatively high-powered amps at home - Fender Frontman "blackface Twin-clone" 212R (100W), Randall RB-120 1x15" combo (120W), and a '65 Super Reverb RI; since I'm mostly a clean player I can use and appreciate the extra headroom and low-end girth - that Randall gives me classic electric jazz-comping tone with my Godin CW II - and when I need to move some serious air in a large house or outdoors nothing beats big power and (in two cases) multiple speakers...

My go-to workhorse amp is a "blue-light" first-series Bugera V22 1x12" combo - modded with an Eminence Swamp Thang speaker, Soviet-era mil-spec tubes, and a mild rebias - that'll cover everything up to a 600-700 seat house clean as you need or dirty as you want, with plenty of volume thanks to the 102+dB efficiency of the replacement speaker (this one'll go toe-to-toe with my big boxes, in a smaller and slightly lighter package, and sound like a 60-watt 6L6/7027-powered 2x12" combo doing it)...

I use a Bugera V5 Infinium combo for band practice and coffeehouse gigs: lightweight transport, compact on a crowded stage, plenty of volume in a small house, nothing else sounds like those little glass bottles singing their hearts out, and I can ride the fine line between clean and crunch by fine-tuning the highly-interactive gain/tone/volume controls and using touch alone - an Eminence 820H hemp-cone speaker smooths out the tone, and while there's not a lot of headroom I don't really need it in those settings...

Just as a professional mechanic owns more than one wrench, every one of the above is essentially set up as a plug-&-play for a specific performing/recording/practice situation - the only thing I need to regulate is overall volume - which I personally find more practical and consistent than having to dial in every time...

YMMV...

[YamahaGuy]

The first gig I ever played with a tube amp, I used the 8" 5w Epiphone Valve Jr. Combo with no mods. The sound guy mic'd it and everyone loved my tone.

[jseth]

Super Reverbs ARE terrific amps, no doubt... I've always favored the fatness and depth of 12's, but I've played through a bunch of Supers and they sound great!

Of course, you have to be ABLE to carry them around if you gig... at this stage of the proceedings (low back disconnect!), that would be the big dealbreaker for me!

I'm frequently astonished by how many classic records were recorded with low-wattage amps, however... I knew that Clapton used a Champ for the "Layla and Other Love Songs" record, but just the other day, I came across this tidbit of information that blew me away...

Joe Walsh recorded "James Gang Rides Again" with a Tele and a Champ!!! NEVER would I have guessed that combination to achieve the tone and sound he got on that record!!!

Again, the results point to the fact that it is REALLY the player and not the equipment...

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

I have used Champs, the classic around 5 watt amp. I still have a Champ 600, a more recent Fender around 5 watt re-issue, but I never bonded with the speaker/cab on that one and when I use it I usually use it as a "head" with a another cab. The one similar model I use a little more often is the Vox AC4TV, which also has an attenuator.

When recording, any issues with headroom can be minimized, because you don't need to crank it, the mic will hear it fine. But I think something more like a Princeton is a better all-arounder, good enough for small combo playing and loud enough to get some rock feel (and even feedback) in a room. If I designed a "signature model" it'd probably be something in the teens of watts.

There is a certain character to a small combo amp cranked though.

As a former Blues frontman and harp player I have owned a SLEW of 5 watt tube amps - new and vintage.

The Champ 600 RI is thin and underwhelming - owned one for years and never liked it.

Had a real 57 Champ and it sounded great but was prone to tube rattle and had a two prong electric cable. Playing a harp through it was literally occasionally....umm, shocking.

Has an Alamo Challenger that was incredibly loud and toneful, great for harp and guitar.

Epiphone Valve Jr was a great harp amp but no clean headroom for guitar.

Currently have a Bugera V5 - great sounding reverb and good amp - a bit too dark to pair with humbuckers though.

There are several more I cannot remember.

The best 5 watter I have ever owned was a Blackface Kalamazoo Model one. Beat the pants off any Champ I have ever played. Light as a feather with beautiful tone. Great dirty and clean. That and the Alamo Challenger I truly regret selling.

[KevWind]

Well lest see ?

[robj144]

On a sleight tangent, Pete Thorn seems like a good dude and a hell of a player.

It's kind of cool how these Youtube guys know one another. Pete knows Tim Pierce who knows Rick Beato. Rick Beato knows Rhett Shull, etc...

[Bob Womack]

A blackface Super is a fine amp - really fine. At 5.5 on the dial, like Pete Thorn has his set, it will push you out the backdoor of anything smaller than a large ballroom. How do I know? I'll trot out the Bob n' Bob show ca. 1978.

That's me on the left, Bob Haymes on the right. We were band mates and roommates in college. Behind us: my Gibson GA-55RVT Ranger (Kalamazoo Super) and his blackfaceFender Musical Instruments Super. Both of these were 2x6L6, 45 watt amps. The Ranger was able to usefully break up at a sound pressure level that matched the Super at a volume of about 5. To reach that level of breakup the Ranger was on 8, where I played most shows. At solo time I'd punch it with a clean boost. With these 1970s Les Pauls with medium-output T-Top pickups the Super didn't really break up until you pushed it on up to about 7. No kidding - in all our gigs we never once played an auditorium large enough that either of us could get a decent Southern rock sound out of that Super, and we played some decent sized halls. We used a medium auditorium as our practice hall every week.

But honestly, neither one of those amps would be useful in today's environment. Pete is a great player but he must have calluses on his ears.

Bob

[M Sarad]

I have a 1980 Deluxe Reverb with a black faceplate. It was towards the end of handwiring. To get it to sound the way I like, it has to beat 8. 5,6,and 7 don’t seem to cut it. L O U D at 8. 22 watts is more than enough,

My Tweed Deluxes sound good at 3 and great at 5. Driving 13 watts suffices.

My H and K BluesMaster is 5 watts. It runs a 12” speaker and sounds ok. It was called the Crunch Master in the UK. The one pictured is not mine. I am just sharing what it is and does.

https://reverb.com/item/15328819-hug...es-master-1986

[Texsunburst59]

Here's my very loud 5 watt custom made Vibrochamp Piggyback.

I used it in bars, dance halls, and opening acts on huge stages.

All I did was set it at the front of the stage and face it back towards me like a monitor.

It took pedals like a "Champ", pun intended.