"Apartment" amp

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by roylor4

...The Bugera V5 is great w/single coils but I find mine dark-ish with HB's...

With full-size HB's absolutely, but IME it really comes into its own with mini-buckers - Firebird, Johnny Smith/'60s Epiphone, Gretsch 'Tron series, Taylor Solidbody, etc. - delivering a sweet on-the-edge response, reminiscent of the well-known Clapton "woman tone" but with more clarity and articulation...

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

With full-size HB's absolutely, but IME it really comes into its own with mini-buckers - Firebird, Johnny Smith/'60s Epiphone, Gretsch 'Tron series, Taylor Solidbody, etc. - delivering a sweet on-the-edge response, reminiscent of the well-known Clapton "woman tone" but with more clarity and articulation...

Good match w/P90's too

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by SalFromChatham

I also have the Blues Jr and believe it is more than I needed. but hey, I might gig.

What’s this big fuzz? A pedal? Dials down the power?

Its just a 70s or 80s vanilla fuzz pedal. Cheap, simple, and apparently used by a few famous people. I just have childhood memories of the big muff, so I still have one for old-time sake. (And a Peavy Backstage!)

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Now that some time has gone by, how is that working? I found my Blues jr very loud (WAY too loud by the time it overdrives). I gave up and put a BigMuff in line, and it works well.

Apologies, I completely missed this. The attenuator works great! Without it, if I had the master volume at a level that just starts to overdrive (~7 or so), I could barely turn the volume (on the amp and the guitar) to 2 before it was to loud for my room. With the Tone King, I can push the amp a lot more, and then attenuate the output to the speaker so that I get the sound and feel of a much louder amp. With the amp and guitar volume cranked up to what would be plate-rattling levels, I find the sweet spot is -15db. -11db is great, too, but a little too loud. At -25db, the amp still sounds loud, but the feel is different. Kinda hard to explain, but there’s definitely a sweet spot. The unit is well-built, as well. I highly recommend it.

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Its just a 70s or 80s vanilla fuzz pedal. Cheap, simple, and apparently used by a few famous people. I just have childhood memories of the big muff, so I still have one for old-time sake. (And a Peavy Backstage!)

It’s one of my favorite pedals on my board. Such a simple circuit, yet so versatile. It sounds different from amp to amp, and it reacts quite drastically to whatever you put in front of it. I’m constantly experimenting with it.

[Steve DeRosa]

IMO the Big Muff rates right up there with the Ibanez Tube Screamers and Vox wah-wah as one of the most iconic effects of all time and, well over 50 years after its introduction, not only remains in the Electro-Harmonix lineup but has spawned no less than 14 variations as well as countless imitators...

[lkingston]

I use a Yamaha THR30ii for exactly this!

[Aspiring]

I have a THR30 and I also have fractal gear.

I have both an FM3 and and AXE FX III both of those are excellent at lower and higher volumes with headphones or external speaker have every effect you could even want in one compact box do great recording act as a high quality interface etc.

The THR is nice for a very quick grab and go but the FM3 to a set of speakers is really not far behind in ease of use and FM3 to headphones is quite easy. Tonewise the fractal stuff is in an another league for sure although the Yamaha does really well.

Fractal stuff requires more learning curve and comfort with tech though.
Another bonus to the fractal stuff is they release software updates at a ridiculous rate so it helps with gas as the new software gives you new things to play with.

[sinistral]

More of a curiosity than anything, but I was just on the phone with a representative at Musician’s Friend sorting out a bungled order for Yamaha THR10 II amp, and the rep mentioned that they have 400 of the 10s on backorder, and over 800 of the 30s on backorder. Not sure why those numbers surprised me, but they did. And that’s just one company’s backorder log.

[Harmony123]

Another satisfied Vox Mini5 user here. An additional benefit of this amp is that it has a line in for a microphone, so you can use it for vocals. It also has a built-in drum computer, which I rarely use.

[Blackmore Fan]

I know you may have found your solution by now, but I just want to recommend an amp that shows up from time to time in the used market. The Fender Frontman 25R is a great practice amp.

It delivers great cleans, no doubt in part because of its 10-inch speaker. The key to appreciating this amp is to IGNORE the 2nd channel (distorted) because it sounds like crap. Instead, when you're wanting an overdriven sound simply put a pedal in front of it and play it thru the clean channel. I have a great tube amp, but I'll never sell my Frontman 25R--its a great portable amp that I already know that I can get what I want out of it. These are a steal on the used market, and I'll buy a 2nd (and probably a 3rd) when they pop up on the local used market. You buy a tool because you know it works--this amp does.

[Davis Webb]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

Old thread I know but I’d say a used katana 50. You can find those in the 120 range and the sky is limit with regard to tone plus the built in wattage selector to bring it .5 watts. Although an earlier poster was on the same path with a head and small built in speaker. I’d say the 50 would be more versatile to go louder though.

I just bought one for that purpose. It is true. The thing sounds amazing at the 5W setting, and the onboard BOSS effects are great. Cheap and pretty light, smallish footprint.