Alex B Broadway wrote
Mostly blues. I do a fair bit of covers, but I'm looking to start gigging a lot more next year and doing more originals at some point. Since I'm still wrapping up matric I haven't been able to work on the sets as much as I'd like but some of the songs would be something like: Crossroads, I Shot the Sheriff, Hellhound on my Trail, Evil, Pride & Joy, etc.
It's worth mentioning that I'm highly neurotic and always need 100 backups for everything "just in case" - true for everything from amps to computers, but especially the amps. ??? If I'm getting into serious gigging and anything goes wrong I don't want to be completely buggered.
Cool, good info.
Tube amps, for the most part, tend to have a certain "character" in their tone, so you need to try a few out and see if that basic sound is going to suit your needs, since regardless of what else you may add in terms of pedals etc., that basic tone is going to be the foundation which you have to build on. With blues music, you should find a number of different amps that will serve your purpose.
There are lots of great sounding, reasonably priced tube amps, but make sure that you go and try them out before you buy. I made the mistake of buying a great sounding tube amp that didn't quite work for me, largely because I was too excited and I didn't really think properly about what sorts of sounds I wanted, and as a result I didn't actually sit and test the thing 100% with MY guitar and MY effects pedals.
As for the backup, any of the current amps you own would serve. I simply suggested the Cube 80 because it's the biggest and arguably best sounding of the ones you listed. But do consider having a backup, since tubes are temperamental things and a power tube can give out without any warning mid-gig (you should also keep some spare tubes handy for exactly that sort of reason).
Also keep in mind that most tube amps do not include effects beyond Reverb and sometimes Tremolo, so if you need to switch tones mid song it might help to have a foot-switchable amp with more than one channel, or learn to use your guitar's volume knob to control the gain. You also might need to consider a pedal (or seven ?) if you're planning on replacing any of the built-in effects on your existing amps.
