Small Amp Choices?

wirt

So with my birthday coming up and everything, I thought I'd finally get a replacement for my little Marshall MG15.

I had my heart set on a Marshall Class 5, but soon realized that it's simply too loud once you try and crank it to get some overdrive. I was specifically looking for some dirty British tone. I've npw been trawling the internet for 4 solid hours to find other options and I'm getting desperate for alternatives to that sweet, sweet tone and I'm not finding anything.

Anyone have any suggestions? My budget is about 5 grand, but is a tad flexible. Amp has to be playable at bedroom levels and preferably be able to deliver something Led Zeppelin-y.
Does such a thing even exist or am I being unreasonable in my expectations?

EDIT: I realize this topic is a regular occurrence on this forum, my apologies for adding further clutter.

AlanRatcliffe

You actually have a couple to choose from.

The new Marshall SL5 Slash Signature is probably your first amp to look at. While it's a 5W, it is switchable to 1W and comes with a decent 12" Celestion speaker. I'm not sure what the local price is going to be though...
www.marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCode=SL5
http://www.musicradar.com/gear/guitars/amplification/instrument-amps/guitar-combo-amps/sl5-572460
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD9bDYj6AbI

Blackstar HT-1 goes from a Marshall-type tone to a Mesa-type. Pretty cool if you use the head and a bigger cab.
http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/ht1/
=

ActionArnie

Maybe it was just EQ issues, but to my ear that SL5 sounded way better with the LP than the Strat.

Psean

British tone; Low volumes... How about a Laney Cub 12. Doesn't it have that less than 1 watt input for bedroom volumes? I've only heard one cranked loud.

AlanRatcliffe

ActionArnie wrote: Maybe it was just EQ issues, but to my ear that SL5 sounded way better with the LP than the Strat.

Most Marshalls do, IMO.

Big-G

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
ActionArnie wrote: Maybe it was just EQ issues, but to my ear that SL5 sounded way better with the LP than the Strat.
Most Marshalls do, IMO.

I concur.... LP's always sound better than Strat's through Marshalls! Never considered a Marshall a good tonal match with a Strat.

As for small amps, the Vox Night train 2w is a rather versatile amp, and with a nice cab sounds somewhat impressive. Unfortunately, the Night train cab was not so good sounding, so I would recommend looking at other cabs.

Regards
G!

Gearhead

Big G wrote: LP's always sound better than Strat's through Marshalls! Never considered a Marshall a good tonal match with a Strat.

eh... Blackmore?

Big-G

Gearhead wrote:
Big G wrote: LP's always sound better than Strat's through Marshalls! Never considered a Marshall a good tonal match with a Strat.
eh... Blackmore?

I didn't say it never works, just I've never considered it to be a good tonal match for most mere mortals! Hehe!

G!

Keira-WitherKay

Forget small tube amps .... Rather find a vox ac15 / 30 or a laney cub 12 (15w) or 2nd hand tube amp 15 w or up and use an attenuator to get low volume AND the advantage is you have an amp to use in a band/ jam and with attenuator can play at home ...... That way its best of both worlds .... And i know you like heavy music ? so maybe a 2nd hand 30 w ....

Tokai-SA

Line 6.

Chocklit_Thunda

Get a small enough solid state and a heater to "warm up" the tone ?

Kalcium

I recently got the blackstar HT-1R and I am over the moon about it! It is such a good sounding little amp! And I've had the class 5, I agree that it was way too loud for bedroom use. The blackstar however is great in that you crank it and it doesn't hurt your ears or worry other people. I mean, if you crank it in your room, your parents wouldn't be too happy watching tv in the lounge, but if you set it to the point where its just a little dirty or just about to get dirty but still clean, it won't disturb people watching tv and will still fill you room. If you want drive at the lower volumes then switch to the overdrive channel and it still sounds good. I find the natural overdrive on the clean channel to be my favourite but Im not looking for super high gain stuff.
I thought that with its little speaker I'd need to plug it into my 12" cab, but I find it sounds good even with its onboard speaker so I don't bother plugging it into the cab. I've used it mic'd up to play live at church too and it performed really well.
Another thing I've found is that it cleans up beautifully, I mean, I have a 15W Laney tube amp (not a cub though) which cleans up quite nicely, but I would always find that setting the amp clean with the guitar volume full still sounded better than the amp set dirty and the guitar volume rolled off, but with this amp it sounds pretty much that same when its cranked and the guitar volume is down. Plus you can plug in headphones if you want to play really late at night

singemonkey

Small amps are more than loud enough for "jams" and gigs. I played EZ's 18W un-miked in a hall. A hall. Not a small club. And it was more than loud enough. All depends on the loudspeaker you're running it through. Put a freakin' Celestion Blue in a cub12 and it's going to be a lot louder than a 30W with greenbacks. Anything over 20W and you're just adding bulk, weight, and bother for no appreciable gain.

Alan's suggestions are great. The cub12 - especially with a speaker change - is fantastic (also has a 1W switch) and cheap. I don't like the Orange Tiny Terror as much (matter of taste) and the Ibanez Tubescreamer amp I tried was rubbish. The Vox Night Train... hmmm hah. Dunno. Wasn't knocked out.

wirt

Wow, thanks for the ideas, gentlemen and lady!

I'm kinda leaning towards the Cub12R right now (Singemonkey's approach proving itself wise yet again) with the odd wistful look towards the HT1R, but the 1 watt thing does sound a bit limiting in some situations.
I think I'm about ready to go and schlepp my guitar to a music shop and try out a few.

shaunf

Big G wrote:

I concur.... LP's always sound better than Strat's through Marshalls! Never considered a Marshall a good tonal match with a Strat.
Not much sounds better than a Strat through a Marshall JTM45 or a Superbass...

IceCreamMan

Kalcium wrote: I recently got the blackstar HT-1R and I am over the moon about it! It is such a good sounding little amp! And I've had the class 5, I agree that it was way too loud for bedroom use. The blackstar however is great in that you crank it and it doesn't hurt your ears or worry other people. I mean, if you crank it in your room, your parents wouldn't be too happy watching tv in the lounge, but if you set it to the point where its just a little dirty or just about to get dirty but still clean, it won't disturb people watching tv and will still fill you room. If you want drive at the lower volumes then switch to the overdrive channel and it still sounds good. I find the natural overdrive on the clean channel to be my favourite but Im not looking for super high gain stuff.
I thought that with its little speaker I'd need to plug it into my 12" cab, but I find it sounds good even with its onboard speaker so I don't bother plugging it into the cab. I've used it mic'd up to play live at church too and it performed really well.
Another thing I've found is that it cleans up beautifully, I mean, I have a 15W Laney tube amp (not a cub though) which cleans up quite nicely, but I would always find that setting the amp clean with the guitar volume full still sounded better than the amp set dirty and the guitar volume rolled off, but with this amp it sounds pretty much that same when its cranked and the guitar volume is down. Plus you can plug in headphones if you want to play really late at night

Plus 1 for the HT1R. What a delightfully brilliant wee amp this is.

Arno-West

1 watt? 2 watt? 15 watt? Pah! If you don't wanna bother other people with your guitar noise, use headphones. Anything less than 30 watt is Mickey Mouse. Come try my 1200 watt Trace Elliot bass-stack with your guit and fx, then we'll talk about 1 watt again. Ever seen any photo's/dvd of Jimmy Page with a 1 watt amp behind him?

AlanRatcliffe

Arno West wrote: 1 watt? 2 watt? 15 watt? Pah! If you don't wanna bother other people with your guitar noise, use headphones. Anything less than 30 watt is Mickey Mouse. Come try my 1200 watt Trace Elliot bass-stack with your guit and fx, then we'll talk about 1 watt again. Ever seen any photo's/dvd of Jimmy Page with a 1 watt amp behind him?

From the OP:

wirt wrote: Amp has to be playable at bedroom levels

Much as I love Twins and Vox AC30s, for stage use, I'd never recommend them for bedroom playing. ?

IceCreamMan

Arno West wrote: 1 watt? 2 watt? 15 watt? Pah! If you don't wanna bother other people with your guitar noise, use headphones. Anything less than 30 watt is Mickey Mouse. Come try my 1200 watt Trace Elliot bass-stack with your guit and fx, then we'll talk about 1 watt again. Ever seen any photo's/dvd of Jimmy Page with a 1 watt amp behind him?

Thats fuggin rock n roll man ..... right there ....?

reminds me of that music video, michael jackson or was it twisted sister, damn cannot remember

Bob-Dubery

IceCreamMan wrote:
Arno West wrote: 1 watt? 2 watt? 15 watt? Pah! If you don't wanna bother other people with your guitar noise, use headphones. Anything less than 30 watt is Mickey Mouse. Come try my 1200 watt Trace Elliot bass-stack with your guit and fx, then we'll talk about 1 watt again. Ever seen any photo's/dvd of Jimmy Page with a 1 watt amp behind him?
Thats fuggin rock n roll man ..... right there ....?

reminds me of that music video, michael jackson or was it twisted sister, damn cannot remember

Jimmy Page often had an 18-watter (thus "Mickey Mouse") behind him in the studio.

Page, Zappa, Clapton and Joe Walsh (to name but a few) recorded using the tiny little 5-watt Pignose.

Sometimes rock 'n roll ain't very rock 'n roll.