Best 1w - 20w valve amp head - GuitarTalk Community

Best 1w - 20w valve amp head

ajdebeer

What would you guys consider being the best amp head of that size for doing covers not just one genre. And think about if it have an effect loop or not

GuitarDoge

That is a very subjective question. I would have to say that new Mesa 5:25 head is probably one of the most versatile best-sounding small heads. Then again, I owned an Orange tiny terror, which when boosted with a good drive pedal could give me great tones of any type even though it's a simple amp. There are also the blackstars which have many features but then again some people find them lacking in tone. Then there are also Laneys, Vox's, the Ibanez tubescreamer heads and many others.

All these amps sounds great to some people, however my money right now would go for the Mesa or back to the Orange.

ajdebeer

I bought a Peavey Valve Micro King ii head today still waiting for them to deliver it to play in the church.
But im looking for maybe one at home aswell.
I looked into the orange stuff allot but the thing that it dont have an effects loop is kind of bad aswell as the marshall dsl 15.

didnt really look at the mesa boogie cause i know they are very expensive.
Vox new stuff is not on par for me when they moved it to china.

guitarboy2828

Laney VC15! Super versatile and not badly priced at all!

GuitarDoge

ajdebeer wrote: I bought a Peavey Valve Micro King ii head today still waiting for them to deliver it to play in the church.
But im looking for maybe one at home aswell.
I looked into the orange stuff allot but the thing that it dont have an effects loop is kind of bad aswell as the marshall dsl 15.

didnt really look at the mesa boogie cause i know they are very expensive.
Vox new stuff is not on par for me when they moved it to china.

The Dark Terror has an fx loop. Also I would look at Vox, they were never known for being reliable when they were made in England (some people have even said that their reliability increased when they moved to china), and they still have the same basic design as they used to.

IceCreamMan

I am an unashamed blackstar fan..... not sure you still get the HT5R in head only but that would be my choice.... in the 1-20 watt arena ...or even the 20watter...there is one for sale by that grumpy ou joe moore ...just read the advert he must be grumpy .....just kidding joe

Shibbibilybob

I don't think you can beat the Ibanez TSA15h for value for money.
It's a versatile little thing too, but mostly, it just sounds good at every setting.

beardedmoose

Blackstar HT5 head mate. By far the best!

guitarboy2828

Shibbibilybob wrote: I don't think you can beat the Ibanez TSA15h for value for money.
It's a versatile little thing too, but mostly, it just sounds good at every setting.

I had one of these, I got rid of it becuase it didn't have enough gain. It's great for a bluesy rock tone. But unless you add pedals, it doesn't get gritty enough (my opinion anyway). That's why I love the laney. The blackstar's are also awesome, only played one once, but it blue my socks off!

beardedmoose

The clean channel on the blackstar's are modelled on your boutique sound... That "one tone knob" does one hell of a job. Play around with your guitars knobs to get more sounds mate!

IceCreamMan

I aqint gonna lie....I don't play my blackstar on the clean channel very often ?

Psean

Paul E wrote: Laney VC15! Super versatile and not badly priced at all!

Do they do a head?
I have a combo and like it plenty. Although with a 10" speaker, the clean channel breaks up long before it gets loud, even with a Strat. That's no problem for me 'cause I never use that channel but will be for some.

Paul E wrote:
Shibbibilybob wrote: I don't think you can beat the Ibanez TSA15h for value for money.
It's a versatile little thing too, but mostly, it just sounds good at every setting.
I had one of these, I got rid of it becuase it didn't have enough gain. It's great for a bluesy rock tone. But unless you add pedals, it doesn't get gritty enough (my opinion anyway).

Yip. The one I played was also very clean. Didn't break up at all when cranked so you had to use the built-in Tubescreamer's gain for dirt, and then it doesn't clean up with the guitar's volume knob well at all. BUt they're nice if you like a clean amp to use pedals with.