The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: Other Amps: Small "voxy" alternative?

Small "voxy" alternative?

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- Rated: 10 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 9:23 a.m. illduck95:

I have a dilemma that many folks would love to have. When I heard about the Heritage series Vox amps, I jumped on the 15w version right away. But for my purposes of being a suburban bedroom playing Dad, it really is way too big sizewise and volumewise. It plays more like a 30w amp and I don't love the sound when it's dialed down to manageable levels. In the same price range, does anyone have an idea of a good amp to try as a replacement-figuring $1000-1500 as a range. I already have a Fender-type amp, so I want to stay with something chimy as an alternative to play my Byrds, Beatles, etc stuff on.

I've heard Dr. Z's are in the same vein, but they seem to be difficult to track down. Any other ideas?
- Rated: 7 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 9:49 a.m. googoobaby:

Have you looked at the 5W Laney Lionheart?
- Rated: 41 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 9:55 a.m. dubkitty:

if you can find one--they don't seem to be very common in the shops--you might want to try the Epiphone Blues Custom amp. it struck me as rather Vox-ish when i tested one in LA (despite the 2x5881 power tube setup), and can run either at 15W or at 30W output.
- Rated: 47 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 10:01 a.m. dignan:

Voting Peavey Classic 30 with an attenuator for quiet-times.
- Rated: 25 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 12:16 p.m. Parabar:

A friend of mine has one of the smaller Vox ValveTronix series and gets a lot of good sounds out of it at living room levels.

The Epi Blues Custom 30 is a great sounding amp, as dubkitty mentioned, but it is big and heavy.
- Rated: 4 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 12:21 p.m. blauserk:

The way to go may be an attenuator with your current amp. The Ultimate Attenuator--which I gather really isn't an attenuator but a re-amplifier, I think--is very transparent and in my experience can take 15-watters down to the sound levels of 5 watters without coloring the sound. If you're interested, search on the Les Paul Forum for the user J45, who has posted some soundfiles and discussed it at length.

The lowest-wattage Vox-flavored amp I'm aware of is 15 watts (Gabrielle Voxer).
- Rated: 6 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 12:28 p.m. 6stringcowboy:

Two words Carr Mercury

Just my .02

Jeff

edited to add that new, the Merc is around 2k but I've seen them used for what you want to spend.
- Rated: 13 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 1:21 p.m. Rex:

Orange makes a 5 watt all tube amp. AD5 is the model number.
- Rated: 19 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 2:20 p.m. Gretschadelphia:

After reading about the Laney Lionheart I was really stoked and very interested in buying one. For a basement player like myself, 5 watts and excellent build quality sounded like a perfect match for my needs. I finally got to try one out at a local Sam Ash and was very disappointed. The build quality and reverb are very good and the overdrive channel gives you some real nice creamy tube grind at reasonable volumes. The bad part was the clean channel. Now keep in mind I was playing a Fender '62 Tele Custom Reissue and even on the bridge pu w/ the guitar tone and volume dimed the Lionheart sounded dull with no chime or top end. To get any chime or top end I had to put on the bright switch, dime the presence and crank up the treble. This really surprised me as the Lionheart is an EL84 powered British amp and I assumed it would have more of a Vox like chime, especially on the clean channel. My humble Blues Jr has a much better clean sound. It's possible that I just caught a bad one, but my money stayed in my pocket.
- Rated: 7 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 2:37 p.m. googoobaby:

IMHO, I didn't think the Carr Mercury was very Vox-like as charming as it is. There's the new 3W EL84 Carr Raleigh that's in your range though.
- Rated: 10 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 3:57 p.m. illduck95:

THanks for the input. I will check these bad boys out.
- Rated: 6 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 4:05 p.m. 6stringcowboy:

Goo, you're right as the Merc has EL34's... Illduck, go here to see what the Raleigh looks and sounds like.

Jeff
- Rated: 41 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 6:02 p.m. dubkitty:

FWIW the Peavey Classic 30 is being remaindered at the Sam Ash website for $569. i'm not crazy about Peaveys myself, but if you're interested this could be a good deal.
- Rated: 40 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 7:32 p.m. roadjunkie:

While not in the Vox arena I pointed Bonedaddy in the direction of this lil honey! He's been smiling ever since he got it!
- Rated: 40 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 7:39 p.m. roadjunkie:

be sure to check out the clips!
- Rated: 47 ↑
Sep 19, 2008 8:27 p.m. dignan:

dubktty said: "the Peavey Classic 30 is being remaindered at the Sam Ash website for $569."
Hrmmm... You can find them for $350-400 used without too much effort.
- Rated: 41 ↑
Sep 20, 2008 11:16 a.m. dubkitty:

of course. i just thought that if it mattered to illduck whether the amp was new or used, it was a useful data point.
- Rated: 13 ↑
Sep 20, 2008 8:03 p.m. Rex:

Just ran across this today. 1 to 20 watts switchable between 6l6 or EL 84's. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Egnater-Rebel-20-20W-Tube-Guitar-Amp-He...
- Rated: 4 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 2:08 p.m. noelweller:

Nobody has said this, a Vox Pathfinder 15r. It's solid state but It sounds really good for bedroom use
- Rated: 4 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 2:08 p.m. noelweller:

This post has been deleted
- Rated: 30 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 6:10 p.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:

What about Top Hat? Aren't they Voxy? Don't they make a little one?

Look into Matamp and JMI too. JMI was the original maker of Vox and Matamp originally made Orange amps (cross between Vox and Marshall tone to my ear)
- Rated: 40 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 10:12 p.m. roadjunkie:

A Tophat will do Vox but does it's own thing and some Marshall as well.

You won't find a new one in that price range but a nice used 2x12 can be had in that ballpark. I've had several Clubs 2 Royales and 1 Deluxe Check the Tophat forum or you may have better luck on the Gear Page

FWIW Brian has one of the most useful MV in the biz and last year they did a poll on the Gear Page for the best EL84 based amp and the Club Royale was the overall winner!
- Rated: 42 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 10:30 p.m. JBGretschguy:

These are WAY cool. I have one and love it, but would part with it, 'cuz I need some money for a medical mission trip.
- Rated: 10 ↑
Dec 26, 2008 2:21 p.m. illduck95:

I sort of got off my kick for a while of trading in my AC15H1TV, but now I'm back on it. Those JMI's are nice, but a bit more than I want to spend. I'm going to take a look at the Carr Raliegh, but 3W just seems too small although I'm sure it's not.

Has anyone had a positive experience with Bad Cat? I like the look of the Alley Cat, but they in general seem a bit spendy. Maybe keep an eye on Ebay.

And Roadjunkie-you have good taste-my other amp is a Swart AST. Such a great amp!
- Rated: 13 ↑
Dec 26, 2008 5:09 p.m. Bujin:

I just got a Vox AD60VTX that lets you dial all the way down to 1 Watt when you need some relatively quiet practice time. I only paid $300 for it and I love it so far.

== Sean