Thinking about a new amp-

[Farmhand]

With a bit of a tax refund coming, I'm considering a new amp. I've been playing through a first-gen Roland Cube 30 and like it for a lot of things, but lately it's sounding kind of sterile.
I used to have a Fender Champ 12 and liked it a lot. 12 watts, tube, 12" speaker. I played a 400 seat opera house with it in my pit band days, and didn't have to mic it, so volume's not a concern.
I'm down to one electric guitar, a Jay Turser JT 220 D (Les Paul copy) and love it.
What are your favorite inexpensive, small tube combos for humbuckers?

 

[arts]

Traynor Guitar Mate Reverb.I use mine with an Epiphone Les Paul.But,unless you get lucky,not inexpensive anymore

 

[marqueemoon]

I'm guessing from your pit band description that screaming distortion is not a requirement.

I am using a VHT Special 6 head and a 1x12 cab these days. VHT does a combo version with a 10", but I prefer a head/cab setup. For what the head cost (under $200) I'm really pleased with it. It's rated at 6 watts (6V6 power tube). It has high and low gain inputs. I find the low is better for humbucker use. Tonally it's very blackface Princeton-esque. I use that setup in my 3 piece band and it's loud enough if just barely.

The Fender Excelsior is another I'd look at. It's a recent but short-lived model with a single 15". Has simple controls and a cool sounding tremolo.

 

[Farmhand]

I'm probably going to forego a new amp and buy studio time to finish some recordings I started three years ago. I have recording gear at home, but I have no patience for button-pushing!
Additionally, I'll be playing more bass than guitar in the near future- I'm trying to get a jam band together (hold your fire) and prefer to play bass in a band setting anyway. I started out a lead guitarist and over the years have found that I love playing bass behind a band, especially with a really good drummer.
Of course, I cruise CL daily in the hopes of finding a jewel.

 

[marqueemoon]

I also love playing bass in a band. Doing it for the first time in years for an upcoming one-off show with friends. I'm super excited.

 

[ooba tooba]

Thirded for the love of bass. Play a 5 string (low b) and have very recently stepped up a notch in ability, speed and phrasing. Eager to lay down some tracks as well.

 

[Farmhand]

I'd sure love to jam with you guys. Damn geography....

 

[cratz2]

How cheap is cheap?

Vox AC15 has some good tones in it though probably not the most versatile. Peavey Classic 30 is a great choice that gives very decent cleans and works well with pedals. Fender Blues Jr or Hot Rod Deluxe for more sparkly 'Fendery' cleans and work well with some pedals. Hot Rod Deluxe is a bit loud.

Lots of good choices. Those are probably four of the most popular and great starting points and you won't lose much money if you decide to upgrade if you buy used.

Edit - oops... didn't see you had decided to wait a while. Good luck on the projects.

 

[FOH Engineer]

Fender Pro Jr. If you use pedals, any pre gain is pointless and squashes any type of clean headroom...Pro jr' sound like an electric guitar

 

[marqueemoon]

Fender Pro Jr. If you use pedals, any pre gain is pointless and squashes any type of clean headroom...Pro jr' sound like an electric guitar

I'm also a fan of these. Basically the simpler an amp is the more likely I am to like it.

 

[Ross6860]

If you decide on a new amp after all. I've had Marshalls, Dr Zs, Swart, Magnatone, Peavey, Carvin, Fender, VOX, Epiphone, Valco, Vintage 47 and a few others I can't remember.

I keep going back to the Fender Deluxe Reverb, either a RI, an original, or a quality clone. I sold the one I had and ended up replacing it in less than six months. If I could only keep one amp, it would be this one. If you like reverb, Fender is it IMHO. Not really inexpensive, though.

A Carvin Vintage 16 was a nice amp.

A classic/collectors amp that won't break the bank, a SIlver Face Champ. One of the amps I'm keeping.

Great amp, but kind of "big" for me at 30 watts is a Peavey Delta Blues or a Peavey Classic 30 as someone has already mentioned.

Enjoy the tone quest.

 

[Farmhand]

My current amps are a Roland Cube 40 Chorus and a Fender Bassman 60. The Roland was thirteen bucks at GW and the Fender was a trade for an amp I couldn't lift anymore.They're both good enough for the time being.
As I mentioned, it's back to the studio for me, for now.
Plus I've got to dig out the pedal steel and get reasonably competent on it- I'm told there's work available for a passable player.

 

[Waveland]

I just picked up an Orange Rocker 15 tube combo. Amazing tone, crisp and chimey cleans, dirties up nicely with volume, dirty channel great as well. I don't play much high gain stuff, mostly shoegaze and post-rock, "indie" type music as well, sounds great. Best part is I convinced my girlfriend to buy it for me as a reward for a household project completion! They retail around $700 USD. Great tone for the price.

 

[Farmhand]

After much thought and research, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Bugera V5. I play 95% at home, and if I play out, I can mic it.
5/1/.1 watts, 8" speaker, 200 bucks, all tube, rave reviews. On the .1 watt setting, the volume is described as "a loud argument."
I just got home from trying out a 5 watt Blackstar, and didn't like it.

 

[lanwanman195]

I've got the same amp and I love it. I also picked up a Bugera 212 cab and the 5 watts are more than sufficient to drive it quite nicely. I use the .1 watt setting at home and it's easy to get some great snarly tone or go lighter with pick attack and play clean.

 

[tensleep]

Was hunting a VHT Special 12/20, but ran across a good deal on a used Mesa Boogie Transatlantic TA15 head today. I have yet to try it. The VHT, though, really looks like a great deal for the money. They make heads or combos, with or without reverb/tremolo. Again, no experience, but on paper and YouTube, it seems to have some great features and value.

 

[Farmhand]

I got the Bugera on Monday and have been trying to like it. It's just really "dark" compared to what I'm used to. I'm not sure if it's my guitar, the amp or the combination of the two. I'm sure it needs to break in. It does sound better on a higher power setting at higher volume than I normally use at home. I removed the covers from my pickups but they just sounded shrill, so I put the covers back on. It was at least good to have that for comparison.
I'll keep messing with it and see what happens- maybe I'll run a lead to the 10" speaker in my old amp and give that a listen.

Okay, I plugged the Roland speaker in and it's a whole different animal. More range of tone, for one thing, and where I had the tone all the way up and was wishing for more, now it's at 50%.
Next I'll pull the 12" from my bass amp and see how that sounds.

 

[valvenator]

I got the Bugera on Monday and have been trying to like it. It's just really "dark" compared to what I'm used to.

Nice thing about these you can leave them as-is or do a number of cheap and easy mods to them. Though a tube and speaker upgraded seemed to provide the biggest bang for the buck.

Two ways for these small amp companies to keep the prices so low is to use cheap tubes and speakers. Just about any decent speaker or tube is an upgrade.
If you have any 12AX7's or EL84 (6BQ5) tubes around give them a try. I think you'll hear a noticeable difference.
Same with speakers as you've already noticed. Sometimes finding a speaker with the right voice to match your amp is the hardest part since they all seem to have a signature tone.
If you want to replace the 8" I'd definitely suggest a WEBER. I sent them an eMail telling them what sound I was looking for and honestly couldn't be happier with the speaker they suggested.
A great sleeper if you can still find one is the alnico AO24398-0 organ reverb speaker by ROLA. I like these so much I practically started hoarding them for a while.

 

[Farmhand]

Further update- I remembered that I had a Squier 15 amp in the back of the closet. I took the 8" out of that and put it in the Bugera- instant improvement, even considering that this is basically another POS speaker, but at least there's some life and character. I can hear much, much more now when adjusting pickup volumes and tones. It's an 8 ohm speaker as opposed to the stock 4 ohm, but what the heck. It's a practice amp. I switched it from .1 to 1 watt.
I do have an old (1959) tube hifi amp in the basement, waiting for a repair I'll never get to- I'll probably pull tubes out of that and install them in the Bugera. Those tubes ought to have plenty of mojo in them by now.

 

[Farmhand]

I really want to play it through a 12". I used to have a Fender bass amp with a 15" and my Tele sounded amazing through that.