So you want to get a tube amp, but there are literally hundreds of manufacturers, not to mention, amps on the market. That can make for a rather harrowing experience in making a choice; especially if you’re new to tube amps. Plus, there are so many amp features to contend with as well. But have no fear. It’s not as hard as it may seem on the surface as long as you take some things into account.
1. Tone is king!
The most important thing to keep in mind in your search for a tube amp is that YOUR opinion of the tone of an amp is the most important opinion of all. By all means, listen to the input of others to help guide you, but in the end, you need to make your decision based upon how good an amp sounds to YOU. To formulate an opinion, you have to play several. And for goodness sake, don’t buy anything unless you’ve heard it in person.
2. Sound clips don’t tell the whole story…
Bear in mind that sound clips are great as an initial reference, but that’s all they should be. And make sure to listen to clips that have been recorded with the raw sound of the amp; that is, the plugged straight into the amp, and no EQ on the recording medium. Be especially wary of clips of fully arranged songs where a particular amp was used because more likely than not, even if the amp was recorded straight with no pedals in the chain, the other instruments and the EQ of the song can interfere with potentially negative aspects. Nothing beats listening to an amp live or raw.
3. Higher cost doesn’t mean better
Sometimes higher cost is well, just higher cost, and it doesn’t necessarily buy you much. I’ve played some pretty expensive amps that to me sound like crap, so don’t be lured into buying an amp by its price. Also, bear in mind that some amps simply have a higher price because a well-known guitarist actually uses one.
4. Don’t jump onto the boutique wagon right away!
In your search, you’ll come across people who’ll recommend all sorts of boutique amps. Don’t jump there immediately. I recommend this mainly because a boutique amp will fix you into a certain tone or range of tones. That’s NOT a bad thing at all. It just means that they serve up a certain flavor of tone and they’re good at that; not wanting be so versatile. For instance, my Aracom PLX18-BB Trem is a great example of a fairly focused tone with its abundance of mid-range, and smooth and creamy breakup. This amp was built based upon the classic 18-Watt Marshall Plexi, which has distinctive tone and dynamics. It’s not muscular at all, and was never meant to be. Contrast that to my Aracom VRX22 which, while based upon a Marshall Plexi design is A LOT more “ballsy” with a fatter bottom end, and slightly compressed overdrive. As a foot-switchable 2-channel amp, it is much more versatile and is my “go-to” amp for gigging.
In addition to the focused tonal characteristics, boutique amps in general cost significantly more than their mainstream counterparts; let’s face it: They’re investments. But like any investment, you should choose wisely, and go more generic starting out to get an idea of what tone you’re after. A good place to start is a low-cost tube amp, and there are several mainstream tube amps on the market that cost under $500. Some of them, like the Peavey Windsor Studio or Egnater Tweaker will allow you to change power tubes to change tone and dynamics. For instance, a 6L6-based amp will sound quite different than an EL34-based amp or even a high-gain 6V6. Amps like this let you play a bit. Here’s an example list.
VOX Night Train $499
Blackstar HT-5H $399
333 Amp JCA20H $333
Epiphone Valve Jr. $129
Egnater Tweaker $399
Blackheart Little Giant $199
Fender Blues Jr. $499
Fender Champion 600 $149
Peavey Windsor Studio $399
I started out with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe myself. I got it before Fender did their price hike last year, so I got it for a great price. It’s a great starter tube amp, and really an unsung hero among amps. But with the right tubes and a replacement speaker, that amp can keep up with many of the boutique amps out there. It’s more pricey than what I listed here, but you can find used ones for around $500. It’s also loud as hell, which makes it viable for doing lots of different venues.
5. Don’t rush… Try learning how a tube amp operates…
The worse thing you can do in making your first tube amp purchase is rushing into it. As I mentioned above, try out several before making your decision. The best advice I ever got was from Noel over at Tone Merchants in Orange, CA. I told him I wanted to get a tube amp, but he insisted that I take my time, and in the meantime get a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe because it was tweakable. That turned out to be the absolutely best advice I had gotten from anyone, and it saved me thousands of dollars. Buying that amp gave me time to learn about how tube amps operate and form an opinion on what I’d like different.
6. Use the buddy system to evaluate an amp
By all means, play through the amps that you are evaluating, but something I’ve found very useful in evaluating amp settings is to have someone else play while I tweak. When I did the Dumble amp video series, I had the fortune of the great Doug Doppler playing so I could REALLY get how it sounded. That’s sort of rare, but even when I’m in a Guitar Center, I’ll sometimes walk up to some dude playing an amp I’d like to evaluate, and ask him if I could tweak while he plays. It’s a great way of quickly evaluating an amp’s capabilities.
So… Not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination, but useful, practical advice that you can hopefully use to your advantage.
Yes there are a ton of inexpensive arena.
I always throw in Peavey Classic 30 since it’s know to be one of the cheapest of the most Gigged amps out.
I especially like the part about having another player there. Nothing like checking out an amp while someone else is playing. I’ll do that and step back between adjustments so I can get different angles and distances.. I’ve had a few folks ask me about an amp and then go buy it without trying it.. that always makes me a little queezy since I don’t want to be responsible for there $$ put out on an amp..
Great post…..
Always buy used. Especialy for you first amp. When you get that brand spanking new Peavey Windsor or Valve King home and plug in and scratch your head as to why it so thin and buzzy your going to head straight to a forum to figure it out.
Then you’re going to start pulling and switching out tubes, trying foot pedals, contemplating mods… next thing you realize is that factory warranty has gone right out the window and you might as well have bought twice the amp used as you did for the same price as your brand new one.
It’s a buyers market right now. Get the most for your money. Try it before you buy it. Be prepared to re-tube, re-bias, and learn the basic maintenance. Don’t settle for a budget amp because you’ll son grow out of and will be lucky to get rid of it.
That’s kind of the point of getting a budget amp: Switching out tubes and speakers, learning how to bias and basic maintenance before you get into a big investment, and if you make a mistake, you haven’t spent too much. As I mentioned, I still have my Hot Rod Deluxe that I’ve tweaked with NOS tubes and a new speaker. Haven’t done any mods to the filters or caps – never felt the need.
As far as getting stuff used, I totally agree with that as well, but warn that as with new amps, you definitely have to try before you buy, and with used amps, you have to make sure that the price you’re paying is consistent with used gear of the same make/model. It’s very easy to overpay.
I do not know about 1st amp because I think my first all tube was a Marshall JCM 2000. Loved that amp but it was not cheap. Over a decade ago I discovered Carvin and I have not used anything since. Not sure what the cheap models are as I currently have a V3 w a 4×12 it was like $1500 now I think they are on sale for like $1300, you could not give me two of anything for that amp. The Marshall was like $2500 at that time, really, really too much, and the Carvin kicks it down the street. The metal grill on the speaker blew me away, I was used to that fragile cloth.
They make a lot of smaller combos and lesser tubes than my 4 EL34 and 5 preamp tube monster. But since I cut my teeth on Marshall I got used to the EL34 design, not sure any of that matters really. Do check out Carvin on their web site, ordered direct, they have no music store markups and their prices and quality I would put up against anything.
Can’t argue about Carvin quality. It’s stellar! Their guitars are pretty killer as well.
Great input, guys!
Great article !!!! Great advice !!! : )
Thank You
[…] Choosing Your First Tube Amp […]
Right on!! Shouldn’t spend more than $1K for first tube amp and used is great advice as well.
Determine what style(s) of music you want to play on the amp so that you can do some quick research and find a starting place.
This will also help determine how versatile of an amp you need.
Once you understand the dynamics of tube amps and have changed speakers, tubes, etc and are unable to get that “sound” or “feel” you have in your head; then go try out some amps that are higher end (within your budget).
Ok. Good stuff, and I completely agree about listening for youself….
but there must be some kind of a ‘starting point’ based upon the guitar (assuming I have only one) and what you want to play.
For example: If I said I have a Gretsch G5122DC (stock) and I like Blues, Jazz, and SOME rockabilly PLUS I only play AT HOME. What would anyone recommend as a top five list to start looking at?
Here’s what I’d suggest:
Fender Blues, Jr.
Peavey Valveking 112 – I’ve played this, and love the amp. And at $399, it’s a great value!
i always appreciate a blog helping others make the purchases they need to progress as a musician. nice post keep up the good work. IStillGotMyGuitar
This is a fantastic article. When I bought my Fender Blues Jr., I wasn’t really sure how to judge the tone quality properly cause I didn’t know what to be expecting. I just kind of bought it because it had great reviews and because my friend has one. However, I’m incredibly glad I bought it because I wouldn’t have learned anything about proper tone quality with my Line 6 Spider. So not only has my Blues Jr. given me fantastic, warm tone quality, but a better understanding of how tone works as well.
Thanks! Right on, Jack! And you started with a great amp that’s pretty versatile. One thing that I’ve learned is that a good reference tone is the Fender clean tone. Doesn’t matter the circuit, the Fender clean tone is pretty distinct. Can’t go wrong with it.
Hey, I just read this article and it’s great. A few weeks ago I had some extra money and I was sick of playing on the tiny 5w Marshall multi-effects amp. Anyway, I looked all over ebay and Guitar Center. Being that this was my first tube amp, I had no idea how to test out the tube amps at Guitar Center and didn’t want to look like an idiot for asking (plus, honestly, some of their staff don’t know how to work tube amps themselves). After a while I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4×10 just because the reviews were alright and the price was incredible. That thing is fantastic. It’s huge, heavy, ridiculously loud and its drive channels aren’t the best but I bought it for around $430 counting tax and I still consider it to be the best purchase I’ve ever made.
That Deville is a GREAT pedal platform! My bandmate started out with that one. Tons of clean headroom that is just begging to have overdrive and distortion pedals hooked up to it. 🙂
One easy tweak you can make to that amp is that although it comes stock with GrooveTubes 6L6’s, if you swap the stock tubes for the GrooveTubes GT-6L6-GE’s, you’ll get some awesome sound. I’m not a big fan of GrooveTubes in general, but I swear by these tubes for my HotRod Deluxe. The made my drive channels actually usable. 🙂