Am I missing something? Recommendations needed as well

[grindliner]

Hey Peeps,

I'm A noob here, but have been searching and lurking for a few days.

I am in the market for a new amp, so I went shopping this past weekend.

I am looking to upgrade, my past experience with tube amps is limited to my Peavey Delta Blues 2-10, Crate vintage Club 20, Blues Jr. and a Valve jr.

I'm looking for a tube amp that sounds great at low volume due to Tin Ear.

I played a few including :

Fuchs ODS (sweet but too expensive),
Dr.Z Maz 18 Jr., (didn't care for it)
Genz Benz Black Pearl (un-impressed)

Then at GC I tried:

Used Rivera M60 (enjoyed it, might try to negotiate with GC on this one).
An Express 5:25 head through a 1x10 cab (Underwhelmed)

Then an old friend at another store spent a good deal of time talking to me to get a feel of what I was looking for. and he led me straight to the Boogie's and right to the lonestar Special head through a 1x12 (my Jaw was on the floor). he then had me try a F30, and I didn't care for it at all after hearing the LSS

Is it me, or does the LSS really sound that much better than the Express? Could it have been the 1x10 cab?

The Manager who demo'd the express to me exclusevly plays Boggie's (so he Says).

So my question is... is there a better Boogie that can do single coils and humbuckers equally well that sounds great at low volumes?


On a side note, I'm looking for bang for the buck, and am leaning towards the Rivera if I can knock GC down to $400 from $600 due to a non original speaker and no footswitch, and keep looking for something else.

Biggest bummer of the day was a sweet Trainwreck clone for $500 (I'm jonesing for it, but my ear hurts just thinking about it).

Your recommendations are appreciated

 

[GeoBull]

I have a number of amps including '07 LSC, '07 LSS, '07 Dr Z Maz 38 Sr.

Is it me, or does the LSS really sound that much better than the Express? Could it have been the 1x10 cab?

LSS is head and shoulders above the Express 5:25 (as LSC is head and shoulders above Express 5:50). I first bought the LSC and then wanted to complement it with an EL84 amp. Tried the 5:25: no way; sounded reasonable for it's size but boxy and noisy. Played the LSS and absolutely loved it.

So my question is... is there a better Boogie that can do single coils and humbuckers equally well that sounds great at low volumes?

I dont' think there is a better Boogie for what you describe immediately above. LSC is a GREAT amp but loud and heavy (in 2x12). LSS is easy to transport, very versatile, looks great and sounds GREAT (and has many GREAT sounds).

On a side note, I'm looking for bang for the buck

LSC is a great amp but loud and heavy as I said above. However, if you're looking for 6L6 look no farther.

Dr. Z Maz 38 Sr is a GREAT amp; tone forever; but limited (single channel and so far I haven't found a thousand sounds in it) and very loud. Also heavy (in 2x12). If you didn't like the Maz 18 Jr, well, that's not it.

If you want a versatile, easy to tote, great sounding amp, LSS is it. I constantly get compliments on tone from other players when I use it. I use it in a variety of settings (original John Mayerish rock band, electric blues band, blues duo, rock/soul/blues duo (vox and guitar), even jazz. Sounds great at everything. Guitar is a Parker Fly Mojo which has single-coil and humbucker as well as acoustic emulation. I can get SO many sounds out of this setup at so many volumes. Of all my amps (including an Evans and a Mkiic) I almost always choose the LSS.

 

[disassembled]

Why not look into a solid state amp? Tube amps generally sound flat and lifeless at low volume due to the power tubes not being utilized.

Do you play with a band?

I have quite a few rigs and they all do their thing well but i don't think I could honestly say there is a tube amp manufactured that excels at low volumes. There are plenty that sound ok at low volumes but not that sound as good when they are played at gig volume.

Greg

 

[grindliner]

No, no band, I just play for myself. I am just getting back into playing, I quit playing 16 years ago when My daughter was born, and sold off all of my gear except fo an acoustic, which I really didn't touch in that period either.

Back in the day I always used SS amps, but since getting back into it, I srarted with a Pod XT and returned it on the 29th day, and bought the Delta blues, which doesn't sound bad, just not the sound I'm after.

I have become a tone snob so to speak, and have tried the Vox AD series, while they had the mids and highs, they just seeme to lack that low growl you get from the tubes.

I did check out a tiny terror, while I loved the gain, but the tone sucked. I would love to see a tiny terror with a 3 band tone stack.


I'm really leaning toward the Rivera for the short term, and once I sell some of my guitars off, and getting the LSS. Especially considering that if I can Get the Rivera at the right price, not only will I easily get my money back, but I could make a few bucks in the process.

 

[Elpelotero]

check out the Fender Blues Junior. It's a great 15 watt amp that is great for clean to mid gain sounds. It won't get heavy like metal. Since it's 15 watts, you can saturate the tubes even at low volumes.

 

[grindliner]

I had a blues jr for about a year, Too thin sounding, it had no ***. so I did the Billm mods to it, while it helped the clean side, it didn't help on the dirty side.

 

[phyrexia]

I like the 5:25 a lot but every time I start GASsing for one I go back to play the LSS and I'm re-blown away.

I think the 5:25 would sound waay better with tubes and a speaker swap though. It still wouldn't have channel assignable power switching.

 

[GeoBull]

Replying to a couple of things:

Re: tube vs. transistor
Unless you're talking REALLY bedroom volume I don't think the two compare; I can get as good a sound out of my LSS as I've heard out of a low volume transistor amp; I can get a better overdriven sound (by diming gain and lowering master volume) than any pedal/modeller, etc. I've heard (disclaimer: I haven't worked with any of the high-end modelling stuff; e.g. Guitar Rig); another option is a power soak. I do have an Evans which is hands-down the best tranny amp I've played; and at higher volumes (certain settings) it will fur up and feel very similar to a tube amp.

Re: LSS vs. 5:25
As I said above; no contest; (did I mention no contest?); 5:25 is not in the same league (nor price range) as LSS.

Lastly, the more I play it the more I love the LSS.

 

[inmyhands]

I played tube amps throughout the sixties and was one of those who jumped on the next big thing in the early 70's and spent big bucks on a 200 watt rms Kasino Fever solidstate amp. I've also owned a solidstate Fender Princeton Chorus. Today, all of the amps I play are tube amps.

An 8 /15 watt EL84 / EL34 custom built vintage Marshall tone amp for the studio to capture vintage gain tone at studio friendly levels.

A 25 watt custom built amp designed to provide fender / vox cleans at the same volume level as the first amp's gain volume level.

A Mesa F-30 and a Marshall 401 for club usage.

A Peavey Delta Blues 1X15 combo for, well, playin' the blues.

A Mesa Mark III for kickin' *** and takin' names.

I still own the Kasino Fever, but, it's one of those "for old times sake" kind of things. I don't think I've turned it on in the last 5 years.

I started with tubes, took the plunge into solidstate, and returned to tubes. To my ears solidstate is great for high fidelity applications , but, sucks the heart and soul out of a guitarists tone.

Just my opinion.

Rick