"Clean" combo amp with pedals?

[tweed]

Yeah, I owned a Peavey Classic 30 before several years back. Pretty cool little amp. I guess the bottom line is that there are all kinds of amps available that would do what I need and do it well. That makes it even harder to narrow it down. lol

And this entire time you thought you were going to make it "easier" with a combo setup.

You just redirected your G.A.S. my friend.

I can see it now. "I;m down to 8 combos and I can't decided to try the new*insert builder here* 2x12 combo, or simplify my rig and go back to one head and one 4x12.

 

[peaveyT60]

if you want to get most or all of your dirt from pedals, i'd use a fender bassman or twin reverb. the fender blackface amps are slightly scooped and sound good with tubescreamer-type ODs. the twin reverb has tremendous clean headroom , but it is also heavy. the bassman is my favorite fender amp. takes pedals great and is so woody and pure sounding and light, but not as much headroom. has a really nice plexi-like OD when cranked, but is deafening at that level. depending on what you want to spend, i might even look at a vibro-king.

also, i feel like i need to mention the peavey classic 50 2x12. the cleans are great and depthy and takes pedals really well. has a nice OD. put 2 greenbacks, or maybe 2 G12H30s, in there and you'll love it. different beast than the 30, which can sound anemic. i actually like the cleans on the classic50 better than the twin. the twin has a stiff sound and can be slightly dry and bright whereas the peavey has a more "wet" and depthy kind of sound (we are talking cleans here); a bit more pleasing to my ears. lot of headroom for 4xEL84 too.

 

[* velcro-fly *]

Ha ha ha! You're exactly right. I actually just caught myself thinking "man, it would be cool to get TWO 1x12" combos and run them in stereo." LOL! WTF? Where did that come from? hehe

Get in touch with Jason Wallis - he has a pair of Rivera Clubster's he's going to sell

 

[mkalei]

Chris, imo, the open back cabs sound better for cleans and mild overdrive tones so don't shy away from that. A 2x12 open back combo (or 4x10) with the right pedals is definately a great set up. I use a 1x12 22w combo set clean, an OCD for mild overdrive and an MI Audio Crunchbox for Distortion tones. BUT, the 1st pedal in the chain is the Duncan pickup booster. With the OD pedals set a little less intense and the pickup booster before them, it adds a very slight volume boost but punishes the input section of the pedal just like slamming the front end of an amp thats set for overdrive/distortion. It adds alot of versatility to the set up.
I wouldn't use this set up in a band doing Priest and Whitesnake covers (a UL would be for that!!!), but doing Tom Petty, Van Morrison, and Bob Seager covers - it's ideal.

Good luck

Hey Mark! So what 22w combo are you using? The Fender Deluxe Reverb? You have pretty much what I'm thinking about, except I have the ToneBone Classic for distortion instead of the Crunch Box. But if this ToneBone doesn't work out, I'm going straight to the CrunchBox.

Mesa Studio 22. It's not the greatest - I'd like more chime, but I've borrowed a Fender Proverb (1x12, 1x15?) for a gig or 2 and that was great.
ToneBone Classic is a great pedal as long as you don't mind it taking away some of the highs like it does, and it's not as dynamic as some other pedals. I find the crunch box to be a good blend between the OCD and the Radial stuff.

 

[badger71]

Or, get a couple Ceriatone clone heads....one for mildly dirty and one for dirty with an A/B box through your 2x12.

 

[White_Van]

Or, get a couple Ceriatone clone heads....one for mildly dirty and one for dirty with an A/B box through your 2x12.

+1, you could get a Dumble clone and a TW and be the envy of all of TGP.

 

[bartmcartman]

Hey Chris, Rivera has a couple of newer amps that will work great for that. I believe they are around $1000. BUT! Definitely don't forget about the peavey classic series or the fender hot rod deluxes. I have a friend who uses a pair of fender hot rod devilles and used to use a peavey classic 50 2x12 and has always had a killer tone. There are some clips on his site at http://www.markarbogast.com. His clips have made me rethink my rig several times. I've been using my Koch twintone for most of my wed. night gigs and it works great with pedals though I just run a bit of drive into the front for a boost as I can get some really nice drive tones out of it. We should have some video and clips up on our site soon and both myself and the singer are using twintones.

 

[Marshall Freak]

Mine isn't a combo, but I use pedals into a fairly clean superlead and 4x12 cabinet. I usually run the volume up to where it starts breaking up a little then use an OCD (I have 2) a TS-9, or FDII, and get some great tones like that. I can't do all out metal that way, using a combination of pedals it's surprising how far you can go. You've already got a nice 2x12 with good speakers, all you'd really need is something like a 1987X with the loop, or even a bassman head and you'd have a helluva nice setup, that's still pretty portable I've never liked combos very well, I like that closed back thump too much. For a portable rig I've been using a mesa head and a Thiele cabinet and I sounds pretty killer IMHO.

 

[jcj]

Who's had success with doing this? I know it's nothing new, but it is to me! I'm looking to go under $1,000 for my next amp and there's a chance it will be my main gigging amp for several months or longer. I will have the new amp (whatever it is) and my Crate PowerBlock for backup.

I'm not 100% sold on combo amps, because of the open back, increased mids, lack of low end punch, etc... But I am definitely liking the idea of a more portable rig. I once owned a Line 6 Flextone II 1x12" combo that was surprisingly KICK ASS! It had low end beef and sounded really, really good, so I know it can be done. Seems like my Vox AC30CC2 was pretty thick as well, so there's an option (run it clean with pedals.)

Anyway, I'm thinking seriously about trying a Fender Bassman 4x10" combo on a clean setting with my ToneBone Classic for distortion, Fulltone OCD for mid gain distortion, and Plank Cranker for OD. Thoughts on that idea?

Any other amps I should really be looking at? Does the Fender Twin have low end or no?

I tried the 4x10 Bassman, and LOVED that thing! I think that would be a great choice. As a matter of fact, it's on my "must pick up at a good price" list.

I also have a Line 6 Flextone II (2x12) that I've owned for probably 8 years, and I agree that it's a surprisingly kick ass amp

 

[blackba]

Wow, watch the video tour of this new Vox AC50CP2 combo. Yikes, that sounds killer!

http://www.voxamps.co.uk/classicplus/ac50cp2.asp#

Chris

Not a bad amp, but falls short compared to the AC30CC's IMO. I did a pretty long review on the AC50CPH about a year ago.

So are you looking new or used?

If new I would check out the following fenders in this order:
- Fender Super Reverb reissue
- Fender Bassman LTD
- Fender Bluse Deluxe Reissue
- Fender Supersonic

If used you should find a silverface Vibrolux or Pro reverb. The vibrolux reverb is a 210 and the pro reverb is a 212, both are 40 watts. Nice amps. And yes the Blackface/silverface amps are mid scoupped, that is why a tubescreamer pedal which boosts the mids works so well. One thing I like about the super reverb over some of the other vintage fenders is the mid knob on the vibrato channel, its nice to have.

 

[ejecta]

Wow, watch the video tour of this new Vox AC50CP2 combo. Yikes, that sounds killer!

http://www.voxamps.co.uk/classicplus/ac50cp2.asp#

Chris

Not bad but that guy playing the demo while a very good player was extremely.

 

[jonny toetags]

I use my AC30CC2 clean with pedals. I really like the clean on it so that is where i normally leave it.
The crunch is good, but you have to crank it too much.

 

[badger71]

The Zinky Blue Velvet 50w combo is really good, as well. The cleans were ok...nothing stellar. But the overdrive....OMG! The master & channel volumes were the best taper I've ever played and the gain stack went from a mildly light break up to sweet singing fusion lead tone....Plus, Bruce Zinky has several mods that he'll talk you through to customize the amp to get the sounds you want. I put a 12at7 in the V1 of mine to sweeten up the od channel a bit and put a little more sparkle in the clean channel. These are usually pretty inexpensive on the used market. I had the velvet model but you can find them in tolex as well. I'm currently waiting for a 50w head to show up on the used market.

 

[gtr31]

Thump,

Have you ever considered a Randall MTS RM50 or and Egnater rebel head when they come out .

Hughes and kettner has a new statesmen combo dual el84 ,closed back does a great Fendery clean, and a nice hot plexi/ ac30 type drive w/verb
Really articulate little guy...

For all the riffs ive heard ya play . I personally would not go for fender unless it was the supersonic, prosonic or one of the laterr ones .

I just dont think a Marshall player will dig the fender voice for hard rock (yes I know the bassman is what the plexi is from ) ..Rivera is another great choice the older M60 .Jake/rake

 

[daver101]

That Super-Sonic interests me ALOT too. I've played them a couple of times and was very impressed with the distortion. Daver101 brought over his old Super-Sonic head once and it freaking slayed through a 4x12" cab too.

Remember that? That was a nice amp. I almost forgot about that in the haze. It had a very aggressive modern distortion channel.

 

[Marshall Law]

my main gigging amp is a 30 watt CARR HammerHead, 1-12 combo amp, class A, absolutely fucking rocks

 

[Marshall Law]

I've realized that the SAFEST bet is for me to get another DSL50 head and run it through my Antone 2x12" cab. That's a "for sure" winner. There's ZERO doubt I love that rig. So yeah, that's the most logical choice, but I'm yearning to try something different. lol!

get a fuchs overdrive supreme 30 watt 1-12 combo

 

[Marshall Law]

get a fuchs overdrive supreme 30 watt 1-12 combo

For under $1,000?

yea your talkin about 2500.00 for a fuchs
you can get a used CARR hammerhead for under a 1000.00, I paid 800.00 for mine 3 years ago,
takes pedals awesome, actually you will need them,

 

[Marshall Freak]

I'd almost bet if you got another DSL your first Gig report will be all smiles and giggles.. Just sayin'.

I think that amp for you is like a Super Lead for me. I always come back to it no matter what else I try.

 

[Marshall Freak]

I'd almost bet if you got another DSL your first Gig report will be all smiles and giggles.. Just sayin'.

I think that amp for you is like a Super Lead for me. I always come back to it no matter what else I try.

I think you're right. I just yearn for something totally different for some reason! Like a Fender combo with pedals. I can't get that out of my head. Actually, I may head to Guitar Center today with my ToneBone and OCD to try out the Twin Reverb and Bassman. That should help me make up my mind. I may leave there realizing this idea just won't work for me.

Probably a great idea, you also might find it sounds incredible! I wish there was a guitar center near here to try stuff out at.