looking for 'lunchbox amps' with fender tube-quality cleans.

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JimmyDoomsday

JimmyDoomsday

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ahoy once again. setting up my bedroom studio and i've currently got an orange dual terror that i'm adequately happy with, but the clean/tiny terror channel leave a little bit to be desired due to its single tone knob. i'm looking to pair its much more enjoyable, gritty 'fat' channel with the sparkling, lush clean tones of a similar sized micro/lunchbox amp and put them side-by-side on my oversized avatar 2x12 and run them with an a/b switch.

i know vox makes a few similarly small-sized amps, but i'd definitely like something to come as close to the fender twin clean tones as possible. bells and whistles aren't necessary as i've got a pretty versatile pedalboard in the works as well (though an fx loop would be nice). any suggestions?
 
the vox nighttrain doesn't do cleans. Really. Its dirt or more dirt. I really haven't heard a good twin clean on a micro head. Check out the carvin V3M. Might get pretty close for you. EL84's though.
 
How about an actual Fender? The blues or pro jr will give you cleans, not super loud but you said for a bedroom studio. I have a Mustang 2 that gets killer cleans in the Fender vein.

I'd also recommend a tweed style, Fender, Richter, Nolatone, lots of great options.
 
Bogner international series. I was looking for vintage Deluxe Reverbs, Pro Reverb. Tried a Bogner New Yorker little combo. It is pure sweetness on the blackface setting on the voicing switch.

A tele and a touch of verb are amazing. Bogner has a vid of the amp. Sounds very much like the old Chris Issac song Wicked Game. The schizo switch on the amp gives you plenty of versatility as well.
 
I haven't tried one, but I think an Egnator Tweaker would fit the bill in its size, power, and sound. :)
 
Try the mesa transatlantic. The little one is under a grand (899 I think) and the tweed setting on channel 2 kills that fender clean sound. It also has a really good vox-ish clean/grit on channel 1.
 
From the ones I've used......Egnater Tweaker hands down. I had a Princeton Reverb that I converted into a head format and the Tweaker sounded damn similar if dialed in right.
 
It's too early to tell for sure but the Carvin Legacy 3 may be a good bet-
 
From what I have played I would say the Egnater Rebel 30. The tweaker 15 and rebel 20 are also notable mentions.
 
the tiny terror channel isn't meant to be a clean channel. the dual terror is a dirty and dirtier amp.
 
H&K Tubemeister 18 has a nice EL 84 clean channel. Works great with pedals too.
 
I have an Engl Gigmaster that has a pretty great clean, it can get some dirt on the clean as well, but def can handle clean. I may be selling it if you end up wanting to know more about this amp hit me up
 
colimofsmoke":130hzbcp said:
how is that gigmaster on the metalz?
Click to expand...

I think its decent. I had the Egnater rebel, Blackstar HT-5 and the Engl for the small heads and the Engl has been my favorite and most versatile. My biggest gripe with the gigmaster is the shared eq, I would want to eq the drive channel differently then the clean channel when using as a channel switcher. But It has a pretty nice distortion with plenty of gain if you crrank up the input gain.. Stock it sounded slightly solid state, but after swapping out the tubes to higher quality ones, it really helped. At high volumes, there isn't a ton of clean headroom, but I really do like the clean, cleanish sounds on this amp, as I actually tend to like a little hair on my cleans

here is a track I did demoing the gigmaster when I first got it, not really metal, but there are some chunky stuff in here, standard tuning. bet it would be better lower..
 
Another vote for the Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister line--either the 5 or the 18--the 18 does heavier tones better from what I hear. I'm also quite fond of the JCA22H but the cleans aren't that Fender-chimey. If you REALLY want the goods and can spend the cash, get the Hughes & Kettner Puretone.
 
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