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Well, I'm a hobbyst, so I'm obviously not giggin' and I think my best bet would be a 2x12 valve combo, like a dual rectifier roadster or a peavey 6505 212. I would love to see a similar combo for the VH4 by Diezel as well.

I think it takes the cake for me because it is more practical.

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I've been seriously considering getting rid of my faithful JCM 2000 (TSL 100) half-stack. I love it but I rarely get much use out of it anymore. I don't play regular gigs and life is busy among other things. Ideally I'll get an all-tube combo amp which is a bit more practical for me at this stage in life. I'm just not sure if I want to stick with Marshall (I've always been a "Les Paul through a Marshall" kind of guy) or try something new. A friend of mine has a Vox AC30 which sounds great but I'm not sure it's quite versatile enough for me. What I've always loved about the TSL was the three individual channels with individual volume, EQ, and so on.

Chewbacca mentioned some good options. But for a low watt/cheap tube amp combo: Peavey Classic 20(or 30). It's voiced quite like an older Marshall, I have one and it's my practice tube amp when my 1959 isn't being used for whatever reason. My Peavey is a Classic 20, and it can easily hold its own against a drumset (and get decently quiet enough for home use), mind you the speaker is only 10" so the sound isn't huge. But the people over at mylespaul.com/forums say that if you take the Peavey and plug it into an external cab with proper speakers, it sounds just as good as any old Marshall.

There are a few newer Marshall combos that you might like, but really the only good one is fairly expensive (there is a Slash signature, not the Jubilee, combo that even non-Slash fans agree is probably the best sounding low watt Marshall tube combo at the moment). If you want any more information on any of the things I've mentioned let me know and I'll look a few things up, been a while since I was seriously following gear by the day.

If you're moving from a stack to a combo, you may have a tough time finding something with 3 channels with separate EQ's. 1-2 channels with 1-2 EQ's is more likely. The Mesa Mark IV's are supposed to be terrific, and if I remember correctly they have a lot of settings for messing with the tone, whereas the Peavey and (Slash) Marshall are pretty standard bass-mids-treb-presence-vol types.

Edited by OmarBradley
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Yup, it's a trans-tube, something like a transistor trying to emulate tubes. Not the best for that kind of sound, but sure is better than regular solid state. I'm aiming at something with 6L6 and 12AX7 tubes and ceramic speakers, like the 6505 and Rectifier.

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Yup, it's a trans-tube, something like a transistor trying to emulate tubes. Not the best for that kind of sound, but sure is better than regular solid state. I'm aiming at something with 6L6 and 12AX7 tubes and ceramic speakers, like the 6505 and Rectifier.

I've never played through any other Peavey, I'm assuming the 6505 would do it for you though. Rectifier's sound good but... I don't know, there's something about them I don't like. Much prefer the Mark series.

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The rectifier is a more modern sounding amp than the mark series and it works great with downtuned stuff and scooped metal tones, which is kind of my thing, but it lacks some versatility. The clean sounds are a bit too clear and the distorted highs are a bit too cutting for more classic rock stuff.

The 6505 is also a great amp for Metal, but it can do the blues as well as extreme metal -and is cheapier. I believe I can get great results from it, as Jerry Cantrell said: "it is nasty as fuck". He did use them on Sludge factory from the tripod album after VH gave him 3 5150 Stacks to him.

I think I'm leaning more towards the Peavey as it is cheapier and I've already sent my MD-2 to be modified to have a rectifier sound, Not to mention that the 6505 212 combo has a killer design.

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Thanks for the suggestions up there guys.

I was finally able to test out what I've been itching to try - the new 5150 50 Watt Combo, and I fell in love. Much better than it's bigger brother in terms of features. I'm able to get a good deal on it through my local music store so I might end up going that route. For a high gain amp it can clean up nicely. All tube, three independent channels (I can deal with channels 1 and 2 sharing EQ considering many tube combos rarely come with more), built in reverb and attenuator (unlike the bigger brother), and so on. Lots of nice features for a combo, and the attenuator is damn good. Amazing to get such strong tube tone at bedroom volumes or quieter as well as have the ability to crank it.

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Thanks for the suggestions up there guys.

I was finally able to test out what I've been itching to try - the new 5150 50 Watt Combo, and I fell in love. Much better than it's bigger brother in terms of features. I'm able to get a good deal on it through my local music store so I might end up going that route. For a high gain amp it can clean up nicely. All tube, three independent channels (I can deal with channels 1 and 2 sharing EQ considering many tube combos rarely come with more), built in reverb and attenuator (unlike the bigger brother), and so on. Lots of nice features for a combo, and the attenuator is damn good. Amazing to get such strong tube tone at bedroom volumes or quieter as well as have the ability to crank it.

Sounds like you lucked out, nice gear grab. See if they'll service it before you buy it, or find out when the last service/new tubes were put in.

Attenuator? What is that?

I don't know the science/tech behind it, but it's essentially a device that "attenuates" (lowers) the output volume of a tube amp, while still aiming to maintain tone. I'm not sure if it directly cuts power or uses another method, and I'd guess that different attenuators work differently. I have one for my Marshall head, because the thing is too damned loud even in a big room with a full band. It's not often that an attentuator will come stock inside an amp though, generally they are bought from companies that specifically manufacture attentuators, pedals, or musical accessories.

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Like having the crancked up tone in a volume that will not my blow my windows?

Exactly. You can have the MV or gain knobs on your amp at 10, but if the attenuator is set to less than 100% of whatever method it uses (could be single rotating dial like on an amp, or a toggle switch between multiple settings), the amp will be quieter than it would be without the attenuator. However, not all attenuators are great, even the good ones often have to sacrifice some tone in order to achieve lower volumes. My Marshall head into a 2x12 is borderline too loud for home use with the attenuator at a reasonable setting to maintain solid tone. At a certain point it doesn't make sense for me to drive my Marshall head at 5% of its volume capacity.... because honestly at that level, my MicroCube sounds better. I use the attenuator for band rehearsals and shows.

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Like having the crancked up tone in a volume that will not my blow my windows?

Exactly. You can have the MV or gain knobs on your amp at 10, but if the attenuator is set to less than 100% of whatever method it uses (could be single rotating dial like on an amp, or a toggle switch between multiple settings), the amp will be quieter than it would be without the attenuator. However, not all attenuators are great, even the good ones often have to sacrifice some tone in order to achieve lower volumes. My Marshall head into a 2x12 is borderline too loud for home use with the attenuator at a reasonable setting to maintain solid tone. At a certain point it doesn't make sense for me to drive my Marshall head at 5% of its volume capacity.... because honestly at that level, my MicroCube sounds better. I use the attenuator for band rehearsals and shows.

Shit it basically just works like a potentiometer between your actual amp and the speakers in the combo. If it is what I'm thinking of anyway. That was you can turn the amp up loud enough to push it and get that great tube sound but control how much power ultimately goes to your speakers.

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Shit it basically just works like a potentiometer between your actual amp and the speakers in the combo. If it is what I'm thinking of anyway. That was you can turn the amp up loud enough to push it and get that great tube sound but control how much power ultimately goes to your speakers.

Wiki confirms this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_attenuator_(guitar)

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I've had my current setup for 1 and a half years, and never had any GAS symptoms during that time. The secret is a Line 6 Pod X3, with a couple of good JCM800 patches, and a Jerry Cantrell signature Crybaby. The Pod acts as my computer's soundcard at the same time, so I can go to YouTube, play a video, and jam on top of that. Everything comes out of a pair of KRK monitors. It's awesome. I don't think I will ever get an amp.

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I've had my current setup for 1 and a half years, and never had any GAS symptoms during that time. The secret is a Line 6 Pod X3, with a couple of good JCM800 patches, and a Jerry Cantrell signature Crybaby. The Pod acts as my computer's soundcard at the same time, so I can go to YouTube, play a video, and jam on top of that. Everything comes out of a pair of KRK monitors. It's awesome. I don't think I will ever get an amp.

Yeah I've heard of people doing that and being incredibly pleased with their tone, and I'd probably be pretty cool with it too. But...

That's pretty cool, especially for a home player like myself, but I would still prefer a good tube amp.

...I need to have my ears blown out by 100 watts of 1970's Marshall power, otherwise, it just doesn't feel right.

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Attenuator? What is that?

The other guys have already given better technical explanations than I could give but basically the way it works on the 5150 is to change the wattage from anywhere to 1 W to 50 W without sacrificing tone. That way I can keep the volume cranked to push the tubes but not have to be overly loud either. I've got to say it works damn well. I can't always crank my amp so it's nice to have that as a feature.

Thanks for the suggestions up there guys.

I was finally able to test out what I've been itching to try - the new 5150 50 Watt Combo, and I fell in love. Much better than it's bigger brother in terms of features. I'm able to get a good deal on it through my local music store so I might end up going that route. For a high gain amp it can clean up nicely. All tube, three independent channels (I can deal with channels 1 and 2 sharing EQ considering many tube combos rarely come with more), built in reverb and attenuator (unlike the bigger brother), and so on. Lots of nice features for a combo, and the attenuator is damn good. Amazing to get such strong tube tone at bedroom volumes or quieter as well as have the ability to crank it.

Sounds like you lucked out, nice gear grab. See if they'll service it before you buy it, or find out when the last service/new tubes were put in.

No service needed - it was brand new. ;)

I think I made a wise choice. It's a hell of an amp.

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