Guitar amp for recording

Submitted by jg49 on Sun, 06/07/2009 - 02:49

I have been tossing around the idea of getting a small amp for recording and/or practice. Looking for some ideas. Could be something off the shelf or something that could be relatively easily hot rodded. requirements:
less than $1200 (including modifications if needed)
tubes
lightweight
Must have a good rhythm sound
Mostly in the vein of blues/country rock for lead
Most of the guitars I own are humbuckers
I own mostly Fender amps, but am open to other ideas

Comments

If you like Fender amps, your budget puts you in the category of the reissues like the 65 Princeton Reverb. You might be in the price range of the boutique makers for their smaller amps as well. Check out Clay Hullett's amps (though I think of them as great Tele/Strat amps) as well as Dave's recommendations.

On the other hand, my usual assumption is that humbucker players like to play through Marshalls or Marshall-inspired amps. Is this something you've tried and rejected? I really don't know anything about these other than "buy a 1966 JTM 45." Not a practical suggestion.

Conrad OK I'll check that out, Marshall never did much for me except one late 60s I think it was a super lead or something otherwise pretty non plussed with the "British" sound. I certainly wish I could buy something vintage but I've grown used to living indoors and my "sweetie" (while very understanding of the whole music thing) might change the locks. I spent close to ten thousand in 08.
I played the Princeton Reissue it was nice but not love at first listen, besides I have a Fender Deluxe that I frequently gig with, it would nice to have a different "flavor". So I guess I was thinking boutique or hot rodded.

So I emailed Conrad, looking into the Mini. Gotta figure out if I want the tone control or master volume it is either or. It does not have a reverb unit in it, for recording that is not a problem I never track with verb but it would be nice to be able to do small gigs with it, so any thoughts on reverb. I've never used a stomp box reverb pedal but I am thinking it is a little odd to add reverb before the preamp stage, would I be better off with something like a lexicon in an effects loop?

Reverb in a stomp box is only a little different than a tank and you get used to it to the point you dont really notice the slight difference in where the reverb seems to sit after a time.

I've played a Mini. Those things are screamers! The warmth and clarity of these amps has to be experienced to really be described. And they are loud creatures. You get to fully realize the total workings of the pre/power amp link to the speaker. He's got the impedance of the input down to rocket surgery. They feel like no other amp I've played.

Finally, finally my amp arrived yesterday. Of course had to work late, dead tired but got a chance to fool around with it for twenty minutes or so. It is a beast! Amazing low and midrange tone for something this small, clear as a bell, and OMG loud. tHis weekend is nuts, a wedding, family etc but will try and spend some time with it.

Funny I finally got a chance to play with it just this afternoon. Totally awesome. Great tone and clarity, really brings out the strengths of the guitar I was using, a Schecter with an added p90. Just loads more response from the guitars controls than I have had with any other amp. Great crunch with the gain up, real warm with the gain trimmed down and the master up. Didn't have time to drag the Les down from the house but looking forward to it. He said if I wasn't happy I could ship it back for a refund but that ain't happening. Did not have time to record with it, but very satisfied and lots of fun. So more to follow when I get a chance to track it.

jg49 wrote: TGIF and I got out of work early! As a result got a chance to track the new amp and just wanted to cry it was that sweet. I just threw a 57 in front of it just off center cranked it up and recorded for about half hour. I was blown away by how frikking good it sounded, color me astonished.

Every time I play one I get that silly feeling too.

Does Conrad make a separates head? My friend finished my 1 X 12 speaker cabinet. He went nuts. It's the prettiest piece of furniture in my house. 200-year old wormy chestnut barn boards, Dovetail joints. Just finished putting the last coat of tru-oil on it Friday. Put a Weber Jensen-style AlNiCo in it. Makes the Blues Jr come alive.

jg49 wrote: I have been tossing around the idea of getting a small amp for recording and/or practice. Looking for some ideas. Could be something off the shelf or something that could be relatively easily hot rodded. requirements:
less than $1200 (including modifications if needed)
tubes
lightweight
...

JG,

Since the mini is not on Conrad's website, I was wondering if you were able to bring this in on budget.

Yeah, we worked out what features I wanted in the amp, volume, tone, master volume. Decided against putting in reverb or an effects loop but even if I had done that it would have been right around the budget. Total cost was $1045.00. He spoke with me about what I was doing with it, recording and a lot of rhythm work, some lead and he chose two 6v6 tubes for a really warm sound. Suits me perfectly, a lead player might want something a little hotter like EL84s. Basically I would say he is custom building these inside the type of models he is listing.
I bought it to record with but used it Fri. night at a gig. For thirteen watts it is loud if you want it to be, though we mic'd it, which we don't normally do at small club gigs.

Hi all. I can speak a bit to the buildouts. Conrad will basically build whatever you want. A head, a combo etc....The features you desire in an amp. The price will be negotiable. He can voice it to your needs. It can be as loud as you can possibly stand to be in an enclosed area with if thats what you want and have the dollars for. The cabinet work is superb as well as the finish. They LOOK really good and come in a few color and trim combinations. The website has the few basic models that he has perfected, but theres a whole lot of different ones out there right now not listed. They all do things a little differently than the others but they do it well.

I played through one this last week that had EL34's and two stages of preamp. A 3 band EQ, a master and a reverb with the drive and a dwell knob.This is a sweet combo. The reverb is so smooth you have to check to make sure its on! Its not crashy but you can get it to do that if you want.

Lets not forget the bass players. The preamp thats on the site is a KILLER preamp. On a level with Demeter, Alembic,SWR, ALL of em. All of you SUNN lovers from the dark ages will immediately recognize that 200S front-end sound only with a bit more fidelity. This is a great unit for the studio and I'm sure he would customize any of the outputs to be +4 if they arent already if you had a mind to put it in the rack with all your other high-end preamps.