Grateful Dead Music Forum

Ok here is my situation. I have a Fender Pro Tube Twin Amp 212 100 watt all tube. I love the tone and plenty of volume when I have it dialed in right. My problem is that it is very very heavy and I am feeling pretty old. It also has had an issue from time to time and I am afraid to really count on it for a gig.

Here is what I want. I figured I can sell this for about $900 or so and maybe kick in a couple of hundred more but that is about it.

I primarily play the blues but do also play some classic rock and starting to get into some jazz. So I would think I need to stick to something with 2 channels so I can get a nice clean tone and an over driven tone as well. ( I of course play dead but my band only plays a couple of tunes)

Although I have really been a believer that nothing sounds as good as a tube amp, I am open to suggestions for a solid state as they will be much lighter so long as I can still get that warm tone.

I also need something powerful enough or loud enough for a small club when not going through a PA.

Lastly, it should to be something that I can try either through a local guitar center or sam ash or any place in the West Palm Beach area. I can order it from anywhere just so long as I can hear it first.

Jackr, many people really like the Mesa Lonestar for what you've described.
It didn't work for me but it appears I am in the minority on this issue...

Fender Deluxe Reverb

strumminsix wrote:Jackr, many people really like the Mesa Lonestar for what you've described.
It didn't work for me but it appears I am in the minority on this issue...

Why didnt it work for you? I will try to test it out locally this weekend.

Bobbyg wrote:Fender Deluxe Reverb

That may be too close to what I have.

jackr wrote:

strumminsix wrote:Jackr, many people really like the Mesa Lonestar for what you've described.
It didn't work for me but it appears I am in the minority on this issue...

Why didnt it work for you? I will try to test it out locally this weekend.

I wanted that classic Fender clean and it just didn't have it. The clean was very good. The drive was okay. I couldn't get a blues light OD but a nice crunch!!!

jackr wrote:

Bobbyg wrote:Fender Deluxe Reverb

That may be too close to what I have.

Wouldn't "close to what you already have" + lighter in weight = your descrip of what you are looking for?

My own suggestion was going to be to get a similar amp but with only 1x12 instead of two. Deluxe would not be a pretty different amp than his PT-T: about 1/4 the power and tube rect instead of SS rect. I'd say look for a used early 80's Super 60 or Concert, or even Mark series Mesa if you find a deal.

Or maybe you'd like the tube rectifier. You could look into those great-sounding Traynor YCV40's, which have something called "tube rectifier emulation" ... is that something that can be switched to plain old SS? anyone know?

Here's your local Craigslist for amps in the 500-1100 range: http://miami.craigslist.org/search/msg? ... axAsk=1100 ... pretty limited selection, given the dense population in this market!

Here's the DR you would probably want to look into if you explore that route: http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/msg/1068510447.html

Tigerstrat, good points. I will look into that and thanks for doing some work for me and looking stuff up on craigslist.

The Fender Supersonic combo might be a good option. There is a clean channel with two voicings. The first is based on the Vibrasonic, which is very bright and has twin-like headroom, which is to say it will never break up. I use this setting when I want a Garcia or Knopfler type tone. Good for Jazz too. The second voicing on the clean channel is modeled on a Bassman, which begins to rumble and growl when dialed above five. Very classic and powerful blues tone, my favorite setting.

The drive channel has two (cascading) gain knobs which is probably similar to your Prosonic. At studio volume I can go from a slightly overdriven tone to an all out crunch, with no help from the pedals. You don't quite get to the Marshall Plexi or Soldano type crunch so if you're looking for that you might want to focus on something with equipped with EL34 tubes as opposed to the typical Fender 6L6s.

The combo version (60W/12" Celestion) weighs 54 lbs and has a nice reverb feature. I believe it is good quality with point to point wiring etc. I've been very happy with the Supersonic. I would definitely give it a try.

Good points, TS. The Lonestar actually has a switch on the back to go between tube and diode rectification.

Also 2 reverbs. And the drive channel has a few voicings.

Must players who are looking for very good clean & very good OD in 1 amp find success with it.

But it does not work for folks who say need a Fender clean or a Marshall OD, etc... It is what it is...

An amp that is definitely worth test driving is a Peavey Classic 30. I know, Peavey doesn't really excite me too much either, but I know a few people who swear by this amp and they sound pretty sweet. Definitely worth a test.

I took the afternoon off and I'm going to head to the store today and take a look around. A buddy of mine also suggested the VOX AC30.

Looks like I am going to have a fun afternoon.

jackr wrote:

Bobbyg wrote:Fender Deluxe Reverb

That may be too close to what I have.

Only it only has one 12" speaker instead of two. Much lighter.

jackr wrote:I took the afternoon off and I'm going to head to the store today and take a look around. A buddy of mine also suggested the VOX AC30.

Looks like I am going to have a fun afternoon.

You may go home with that amp. Good choice....when it comes to choice, good goes without saying.

I love those JCM 800 combo amps. Try one of those as well.

Crazy 9.5 Fingers wrote:An amp that is definitely worth test driving is a Peavey Classic 30. I know, Peavey doesn't really excite me too much either, but I know a few people who swear by this amp and they sound pretty sweet. Definitely worth a test.

Great amps. During much of the 90's, those tweed-covered Peavey Classics (30's and 50's) popped up on a lot of big-time rock stages. Steve Winwood using one on the 1994 Traffic tour is one specific that springs to mind...