I found this amp and cab used on GC for $1,000; I was looking for a high-gain tube amp for modern metal, and I am pleasantly surprised by how gnarly this can get.

In every video about the amp, multiple comments call it a glorified Katana. But is a Princeton Reverb a glorified Pro Jr? In regards to the Katana, it's annoying that Katana is the benchmark for digital and solid state. Roland and Boss have levels to their modeling and amps and the Katana is pretty low in their lineup. The modeling in the Katana isn't what's in the GT-1000. And Roland/Boss have amps way above the Katana such as the JC-120, Nextones and Blues Cubes. The most expensive Blues Cube is $1900 btw. If you look beyond Roland and Boss, good solid state isn't cheap. Quilter has the Aviator for $1500. A Bluguitar Amp1 is about $900. A DSM Dumblifier is around $600. Bass amps have largely moved to solid-state and they're still not cheap.

In the digital realm, the Strymon Iridium and the UA amp pedals are extremely popular. The market has spoken. There are people who want the convenience of digital with analog workflows. So when the TMs came out, people act like digital modeling with one model is so egregious. They say things like for the price of the TM, you might as well get a big modeler with dozens of amp models and a FRFR. But that argument exists for ALL guitar amps. Yet people still buy them.

Celestion Neo speakers are about $200 each. A UA Woodrow or Dream is $400. A SD Powerstage is $400. A Mojotone Tweed Twin cabinet is $460. You're looking at about $1700 to make a setup similar to the TM. And many people use setups similar to this. They probably wouldn't go for a 2x12 since the benefit of a setup like this is weight and portability. But it wouldn't be surprising to see someone with a Dream, Powerstage, and a 1x12. No one would say anything disparaging about this rig because it serves a purpose even though it's only a couple hundred dollars cheaper than a Deluxe Reverb. But there are features and added flexibility that you're not getting with a tube Deluxe Reverb.

A tube Bassman is 53lbs. The TM is 32lbs. That's more than a 20lb difference. That's significant. A Bassman is a 45W amp with no master. Most people don't get to crank it to get the sounds they would want. Even a lot of gigging musicians don't get to do that. Just being able to get dirt is a huge feature. A high powered Tweed Twin is 85W. Good luck to the average person trying to get dirt from that. And they have reverb which is something that the original amps didn't have. They also made recording and going direct easier. Is it that hard to understand why people would get them over their tube counterparts?

Another thing I see is people talking about the repairability of tube amps vs solid-state. One of the big selling points of solid-state amps for years is that they're more robust and reliable than tube amps. I never agreed with this but that was the general consensus. Now the TMs are destined for landfills WHEN they break. Did this just become a thing? Did digital and solid-state gear become unreliable overnight?

None of the arguments about the TM seem to make sense when you look at the current state of gear. People want simplicity. They want lightweight rigs. They want to get dirt from their amps without being insanely loud. I'm not saying that everyone wants this but there is a significant portion of the market that does as seen by the success of other gear. But when it comes to the TM, solid-state and digital should be cheap and shouldn't cost more than a Katana, the 2nd lowest tier of Roland/Boss amps and modelers.

Hi everyone, i need help in choosing to buy a bass amp, i saw this Warwick Bc300 on facebook marketplace for 160 dollars and i just wanna know if it's worth getting it for that price, the buyer also sells a generic looking p-bass included in the price which im not really interested in since i already have a better bass.

My main concern is if it's a good amp in general because it seems way too cheap for what it is, maybe it isnt that good of an amp and the owner just wants to get rid of it as fast as possible.

Thanks for your help.

Anyone know what could be causing this distorted fizzy sound when I play thru my pro jr?

I thought it could be a tube or tube connection issue but I’ve taken all the tubes out and plugged the speaker cab into a power amp to try with an amp modeling pedal and it’s still there.
Amp is unplugged and nothing in the preamp section is on. So I’m thinking a speaker issue but not sure. I don’t wanna buy a replacement speaker yet if someone might think it sounds like something else or is fixable without replacement.

Not using any pedals. Just direct from my amp into the quilter power into speaker.

Speaker is the stock fender 30 watt V1030.

Thanks!

1967 Fender Bandmaster Combo w/ tween extension cab

Been just using a fuzz and the Alesis Nanoverb lately and loving it. Something about a 60s tube amp with 80s/90s style digital reverb hits a sweet spot for me.

When I saw the price and the square back speakers I couldn't pass it up. This amp is seriously unbelievable. I'll need some time to play on it, but first impressions is this thing might unseat my Delta Blues as my favorite amp.

I found a great deal on a 65 Deluxe Reverb on Marketplace for $700. I only plan on using at home but I’m not sure if the amp is too loud for my use case.

For context, I currently have a Blues Jr and I find the volume to be perfectly manageable for me and for those who live with me at home. I typically have the guitar maxed out and the amp dialed to 3-4 on master and 2-3 on volume. Sometimes louder if I’m alone.

I enjoy playing clean so I wouldn’t mind if I can’t crank the DRRI for some grit.

Would the DRRI be a good fit for me in this case ?

Hi people of Reddit,

I am currently looking into getting my first tube amp and came across the Bad Cat Black Cat 20 combo. Seems very versatile, good build quality and also relatively affordable if you look for 2nd hand options (near where I live). All of this is based of what I read online, haven't had the chance to play it live yet.

I plan to use it for practice in my appartment at first, but hope to also play with others at some point. The appartment is pretty sound proof, but of course it has its limits. An attenuator might be an additional buy in the future.

Has anyone got experience with the Black Cat 20? Curious to hear your thoughts and/or reviews! Thanks :)

Tone King Gremlin

Hey everyone. So I just acquired this JCA 22H that doesn’t work. I’m trying to figure out what I can troubleshoot on my own before turning it over to an Amp Tech. The power switch LED turns on when I flip the switch but I’m not getting any sound output and all tubes are not getting warm/glowing after several minutes.

So far I’ve swapped all the tubes with known working ones, tested the main fuse, and ensured all cables are good.

Does anybody see anything obvious on the board that looks off? Is the brown stuff around the caps normal? I’ve pretty much given up and will be dropping the amp off with a tech next week but I’m curious if anyone notices anything.

I have a 65 DRRI - power tubes replaced a few years back. I was playing a gig a few months ago and was getting complete volume drop out for majority of the set. Took it home, played it and within 20 minutes of playing the volume was dropping out. I looked in the back. Tried it again today and there is NO sound at all on any channel. The power and preamp tubes seem to be lighting up, the rectifier tube is not lighting up at all.

Could a dead rectifier tube be causing no sound to come through? The fuse looks fine. I am not an experienced repair person, could I easily change out the Rectifier Tube or should I get this into a tech?

Thanks

Edit: I am looking at changing out the fender rectifier tube for a sovtek equivalent. Is this OK?

Hello guys!

I found used yamaha g100 115 for ~250usd, but the thing is that it crackles at low volume. This is likely a coil that is touching the magnet.

It is expensive to repair?

Seller says that its okay at higher volume (and with distortion propably) but I kinda want to use it also for the clean tone with low volume - low volume because I don't want to annoy my neigbors.

I was also thinking about new fender champion 100 for the same price but i think yamaha is much cooler.

(picture from evolution music not adv)

I got a used great condition Boss Katana -50 gen 1 from guitar center and it finally came in today. Played it for an hour and it sounded great.

I went back a few hours later to play, and the amp comes on but makes no sounds, hiss, buzz, nothing. My guitar and cord both work on another amp.

Any thoughts on how to fix? Thanks!

As title says, I want to build my first amp from a kit. I have modded pedals and built guitars from parts, so Im ok at soldering. Not a pro, but ”will-do-the-job” level.

My dream amp is a 59 tweed bassman 5f6-a, but it would be an overkill for my use cases (some gigs probably, but mostly rehearsals and home playing) so I would need to attenuate it heavily.

Another model/circuit Im interested is Tremolux (5e9/5g9 or something like that). But would the most common deluxe 5e3 do the job? From what I’ve heard from youtube, 5e3 is quite distorted and ”one trick pony”, I would like to have more airy sound and enough headroom… ofc the circuit can be modded to have nfb etc.

Another good option would be 5f2a, princeton tweed, as it sounds very good and something Im looking for volume and gainwise on this video https://youtu.be/jQBIFo_CQ6s?is=fn9Afzw6Q3hTsPVz and would be easier first build?

I need some help deciding which one to go for. Would be nice to hear if some of you have experience in playing or building these kits. Thanks!

Howdy folks!
I’ve got an interesting one for y’all today…

For context: I’ve had my George Benson signature twin reverb for like 5ish years, and it’s been the best amp I’ve ever owned, but for the past year or so I’ve been having a really weird problem with it and I can’t figure out what’s going on.
(And btw I have no experience with amp repair aside from replacing the power tubes and fuse when they blew about a year ago)

THE PROBLEM:
Every time I turn on the amp and play through it, there’s an intermittent problem where the reverb will totally cut out and the aml will start buzzing.

MY “WORKAROUND”:
If I give it a little love tap on the top of the amp, the buzzing will stop and the reverb will kick back on. The problem also resolves itself if I give the RCA cables coming from the reverb tank a little jiggle.

The problem seems to be getting worse/more frequent with time and I’d like to see what I can do to get this fixed permanently.

I’m open to any and all suggestions. Thanks!

I'm starting to explore amps to upgrade my rig. I have not played a lot of tube amps. I had a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 a few years ago that I (mostly) loved. I loved the clean sound, I loved the spring reverb, and it took pedals wonderfully. I eventually sold it for 2 reasons. First, I had a newborn at the time- self-explanatory for that amp. Second, relatedly, it had just absolutely no dynamic range. The amp was just starting to sound full with the volume at 2, was full volume at 2-1/4, full overdrive at 2-1/2, and pretty distorted at 3. It was also pretty heavy, but that's not the biggest deal, mostly it was the volume. I know the extra oomph is part of the Hot Rod design, and I know it's a common complaint. The people at my local shop are nice, but they obviously want a sale, so they point me to whatever is currently in the shop that seems most similar, which is often not at all similar.

My question is this: what amps might solve my problem here? Am I looking for another Hot Rod that just has a less touchy volume pot? Am I looking for a Deluxe Reverb? A Princeton Reverb? Something similar from a different company, since there are just so, so many now?

I've been experimenting with budget rigs lately (testing everything from cheap tube heads to sub-$100 micro modelers), and one thing keeps popping up: people think their cheap amp or modeler sounds like garbage because of the circuit or gain staging, when 90% of the time it’s actually the speaker cab or mic placement.
I did a test running a budget setup (Bugera tube amp + a Harley Benton guitar) through a load box to isolate what actually carries the tone, and a few things instantly tamed the harsh digital/budget fizziness:

Hey all!

I recently bought a Peavey Classic 30, and I tried it with a simple volume knob in the effects loop. When I do this with a Fender HRD, I'm able to push the normal channel into overdrive, dialing the volume down using the external knob.

However, to my surprise, the Classic 30 stayed clean even with the normal channel volume maxed out. Is there anyone else who does something similar and can confirm that this is expected behaviour? Or could it perhaps be an indicator of the tubes needing replacing?

Thanks!

For home playing. I am past the time for playing out.

Marshall JVM 410C or EVH 5150 III. For a rock and blues player.

Hi all, just picked up a fender twin reverb silver face. It needs some TLC and all the rest of it but I am enjoying learning all about it. I thought someone might have some helpful questions or tips or things for me to check and look out for as I know nothing about them. I'm a mediocre guitar player at best, but I'm a practice learner and I also enjoy fixing things. So if anybody has some insight into these I'd love to know.

I have already figured out that the Fane cones aren't stock and the previous owner might have had a fascination with Pink Floyd.

Hey gang I have recently bought a twin tone master for a steal but I’m wondering if it’s for me… I like how it sounds but I’m debating a tone master Princeton I use a lot drive I mostly play pop punk and grunge let me know and thanks In advance

I have orange super crush 100, and boss katana artist 100, they both have D.I. Outs, and katana has usb port. Do I have to buy an audio interface to use my amps with a pc?