Best small valve amp (Sub £350)

[Lozz196]

Or Marshall DSL5 - I`ve been very impressed by it, even with the power-shift down to 0.5watts it`s plenty loud enough for home use, to the point where I`m not able to have it on full volume. Not bad for half a watt!

[Harryburke14]

Marshall Origin 20C can now be had for £299. Good plexi style tones.

[LeftyJ]

Was about to start a thread about my latest acquisition, but then I came across this - and thought I'd add my 2 cents, 2 years after the last post 

 

I love small valve amps, and have owned a few:

• a 5 watt EVA (English Valve Amps) head that looked a lot like a kit amp and sounded similar to an Orange;
• two Koch Studiotone 20 watt amps (both the head and combo version): two-channel amp with a shared EQ and a footswitchable gain boost on the lead channel. Great piece of kit, very versatile but fairly bright sounding - and the reverb is never fully off, which can be annoying. Has a built-in power soak and a usable recording output with cab and mic sim. I have since sold the head + 2x12, but still have the combo in my band's rehearsal space for when I require a guitar amp;
• a Koch Classic SE6 (my favourite): single channel, single-ended class A with some clever switching options, and the same built-in power soak and recording output with cab and mic sim the Studiotone has. It takes either a 6V6 or an EL84 as an output tube and sounds great with both. I have a 6V6 in it now, which beefs up the low end a bit and adds some clean headroom to the power section. Like the Orange Tiny Terror, the power tube can be switched between pentode and triode mode to cut the power from 6 to 3 watts;
• an Ibanez TSA5. Fun little amp with a built-in, footswitchable Tubescreamer. It's a fun amp for home use, but without the TS engaged it's fairly quiet. It's cheaply made and could really do with a more solid housing and a better speaker (it has a cheap Celestion Ten-Thirty). It's overly bright, quiet, but most of all the signal-to-noise ratio is VERY disappointing. This is one noisy amp! I bought it new in a clearance sale at Thomann for a great price, so I'm not complaining, but after a few years of barely using it I will soon be selling it after buying the next amp on the list;
• last friday I picked up a used Peavey JSX Mini Colossal at a steal, and I love it! 5 watts, single-ended class A with a variable power sponge that functions as a master volume, FX loop, built-in optical tremolo, XLR recording output with speaker and mic sim, and a custom 8" Weber speaker that sounds much bigger than it looks. Great little amp, that was only in production for a short while in the Joe Satriani signature series. It was never a huge hit, because it came out at an unfortunate moment: right when many manufacturers introduced Asian-made low wattage amps, often with bigger speakers, at much lower prices (the Peavey is USA-made and was therefore relatively expensive in comparison). The Weber speaker is also notorious for taking a lot of time to break in, and will sound overly tight and bright when new. It's great though, and since mine is nearly 15 years old, it's been nicely broken in. basically a Vibro Champ on steroids with a LOT more gain under a dial. I mostly enjoy the cleaner tones I get out of it though, plus it takes pedals really well 

 

When I want to play more quietly, I take out my Yamaha THR-10 II though. It's great, and none of the amps mentioned above really does a good metal tone, where you want preamp gain and tightness and not a clipping power section. The THR delivers, and is plenty loud too. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by LeftyJ

[itsmedunc]

Apologies as I haven't read the whole thread but these look great value if you can fnd one - https://albionus.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/albion-review-tct-35/

[Geek99]

How do you know what speakers they need ?  And are any of these for bass ?

[Kiwi]

On 27/09/2021 at 19:34, LeftyJ said:

• an Ibanez TSA5. Fun little amp with a built-in, footswitchable Tubescreamer. It's a fun amp for home use, but without the TS engaged it's fairly quiet. It's cheaply made and could really do with a more solid housing and a better speaker (it has a cheap Celestion Ten-Thirty). It's overly bright, quiet, but most of all the signal-to-noise ratio is VERY disappointing. This is one noisy amp! I bought it new in a clearance sale at Thomann for a great price, so I'm not complaining, but after a few years of barely using it I will soon be selling it after buying the next amp on the list;

I have two and really like them after trying a TSA15 at a Basschat gig (the TSA15 would qualify for inclusion too, probably).  I think you might have to get yours looked at because mine are dead quiet and plenty loud.  Although mine sort of went down in volume after about three years of use.  I tried switching the output valves but it didn't help.  I suspect the power caps might need replacement which would be a surprise because the amps have never been thrashed - volume never past 4.  I agree about the brightness but that's normal for combos with small speakers. 

 

I also have a 5F2 tweed clone made by a chinese company who export.  I believe they're marketed in the UK under the brand Morris and are hand made with top notch components including orange sprague caps.  The company used to ghost/OEM build the Peavey Classic 30.  The amp is quiet, clean and plenty loud enough - louder than the TSA5's at the moment (because it's newer I guess).  If you push it, the amp will get grindy and snarly but has more headroom than a 5E3.

[itsmedunc]

On 14/10/2021 at 23:05, itsmedunc said:

Apologies as I haven't read the whole thread but these look great value if you can fnd one - https://albionus.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/albion-review-tct-35/

 

I got one of these combos (the Warfedale version). It's great for the money. Warm and creamy and loud as it should be. The 30% mode works really well for bedroom and recording.

[LeftyJ]

On 18/10/2021 at 03:41, Kiwi said:

I have two and really like them after trying a TSA15 at a Basschat gig (the TSA15 would qualify for inclusion too, probably).  I think you might have to get yours looked at because mine are dead quiet and plenty loud.  

Sorry for the late reply, I kinda overlooked this part of the forum for some time. I still have mine, and I must admit I haven't played it in a while because the Koch Classic SE6 took its place in the spotlights, and more recently the Mini Colossal stole what was left of its limelight. Your post just had me give it another go, and I have to admit I've been too harsh with my criticism. In fact, I'm grinning from ear to ear playing my Strat through the TSA5 right now. It's not going anywhere anytime soon 

 

It still is the most fun I've ever had for €100 I guess!

[Kiwi]

16 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

Sorry for the late reply, I kinda overlooked this part of the forum for some time. I still have mine, and I must admit I haven't played it in a while because the Koch Classic SE6 took its place in the spotlights, and more recently the Mini Colossal stole what was left of its limelight. Your post just had me give it another go, and I have to admit I've been too harsh with my criticism. In fact, I'm grinning from ear to ear playing my Strat through the TSA5 right now. It's not going anywhere anytime soon 

 

It still is the most fun I've ever had for €100 I guess!

One of mine recently gave up the ghost - a resistor fried due to a crack in the PCB...and this amp has only had home use.  The PCB can't be repaired.  So now down to one and a hand wired 5F2 Princeton Tweed clone I picked up here a couple of years ago for almost the same money.

[Quilly]

You should be able to pick up a little bastard for around £350 or less. I found one for €250 in the NL which was an absolute steal. You wont blow the doors off the place but it has decent enough poke for small sessions and they sound great.