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Hi, guys.
I know these are very different amps, but I’m not able to test either of them, so I’m asking for your kind help. I’m mostly an amateur classical guitarist who is making a comeback to jazz. I’ve just bought a Sire H7 — great guitar, by the way — but I’m plugging it into a lousy solid-state Staner amp. It’s almost like plugging the guitar into a transistor radio: very dirty even at low volumes, and not in a good way, obviously.
So, I need an amp, but I know almost nothing about them and have zero experience. I’m looking for an amp with a good clean tone, suitable for jazz, and of course I came across the DV Mark Little Jazz recommendation. However, during my research, I was also reminded of tube amps, how the great jazz masters used them, their “responsiveness,” etc. Since I also enjoy a bit of blues and classic rock, the idea of one of those amps started to grow on me.
That said, I’m afraid the Tube15 may be too loud for my intended use (home), or that I won’t be able to get a clean, “jazzy” sound out of it. On the other hand, I’m concerned that the DV Mark might sound too “cold” or “dead.” As for the price, both are at the top of my budget right now. Since I live in Brazil (and will have to pay expensive shipping costs and 60% in taxes), neither is cheap, but the Tube15 is about USD 150 cheaper.
Thanks in advance!
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01-05-2026 01:11 PM
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Hey,
Have a look at this comparison, it has the DV little jazz up against 2 decent tube amps:
Personal preference - I will always advocate for a tube amp, there is just something special that tubes give you and which cannot be found in solid state or digital. With that being said, based on what I heard online, if I had to pick a solid state, I would pick the DV Mark Little Jazz.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, I did play through the "lowly" Fender Frontman 20G and it was surprisingly decent for what it is, especially played clean.
Would u use the amp for gigging, and if so will there be a drummer around? Or are you just playing home?
The Princeton 68 custom reverb will probably be over your budget, but would you be able to stretch for a 68 Custom Vibro Champ? It sounds like a Princeton, has a 10in speaker and it should still be fine for a jazz gig. Julian Lage used a Tweed Champ for the longest time.Last edited by jazzloverfat; 01-05-2026 at 10:54 PM.
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I would not characterize my Little Jazz as "cold" or "dead". It's a very good-sounding amp to my ears. I've never been near a Harley-Benton anything, so I have nothing to say about that amp.
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I'm not familiar with the Harley Benton 15W tube amp but I own a DV Little Jazz and I do get a warm, "woody" clean tone with it. As the name says, it was designed for jazz (archtop) guitar. That said, of all my amps my favourite one is my tube 100W Yamaha T100C amp: cleanest, warmest and with the most headroom. But the Little Jazz is pretty close!
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I'd go with the tube amp, because it will have more character and sweetness.
The Tube 15 is tremendous bang for the buck.
And don't worry about it being too loud, just use your volume knobs.
And if you need to play with other guys, you'll have headroom if you want it, with the benefit of the tubes cooking your tone.
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Never saw a Tube 15. But I've been using an LJ for five years or so.
I have a band room and that's the amp I use in it. With bass, drums, keys and horn, it's fine, but we don't play loud there.
I've used the LJ on gigs but eventually I decided that it wasn't quite holding its own on making chords sound crisp when turned up to be loud enough for gigs, so I stopped using it for gigs. But for home use it sounds very good and not that much different from an original 1964 Ampeg Reverberocket. Not the best amp I've ever played through, but pretty good.
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If it's any help I often play though a Little Jazz or the Jazz 60 (head version of the Little Jazz) and they're good sounding amps. I certainly wouldn't describe the sound as cold or dead. My main criticism is the reverb is a bit odd sounding at higher settings.
Just because an amp has tubes doesn't mean it's going to sound amazing... I'd prefer a DV Mark over something like a Fender Blues Junior as an example.
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Not familiar with the HB, so I just took a look. In addition to the 3-band Bass-Midd-Treb, there is a "Tone" control. I wonder how that interacts with the former(?)
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Just my experience so take this with a grain of salt but the Harley Benton is an el84 amplifier and I have never once gotten a tone I could even live with out of an el84 amplifier. I found them all to be very gritty and designed for edgy rocktones that did me no good whatsoever.
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A 15 w tube amp at home volume, whatever the tubes in it, won't get gritty before the neighboors knock at the door.
I've got a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV and a Mesa Boogie F30 (6L6 vs El) and they sound similar at home volume. What makes the difference in this situation is the cab and speaker size.
It's when you arrive at loud gigging volumes you can feel the 6L6 makes a difference.
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I have had my DV Mark LJ six years. It is not my #1 amp - that is a Quilter Aviator Cub. But it is the amp I grab and go with most often because it is so stinking portable! I use it to rehearse with a small combo in a large room at the community college, I have used it on club gigs in smaller rooms, I have travelled to Jazz workshops with it where I lug it between rooms, and it's the amp my buddies use when they come over jam. It has a classic jazz tones - I can darken it to cover more width when there's no piano, and sharpen it when there is and I am putting chords into spaces to accent. It's hard to believe that speaker is so small. The reverb is just OK.
It's definitely one of the best equipment purchases I've made. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with it unless they need more sound for a larger room and they are playing in a combo with a piano and horns.
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in general l would not recommend an El84 amp for solid clean tone. 6L6 tubes produce that fat sound, 6v6s are a bit thinner
my ex- cheapo chinese tweedchamp copy (same producer?) died after ca. 100 switch-ons, repair not worthwhile, thus
expensive in the end.
the t.c. electronic bam 200(?) bass head for 150,- gives 200 watts, is small, red(communist!!! or socialist?), polytonish, solid state, stylish in my living room and reliable up to now - at volume on 9 o´clock it stays cold.
you can search this forum
While Gitterbug and J Zucker have different ideas, l will mount a speaker in a cupboard door (...my GF lives somewhere else)
other topic: some of the living rooms shown here urgently need help regarding styling and clearing up.
you might read books about danish , italian or japanese design , magazines ... or take professional help.
how can some of you exist in such optical mess and kitsch ? is it your wifes? being very poor? l just wonder.
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As others have said, the LJ is very warm and delivers a nice full jazz tone. I have been very happy with it for home use, and I have 4 excellent tube amps to compare it to. One of them sounds a bit better- but it is a $3000 tube amp!
Originally Posted by Marcos_l
In general, not knowing about this Harley Benton, in my opinion if you are going that low in price, I would go solid state every time. I have never found a great cheap tube amp, and it is unlikely to be great sounding, durable, and delivering the impact of a great (expensive!) tube amp.
As far as blues and classic rock go, just find a. good OD pedal.
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Thanks everyone for the replies! Just in case not everyone knows this, the Harley Benton Tube15 is supposedly the same amp as the Stage Right by Monoprice 15-Watt sold in the USA, just rebranded. Originally Posted by jazzloverfat
In this video, I honestly liked the sound of the first amp (the Princeton) the most, but I didn’t care as much for the Blues Junior or the Roland Blues, so that really shows that tubes alone aren’t everything.
I liked both DV Mark amps, and interestingly enough (or maybe not), I also liked the little Frontman. The truth is that my current amp is so bad that pretty much anything would be a huge upgrade, lol.
Considering that I’ll be buying from Thomann and shipping to Brazil, I think the safest option really is the Little Jazz. The maintenance aspect of tube amps scared me a bit, and I’m not even sure there’s a technician in my city who really knows how to work on tube amps.
One last question about the Little Jazz: would I need a reverb pedal? I’ve read a few reviews saying that its reverb is basically unusable, but I haven’t been able to hear it myself.
Thanks again!
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I think the reverb is okay. Not great, but I've seen few amps with great built-in reverb. People say it sounds weird when turned way up, but I can't imagine having it above 3, and that's too much reverb for me. But if I can easily tell there is reverb, it's too much. I tend to keep it at about 2, in the same ballpark as what I use on a Vibrolux Reverb. I wouldn't rush to buy a reverb pedal until trying the built-in reverb and hating it. I don't hate it.
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+1
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My feeling is the same. It sounds fine at low to moderate settings, which is most of the reverb I need. I do add some more with my pedalboard, so I have the LJ set at maybe 9 o'clock. If you turn it to noon or so, it sounds chorusy or something. My son likes that sound, but I don't. Originally Posted by sgosnell
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I had a DV Mark little GH head, and it sounded great, but the reverb was metallic & chorusey.
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Here in Germany, where the Harley Benton brand is from, I have never seen a self-respecting musician play it.
Go for the Little Jazz.
(Having said that, I do own a no-name Champ clone that I like to take to sessions. It’s one of these “great for the price” things.)
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9 0'clock is much too high for me, but that's a matter of taste. Noon is well into surf territory, and I'm not a fan. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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On the solid state side Quilter is another option. You may as well play the field until its time for an actual purcahse. Im very happy with mine.
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The Quilter Soundblock US is what I use almost exclusively at home. It's a great-sounding amp with the right speaker cabinet, and it doesn't heat my house nor run up my electricity bill. I have multiple cabs, but what I mostly use at home is my old Vibrolux Reverb. The two 10" speaker in parallel make it loud and glorious sounding. I finally got the amp part repaired, but I seldom bother to turn it on, because it does heat my house and run up my electricity bill, and the SBUS sounds better to me than the tube amp, at least in the home situation. And that big sucker never leaves the house. Even though it's on wheels, at my age I'm not about to try lifting it into a vehicle. But it makes a most excellent cabinet for the SBUS or any other head. The Little Jazz is a fine combo, but if one is willing to use a head/cab instead of a combo, the Quilter SBUS is an excellent choice. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, it's a choice.
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Lately, for rehearsals I use the LJ. The vintage Reverberocket stays in the closet. I even preferred the LJ to a Boogie Mark III. I occasionally play a venue with a Blues Junior. I use it because it's already there and the load-in is difficult. The LJ is a good sounding amp.
For most gigs, the LJ isn't loud enough. I had been using a JC55 which works pretty well. It is especially useful in a venue where there is only room for the amp to be in front of me. The open back allows me to hear.
Otherwise, though, for the louder gigs I've been using the JBL Eon One Compact with an ME70 in front of it. Works very well for big band.
If I'm running vocals and guitar through the JBL I have to consider how I'm going to hear it without creating a feedback situation. Sometimes I just put it on a pole behind the band and have the mics at an angle and somehow it works. In one situation I used the LJ as a monitor. Bit of a kluge but it worked out ok.
Well, that may have been oversharing, but the message is that the LJ is a very good amp at its volume level.
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Another advantage of the LJ over tube amps is that it has a DI, which can be useful, even indispensable, in some situations.
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Good point. I put the LJ where I can reach it, pointing at me. And run a line into the PA. It gives me 3 band EQ without having to get to whereever the mixing board is. And, I can use it as a monitor, which gives me a sound I'm accustomed to and like. Originally Posted by sgosnell
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Has anyone tried the JHS Clover preamp pedal?
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