Suggestions for a 2nd Tube Amp

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Since it's for a home studio. why not pair a head and a cab? You could get a fine cab (e.g. an 8" or 10" Raezers Edge, RevSound etc) and sit a small head on it. There are still some fine tube powered lunchbox heads out there, e.g. the H&K TubeMeister 20, Boogie MiniRectifier 25. For modern SS heads, look to Quilter, DV Mark etc. I love my Quilter 202. It's very tube-like in sound and feel, as is my DV Mark EG250 - and both of them make gorgeous jazz tone through my RevSound 8" cab and my RE 10. They also play the blues like pros - I've used both with 8, 10, and 12" cabs on countless blues gigs. The Quilter OD202 does low gain O/D very well, and the limiter adds great sustain when your guitar just wants to cry. The DV Mark EG250 is a great pedal platform, while the Quilter 202 is self contained for me. Its reverb and O/D are excellent for a chimey smooth Dumble-like sound that's somewhere between SSS and ODS.

There are also a lot of used tube lunchbox heads that are now out of production but are great value and easy to maintain. I used a Vox Night Train 15 for several years with the RE 10 and absolutely loved it. The 5 Watt triode setting was fat and warm for jazz at low gain and did a beautiful edge-of-breakup for blues. The little Vox tube 'box heads are nice too. You can play around with different heads once you put a good cabinet in the studio - it's a lot of fun.

Despite saying many times that I'm not buying any more gear, the Fuchs ODH head is calling my name. I need to go over the bridge into New Jersey to visit Fuchs and try one out. If it's as good as reviews and demos say it is, I may have to buy one. It appears to do Dumble as well as the big Fuchs amps do, yet have a warm clean tone too.

[D.G.]

I feel your pain, re: tube rattle.

The Tonemaster’s are really good. Especially for cleans. About 93% the same as their tube counterparts. It’s in the breakup tones where I think they lack, but I don’t like turning my amps up that loud.

[Spook410]

Are you looking for something more acoustic and full range? If not, and for a 'not a Fender Deluxe Reverb', I would be looking at a 4X10 Victoria Bassman for a tweed sound and great build quality.

Still.. that Sequel Skoter.. didn't know about these. $1600 is very reasonable for any new amp these days.

[jazzloverfat]

What do u people do to your 68 Custom Fenders ??? Are y'all buying second-hand crap?

I abused my Princeton on quite a few occasions and I have no issues 4 years in... Heck, I had it in my back seat, forgot about it, a took a corner at WAAY over the speed limit, heard it slide from one side to the other and hit the door on the other side and yet still works like the day I bought it. No noise, no hiss, no rattle - ok, there might be a hint of it when playing really loud and w distortion but you don't really hear it (unless you play w your ear stuck to the cab) cuz the volume will cover it. But show me any other combo that is 100% rattle free at max levels. The Dr.Z demo amp that was on the shop floor when I bought the Les Heritage had proper tube rattle.

[LesB3]

What do u people do to your 68 Custom Fenders ??? Are y'all buying second-hand crap?

I abused my Princeton on quite a few occasions and I have no issues 4 years in...

Ha! Same experience here. I think my Princeton is 7 years old at this point, still runs like a top.

For the OP, I went down the same path as you not too long ago, so know exactly how you feel. I wanted "something else" to go with my Princeton and, after quite a few trials, settled on "something Voxy" and "something brown." I think the "brown sound" is best described as being for someone not quite ready for a Tweed commitment, while I consider a Vox amp a great choice for Blues or Jazz. Careful though, I'm one of those "Gretsch guys" so my ideal sound / tone might not be for you.

I have one of these:
Winfield Thomas amps: The Cyclone
...which is available as a head / cab or a combo (I have the mini head and cab). Mine has a Celestion Blue Speaker in it, probably my favorite speaker for just about all styles at this point in my life. Essentially an AC15 clone, though that might even do it a bit of a disservice.

...and one of these:
Hombre | Suhr.com
...also available as a head / cab or combo (I have the combo). It's Suhr's take on a Fender Deluxe (Brownface). I replaced the stock speaker with a Jensen C12N and the amp is now very light, and a bit tamer than before. The tube Tremolo on this amp is to die for...

I also still love my Peavey Classic, which always gave me the sound seemingly right between a Fender BF and a Marshall -if I ever saw a used Classic 20 or 30 combo pop up, it'd be hard not to add that one to the mix.

Good luck!

[tomvwash]

Ha! Same experience here. I think my Princeton is 7 years old at this point, still runs like a top.

For the OP, I went down the same path as you not too long ago, so know exactly how you feel. I wanted "something else" to go with my Princeton and, after quite a few trials, settled on "something Voxy" and "something brown." I think the "brown sound" is best described as being for someone not quite ready for a Tweed commitment, while I consider a Vox amp a great choice for Blues or Jazz. Careful though, I'm one of those "Gretsch guys" so my ideal sound / tone might not be for you.

I have one of these:
Winfield Thomas amps: The Cyclone
...which is available as a head / cab or a combo (I have the mini head and cab). Mine has a Celestion Blue Speaker in it, probably my favorite speaker for just about all styles at this point in my life. Essentially an AC15 clone, though that might even do it a bit of a disservice.

...and one of these:
Hombre | Suhr.com
...also available as a head / cab or combo (I have the combo). It's Suhr's take on a Fender Deluxe (Brownface). I replaced the stock speaker with a Jensen C12N and the amp is now very light, and a bit tamer than before. The tube Tremolo on this amp is to die for...

I also still love my Peavey Classic, which always gave me the sound seemingly right between a Fender BF and a Marshall -if I ever saw a used Classic 20 or 30 combo pop up, it'd be hard not to add that one to the mix.

Good luck!

No shortage of advice on this post. Thank you! John B suggested earlier a Mike Marsh Tweed. I'm looking into this. No shortage of options! If I had the space, I'd opt for 5-7 amps, really, GAS be damned. The amp search, maybe more than the guitars themselves, really show the passion for tone.