What amp for a tele?

**Spaceboy** · 12-07-2013, 01:24 PM

I'd really like to buy a combo with a 12 or maybe 10 inch speaker, lightweight or at least tolerable, and not oversized. This is mostly going to be an amp for lessons and maybe some rehearsals or performances. I mostly play sort of alt rock, country, indie rock music and have a large amp stack for that but if I could double my jazz amp as a pedal platform for writing at home, leaving the large amp at my bands practice space, that would be a huge plus for me. I was originally looking at some small solid state options, like Quilter and Polytone, but I've always had tube amps and don't want anything that's too full range. That works with jazz boxes, but since I am comfortable with teles, I'd rather find down thing that compliments the instrument rather than an accurate, flat EQ. I enjoy amps that are simple layouts, plug and play, not too much room to get lost in tweaking. I'd like to haul the amp in one hand to practice or a lesson, plug straight in, and be able to get some beautiful clean, jazzy sounds. Then take it home, plug in my pedalboard with overdrives, and go from sparkling cleans to fuzz.

I went to Guitar Center and played a handful of amps. The two that stool out we're the Fender DRRI and Blues Deluxe RI. I never thought about the DRRI because I thought it would be heavy like other Femder amps, but the size was fairly small and I could easily carry it in one hand. It's only 22 watts though, is that going to distort too much playing jazz with a drummer? It sounded damn good at low to medium volumes, and seems to be able in country and indie rock for decades. Then I checked out the BDRI and the clean channel I enjoyed as much as the DRRI. It has almost 20 more watts and a cheaper price. It seemed to have more bass and presence, and the drive channel could be useful for my other music, although I like my overdrive pedals better. It was much larger and probably not as easy to carry in one hand. But that clean channel easily rivaled the DRRI to me and had a little more kick to it. The extra wattage means it should break up as easy so that could be a better option.

Anyways, I'm rambling here. I'm looking to spend around 1000 at most although I would like to spend less, and I'm fine with shopping used too. I don't need too many features or anything, I'm a guitarist who works better with things "dumbed down". I have pedals when I want to tweak. I am still a little fascinates by the Quilter Micro Pro though, with a ton of solid state headroom and so many features I wouldn't even need to being my pedalboard home to practice. It's half the weight and much smaller than the DRRI, but I've never had a solid state amp or played one that sounded great. The clips are stunning, too bad I can't find one to try though.

What other amps are worth looking at? What do the experience players around here think would be better between the DRRI and BDRI? Has anybody had a Quilter MP and a DRRI to compare?

Thanks, and sorry about the long post.

**kris** · 12-07-2013, 01:54 PM

tube amp-like MV3 combo or head...

**Melodic Dreamer** · 12-07-2013, 02:47 PM

I have a Goodsell S17 that I use and love with a Tele. You can find them used for under a grand and they're better than any fender amp I've ever played. imho

**John A.** · 12-07-2013, 03:20 PM

Whether a Deluxe Reverb is loud enough depends on the drummer, the size of the room, and your level of tolerance for a little break up. If you want to stay clean in a group with a loud drummer, a B3 organ, and a horn section, a DRRI is unlikely to cut it. But smaller groups, and/or music where distortion is OK, DR's are great. An overdriven DR is a beautiful thing in contexts were OD is OK. I like Blues Deluxes, but I'm not really into channel switching amps, and when I've used them I've stayed on the clean channel and used a pedal for dirt. Faced with a similar choice a couple of years ago, I downsized from a brownface Pro (40-ish watts, clean all the way up) to a silverface Princeton Reverb (a little less wattage than a DR). I haven't regretted it. I can't really foresee myself in a situation where I'd need the kind of headroom I got from the Pro (or would get from a BD). The Princeton warms up at a more manageable volume, volume and is WAY easier to carry. Pretty much the only thing I'd trade it for is a DR. So my choice in your shoes would be the DRRI, if I could afford it.

John

**Silentwiz** · 12-07-2013, 03:33 PM

Quilter is awesome.

**jorgemg1984** · 12-07-2013, 03:47 PM

The DRRI is not enough for all jazz gigs (for me anyway). I would look for a one-channel DRRI without tremolo, just reverb, but 40w 6l6 instead of 22w 6v6. And with a mid pot that actually works.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 12-07-2013, 04:18 PM

Mambo

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 12-07-2013, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

The DRRI is not enough for all jazz gigs (for me anyway). I would look for a one-channel DRRI without tremolo, just reverb, but 40w 6l6 instead of 22w 6v6. And with a mid pot that actually works.

That's no longer a DRRI!

**Alder Statesman** · 12-07-2013, 04:34 PM

To keep the weight where you want it, Fender Mustang III V2. Solid state reliability. Can be programmed to sound very close to any of the amps mentioned above to the discerning ear. To those without a discerning ear, they will not tell the difference. At 100 watts, you will be plenty loud.

Costs about a third of your budget.

**nado64** · 12-07-2013, 04:35 PM

I never saw a photo or a video, but it seems Ed Bickert played sometimes on an orange roland cube 60.

**D.G.** · 12-07-2013, 04:45 PM

A stock Blues Deluxe would be a better pedal platform compared to a stock Deluxe Reverb RI. But the build on a BD is far cheaper than the DRRI.

**JoshGuitar** · 12-07-2013, 05:14 PM

For what it's worth have a look at Carvin amps. I ended up with a Belair, which you can find preowned for not a whole lot of money, there's also Nomad which is a 1x12 50w tube amp which is pretty light if I remember correctly.

**Jim Soloway** · 12-07-2013, 05:28 PM

Bickert apparently used to say "Anything but a Fender" but I've always preferred the sound of a Tele through a 6V6 Blackface type amp, especially a Princeton and especially if it has the typical Tele neck pickup. It's quite a low output pickup and as a result you can crank the volume a long way on a the amp without risk of driving into breakup. on the other hand, I find the sound of a Tele into the typical solid state jazz amp to be wimpy and the feel to be really unsatisfying.

**jorgemg1984** · 12-07-2013, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

That's no longer a DRRI!

I meant a 40w 6l6 1x12 one-channel reverb no tremolo blackface type amp

(with a 25k or higher mid pot so you can add mids if you want). Something like the Gries 35.

**Timo** · 12-07-2013, 06:46 PM

What about a hot rod deluxe? 40 watts, 6L6 tubes, and not too heavy either. I always see lots on craigslist- usually around 500$

**teleman3726** · 12-07-2013, 07:24 PM

Try a Princeton Reverb.

**mr. beaumont** · 12-07-2013, 08:18 PM

I love my silveface non reverb princeton, but if my tele gets a jazz gig, I take my polytone
mb III.

**coolvinny** · 12-07-2013, 08:22 PM

I have a Mambo 8 and I've occasionally played my "tele" (buscarino jazzcaster with KA humbucker, so about as jazzed up for a tele as you can get) through it. Sounds just great. Not as good as a jazzbox, but still very good. I suspect that with a solid body guitar the Mambo 10 would be a better fit though for a bit more body on the notes. The only EQ change I make is to put treble at 9 o'clock with the tele rather than 12 o'clock with a jazzbox.

**Tom Karol** · 12-07-2013, 08:27 PM

I used to have a student whose Dad had a bunch of guitars and amps. The kid usually played an SG through an SS Marshall. When I brought my Tele-type with vintage-output single-coils and played it through a DRRI they had, I loved the juicy twang that came out. It was pretty loud, too, and you could always mic it. For jazz with a Tele - hmm, I don't know.

**nikteague** · 12-07-2013, 08:42 PM

Consider the Bogner New Yorker. Mines fab.

**jorgemg1984** · 12-07-2013, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Timo

What about a hot rod deluxe? 40 watts, 6L6 tubes, and not too heavy either. I always see lots on craigslist- usually around 500$

Not very nice for jazz imho.

**AlainJazz** · 12-08-2013, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Not very nice for jazz imho.

I totally agree. I have one. It is in my opinion too "hot" for a good clean jazz tone.

**Pukka-J** · 12-08-2013, 11:18 AM

Don't mean to be subversive, but my tele sounds pukka through either my Henriksen 110 or my 'orange' Cube 60 (with C-Rex speaker). Nothing wimpy at all.

**SamBooka** · 12-08-2013, 01:47 PM

long thread.. much said.. so I don't have much to add BUT...

I have a SFDR.. not very bedroom friendly imho.. but it will hang with most modest drummers.

You don't mention if you have a standard tele neck pickup.

**Spaceboy** · 12-08-2013, 02:28 PM

Thanks so much for all the input. I have a few teles and I'm not opposed to swapping pickups if needed. I have vintage reissues with low output single coils, modern Texas Special or whatever they're called that are high output, and one with a mini Duncan humbucker. The DR sounds great with a single coil neck pickup, tone knob rolled back to tame the brightness. I can crank it to about 4 on the volume knob in Guitar Center and it sounds great all the way up. That's only a hair below what I'd likely be using with a drummer, so I'm fairly convinced it'll have the clean headroom I need. I'm not ready to pull the trigger, but it's the direction I'm leaning towards unless I can find a Quilter/Mambo/etc SA to play locally. Those Mambos look simple and clean, but are they available in the USA?