Good Small Practice Amp for Jazz

[Brian B.]

So with the same royalty check that I bought my guitar with last year (Peerless Monarch), I'm planning on getting a practice amp this year.

The Fender Champ 600 is an obvious choice, but I wanted to see if anyone had other suggestions.

I'm probably willing to spend a few hundred dollars, if it will get me something really nice (which is probably not really a "practice" amp any more is it?). I'd rather get new, though, than used, in any case.

I'm more interested in tone, though, than in volume. I don't think I'm stuck on tube either.

Here are the modeled sounds that I'm getting out of my computer now, to give you an idea of what I'm looking for:

Many thanks for any suggestions!

Brian

[pingu]

Get a Cube...

A 40 watt Cube maybe the best bang for the buck out there.

[Smelodies]

I thought I was the only one with a Fender Champ. I find it strangely reassuring to know that it's an "obvious choice."

[pghguitar]

+1 on the cube, for an extra $70 you can get the 80 which will give you more headroom and better bass response with the 12in speaker. Also has a nice looper which is great for practice.

[mambosun]

The one I currently use at home: Fender Super Champ XD

[SamBooka]

Cant really recommend the Fender Champ 600. I have one, it is fun and all but takes a little bit of choppin to get a useful tone out of it (unless you are in a neil young cover band.. even then...)

[ruiner54]

i back the cube 40 as well...works well as a quiet practice amp but has some extra volume when you need it. Great tone for the price.

[monkmiles]

The one I currently use at home: Superchamp XD

I recommend a SuperChamp XD. Or the new X2. Used XDs are very affordable.

[kawa]

Don't needs only for the practice amp, just needs the good amp for jazz life
Good amps given us good sounds from at the low volume.
Fender: from the about V2.2(1 is Min).

Just the volume settings

Home ; V 2,2　～　2.7

Stage ; V 2.7 ～　3 (with PA) ～　

Any good amps available, just set the enough lebel for good sounds and not loud levels.(not as rock music)
I'm using Twin Reverb, Vibrolux Reverb, Peterson P-100G MkⅡ, Polytone Mini brute Ⅱ, Peavey Envoy 110, etc same as not loud levels with good sounds.
A good way: always with same amps, stage and home, settings know how, conditions etc good for you.
Please get the good amps for your jazz life.

[hans halmackenreuter]

i back the cube 40 as well...works well as a quiet practice amp but has some extra volume when you need it. Great tone for the price.

and if you swap the speaker for an eminence delta demon for example, you can enhance the sound of the cube's.

[burchyk]

Make sure you check out VHT Special 6...

[Brian B.]

+1 on the cube, for an extra $70 you can get the 80 which will give you more headroom and better bass response with the 12in speaker. Also has a nice looper which is great for practice.

>which will give you more headroom and better bass response with the 12in speaker.

I keep hearing "headroom" referred to in regard to amplifiers. I looked it up on Wiki, but still don't get it. Could someone explain?

Thanks!

Brian

[hans halmackenreuter]

Headroom describes the amount of clean-sound volume you have.

[oldane]

and if you swap the speaker for an eminence delta demon for example, you can enhance the sound of the cube's.

I have a 30 years old Cube40 in which I swapped the speaker for an Eminence Lil' Buddy (hemp cone). It really the mellowed the highs and it now has a quite nice jazz tone. The 12" equivalent would be the Eminence Cannabis Rex, but it's rated at 40Watts so it may not be enough for some of the amps in which 12" speakers are used. Tone Tubby also has hemp cone speakers, but they are more expensive than the ones from Eminence (haven't heard or tried them, don't know if they are better).

[seaguitar]

I have a Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue which mainly use, but I would like a small portable amp that I can use later at night and easily lug around inside the house for impromptu practicing. I was looking at the Roland Micro Cube or Fender Mustang. Was wondering if anyone had a recommendation. Note, I'm not looking for the perfect amp, just something that's great value ( inexpensive ), small and light and gets me a nice clean tone. Thanks for any info.

[mr quick]

Fender Super Champ XD. Cheap, small, proper tube sound.

Edit: I may have misunderstood. Didn't know you meant that ​small.

[wildschwein]

Can't go wrong with the Cube. Cheap and provides Jazz tone right out of the box.

[cosmic gumbo]

ZT Lunchbox Jr.

[oldane]

I bought a Mambo 8 for that. Small and very portable. Easy to stove away. It actually works fine for louder playing too. If I could keep only one amp, that would be the one.

[Jabberwocky]

Yamaha THR5 or THR10/10C/10X. The Clean, Flat, Acoustic, Bass selections work very well. Runs on AAs.

[medblues]

I am using my ZT Lunchbox Acoustic more nowadays (than my MicroCube or Vox DA-5- I use them only when AC power is impractical).

[mr. beaumont]

I like the cube for battery powered ease. I use it for teaching...very convenient.

At home, my practice amp is a lunchbox acoustic. Small enough to drop off in whatever room I'm playing in and it consistentlu sounds good, even with solid body guitars.

If you want a "subway rocket" rig, original lunchbox and some small modeling device (i use a boss "fender reverb" pedal. I'm amazed at how good it sounds...and how loud it is. But the lunchbox isn't a great practice amp on it's own, it doesn't sound like much at quiet volumes.

[Longways to Go]

Lots of great options mentioned above. I'm a cube fan too. Another option might be a Fender Vibro Champ for the tube vibe + dsp fx.

[coolvinny]

ZT Lunchbox jr

+1. Sounds great with archtops or solid body guitars.

[seaguitar]

Has anyone compared the lunchbox against the yamaha? The lunchbox sounds great. The yamaha seems to as well, but the yamaha has built in reverb etc that you'd have to pedal into the lunchbox if needed. The lunchbox seems to get fatter tones, and it's hard to find a jazz review of the yamaha.