low watt tube amp for home practice

**Rich D.** · 02-21-2016, 09:22 AM

looking for a low watt tube amp for home practice, $500 or less. recommendations please.. thank you.
saw a 1970's fender vibro champ for $500?

**citizenk74** · 02-21-2016, 09:35 AM

Plus 1 on the Vibro Champ. Mine gets a lot of playing time. its a sweet ll'l thing.

**mhz88** · 02-21-2016, 11:45 AM

I like the Blackstar HT5. I initially thought it was some metal amp but it's surprisingly nice.. i got it for 300 used. Tried a few amps after that but kept going back to the blackstar.

**lammie200** · 02-21-2016, 12:16 PM

I have two that fit that bill. A Fender Champ X2 and Fender Pro Jr. The Jr. sounds better but I modded the crap out of it with a better output transformer, Tube Doctor supplied tubes, the Fromel mods and a Jensen ceramic speaker. It is quiet and clean as a whistle. The Champ is stock right now but I am eventually going to change out the speaker for an alnico. (An alnico won't easily fit in the Pro Jr., BTW) The Champ has two channels and you can download and customize the modeling channel. There is a Jazzmaster setting that is very convincing IMHO.

**jazzbow** · 02-21-2016, 12:26 PM

Try the Ampeg GVT line.

The 15 watts goes down to 7.5 watts and the 5 watt version goes down to 2.5 watts. 6V6 valves

low watt tube amp for home practice-1k0-jpg

low watt tube amp for home practice-1k0-jpg

5 watt

low watt tube amp for home practice-ampeg-gvt15h-290866-jpg

15 watt

Also these have Baxandall tone circuit.

Other than that try for early Hayden amps. Lots of tone for little dosh

**medblues** · 02-21-2016, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by Rich D.

looking for a low watt tube amp for home practice, $500 or less. recommendations please.. thank you.
saw a 1970's fender vibro champ for $500?

Just another option, VHT Special 6 (regular or Ultra).

**snoskier63** · 02-21-2016, 06:15 PM

If playing clean why not just turn the volume down? As for amps the Pro Junior is a great low power amp.

**Doctor Jeff** · 02-21-2016, 10:46 PM

The Epiphone Valve Jr is a great, cheap amp. 5 watts of creamy amp goodness, can be found for $100-125, easily modded.

**Greentone** · 02-21-2016, 11:19 PM

Pro Jr +1

**SamBooka** · 02-22-2016, 12:31 AM

OK, I'm going to be that guy! Why tube? Looking around my practice room up I count 17 different tube amps from 1960 up to 2013. That said, 90% of the time I use a pod with a set of headphones. I love tube amps, I GET tube amps. I've been building and repairing them for decades. Give me a solid-state amp to repair and I break out in a cold sweat. That said, amp modeling has come so far sometimes just have to let go of your preconceptions and listen to your ears.

**ghoststrat** · 02-22-2016, 01:31 AM

I have the Vox AC4TV mini, and it's GREAT.. It can switch from 4 watts down to .5 watts.

Amazon.com: Vox AC4TVmini 4W Tube Guitar Combo Amp: Musical Instruments

I loved the sound so much that I wanted to use it with my group. I ended up getting an extension cab from Mojo Tone and really dig this set up. A lot.

**snoskier63** · 02-22-2016, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by SamBooka

OK, I'm going to be that guy! Why tube? Looking around my practice room up I count 17 different tube amps from 1960 up to 2013. That said, 90% of the time I use a pod with a set of headphones. I love tube amps, I GET tube amps. I've been building and repairing them for decades. Give me a solid-state amp to repair and I break out in a cold sweat. That said, amp modeling has come so far sometimes just have to let go of your preconceptions and listen to your ears.

Along these lines for $180 I just grabbed an Amplifi TT for fun in the house. It's the head for the Line 6 Amplifi amp, and I run it through my Henricksen JazzAmp. It won't compete with a Kemper or Axe Fx, but it has very useable tones for practice, and probably recording (time will tell). I can also use it through my stereo, my PA system, my computer, and I can use it with headphones when practicing at night. I can just play guitar through it, I can stream music through it via bluetooth, or I can do both at the same time. All features of the device are controlled via an app on my phone or ipad, so I can adjust the volume and change the amp, cab, and all effects from the comfort of my chair. It really is quite a good practice device.

**Longways to Go** · 02-22-2016, 07:13 PM

My current favorite go to amp is my new Vox AC10c1. Not the smallest, but a great tone quiet or loudish, plus it has reverb. One of my gripes with many of the smallest tube amps is no reverb. I dig the Ampeg GVT115, and the Fender Vibrochamp & Superchamp. New Fender Bassbreaker series seems worth a look too.

I've got a Yamaha THR10c which is also a fine practice amp, but it's not just as tubey as the real thing.

**marcwhy** · 02-23-2016, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by Rich D.

looking for a low watt tube amp for home practice, $500 or less. recommendations please.. thank you.
saw a 1970's fender vibro champ for $500?

What are you using now, and what's "wrong" with it at home??

**wzpgsr** · 02-23-2016, 10:41 AM

I'll put in a vote for the VHT Special 6 combo. For around $200 new, you'll get 5 watts of handwired Fendery tone, with plenty of money in your budget to swap speakers and/or tubes.