Amp to study and play at low volumes

[cosmic gumbo]

Hello


Would like your precious help
I want to buy a combo to study and to play a little bit at low volumes. I want to connect phones and aux in (must have these two) to study at night, but on weekends mainly I would like to play at low volumes, clean sounds and/or a little breakup (Julian Lage fanboy here ).
I have an old tube amp if I want to play louder, so this new one doesn't need to have a lot of power.
Was looking at a Fender Champion 20, what do you guys think?

I think that would be a fine choice, great price, great amp modeling. Great sounds.

[stevus]

Hello


Would like your precious help
I want to buy a combo to study and to play a little bit at low volumes. I want to connect phones and aux in (must have these two) to study at night, but on weekends mainly I would like to play at low volumes, clean sounds and/or a little breakup (Julian Lage fanboy here ).
I have an old tube amp if I want to play louder, so this new one doesn't need to have a lot of power.
Was looking at a Fender Champion 20, what do you guys think? Any feedback or others options?
Could be a 5w tube amp, but can't find one with phones and aux in, don't think that exists.


Thank you!

If it's only for practicing at home why not keep it simple and consider the Boss E-Band JS10? It is not too expensive, has a great sound and includes everything you will need. Looper, tuner, recording facility, pre-loaded loops, minus one, different amps and guitar effects...

https://www.boss.info/global/products/eband_js-10/

[guga7]

this will fit your needs, but they almost all develop tube rattle with the factory tubes. I had one and returned it because Guitar Center would replace the tubes or give me a discount to buy upgrades, they would only replace only the whole amp. I can confirm the attenuators works, but it does shape the tone. So if you find a tone you like at 5W, don’t expect it to sound the same, only at a lower volume if you switch to a lower wattage setting.

Doesn't have aux in

I have a Fender Champion 20. I think it's a great amp, very useful. I also have a Roland MicroCube GX. The older version of the MicroCube (the one without the "GX" suffix) has a headphone output, but does not have an aux input; the GX version has both. The Fender can go much, much louder than the Roland (loud enough to be used wit bands), is cheaper, and IMO sounds a lot better. But the Roland is smaller/lighter and can run on batteries and has a built-in tuner. Either would do the trick for the purposes you're describing.
John

Thank you! Could you get good jazz tones out of the Champion 20?

$99.00 5 watt tube Monoprice amp in my studio. I changed the loud Chinese tubes to a G.G. 12ay7 ($20) and a 6v6 ($20)... and the speaker to a Weber ($70) . So now it' has a warm Fenderish tweed tone.

We don't have that amp here in europe

i just got a used vox pathfinder, that sounds pretty good for jazz at low volume.... it was cheap as hell, and sounds really good

That's a great amp (15w version), but doesn't have aux in..

I think that would be a fine choice, great price, great amp modeling. Great sounds.

Do you have one? Could you get good jazz tones out of it?

If it's only for practicing at home why not keep it simple and consider the Boss E-Band JS10? It is not too expensive, has a great sound and includes everything you will need. Looper, tuner, recording facility, pre-loaded loops, minus one, different amps and guitar effects...
https://www.boss.info/global/products/eband_js-10/

Way too digital for my taste :P and too much options I don't need to pay for.

[zcostilla]

Doesn't have aux in
.

the effects loop return for the Quilter works as an auxiliary input (you must use a 1/4” / 6.35mm jack)

From the owner’s manual:

FX LOOP (1/4” unbalanced, 1V pk): The series Effects Loop is located after the FULL-Q overdrive section, so effects are applied to the overall sound of the amplifier. SEND goes to your effects. RETURN accepts the modified signal and sends it to the MASTER volume control. PRO TIP: To add an outboard signal such as backing tracks to the mix, plug an MP3 player or iPhone into the FX RETURN jack. The signal will mix 50/50 with the internal signal. Use the output device’s volume control to set the balance.

It does get a really good tone for a solid state amp, and it is not a digital modeler. Here’s the demo that sold it for me (sadly, my quilter came without the stank face included, but man, those tones!):

Also consider this review by Doctor McFarland

[guga7]

the effects loop return for the Quilter works as an auxiliary input (you must use a 1/4” / 6.35mm jack)

I was talking about the bugera

[Tal_175]

I owned a Yamaha THR 10, Micro Cube and 57 Fender Champ (5w amp). I currently own the Champ.

You can use aux/in with a tube amp. There are pedals (like Boss loopers I think) that have the aux in if you don't mind the added clutter of having a pedal in the chain. You can even plug a bluethooth receiver into the aux input and play your backing tracks from your phone.
Here is my thoughts about these amps:

- Yamaha sounds really good but to me it doesn't sound like a guitar amp. It sounds more like recorded guitar played through a stereo system. Doesn't have the grit of a real guitar amp. However that sound really works well for home use.

- Micro Cube sounds like a guitar amp. It has the grit. But Yamaha has a more full and impressive sound for home. For a very small gig Mico Cube is probably better.

- 57 Champ is of course in a different league. Class A, no feedback loop, single ended, just switch and volume. The ultimate raw guitar grit. Despite the size it can get pretty loud. I played several gigs with it already. Even with drummers. Not suitable for every gig but it's louder than one might think. It gives you the convenient option of having a light, small, good tube amp that can be grabbed for some gigs.

[John A.]

Thank you! Could you get good jazz tones out of the Champion 20?

Yes. I use it for jazz all the time.

John

[guga7]

I end up buying a Cube 30X It was a good deal. It's used and for the price of a used 15X or Micro-Cube.

Does anybody have one? So we can share settings.
I get a good jazz tone with single coils (play with the guitar tone knob) and:

bass: 12h
middle: 12h
treble: 9h

I'll try with humbuckers today.

Thank you all for the help, you rock!