The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I’ve been having a lot of fun with Gitterbug’s Toob and a TC Electronics BAM 200, but I quite fancy getting something a bit more dirty and daddy wants a new toy.

    What‘s cheap and fun for recording and maybe small gigs should things improve?

    Headroom not a major consideration, think bluesy

    Will consider
    - hybrid units
    - preamps

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Hey Christian,
    I'd recommend a Frenzel tube preamp!

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by marcwhy
    Hey Christian,
    I'd recommend a Frenzel tube preamp!
    Now that is a sweet looking website. It drools Classic Amps

  5. #4

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    The VHT Special 6 head is handwired, 6 watt tube head and was reasonably priced last time I checked.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by marcwhy
    Hey Christian,
    I'd recommend a Frenzel tube preamp!
    Oh they look sweet.

    Maybe at some point - a little pricey for what I have in mind (I only really gigged a clean amp in the Before Times.)

  7. #6

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    I haven't tried one, but have heard good things about the Hotone Nano amps (tiny, cheap, and dirty)

    John

  8. #7

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    Hi Christian,

    NYC guitarist Greg Ruggiero has been gigging with the Toob speaker for a couple of years.

    I've seen him recommend on social media three small amp heads to go with it:

    The GSS Tube Sandwich mini head (£456 GBP)
    Boutique

    Wangs Mini 5 tube head (£195 GBP)
    Wangs Mini 5 Tube Head Amplifier VT-5H – Spartan Music

    Joyo Bluejay (£105 GBP)
    Joyo Bluejay – Thomann UK





  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I’ve been having a lot of fun with Gitterbug’s Toob and a TC Electronics BAM 200, but I quite fancy getting something a bit more dirty and daddy wants a new toy.

    What‘s cheap and fun for recording and maybe small gigs should things improve?

    Headroom not a major consideration, think bluesy

    Will consider
    - hybrid units
    - preamps
    You have a Fly Rig which can get very dirty, you want tubes and what else more ? Budget ?

  10. #9

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    take a look at the vox mv50 series...50 watts with nutube technology...they have different voiced versions...clean, ac (as in ac 30) & rock/gain versions

    cheap enough

    a friend has the clean..he loves it..plenty loud too


    cheers


    Last edited by neatomic; 09-26-2020 at 04:32 PM.

  11. #10

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    I haven't met Greg Ruggiero (yet) but we have corresponded extensively, and the TOOB Metro 6.5 cabs were developed on his suggestion. Greg is a constant searcher, known as the "small amp guy" in NY circles. These guys haul their gear on the subway, so every cubic inch and ounce counts. Greg's ideal amp has a tube/micro-tube preamp, three-band eq, fx loop and on-board reverb in the smallest possible pack. As far as I know, he gave up Wangs for reliability issues and GSS for tone quality. He used an Orange Micro Dark for awhile, and the Joyo Bluejay thereafter. Currently he's testing a prototype made somewhere in Europe to his specs. Needless to say, I'm interested in the outcome, as there's been so many queries about a TOOB combo or at least a powered cab. The BAM200 is great, although some early samples emitted a hiss whenever the left "sig" light went on, but it lacks both fx loop and reverb.

  12. #11

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    My son and I have a long experience with the VOX MV 50s. So have several TOOB users. Revolutionary when introduced, they are still among top-draw micro-amps. The handle makes them look like a travel iron and is perfectly useless. I have had three Clean samples, and there's some variation in how much clean headroom they actually offer. If you want some lint on your tone, the AC might be the right choice. My son, a 80s shredder, has the Classic Rock version, and Christo Ball, a pro guitarist/vocalist and teacher from Dresden, prefers the Boutique version. Apparently, VOX has masterminded the product differentation in hopes of selling several versions to the same customer. A bit more clean headroom and on-board reverb is what the straight-ahead jazz community would appreciate. In terms of volume, the 50 watts are real and present. At the Mannheim Guitar Summit 2018, sliced between Hughes&Kettner and Thomas Blug's BluGuitar, we were perfectly capable of making more than enough noise.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by medblues
    You have a Fly Rig which can get very dirty, you want tubes and what else more ? Budget ?
    I don't like the Fly Rig's Plexi stage. I can get a decent sound from driving the sansamp stage.

    I kind of fancy something a bit more Raarrr though.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I don't like the Fly Rig's Plexi stage. I can get a decent sound from driving the sansamp stage.

    I kind of fancy something a bit more Raarrr though.

    -Victory BD-1 Victory Amps | BD1 | compact amp

    -Engl Ironball E606 ENGL Guitar Amplifiers

    -Demeter Mighty Minnie. TGA-1-180D The Mighty Minnie

    -Orange Micro Terror

    small and tubey but not cheap
    Last edited by medblues; 09-26-2020 at 06:09 PM.

  15. #14

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    Christian, grab your TOOB and cycle to the nearest Orange vendor. The MicroTerror you can skip; the Micro Dark and the new Terror Stamp are worth trying. I think they break too early, being meant for rock, but a milder preamp tube might resolve that. I'll see if I find which tube Greg Ruggiero has been using, he told it hundreds of e-mails ago. The Terror Stamp is meant for pedalboard but is a perfect physical fit to your Metro 6.5BG. The tube is horizontal, allowing for a flat enclosure.

    Edit: Greg's tube is Tung-Sol 12au7, apparently available as NOS. He gets a better response from it on the Micro Dark than the Terror Stamp, indicating the circuits are not quite the same.
    Last edited by Gitterbug; 09-27-2020 at 08:07 PM. Reason: Additional information

  16. #15

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    There is also the very inexpensive (less than US$100) Monoprice 5 watt tube amp which has a speaker-out. The amp itself is not much bigger than a head, has an 8" speaker and I've had a lot of fun with it.

  17. #16

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    I just watched some videos on those little Voxes, and I am very tempted to pick one up as a back-up amp for gigs (it's a classic rock band). The "Boutique" one sounds very nice to my ears.... but then even when I'm playing clean I like a little hair on it....

  18. #17

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    I'm no engineer, but I can't imagine it would cost that much to put a reverb chip into these micro amps.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    Christian, grab your TOOB and cycle to the nearest Orange vendor. The MicroTerror you can skip; the Micro Dark and the new Terror Stamp are worth trying. I think they break too early, being meant for rock, but a milder preamp tube might resolve that. I'll see if I find which tube Greg Ruggiero has been using, he told it hundreds of e-mails ago. The Terror Stamp is meant for pedalboard but is a perfect physical fit to your Metro 6.5BG. The tube is horizontal, allowing for a flat enclosure.

    Edit: Greg's tube is Tung-Sol 12au7, apparently available as NOS. He gets a better response from it on the Micro Dark than the Terror Stamp, indicating the circuits are not quite the same.
    Great, that's very interesting. I like the way those Orange amps sound. It's probably cool to clean up the preamp and then if I want mega gain hit it with a boost or a TS or something. But I think what I want is more of a classical brit amp sound, and the Orange seems to do that unsurprisingly.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    Christian, grab your TOOB and cycle to the nearest Orange vendor. The MicroTerror you can skip; the Micro Dark and the new Terror Stamp are worth trying. I think they break too early, being meant for rock, but a milder preamp tube might resolve that. I'll see if I find which tube Greg Ruggiero has been using, he told it hundreds of e-mails ago. The Terror Stamp is meant for pedalboard but is a perfect physical fit to your Metro 6.5BG. The tube is horizontal, allowing for a flat enclosure.

    Edit: Greg's tube is Tung-Sol 12au7, apparently available as NOS. He gets a better response from it on the Micro Dark than the Terror Stamp, indicating the circuits are not quite the same.
    Well the Microdark sounds quite different, a very nice clean tone surprisingly


    I do like the channel switching/boost functionality and mid push of the stamp though...

    interesting stuff

  21. #20

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    Obviously, amps and cabs are of low interest to Forum actives. No-one else has reacted to the previous post. Yet, the amp, the cab and the speaker are key constituents of the sound as heard by the audience. People can (and do) debate on end on a given archtop's acoustic properties. We are frequently blessed with great acoustic chord-melody performances. But aren't they mainly addressing an audience of one - the ego holding the guitar?

    Through my computer's speakers, I heard much less difference than from my real-world experiments with the Oranges. Whoever manages to shoehorn a decent reverb into an amp of this caliber, will be the Apple, i.e. the winner.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    Obviously, amps and cabs are of low interest to Forum actives. No-one else has reacted to the previous post. Yet, the amp, the cab and the speaker are key constituents of the sound as heard by the audience. People can (and do) debate on end on a given archtop's acoustic properties. We are frequently blessed with great acoustic chord-melody performances. But aren't they mainly addressing an audience of one - the ego holding the guitar?

    Through my computer's speakers, I heard much less difference than from my real-world experiments with the Oranges. Whoever manages to shoehorn a decent reverb into an amp of this caliber, will be the Apple, i.e. the winner.
    For me amps are very interesting, but I can’t seem to keep track of discussions using the Tapatalk app. Anyway a dirt cheap one would be the 5W Epiphone head, second hand. The combo has huge noise issues. I was also thinking a class A circuit board from eBay with a 6L6, a 12AX7, a reverb chip and two transformers put in. Too much work probably and risking non-satisfactory results.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I’ve been having a lot of fun with Gitterbug’s Toob and a TC Electronics BAM 200, but I quite fancy getting something a bit more dirty and daddy wants a new toy.

    What‘s cheap and fun for recording and maybe small gigs should things improve?

    Headroom not a major consideration, think bluesy

    Will consider
    - hybrid units
    - preamps
    If I were in the market for what looks like a FUN little amp, I'd check out the Peavey Classic 20 Mini Amp Head.

    Classic(R) 20 MH Mini Amp Head | Peavey.com


    • Attenuator switch for 20 watts, 5 watts or 1 watt output power
    • Two EL84 power tubes and three 12AX7/ECC83 preamp tubes
    • Two footswitchable channels with 3-band EQ
    • Footswitchable global volume boost, reverb, and effects loop
    • Footswitch included
    • T.S.I.™ (Tube Status Indication) circuit
    • MSDI™ Output with XLR and ground lift switch
    • USB Output
    • Speaker defeat switch
    • Headphone output.
    • Footswitch included
    • Impedance switch for 16 or 8 ohm cabinets
    • Weight Unpacked: 16.75 lb(7.6 kg)
    • Weight Packed: 20.50 lb(9.3 kg)
    • Width Packed: 13.25"(33.655 cm)
    • Height Packed: 19.375"(49.2125 cm)
    • Depth Packed: 12.375"(31.4325 cm)

  24. #23

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    That’s a great blues amp. I’ve played the 30 and 50 and they sound great.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  25. #24

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    Yeah I’ve played the Peavey Classic 20 on a gig through the matching cab (it’s the house amp at a local music venue.)

    Sounds GREAT! A bit heavy and a bit lacking in headroom for jazzy jazz. Also too heavy to be worthwhile for me really.

    I need something featherweight as... well... London’s kinda screwed transport wise? The Tories are trying to get Sadiq Kahn to extend the congestion charge zone to encompass all of London, which means every time I drive that’s £12. The transport network is also likely to get more expensive and clobbered with reduced services.

    I might have to get a bike. So yeah micro amps are the way forward. Getting the H&K Spirit of Vintage because apparently it has mega headroom. But yeah, lack of reverb is annoying.
    Last edited by christianm77; 10-30-2020 at 06:00 AM.

  26. #25

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    I mean I have no gigs anyway so it’s a moot point.