whats perfect small amp for blues and Gilmour

[46andgotdablues]

Hi again. I'm looking to buy an easily portable amp which will be loud enough for practicing with a saxaphone in the same room but small enough to carry easily, and something that can be miked for big gigs and recording.
I m looking at something like line 6 spider 111 in one corner and orange tiny terror all valve in the other.
Are there any other amps I should look at?
Tone is the ONLY thing......!!.
Hendrix, Rory gallagher SRV but also Gilmour with mellow haunting type minor blues is my thing. Im no snob if digital sounds ok I'll use it though the romantic in me like the idea of valves. Basically ive not read a guitar mag for 25 years so Ive no idea whats available. Appreciate your help.......... Thanks

[hawkeye2u]

I'm really going out on a limb here mate

I really love the Fender HotRodDeluxe (HRDX for short, use it to search this site for info. LOTS!!)

Big sound out of a 40w amp, all tube, VERY affordable , BUT CAN BE UNRELIABLE, minor flaws, no major issues like transformers or such.
Mainly bad solderjoints, some resistors may fail, mainly because of bad soldering.
YES it is a PCB amp, can anyone direct me to a point to point (PTP) amp for the same price and sound????? if so I'd buy it

As with any amp most of our members are guilty (incl me, yes I'm guilty as charged) of having to modify things.
Don't fall into that trap, play it!! If you don't like the sound, well then move on

I know I'm going to cop a LOT of flak over this but I'm fine with that, remember there is a lot of happy customers out there

I actually bought mine over a Mesa DC-30 since an amp tech recomended the HRDX as it sounds better, He of course did mention the minor flaws that the amp has, but as an electronics tech I'm not worried at all

Hope this helps!
PS don't go for the small SOLID STATE AMPS, havnt heard a good one yet compared to a valve amp!!
Valves rule in the guitar world

[Watto]

if you can solder and follow some plans, then I highly recommend this little beauty,

Great blues tone, check out the 5E3 's on the forum

http://www.missionamps.com/5E3kit.shtml

My 2c

Watto

[Rickenjangle]

Gilmour plays through a pantload of FX, both stompbox and digital, on his way to his Hiwatt amps. And, in Pink Floyd, lays his Albert King-isms all over the place, but he's approaching the blues from a very different place.

If you were playing straight blues, I'd say just get a good tweed amp like the 5e3 and a boost pedal, but if you want to get some gilmour in there, this is what I'd do:

Stratocaster ==> Jekyl & Hyde OD/D ==> Boss GE 7 EQ ==> Digital Delay or Echo ==> DRRI

You'll get the cleaner signal of the DRRI, pump it up with Jekyll, put it over the top with the Hyde, tweak it with the EQ, and add echoes. Plus, you get a great-sounding reverb, perfect for playing those Peter Green blues. And, you can switch the pedals off for a straight blues flavor.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Hi again. I'm looking to buy an easily portable amp which will be loud enough for practicing with a saxaphone in the same room but small enough to carry easily, and something that can be miked for big gigs and recording.

Pro Jr. or Blues Junior.

My teacher uses a Blues Junior, and a local blues/swing band has a guitarist playing a big archtop through a Blues Junior. Sounds just fine mic'ed. Their sound filled up the Library Mall here on campus for the latest Faculty/Staff picnic (5,000 people outdoors) with that setup and a portable PA rig.

Pro Juniors are a little less powerful, but they have a better track record and have a little more quality sound. They have less knobs (only 2).

If you really want to go higher-end: 5F1 (Tweed Champ), 5F2A (Tweed Princeton), or 5E3 (Tweed Deluxe). Simple circuits, lush and pure guitar sounds. Don't get much better than those, unless you want to lug around Tweed Pro/Super/Bandmaster or Bassman.

If you want the blackface sound, try a Princeton Reverb and throw a 12" in there. Think: "Pink Panther" and "Peter Gunn". A Tele through a BF Princeton Reverb...classic.