Let's Talk Sleeper Amps

[RacerX]

I see those Silvertones as being fairly popular.  Are those el84 or 6v6?

6L6. Two of 'em in the power section.

Since peeps started noticing Jack White was using 'em, they are starting to get more popular.

[RacerX]

Silvertone 1484:

What do these bad boys sound like? There is one for sale locally. I was going to buy a 65 reissue twin locally next week, but saw this pop up for the same price.

Don't buy the Twin without checking it out first. Unless you really need the wattage of the Twin, of course.

[RAGER]

I see those Silvertones as being fairly popular.  Are those el84 or 6v6?

6L6. Two of 'em in the power section.

Since peeps started noticing Jack White was using 'em, they are starting to get more popular.

'bout 60 watts or so then.

[RAGER]

i think I'd buy a 70's silver face Twin before a re-issue.  Judging by what I've read.  I've never done a side by side comparo though.

[Chovie D]

went to a guitar show a couple years back and saw ne o fthose silvertones for $100. I pounced no it, but some asshole dealer had already claimed it ,bought it before the show doors opened and this vendor hadnt removed it from his table yet...fucking assholes.

twin and that silvertone are about as different as you can get. I wouldnt call that one a sleeper anymore thanks to Jack White.

Rager how many watts is that reel to reel.? Usually for lower wattage vintage amps, people go with a vintage low wattage single 10 or 12...not a 2 x 12.
The idea is to get a little "speaker distortion" into the mix.

[RAGER]

Not sure right now.  It's obviously not very loud through the 4x12 I play it through right now but I want some low end and not too much volume hence the 2x12.  I fi were to run it at it's peak efficiency it might sound like an 18 watter but right now it sounds like less than 5 watts.  Single 6v6

[VOLVO)))]

I got you yba-1 Taylor...

[charmander]

I have an Alamo Paragon Bass, 30 watts of fury 

Seriously though, the thing sounds badass, i paid 250 shipped for mine, which for a 50 year old all tube amp in perfect working order seems pretty fair.  Channels jumped everything at 10 it sounds great, pretty high gain really, gets you to the Vitus tone at least that's for sure.

[Lumpy]

I think the Silvertone cabs are made out of pressboard. Just sayin'. It's a low budget amp and probably not as sturdy as a Fender.

My picks: tube amps from PLUSH and EARTH. 100 watt heads that can be found for less than 300 dollars. In the 200 range is a bro price.

I guess there are some good tube amps from UNIVOX as well, but I have no experience with them.

[RAGER]

I have one of those Plush 1000s blue sparkle jobbies.

[The Shocker]

I think the Silvertone cabs are made out of pressboard. Just sayin'. It's a low budget amp and probably not as sturdy as a Fender.

My picks: tube amps from PLUSH and EARTH. 100 watt heads that can be found for less than 300 dollars. In the 200 range is a bro price.

I guess there are some good tube amps from UNIVOX as well, but I have no experience with them.

Those Univox amps look FUNKY in a good way. 

[Mr. Foxen]

Thought of a modern one, the Ashdown Little bastard 30w valve bass head. Eventually people might twig if you crank the fuck out of it and play guitar through it, you get all the power drive, and it has some bottom, unlike most low power guitar amps. They were sold off cheap a while back, so plenty floating about.

[The Shocker]

I wondered how those sounded with guitar.

You had one for sale at one point?

[Mr. Foxen]

Yeah, scored one at a flippable price because I wanted to try out, then some online store had a sell off and I couldn't get it gone. They basically sound like guitar heads sounded before Marshall lead the way with cheaping the fuck out on everything.

[morgantician]

I just broke my Butcher out last night after having it sit on my bench for a year.
Its a great sounding amp.
SOmething is still a little wrong with mine though. If I crank the post gain, I get a terrible noise.
But at 100 Pre, and 50% post, it was sounding nice.

Wanna sell it to me?  I sold my Butcher years ago and even though I have an OR120, considered the crem de la crem to some, I haven't stopped thinking 'bout the Butcher.

Jake, tell me more about the Classic 400.

[taylo)))r]

Silvertone 1484:

What do these bad boys sound like? There is one for sale locally. I was going to buy a 65 reissue twin locally next week, but saw this pop up for the same price.

Don't buy the Twin without checking it out first. Unless you really need the wattage of the Twin, of course.

Checked it out yesterday. Seemed to be in working order, but the dude lived in an apartment so I couldn't crank it. And, of course I need the wattage. I also contaced the friend I sold my old silverface twin to about 10 years ago and asked him if he wants to sell it back. Haven't heard from him yet.

[taylo)))r]

anyone had first hand experience with a sunn solos ii 2x12? one just popped up locally. i guess it's solid state?

[lordfinesse]

For lower wattage stuff, I'll go with old Sano combos. I got one off eBay cheap a few years back.. probably early 60s, 1-12 open back, black sparkle cab, 6L6's I think (its been a while) Breaks up nicely when pushed, and the tremolo sounds unbelievable. This amp would probably sell for $200-250.

For higher wattage, I agree it's hard to beat Peaveys and Ampegs for the $. Traynors rule too.

Also +1 for Alamos.

[rayinreverse]

I just broke my Butcher out last night after having it sit on my bench for a year.
Its a great sounding amp.
SOmething is still a little wrong with mine though. If I crank the post gain, I get a terrible noise.
But at 100 Pre, and 50% post, it was sounding nice.

Wanna sell it to me?  I sold my Butcher years ago and even though I have an OR120, considered the crem de la crem to some, I haven't stopped thinking 'bout the Butcher.

Jake, tell me more about the Classic 400.

Yeah I suppose. LIke I said its making a weird noise when I crank the post gain.

[liquidsmoke]

Any new or old cheap clean loud solid state bass amp for guitar if you use a pedal for distortion and want a tight loud sound for tuning low so long as your speakers can handle the power and you don't go crazy with the bass knob.

[Slugfuct]

Glad to see that the Jam Room community is alive and well, I definitely missed that damn forum and just found out there was a resurrected one! Better late than never i guess....feels good to see a lot of familiar names

I'll put in my two cents on the sleeper amps, and I guess maybe they haven't been sleepers for a good while, but Traynor YBA1A's def get my top vote. I have 2 and use them for bass and guitar, built like tanks and handle whatever you throw at them.

I also have an old SS Peavey Bass 400 that I really dig and you can find for super cheap. Has some interesting input options and does the SS bass sound pretty well with a built in distortion option that doesn't suck (at least thats what i think)

[VOLVO)))]

Ray, microphonic preamp tubes.

[rayinreverse]

Ray, microphonic preamp tubes.

thats what I suspected. just havent changed em yet.

[Jake]

Classic 400:
- 400 all-tube watts
- 6550 x8
- 93.6 lbs

Nuff said?

[Lumpy]

Classic 400:
- 400 all-tube watts
- 6550 x8
- 93.6 lbs

Nuff said?

And half the price of an SVT