It is becoming apparent that the weakest link in my electric guitar tone is my amp. I currently play through an old Roland JC-120 that looks quite a bit like this one:
It has served me well for the past eight years with nice loud, clean tone and I used to use the chorus quite a bit too.
Lately it has been sounding too much like a machine and I am looking for a tone that will come to life with inflections and nuances that will tickle the ear drums in a pleasing way.
Also, I am sick of lugging around this heavy beast of an amp that hoards trunk real estate like a frickin t-rex. (because t-rexs hoard trunk space)
So I am looking for a compact tube combo amp with low wattage and low weight and low cost and I have narrowed it down to two amps.
The Vox AC-15
And the Fender Blues Jr.
The Vox veatures a 12" Celestion G12M Greenback speaker, tremolo and reverb, two channels, and weighs 48.5 lbs. It sells for $600
The Fender has a 12" Fender "Lightning Bolt" Speaker by Eminence, reverb, one channel, and weighs 31 lbs. It sells for $500
They both have the same tubes and both put out 15 watts.
At this point I am leaning towards the Fender because of the lighter weight, simpler circuitry = purer tone?? and lower cost. I also like the look just a little bit better.
The Vox is still in the running because I like the name, I think the tremolo might be fun, and it's heavier so it must have better tone. right??? (yes, I do realize that all three of those are crappy reasons)
So what do you all think?
I anticipate playing mostly church music with a little bit of folk/country every now and then. I like the guitar tones of Jesus Culture. . . I also am intrigued by spaceship sounds, and I like lots of overtones, ethereal howling and feedback.
So which amp should I buy??
I have a blues Jr. I never use it. You're welcome to try it out. I know it's a classic amp, of sorts, but with my Tele it's trebles are so piercing, it's hard to handle.
ReplyDeleteNever used the Vox but have a Sansamp Liverpool pedal. If money wasn't an issue, I'd look at getting a 65 Amps London Pro. Check it out. Does Vox & Marshal tones and can combine them. Also has "master voltage."
-jonny